Brian Clough's Legacy Leaves Much More for English Football Than Just Soundbites

With the sheer proliferation of quotes splattered over the Internet for the past week or so to coincide with the 10th anniversary of his death, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Brian Clough was still as relevant in 2014 as he was in his heyday. Unfortunately for just about everyone involved or engaged with English football, it simply isn’t the case.

Some things are still the same. The cult of the egotistical chairman is far from a recent phenomenon. Massimo Cellino may have already caused considerable waves in his short time in charge of Leeds, but Clough and his long-serving assistant, Peter Taylor, left their positions at Derby after their fractious relationship with chairman Sam Longson reached the breaking point.

There’s also been much made of the recent spate of sackings in the Football League, with eight in the same time frame that saw just three last season. Of course, it’s easy to remember Clough for his dynastic spells in charge of Derby and, in particular, Nottingham Forest.

However, Clough famously lasted just 40 ill-tempered days in charge of Derby’s title rivals, Leeds United, before being relieved of his duties, and he left Brighton in the lurch somewhat by taking the post in the first place, having been their boss for less than one season.

However, in other respects, it feels as though Clough’s era has long since passed and is becoming more distant with each season.

Clough first outlined his credentials as a manager by guiding Derby into the top division, and then he led them to a stunning title victory just three seasons later. He bettered that achievement at Nottingham Forest, winning the League Cup and seeing them crowned champions of England in their first season after being promoted.

These feats in the modern era would be unimaginable without disproportionate financial influence, and QPR’s recent yo-yo existence has demonstrated that money can only take a club so far.

As recently as the 2000-01 season, Ipswich managed to finish fifth at the first time of asking (comparatively, Derby had finished fourth upon their promotion).

However since then, the presence—and necessity—of money in the game has become all the more apparent, and the Premier League status quo has only become more stable. Since the Tractor Boys, only three of the 39 promoted teams have finished higher than 10th in their first season in the top flight.

Some will argue that this reinforcement of an elite few clubs has benefited the overall quality of the Premier League as a whole, particularly on the European stage. However, this notion is emphatically refuted by what is arguably Clough’s greatest achievement. After leading Nottingham Forest to the First Division title in 1978, he then guided them to back-to-back European Cup wins in the following two years.

Forest’s successes on the continental stage were bookended by Liverpool winning and retaining the trophy beforehand and the Anfield club once again winning the title, followed the next year by Aston Villa after Forest’s triumphs.

These six European championships in a row won by English clubs were undoubtedly the country’s halcyon days in Europe, a spell of success that has never come close to being matched, even with the Premier League’s ascendancy to become arguably the highest quality league in the world.

Undoubtedly, a largely unbroken monopoly in the top positions of the Premier League—and with those positions, the lion’s share of TV revenues—is one way of ensuring a higher concentration of talent at the top sides.

However, there’s an equal case to be made that such stability in the league, such considerable barriers to entry around the top 10 and then the European positions, breed complacency. The lackadaisical transfer policies of Arsenal and Manchester United this past summer are symptomatic of teams very aware of their relative immortality.

Of course, hindsight is a wonderful thing, and it’s easy to romanticise an era of English football that was blighted with issues that are thankfully a thing of the past. However, it’s difficult not to get misty-eyed over the notion of a team emerging from the depths of the lower divisions to immediately challenge for the title.

It would break the tedium that has enraptured the Premier League title race virtually since its inception. The very notion of the second-most successful club in English football winning the title last season being some sort of upset speaks volumes for the levels of excitement now present in the battle to become champions of England.

The argument that this status quo has strengthened English football’s standing on the world stage doesn’t quite bear up to scrutiny either.

While viewing figures may have joined trophies as a modern barometer of success, there’s still considerable prestige and financial gain to be had from winning European competition. A fairer distribution of the various revenue streams across the entire league structure would encourage stronger competition, domestically and otherwise.

Clough was a lover of football first and foremost, and he would undoubtedly find much to enjoy about modern football. However, English football could learn much more from him and the times in which he worked than just soundbites.