Nigel Clough

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Nigel Howard Clough (born 19 March 1966, Sunderland) is a former English footballer and the current player-manager of Burton Albion. He has played mainly as a striker but could adapt to other positions, including centre-back.

He is most famous as a Nottingham Forest player, where he was coached by his father Brian Clough. He made a total of 403 appearances in two spells at the club and is the club's second highest goalscorer of all time with 131. He also won 14 caps for England.

Clough joined Forest on leaving school in 1982 but did not become a regular first team player until the end of the decade. He helped Forest win two League Cups in successive seasons (1989 and 1990). In the 1989 Final, he scored two goals as Forest came from behind to beat holders Luton Town 3-1. He was also on the losing side for Forest in the 1991 FA Cup final and 1992 League Cup final. He was touted by some as a possible replacement for Gary Lineker, who retired from the England team in 1992.

However, a steady decline in his career began in that year.

He was Forest's leading scorer with 10 league goals in the inaugural Premiership campaign (1992-93) but the club finished bottom of the league and were relegated after 16 years in the top flight. Clough senior retired as manager while Clough junior was sold to Liverpool in a £2.75 million deal, but the evergreen form of veteran striker Ian Rush and the emergence of Robbie Fowler saw Clough struggle to hold down a first-team place at Anfield. His most memorable Liverpool performance was in the 3-3 draw with Manchester United, scoring two goals, leading to Martin Tyler's shout of "It's Nigel Clough again!"

He did not feature in their 1995 League Cup win over Bolton Wanderers at Wembley, and the subsequent arrival of Stan Collymore further reduced his chances of first team action, and in January 1996 he agreed to move to Manchester City in a £1.5 million deal.

However, Clough was part of the Manchester City team that was relegated from the Premiership in 1995-96, and after their relegation to Division One could not hold down a first-team place partly due to a degenerative heel injury. He made a handful of appearances in 1997-98 when they were relegated again, to Division Two - and was given a free transfer at the end of the campaign.

He had been loaned back to Nottingham Forest during the 1996-97 season, but had been unable to prevent their relegation from the Premier League.

In October 1998, he moved into management when he accepted the role of player-manager at Burton Albion in the Dr Martens (Southern) Premier Division. In his fourth season, 2001-02, Clough's side were champions of the Northern Premier League and gained promotion to the Conference. On 8 January 2006 his side held Premiership Manchester United to a 0-0 draw, earning a replay at Old Trafford. The replay was staged on 18 January, ending with a 5-0 loss for Clough's side, but Burton battled bravely and Clough said he was extremely proud of his men.

Having now passed his 42nd birthday, Clough is still registered as a player. Burton Albion was the first team to be managed by his father's long-term managerial colleague Peter Taylor.

[edit] Honours

• League Cup winner : 1988-1989 & 1989-1990 with Nottingham Forest
• FA Cup finalist: 1990-1991 with Nottingham Forest
• Unibond Premier Division Championship winner in 2001-2002 as manager of Burton Albion

[edit] External links

• Nigel Clough career stats at Soccerbase
• Burton Albion profile
• Liverpool FC profile
• Profile at LFCHistory.net

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