He’s a legend at Nottingham Forest but Brian Clough was ‘frustrated’ to miss out on his ‘pinnacle’ job

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Brian Clough’s achievements at Nottingham Forest in his 18 years in charge went down in football history, but there was one role in the game that could’ve tempted him away from the City Ground.

There’s nothing that quite compares to the unique achievement of Clough’s back-to-back European Cups in modern football, so much so that Jose Mourinho couldn’t believe Forest won the European Cup when he visited the city in 1996.

Such is the unbelievable work of Clough though that he is considered much more than a Forest legend, but as a legend of the sport both on and off the field, given how many lives he influenced.

Clough only ever focused on how his Forest side would play, perhaps a unique take on the game given the focus on tactical shapes and opposition analysis in the modern game, but the iconic Forest manager had his way of working at the City Ground which evidently worked.

So much so that, on paper, it seems surprising that Clough never graced the home dugout at the likes of Old Trafford or Anfield, but there was one job above these that he especially wanted.

Brian Clough wanted a chance at the England manager job

With the Reds relegated from the inaugural Premier League season in 1993, Clough left the club and retired from football, meaning his 18-year spell at the club was his last in football, devoting his managerial pomp to Forest when you’d think other clubs would’ve happily given him an opportunity.

Speaking in 2020, long after his father’s death, fellow Forest icon, Nigel Clough, discussed whether Brian would have ever left the club, with his desire for the England job the most likely opportunity to tear him away from the City Ground.

The ex-Forest striker said: “I think he [Brian Clough] would’ve liked a crack somewhere at one of the really big clubs, certainly.

“But the England job frustrated him more I think because that was the pinnacle, that was the one he wanted more than another club job I think.”

Clough once suggested his son, Nigel, should leave Forest long before he etched his name in Forest history as well, due to the pressures of playing under his father. Clough senior would’ve faced even greater pressure as England manager but the move never materialised, despite a clamour from the English public.

Brian Clough once interviewed to become England manager

It’s no surprise that Three Lions supporters wanted to see Clough in charge of the national team, with his success at Derby County as well as Forest making him more than qualified for the job.

So much so that Clough interviewed for the role in 1977 which, as reported by FourFourTwo, did not go the way he hoped.

The report explained: “England had failed to qualify for the 1978 World Cup and Don Revie had defected to manage the UAE’s national team. The Football Association was scorned, embarrassed and – in an act of grand petulance – committed to banning Revie for ten years for bringing the game into disrepute.

“Clough was very much the people’s choice. Understandably. His television work certainly made him the most visible personality, but among the other candidates, […] he was also the only one to have a First Division winner’s medal on his mantel.  

“Clough believed that he had aced the interview at Lancaster Gate and left assuming that the job was his. He would even tell Peter Taylor, with typical Clough understatement, that it had ‘gone magnificently’ and that ‘the job was ours’.

“By all accounts though, the decision had been made before even he set foot in the room, with it agreed beforehand that [Ron] Greenwood should get the job permanently.”

His outspoken personality may have made him an impossible hire for the FA in 1977 but Forest fans wouldn’t have minded one bit, especially given that the first European Cup triumph would come just two years later. It may have been the FA’s mistake never to hire Clough, but Forest certainly benefitted.