Two decades on from his passing, Brian Clough remains a football icon and one who Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis says continues to influence the club he elevated to footballing folklore.
“You had someone, Brian Clough, who inspired the players to outperform, who inspired the crowds to be there to support the team everywhere, and when he spoke he talked about things that they could never imagine,” Marinakis told BBC East Midlands Today.
“It was the way he was talking that made you think it was possible and that it was normal – and this charisma, very few people have it, that is why they have made the difference over the years. Brian was one of them.
“It’s very important that if a team has such history and tradition, they know history repeats.”
“He brought people joy in life by showing what can be achieved,” said John McGovern, who played under Clough at four clubs and who was captain at Forest when they won back-to-back European Cups.
“There are managers that have better records, but if you look at the time it took him to bring success at football clubs, nobody did it quicker.”
That journey began in the Fourth Division at Hartlepools United (now Hartlepool United), then started to morph into something truly special as he guided Derby County to promotion from the Second Division in 1969 and then to a remarkable first English title just three years later.
A falling-out with the Rams board led to his departure, with a stint at Brighton and Hove Albion followed by his 44-day spell as Leeds United boss, before he started an 18-year footballing love affair with Forest – which most famously saw the Reds rise from the second tier to be crowned First Division champions before conquering Europe, all within three years between 1977 and 1979.
At Forest, where he eventually retired following relegation from the Premier League in 1993, Clough also collected four League Cups, a European Super Cup and a Charity Shield.
Watch Clough – 20 Years On, which celebrates the legendary manager 20 years after his passing
