Clough's Conquest: Forest's Rise to European Glory | Part Four
It Was What It Was : The Football History Podcast
The Overlap
4.9 • 667 Ratings
🗓️ 7 October 2025
⏱️ 57 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this episode of It Was What It Was, co-hosts Jonathan Wilson and Rob Draper delve into the decline of Nottingham Forest following their European Cup victories. This final part of a four-part special looks at the financial turmoil, management struggles, and internal conflicts that marked the club's subsequent years. Join us as we discuss how the relationship between Brian Clough and Peter Taylor deteriorated, the club’s misjudged transfers, and the impact of Clough's growing dependence on alcohol. From the fallouts to the poignant departures, this episode covers the unraveling of a once-glorious team and the tragedy of a fractured partnership.
00:00 Financial Woes and Disappointment
00:50 The Decline Begins
02:32 Unraveling Behind the Scenes
04:18 Transfer Turmoil
09:24 Clough and Taylor's Strained Relationship
14:11 Financial Scandals and Internal Strife
18:05 The Breaking Point
29:03 Clough's Controversial Decisions
32:24 Financial Struggles and Player Transfers
37:18 Clough's Health and Alcohol Issues
45:02 The Breakup with Peter Taylor
48:20 Reflecting on Clough and Taylor's Legacy
51:29 Clough's Changing Management Style
53:43 The Greatest Achievement in European Football
55:28 Conclusion
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I was very disappointed because I realised it would leave us with a major headache. We were already spending money we thought would come from the semi-final and the final. We took no advantage at all from our period at the top. We were spending money faster than we were earning it. To bring |
| 0:21.2 | economy to the club was a very considerable job. Welcome to it was what it was. I'm Rob Draper. I'm |
| 0:26.8 | here with Jonathan Wilson and that was Nottingman Forest Chairman Jeffrey McPherson who has |
| 0:32.9 | taken over really a bit of a basket case of a club in terms of the financials. |
| 0:38.5 | And Jonathan, in the first three episodes of this series, it really was the glory of years, |
| 0:42.7 | wasn't it? And we have two European Cups and a league title. |
| 0:45.6 | And in his fourth episode, I really actually think it's the most interesting and most intriguing. |
| 0:50.5 | We begin seeing the decline of Notting and Forest and actually the decline of both Peter Taylor and Brian Clough. |
| 0:57.1 | It's really quite tragic at times. |
| 0:59.9 | It's very sad. |
| 1:01.3 | You're seeing things unravel, and it unravels very quickly after that European Cup triumph against Hamburg, |
| 1:07.9 | where we left it in 1981. |
| 1:11.4 | Yeah, so I mean, we should say it was obviously 13 years after 1980 before Clough finally leaves Forrest. |
| 1:17.6 | And there are successes in that time. |
| 1:20.1 | There are league up wins. |
| 1:21.2 | There are FA Cup finals. |
| 1:22.8 | There are good league seasons. |
| 1:24.5 | There are runs in Europe. |
| 1:27.3 | But Forrest as a team who can challenge for the title, let alone challenge for the |
| 1:33.0 | European Cup, that really comes to an end almost before they won the second European Cup. |
| 1:38.8 | We ended talking about that moment of poignancy where Duncan Hamilton, the reporter for the Nottinger Evening Post |
| 1:46.3 | who's got on to write a brilliant book about Brian Clough he's standing in the corridor |
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