Brian Clough's 10 Greatest Moments at Nottingham Forest

Brian Howard Clough walked through the doors of the City Ground in January 1975, just months removed from his infamous 44-day disaster at Leeds United. Nottingham Forest were a middling Second Division side, and nobody — absolutely nobody — could have predicted what would follow. Over the next 18 years, Clough would transform a provincial club into the kings of Europe, delivering the most extraordinary story in English football history.

Here are the ten moments that defined the greatest managerial reign the City Ground has ever seen.

1 The Arrival — January 1975

When Clough arrived at the City Ground on 6 January 1975, Forest were 13th in the Second Division. The club hadn't played top-flight football since 1972, and the mood among supporters was one of weary resignation. Clough, however, was a man possessed. Reunited with his long-time partner Peter Taylor (who joined as assistant manager later in 1976), he immediately began reshaping the squad with a mix of shrewd signings, cast-offs from other clubs, and sheer force of personality.

His first signing was John McGovern, the midfielder who had followed him from Hartlepools to Derby to Leeds. It was a signal of intent: Clough wanted players he trusted, men who would run through walls for him. Within months, the City Ground felt different. Training was intense but purposeful. Clough demanded that the ball be played on the ground, that passes be simple, and that every player know their role. The transformation had begun.

2 Promotion to the First Division — 1977

By the 1976-77 season, with Peter Taylor now at his side and key signings like Kenny Burns, Larry Lloyd, and Peter Shilton either signed or about to be, Forest won promotion as Third in the Second Division. It was an impressive achievement, but for most observers it was simply the restoration of a club to the level it probably belonged at. The First Division would be a different test entirely. Or so everyone thought.

What made this promotion special was the squad Clough and Taylor had assembled. Burns, a striker at Birmingham whom nobody else wanted, was converted into a commanding centre-half. Lloyd, deemed past it by Coventry City, became an imperious presence. John Robertson, a podgy, unfit winger whom most managers would have released, was transformed by Clough into the best left winger in Europe. Every signing was a masterstroke. Every conversion defied conventional wisdom.

3 Winning the First Division Title — 1978

This remains one of the most astonishing achievements in the history of English football. In their first season back in the top flight, Forest won the league championship, finishing seven points clear of Liverpool — the reigning European champions. They won 25 matches, drew 14, and lost just three all season. For a team that had been in the Second Division mere months earlier, it was scarcely believable.

The title was clinched on 22 April 1978 with a goalless draw at Coventry. Clough's side had been unbeaten at the City Ground all season, with only Wigan Athletic (in the League Cup) managing to win there. The defence was the foundation: Shilton kept 24 clean sheets, Burns was voted Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year, and the back line conceded just 24 goals in 42 games. At the other end, Tony Woodcock and Peter Withe provided the goals. It was a triumph of collective organisation over individual brilliance — pure Clough.

4 The League Cup Triumph — 1978

As if the league title weren't enough, Forest also won the 1978 League Cup, beating Liverpool in the final at Wembley. The initial match ended goalless — a tense, tactical affair in front of 100,000 fans. The replay at Old Trafford four days later was another story. John Robertson converted a penalty to give Forest a 1-0 victory over the European champions, confirming Clough's side as the emerging force in English football.

The League Cup would become Clough's favourite domestic trophy. He would win it four times with Forest (1978, 1979, 1989, 1990), a record at the time. But that first win, against the mighty Liverpool, was the one that announced to the football world that this was no fluke. Forest were here to stay.

5 The First European Cup — Munich, 30 May 1979

The Olympiastadion in Munich. The 1979 European Cup final. Nottingham Forest versus Malmö FF of Sweden. The most unlikely finalists in the competition's history against one of Scandinavia's finest. Clough's side had navigated past Liverpool in the first round — Liverpool, the holders — before dispatching AEK Athens, Grasshoppers of Zurich, and FC Köln to reach the final.

The match was settled by a single goal. On 45 minutes, John Robertson received the ball on the left wing, drove to the byline, and delivered a cross that Trevor Francis met with a diving header. Francis, who had been signed from Birmingham City in February 1979 as Britain's first million-pound player, couldn't play in European competition for three months due to registration rules. The Munich final was his first European appearance for Forest. He made it count.

At the final whistle, Clough was characteristically understated. While his players celebrated on the pitch, he reportedly headed to the dressing room to have a cup of tea. "We've won the European Cup," he said. "Now let's go home."

6 The Second European Cup — Madrid, 28 May 1980

If winning one European Cup as a recently promoted provincial side was extraordinary, winning two in a row bordered on the miraculous. In the 1980 final at the Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid, Forest faced Kevin Keegan's Hamburg and won 1-0 through a John Robertson goal in the 20th minute. Robertson, the unkempt genius whom Clough had rescued from obscurity, collected the ball on the edge of the area and calmly slotted it past the goalkeeper.

The route to Madrid had been even more dramatic than the previous year. Forest overcame Öster (Sweden), Arges Pitesti (Romania), Dynamo Berlin (East Germany), and Ajax (Netherlands) to reach the final. The semi-final against Ajax was a masterclass in away-leg management: a 2-0 win at the City Ground followed by a disciplined 1-0 defeat in Amsterdam.

With two European Cups on the mantelpiece, Forest joined an elite group. Only Real Madrid, AC Milan, Ajax, Bayern Munich, Benfica, and Liverpool had achieved as much (or more) at that point. For a club from a city with a population of under 300,000, it was — and remains — the most remarkable achievement in the history of European club football.

7 The Unbeaten League Run — 1977-78

Between November 1977 and December 1978, Forest went on an unbeaten league run of 42 matches, a record that stood for over 25 years until Arsenal's "Invincibles" surpassed it in 2004. The run began with a 0-0 draw against West Bromwich Albion on 26 November 1977 and ended with a 2-0 defeat to Liverpool on 9 December 1978.

To put this in context: Forest were newly promoted when the run started. They won the First Division title during it. They began defending that title during it. Forty-two unbeaten league games, spanning two seasons, in an era when the top flight was genuinely competitive and brutal. It was Clough's disciplined, organised football at its absolute peak — a team that simply refused to lose.

8 Signing Peter Shilton — September 1977

Every great team needs a great goalkeeper, and Clough's coup in signing Peter Shilton from Stoke City for £250,000 in September 1977 was the final piece of the jigsaw. Shilton was already the England goalkeeper, the best in the country, and his arrival at the City Ground elevated Forest from promotion contenders to potential champions.

In that first league-winning season, Shilton kept 24 clean sheets in his 37 league appearances that season — a phenomenal ratio. He was commanding, vocal, and utterly unflappable. Behind Burns and Lloyd, and protected by the tireless McGovern in midfield, Shilton had a defence in front of him that Clough had built specifically to complement his strengths. The signing cost a record fee for a goalkeeper at the time. It proved to be worth every penny and more.

9 The League Cup Four-Timer — 1978, 1979, 1989, 1990

Clough had an extraordinary relationship with the League Cup. He won it four times with Forest — 1978 and 1979 in the glory years, and then again in 1989 and 1990, long after the European triumphs had faded. The later victories were perhaps even more remarkable: the 1989 final saw Forest beat Luton Town 3-1 at Wembley, with Nigel Clough (Brian's son) scoring twice. In 1990, Forest defeated Oldham Athletic 1-0.

These later League Cup wins showed that Clough still had it. The squad had changed — Stuart Pearce, Des Walker, Neil Webb, and Nigel Clough were the stars now — but the philosophy was the same. Pass the ball simply, work harder than the opposition, and trust the manager. Even in an era when the League Cup was increasingly dismissed by bigger clubs, Clough treated it with respect and kept winning it.

10 The Final Bow — May 1993

The end, when it came, was bittersweet. Forest were relegated from the Premier League on the final day of the 1992-93 season, and Clough retired. His last match in charge was a 2-0 defeat to Sheffield United at Bramall Lane on 1 May 1993. After 18 years and six months as manager, it was over.

The standing ovation Clough received from both sets of supporters that day is one of football's most emotional images. Sheffield United fans applauded him. Forest fans wept. Even the players on both sides knew they were witnessing the end of an era. Clough left with two European Cups, one First Division title, four League Cups, and the undying love of a city that he had put on the footballing map.

In 2004, a bronze statue of Clough was unveiled in Nottingham's Old Market Square. Another stands in Derby. He remains the only manager to have statues in two different cities — a testament to the impact he had wherever he went. At the City Ground, though, he is something more than a manager. He is the man who took a modest club to the summit of European football and proved that, in the right hands, anything is possible.

Brian Clough passed away on 20 September 2004, aged 69. His achievements at Nottingham Forest will never be surpassed, and may never be equalled. Old Big 'Ead was, quite simply, the greatest.