The Damned United
When Brian Clough took on Leeds United – and lost his way
BBC2 10.30pm - 12m’t
He’s played Tony Blair and David Frost, and in this Michael Sheen is fantastic as Brian Clough, the legendary, over-opinionated but principled English football manager of the late 1960s and 1970s. This superb movie tells the tale of Cloughie’s doomed
44-day tenure as reformist manager of hardplaying reigning champs, Leeds United, honing in on his bitter clash with Leeds’ previous manager Don Revie (Colm Meaney) and Clough’s stormy friendship with his trusty lieutenant, Peter Taylor (a scene-stealing Timothy Spall). A terrific tale of belligerence, brilliance and the beautiful game.
Dir: Tom Hooper 2009, 15, 90min