Why Cloughie is top of my interview tree
MY broadcasting career stretches over six decades and is a who’s who of big name interviews – Muhammad Ali three times, Pele at seven World Cups, the most decorated Olympian Carl Lewis and thousands more.
But I start with the top of my interview tree – the one-and-only Brian Clough.
When Cloughie took Nottingham Forest to back-to-back European Cup triumphs, the away trips were not without him upsetting that country’s media.
In the first campaign, after knocking Liverpool out in the first round, Forest travelled to Greece, where AIK Athens supporters stoned the team bus at the airport, forcing the players to take cover from flying glass.
At the mandatory pre-match press conference, a Greek journalist asked why Forest were paying their players less win bonus to beat AIK than they did to beat mighty Liverpool in the previous round.
Clough told him: “So we can pay the referee more than you cheating b ***** s will!”
This was followed by a request from another Greek writer to interview Peter Shilton downstairs.
Clough told him: “As long as you promise not to trap Peter’s fingers in the lift!”
Forest went on to win and during ITV’S after-match interview, Clough noticed there was a fire lit on the terraces behind us.
“They are lighting a fire in my honour,” he told me. I did not have the courage to tell him that was how they always burned the rubbish after a match!
We went to Cologne for the semifinal. Clough was a terrible timekeeper. He wanted to play squash with assistant Ronnie Fenton.
Forest were staying in the most famous Cologne hotel in the city centre and the hosts had laid on their number one chauffeur in a topof-the-range Mercedes. Brian, still sweating in his green top, white shirts and plimsolls, holding his racquet and ball, was an hour-and-ahalf late for the press conference and wrongly blamed the chauffeur.
“He did not have a clue where this hotel is,” he claimed before walking over to the large assembled German media and bellowing: “No wonder you lot lost the war!”
Thanks Brian! I was in the same year at a Suffolk boarding school as legendary BBC commentator John Motson. We have been close friends since we were 11 years old.
Motty, a gentle soul bless him, was nervous about Clough, who roasted him a few times.
At Arsenal’s Highbury stadium, John would wait inside the main entrance for the arrival of the visiting team and manager to get the team news – in this case, Forest.
The week before Motty had been critical of them in a match he was covering.
As soon as Clough, with his team, saw Motty, he yelled: “Motson, you are a s***house”! Motty was shaken to the core and said nothing.
Later, Motson’s worse nightmare was to follow. Forest lost the game and the Match of the Day producer said: “John, please go and interview Brian Clough.”
Almost shaking, Motty was so relieved when Cloughie gave him a really decent interview, praising Arsenal and Arsene Wenger.
At the end, Motty enthused: “Thank you so much Brian. I am sorry about the problem we had before.”
“Why?” asked Clough. “You are still a s***house,” and promptly left.
But ‘Old Big Head’ did not always come out on top. When he was at Derby County in the old Baseball Ground, he had the manager’s office next to the boardroom with a very long corridor down to the dressing room at the other end of the ground.
One day he was in his office with only the apprentices in the ground cleaning the boots after training.
Cloughie rang a phone line to the dressing room. “Hello, do you know who this is?” he demanded.
The apprentice who answered said: “Yes, Mr Clough.”
“Good lad,” said Clough. “Now I want you to bring me a pot of tea and some biscuits.”
The reply came back: “Mr Clough, do you know who this is?”
“No,” came the answer, to which the lad responded: “Well, f*** off then!”
Cloughie raced down the corridor but by the time he reached the dressing room, all the apprentices had scarpered.
For many reasons, I will be grateful to Clough but one personal occasion in particular stands out.
My dad Jack somehow survived 40 bombing missions in the war in the slowest plane (Handley Page Hampden was known as the flying coffin) only to die in 1982 aged just 62.
I invited him to join me at a home European Cup tie at Derby when I was doing the interviews.
After the Rams won, I introduced dad to Brian, who promptly swept him into the Derby dressing room … he was in there for ages.
When they emerged, Brian said: “Now Jack, I have to work with your son,” and then said to me: “By the way, I much prefer your dad to you, now come on, let’s get on with it.”
Cloughie was great like that. My father, 5ft 7in tall, suddenly grew to six feet!