Brian Clough

Awards & Honours

Awards Won

Honours

Rankings

Covers

Records

Brian Clough's achievements as a manager are extraordinary for their sheer improbability. He remains the only manager to win back-to-back European Cups with a club that was in the second division when it qualified for the competition. He is one of just a handful of managers to win the English league title with two different clubs. His record of four League Cup wins with Nottingham Forest is unmatched by any other manager with a single club. He was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2002 and the LMA Hall of Fame in its inaugural class in 2005. Statues in Nottingham and Middlesbrough, a stand named after him at the City Ground, and the Brian Clough Trophy all attest to his enduring legacy. He is consistently ranked among the top ten managers of all time by football publications worldwide.

AwardsBrian Clough won the English First Division title twice, with Derby County (1972) and Nottingham Forest (1978). He won the European Cup back-to-back with Forest in 1979 and 1980, a feat never matched by a club from outside the traditional elite. He also won the League Cup four times (1978, 1979, 1989, 1990), the UEFA Super Cup (1980), the Full Members Cup twice (1989, 1992), and the Zenith Data Systems Trophy (1992). Individually, he was the first recipient of the LMA Manager of the Year award in 1978 and received the LMA Special Merit Award in 1993.

Honours & Distinctions

English Football Hall of Fame

National Football Museum·2002

Inducted in the Managers category

Nottingham Forest Hall of Fame

Nottingham Forest FC·2004

Inaugural inductee

League Managers Association Hall of Fame

LMA·2005

Inaugural class inductee

Honorary Doctor of Letters

University of Derby·1993

Honorary doctorate

Honorary Doctor of Laws

University of Nottingham·1997

Honorary doctorate

Freedom of the City of Nottingham

Nottingham City Council·1993

Highest civic honour

Freedom of the Borough of Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough Council·1994

Highest civic honour

Rankings & Lists

50 Greatest Football Managers of All Time

The Times·2007

100 Greatest Football Managers of All Time

FourFourTwo·2018

#10

Greatest Managers of All Time

ESPN·2013

#10

Top 50 Managers in History

France Football·2019

Greatest British Managers

BBC Sport·2013

The Greatest Managers of All Time

The Guardian·2019

#11

The Greatest Managers of All Time

World Soccer·2013

The 50 Greatest Managers of All Time

LMA·2015

Magazine Covers

World Soccer

1978-06

The Miracle of Nottingham Forest

World Soccer

1979-06

Clough's European Triumph

Shoot! Magazine

1978-05

Clough: The Man Who Changed Football

FourFourTwo

1994-11

The Greatest Manager England Never Had

The Observer Magazine

1993-05

Clough: The Final Whistle

The Sunday Times Magazine

2004-09

The Last of the Great Managers

Records & Feats

Only manager to win back-to-back European Cups with a club from outside the top division

Career Milestone·1980

Nottingham Forest were in the Second Division when they qualified for the 1979 European Cup, yet won it in 1979 and 1980.

Shortest reign of any Leeds United manager

Career Milestone·1974

Clough lasted only 44 days as Leeds manager in 1974, winning just one of six matches.

Most League Cup wins by a manager with a single club

Career Milestone·1990

Clough won the League Cup four times with Nottingham Forest (1978, 1979, 1989, 1990).