FOREST COUNTY

"Many players, managers and coaches have been involved with both East-Midland rivals Nottingham Forest and Derby County, but the most famous has to be that successful partnership made in heaven, of Brian Clough and Peter Taylor. Together they won the First Division Championship with Derby, and then the Championship again, two European Cups and two League Cups with Forest. But something happened between the pair over the two clubs, which saw them never speak to each other again and also be their biggest regret......."

Peter Taylor retired in May 1982 after Forest finished 12th in the league and were knocked out of the FA Cup in the third round by Wrexham, but took over as manager of Derby six months later in November of that year, to the great surprise of most people in the game. At the time Derby were going through serious financial problems and were bottom of the table, but he steered them to a mid-table position by the end of the season. In the third round of the FA Cup on 8 January 1983 they knocked out Clough's Forest team with a 2-0 win at the Baseball Ground. They reached the 5th round, being knocked out by Manchester United 1-0 at home. That season, Derby went through a 14-match unbeaten run. However, the following season saw the team struggle again, and Taylor resigned in early April 1984 with the club third from bottom of the Second Division. There was no money to spend on new players. Derby were almost bankrupt and were rescued at the last minute in late March 1984. However, the team reached the quarter-finals in the FA Cup that season, being knocked out 1-0 in a replay against Plymouth Argyle by means of a freak goal direct from a corner. The revenue obtained from the FA Cup run almost certainly helped to keep the club afloat.

It appears that the relationship started to fracture in the Autumn of 1980 when Taylor published "With Clough by Taylor", an autobiography which was largely based on Taylor's work with Clough. He did not consult with or tell Clough that he was writing the book at the time.

Although they initially parted on good terms, Taylor's relationship with Clough was finally damaged permanently after a dispute over the transfer of John Robertson from Forest to Derby in May 1983, when Taylor apparently didn't tell Clough who was on holiday. Clough attacked Taylor afterwards in a tabloid article as being a "rattlesnake", "a snake-in-the-grass" and said that "We pass each other on the A52 going to work on most days of the week. But if his car broke down and I saw him thumbing a lift, I wouldn't pick him up, I'd run him over".

Clough and Taylor would never speak to one another again. During the final six years of his life, Taylor sometimes wrote newspaper articles giving his view on football. In 1989, a year before he died, Taylor urged Clough in a tabloid article to retire before 1) a chairman like Longson forced him out and 2) his health suffered under the strain of being a top-level manager, forcing him into premature retirement, which happened four years later.

Peter Taylor died suddenly whilst on holiday in Costa De Los Pinos, Majorca, aged 62 on 4 October 1990. When told of Taylor's death by Ron Fenton, Clough apparently didn't speak, put the phone down on him and cried heavily. He also, whilst very upset, made a phone call to the Taylor family. Clough attended the funeral eleven days later and dedicated his 1994 autobiography to Taylor saying "To Peter. Still miss you badly. You once said: 'When you get shot of me there won't be as much laughter in your life'. You were right".

Now Clough's son and ex-Forest striker Nigel Clough is manager of Derby County.

FOREST & DERBY SQUAD

1 - PETER SHILTON