Editing Brian Clough (section)

====Feud with the Derby County board of directors====
In August 1972, Clough refused to go on an arranged pre-season tour of the Netherlands and [[West Germany]] unless he could take his family with him. Derby chairman Sam Longson told him that it was a working trip and not a holiday, so Clough put Taylor in charge of the tour instead and refused to go. The club did not contest the [[1972 FA Charity Shield|FA Charity Shield]] that year.

On 24 August 1972, Clough and Taylor signed [[David Nish]] from [[Leicester City F.C.|Leicester City]] for a then-record transfer fee of £225,000, without consulting the Derby board.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/bob.dunning/thirty27.htm |title=Thirty Years Ago – August 1972 |publisher=Dspace.dial.pipex.com |date=9 January 2005 |access-date=29 August 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100418202326/http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/bob.dunning/thirty27.htm |archive-date=18 April 2010 }}</ref> Afterwards, Jack Kirkland, a director, warned Clough and Taylor there would be no more expensive buys like Nish. Then, in early September 1972, after the team had defeated [[Liverpool F.C.|Liverpool]] 2–1 at the [[Baseball Ground]], Clough criticised the Derby County fans, stating that "They started chanting only near the end when we were a goal in front. I want to hear them when we are losing. They are a disgraceful lot". In the same interview, Clough also verbally attacked the club's board of directors for their policies. The following day, board chairman Sam Longson apologised to the fans and dissociated himself from Clough's remarks.

That [[1972–73 Derby County F.C. season|1972–73 season]], Derby failed to retain their title, finishing seventh, but reached the semi-finals of the [[1972–73 European Cup|European Cup]] in April 1973, when they were knocked out by [[Juventus FC|Juventus]] 3–1 on aggregate.<ref>{{cite news|language=it|url=http://www.archiviolastampa.it/component/option,com_lastampa/task,search/action,viewer/Itemid,3/page,0009/articleid,1499_02_1974_0093A_0025_23123597/|title=La Juve era già assolta|work=La Stampa |location=Italy|page=9|date=22 April 1974|access-date=11 April 2011}}</ref> During the first leg in [[Turin]], Clough was aggrieved by the performance of the match referee, whom he believed had been influenced and possibly bribed to favour the Italian side.<ref>{{harvnb|Clough|2002|pp=201–203}}</ref> After the game, Clough refused to speak to the Italian reporters, saying: "No cheating bastards do I talk to. I will not talk to any cheating bastards". He instructed [[Brian Glanville]] to translate what he had said to them<ref>{{cite news | url = https://www.theguardian.com/news/2004/sep/21/guardianobituaries.football | title = Obituary: Brian Glanville | date = 21 September 2004 | first = Brian | last = Glanville |work=The Guardian |location=London | access-date =11 April 2011 }}</ref> and questioned the Italian nation's courage in the [[Second World War]]  evidently his grandfather was not in El Alamein..<ref>{{cite news|last=Philip |first=Robert |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/2295033/Brian-Cloughs-words-and-deeds-still-stand-out.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/2295033/Brian-Cloughs-words-and-deeds-still-stand-out.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Brian Clough's words and deeds still stand out |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=21 March 2008 |access-date=11 July 2009 | location=London}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

It was these sorts of frequent, outspoken comments – particularly against football's establishment, such as the [[The Football Association|FA]] and club directors, and figures in the game such as [[Matt Busby]], [[Alan Hardaker]], [[Alf Ramsey]], [[Don Revie]] and Len Shipman, along with players such as [[Billy Bremner]], [[Norman Hunter (footballer)|Norman Hunter]] and [[Peter Lorimer]] – combined with Clough's increased media profile, that eventually led to his falling out with the Rams' chairman, Sam Longson, and the Derby County board of directors.

On 5 August 1973, Clough put his name to an article in the ''[[Sunday Express]]'' headlined "I Would Put Leeds in Division Two – Brian Clough lashes Soccer's bosses for letting off Don Revie's 'bad boys,'"<ref>{{cite web |title=The Definitive History of Leeds United – 1972/73 – Part 3 – The Revie-Clough wrangle |url=http://www.mightyleeds.co.uk/seasons/197273part3.htm |website=www.mightyleeds.co.uk |access-date=5 May 2021}}</ref> which savaged [[Leeds United F.C.|Leeds United]]'s disciplinary record, stating that Revie should be fined for encouraging his players in their unsporting behaviour and Leeds relegated to the Second Division. Clough also said that "The men who run football have missed the most marvellous chance of cleaning up the game in one swoop" and went on to say "The trouble with football's disciplinary system is that those who sat in judgement being officials of other clubs might well have a vested interest."

Days afterwards, Clough was charged with bringing the game into disrepute, but he was cleared on 14 November after he had later resigned from Derby. In September 1973, Clough travelled to [[West Ham United F.C.|West Ham United's]] [[Boleyn Ground|Upton Park]] and personally made a £400,000 bid for [[Bobby Moore]], a player he long admired, and [[Trevor Brooking]]. West Ham manager [[Ron Greenwood]] informed Clough that neither was available but that he would pass his offer onto the West Ham board of directors anyway. Clough never told Derby's chairman, secretary or any other board members at Derby about the bid. Longson found out four months later during a chance conversation with Eddie Chapman, West Ham's secretary at the time, but by then Clough was no longer the Derby County manager.