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Roy McFarland on Brian Clough's drinking.


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Our struggle to stop Brian Clough boozing as years of alcohol abuse took its toll

By ROY MCFARLAND

PUBLISHED: 22:31, 3 June 2014 UPDATED: 23:32, 3 June 2014

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Though it was stomach cancer that ultimately killed Brian Clough, at the age of 69, his health had already been declining, due to years of alcohol abuse. I often wonder whether the loyalty he inspired in people at Nottingham Forest might actually have done him a disservice. 

They went to extraordinary lengths to keep his battle with booze under wraps, when confronting it might just have helped him turn a corner and come back to us as the razor-sharp manager we knew at Derby.

That’s easier said than done, I know, because he could be a stubborn so-and-so. But there was a time when a circle of close friends, myself included, decided we had to try and make him see that things had to change. 

 
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Lifetime award: Brian Clough with Roy McFarland back in 1992

 

 
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Trophy boys: McFarland was part of Clough's Derby side that won the league in 1971

 

He agreed to welcome about 10 of us into his home. As we filed in, we all knew the unwritten agenda started and finished with the same burning question: what to do about Brian’s drinking. 

His wife Barbara brought in trays of tea, coffee and biscuits, and each of us, in turn, tried to steer the conversation towards the thorniest of subjects. 

ROY MAC CLOUGH'S CHAMPION

 

 
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Roy McFarland Clough’s Champion is available now,RRP £16.99, Trinity Mirror Sport Media.

He would have none of it. When his ghostwriter from one of the national newspapers broached it, Brian turned the tables by recounting tales of drink-fuelled high jinks with journalists he knew. When he wasn’t holding court, he’d excuse himself from the room. 

His absence met with quizzical looks, until it dawned on us. He was nipping out for a drink from bottles stashed away in another room. 

He appreciated our concerns, and listened to them briefly, before clapping his hands and announcing: ‘Well, we’ve had enough of that now.’ 

He wanted a party, not an inquisition. After a couple of hours, we had to accept we’d done our best but hit a brick wall. I was last to leave but wasn’t going without a parting shot. On the doorstep, I said: ‘Gaffer, it’s about time you packed in the drink.’ 

He looked crestfallen, pitiful and lost, almost like a little boy, and I momentarily regretted my outburst. But Barbara had been within earshot and said: ‘Didn’t you hear what Roy said? It’s got to stop.’ Deep down, all three of us knew it wouldn’t.

My saddest recollection was seeing him pottering round the cricket pitch at Quarndon, where we both lived. He was walking his dog, I was walking mine, and we were on course to meet face-to-face. But as soon as he spotted me, he changed direction and scuttled away. 

All the triumphs we had shared counted for nothing in that split-second. He didn’t want to know me, because he was too embarrassed or too ashamed.

 
Life with Brian at Derby was full of surprises

One of my earliest memories of Brian Clough was being summoned to his office. In I went and sat down. ‘Who said you could sit down?’ I jumped to my feet. ‘Sit down,’ he said. ‘What do you think you’re up to?’ 

‘I don’t know what you mean, gaffer?’

 
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Legend: Clough helped Nottingham Forest and Derby to success before bowing out of management in 1993

 

‘Oh yes you do. You’re in the Midland Hotel, drinking every night with Dave Mackay, then out clubbing it. I know everything that goes on in this town. Mend your ways or your career will be over. Now get out of my sight.’  

It wasn’t the only time he caught me by surprise. Angry at a story I was being fined £100 after my sixth booking of the season, I stormed into his office, to be confronted by a huge grin and two airline tickets. 

‘You’re going to Spain on holiday at Derby’s expense with that charming young lady of yours — only try not to kick her,’ he said.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2647627/Our-struggle-stop-Brian-Clough-boozing-years-alcohol-abuse-took-toll.html#ixzz33fkoOUSL 

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I went to see Brian Clough and Kevin Lloyd at the Playhouse years ago. The basic premise was Kevin Lloyd interviewing Cloughie in front of a live audience.

 

Started off well, but they got progressively more drunk, until at the end Cloughie decided to lead the audience in an impromptu acapella sing-along of "Come Fly With Me" – it was a bit embarassing.

 

Two alcoholics in their prime, a classic one-liner from BC stuck in my mind though

 

On Justin Fashanu – "two things I didn't know when I signed him – 1) I didn't know he was gay and 2) I didn't know he couldn't play football!"

 

Then the Peter Taylor wardrobe story…

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PistoldPete2

I went to see Brian Clough and Kevin Lloyd at the Playhouse years ago. The basic premise was Kevin Lloyd interviewing Cloughie in front of a live audience.

 

Started off well, but they got progressively more drunk, until at the end Cloughie decided to lead the audience in an impromptu acapella sing-along of "Come Fly With Me" – it was a bit embarassing.

 

Two alcoholics in their prime, a classic one-liner from BC stuck in my mind though

 

On Justin Fashanu – "two things I didn't know when I signed him – 1) I didn't know he was gay and 2) I didn't know he couldn't play football!"

 

Then the Peter Taylor wardrobe story…

I had absolutely no idea until I read in Don Shaw's book that Cloughie had a drink problem even when he was at Derby.

He denied it even after he left Forest. It highlights that the first step to defeat alcoholism is to admit the problem, and Cloughie never did.

Just wonder what Cloughie could have achieved if not for his drinking. Maybe we should just accept he was a flawed genius.

 

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Tbh i love roy mac but i don't think he should have put the details of the meeting at the house in the book.

I think that should have stayed private, including mrs clough's comment.

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Tbh i love roy mac but i don't think he should have put the details of the meeting at the house in the book.

I think that should have stayed private, including mrs clough's comment.

Me and rammie met the ghost writer of that book on the way home from London, lives in Poole (unless he was a bullsh iter) has a bit of an anger management problem ;)

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It doesn't take anything away from my appreciation towards Brian Clough that he had a drinking problem. I have known some really great people that had the same problem. I still admire and look up to them. Unfortunately they all are dead too. Agewise they still should be alive. :(

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PistoldPete2

Tbh i love roy mac but i don't think he should have put the details of the meeting at the house in the book.

I think that should have stayed private, including mrs clough's comment.

 

I dont agree. Roy Mac's point is that the people close to an alcoholic need to keep on nagging them, dont ignore the problem but face up to the demons. Its a lesson for others.

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