On 26 November 1977, Nottingham Forest drew 0-0 with West Brom to start a club-record streak of 42 unbeaten league matches.
Forest were in the third full season under the managerial duo of Brian Clough and Peter Taylor, who took charge of the club in January 1975. They were in Division Two at the time, but won promotion to the top flight for the 1977-78 season.
They started off well in the First Division, winning ten and drawing two of their first thirteen matches and claiming the table's top spot in week nine. They remained there for the duration of the season, even after losing two of their first three games in November. Those two losses, to Chelsea and Leeds, joined an earlier one to Arsenal as their only losses on the season.
Their next match was the home draw against West Brom, followed by another 25 undefeated matches in the league to lift them seven points clear of runners-up Liverpool in the final table (Forest had also beaten Liverpool in that season's League Cup final).
The next season started with another 16 straight undefeated matches to take the total to 42 before Forest finally lost to Liverpool on 9 December 1978. They finished the season as runners-up to Liverpool in the league, but took some consolation by winning the first of two consecutive European Cups that year.
On 4 October 1990, Peter Taylor, who won a league title and two European Cups as an assistant to Brian Clough, passed away while on holiday in Spain. He was 62.
Although best known for his abilities as a manager and scout, Taylor enjoyed a lengthy playing career with Coventry City (1950-55), Middlesbrough (1955-61), and Port Vale (1961-62). Then, in 1962, he took his first managerial job as player-manager for Burton Albion and spent two seasons there before leaving to join Hartlepool as an assistant to his former Middlesbrough teammate, Brian Clough.
Taylor and Clough spent ten of the next twelve seasons together, including six and a half years at Derby County where they won the league title in 1972. Their only time apart was from 1974 to 1976, when Taylor took charge of Brighton & Hove after Clough left for his ill-fated spell at Leeds United. They reunited in 1976, when Taylor joined Clough at Nottingham Forest and the pair proceeded to win two European Cups (1979, 1980).
In 1982, Taylor left Clough and returned to Derby County, managing them for two seasons before retiring in 1984. During that second spell at Derby, Taylor signed winger John Robertson from Derby without telling Clough in advance. The signing created a rift between the two men, who never spoke to one another afterward, a fact deeply regretted by Clough after Taylor's death.
In 2010, Derby County commemorated Taylor and Clough with a statue of the pair outside the ground.
On 22 April 1978, Nottingham Forest won the league with a scoreless draw at Coventry City. They were the fifth (and to date last) team to win the English top flight as a newly-promoted team.
The rise was orchestrated by the managerial team of Brian Clough and Peter Taylor, who took charge of the club in January 1975. At the time, Forest were a mid-table Division Two team whose only major honors were the 1898 and 1959 FA Cups. Although they finished sixteenth out of twenty-two teams that first season under Clough and Taylor, they ended the 1975-76 season in eighth, then claimed the last promotion spot the following year with a third-place finish.
They got a strong start on their return to the top flight, winning seven of their first nine matches to take a firm grip on first place. They remained there for the rest of the season.
By the time they visited Coventry City, Forest were six points clear of second-place Everton, who had only three matches left to play (Forest had five remaining). At the time, teams earned two points for a win, so even a draw with Coventry would have put Forest out of Everton's reach. And a draw is what they got, as the match finished 0-0 to secure Forest's first top-flight title with four games left.
Before that, Liverpool (in 1906), Everton (1932), Tottenham (1951), and Ipswich Town (1962) each had won the league as newly-promoted teams, but Forest remain the last to do it. They were also the first to do it without being promoted as Division Two champions.
Their success continued under Clough and Taylor, with back-to-back European Cups in 1979 and 1980.
On 20 July 1974, controversial manager Brian Clough was named manager of Leeds United. He was dismissed from the post on 12 September 1974, after only 44 days in charge.
A star striker for Middlesbrough (1955-61) and Sunderland (1961-64), Clough's playing career was cut short by a knee injury. He turned to management and, in 1965, took over at Hartlepools United. He was then just 30 years old, making him the youngest manager in the League at that time.
In May 1967, Clough took over at Derby County, then languishing in the Second Division. Clough, along with assistant manager Peter Taylor, reversed Derby's fortunes and led them to the First Division title at the end of the 1971-72 season. Clough and Taylor soon fell out with Derby's Board of Directors over issues including transfer fees and Clough's propensity for making controversial statements (such as his criticism of the Derby supporters as "a disgraceful lot"), and the pair resigned in October 1973.
After a brief and unsuccessful spell at Brighton & Hove Albion during the 1973-74 season, Clough took the reins at Leeds, who were coming off their own First Division title. Taylor remained at Brighton.
Clough's move to Leeds raised more than a few eyebrows, as, during his time at Derby, he had been especially critical of Leeds and their previous manager, Don Revie. In particular, he had accused Revie's Leeds side of playing dirty and suggested that the club should be relegated and Revie himself fined.
Despite his appointment as manager, Clough reportedly remained vociferously critical of Revie and Leeds' prior tactics, which alienated him from many of the team's best players, including the midfield pair of Irish international Johnny Giles and Scottish international Billy Bremner. Clough's Leeds side won only one match and drew two from its first six, after which he was promptly sacked.
Clough cemented his status as a coaching legend, however, after moving to Nottingham Forest in 1975. At that time, Forest was a mid-table Second Division side, but Clough and Taylor (who joined Forest from Brighton in 1976) led them to promotion in 1977 and the Division One title in 1978. At Forest, Clough also achieved his crowning glory, winning back-to-back European Cup titles in 1979 and 1980.
Clough retired in 1993 and died in 2004. In 2006, author David Peace published a fictionalized account of Clough's time at Leeds, titled The Damned Utd. Critics generally praised the book, but Clough's family and former players—including Giles—claimed Peace's portrayals of events was inaccurate and painted Clough in an unfairly negative light. A film version of the book was released in 2009, starring Michael Sheen as Clough.
On 20 September 2004, Brian Clough, a manager who was equal parts controversial and successful, passed away at the age of 69.
A prolific striker in his playing days with Middlesbrough and Sunderland, his career was cut short by a knee injury when he was 29. The following year, he became the manager at Division Four club Hartlepool, where he was joined by assistant Peter Taylor. The two formed a very successful partnership--they moved to Second Division Derby County in 1967, earned promotion in 1969 and won the league in 1972.
In 1974, after feuding with the Derby directors, Clough and Taylor resigned and moved to Brighton, back in Division Three, but Clough left after less than a year to replace Don Revie at Leeds United. The move created a rift with Taylor, who remained at Brighton while Clough lasted only 44 days at Leeds.
He then took charge of Nottingham Forest in 1975 and reconciled with Taylor, who joined him there in 1976. They won the league in 1978 and followed that success with two consecutive European Cups. By 1982, however, the pair fell out again, in part over Taylor's return to Derby, and never spoke again. Clough remained at Forest until his retirement in 1993.
In 2003, he successfully recovered from liver transplant surgery, but lost his life to stomach cancer a year later.
On 4 October 1990, Peter Taylor, who won a league title and two European Cups as an assistant to Brian Clough, passed away while on holiday in Spain. He was 62.
Although best known for his abilities as a manager and scout, Taylor enjoyed a lengthy playing career with Coventry City (1950-55), Middlesbrough (1955-61), and Port Vale (1961-62). Then, in 1962, he took his first managerial job as player-manager for Burton Albion and spent two seasons there before leaving to join Hartlepool as an assistant to his former Middlesbrough teammate, Brian Clough.
Taylor and Clough spent ten of the next twelve seasons together, including six and a half years at Derby County where they won the league title in 1972. Their only time apart was from 1974 to 1976, when Taylor took charge of Brighton & Hove after Clough left for his ill-fated spell at Leeds United. They reunited in 1976, when Taylor joined Clough at Nottingham Forest and the pair proceeded to win two European Cups (1979, 1980).
In 1982, Taylor left Clough and returned to Derby County, managing them for two seasons before retiring in 1984. During that second spell at Derby, Taylor signed winger John Robertson from Derby without telling Clough in advance. The signing created a rift between the two men, who never spoke to one another afterward, a fact deeply regretted by Clough after Taylor's death.
In 2010, Derby County commemorated Taylor and Clough with a statue of the pair outside the ground.
On 22 April 1978, Nottingham Forest won the league with a scoreless draw at Coventry City. They were the fifth (and to date last) team to win the English top flight as a newly-promoted team.
The rise was orchestrated by the managerial team of Brian Clough and Peter Taylor, who took charge of the club in January 1975. At the time, Forest were a mid-table Division Two team whose only major honors were the 1898 and 1959 FA Cups. Although they finished sixteenth out of twenty-two teams that first season under Clough and Taylor, they ended the 1975-76 season in eighth, then claimed the last promotion spot the following year with a third-place finish.
They got a strong start on their return to the top flight, winning seven of their first nine matches to take a firm grip on first place. They remained there for the rest of the season.
By the time they visited Coventry City, Forest were six points clear of second-place Everton, who had only three matches left to play (Forest had five remaining). At the time, teams earned two points for a win, so even a draw with Coventry would have put Forest out of Everton's reach. And a draw is what they got, as the match finished 0-0 to secure Forest's first top-flight title with four games left.
Before that, Liverpool (in 1906), Everton (1932), Tottenham (1951), and Ipswich Town (1962) each had won the league as newly-promoted teams, but Forest remain the last to do it. They were also the first to do it without being promoted as Division Two champions.
Their success continued under Clough and Taylor, with back-to-back European Cups in 1979 and 1980.
On 20 July 1974, controversial manager Brian Clough was named manager of Leeds United. He was dismissed from the post on 12 September 1974, after only 44 days in charge.
A star striker for Middlesbrough (1955-61) and Sunderland (1961-64), Clough's playing career was cut short by a knee injury. He turned to management and, in 1965, took over at Hartlepools United. He was then just 30 years old, making him the youngest manager in the League at that time.
In May 1967, Clough took over at Derby County, then languishing in the Second Division. Clough, along with assistant manager Peter Taylor, reversed Derby's fortunes and led them to the First Division title at the end of the 1971-72 season. Clough and Taylor soon fell out with Derby's Board of Directors over issues including transfer fees and Clough's propensity for making controversial statements (such as his criticism of the Derby supporters as "a disgraceful lot"), and the pair resigned in October 1973.
After a brief and unsuccessful spell at Brighton & Hove Albion during the 1973-74 season, Clough took the reins at Leeds, who were coming off their own First Division title. Taylor remained at Brighton.
Clough's move to Leeds raised more than a few eyebrows, as, during his time at Derby, he had been especially critical of Leeds and their previous manager, Don Revie. In particular, he had accused Revie's Leeds side of playing dirty and suggested that the club should be relegated and Revie himself fined.
Despite his appointment as manager, Clough reportedly remained vociferously critical of Revie and Leeds' prior tactics, which alienated him from many of the team's best players, including the midfield pair of Irish international Johnny Giles and Scottish international Billy Bremner. Clough's Leeds side won only one match and drew two from its first six, after which he was promptly sacked.
Clough cemented his status as a coaching legend, however, after moving to Nottingham Forest in 1975. At that time, Forest was a mid-table Second Division side, but Clough and Taylor (who joined Forest from Brighton in 1976) led them to promotion in 1977 and the Division One title in 1978. At Forest, Clough also achieved his crowning glory, winning back-to-back European Cup titles in 1979 and 1980.
Clough retired in 1993 and died in 2004. In 2006, author David Peace published a fictionalized account of Clough's time at Leeds, titled The Damned Utd. Critics generally praised the book, but Clough's family and former players—including Giles—claimed Peace's portrayals of events was inaccurate and painted Clough in an unfairly negative light. A film version of the book was released in 2009, starring Michael Sheen as Clough.
On 26 November 1977, Nottingham Forest drew 0-0 with West Brom to start a club-record streak of 42 unbeaten league matches.
