35 Facts About Nigel Clough

1.

Nigel Howard Clough was born on 19 March 1966 and is an English professional football manager and former player who is currently the manager of Mansfield Town.

2.

Nigel Clough was raised in Allestree, Derby, after his father became the manager of Derby County in 1966.

3.

Nigel Clough made his professional debut for the club in 1984, and remained a regular first team member for the next decade until he signed for Liverpool FC in 1993, going on to make his England debut in 1989 and was part of the squad at UEFA Euro 1992.

4.

Nigel Clough playing career is most notable for his time as a player at Nottingham Forest, where he played over 400 times in league, cup and European matches in two separate spells, he scored 131 goals throughout his Forest career making him the second highest scorer in the club's history and won the Football League Cup in both 1989 and 1990.

5.

Nigel Clough subsequently signed for Liverpool before moving onto Manchester City.

6.

Nigel Clough was appointed as manager of Sheffield United a month later, guiding them out of the relegation zone and taking the club to FA Cup and League Cup semi-finals.

7.

Nigel Clough was dismissed in May 2015 and returned to Burton in December, leading them to promotion to the Championship for the first time in the club's history in May 2016 and the League Cup semi-final in January 2019.

8.

Nigel Clough stepped down in May 2020, and returned to work in November at Mansfield Town.

9.

Nigel Clough joined Nottingham Forest as an apprentice on leaving school in 1982.

10.

Nigel Clough left after two seasons to sign for non-league Heanor Town, but was back at the City Ground on a professional contract in December 1984.

11.

Nigel Clough remained among Forest's top goalscorers for a further five seasons, helping them win the League Cup in 1989 and 1990 and the Full Members' Cup in 1989.

12.

Nigel Clough contributed to Forest winning the last Full Members Cup in 1992.

13.

Nigel Clough scored twice on his debut for Liverpool against Sheffield Wednesday on 14 August 1993.

14.

Nigel Clough had found the net four times for the Reds by the end of August 1993, but by Christmas had found himself struggling for a first team place after the emergence of 18-year-old Robbie Fowler alongside Ian Rush in the Liverpool attack.

15.

Nigel Clough played in all of Manchester City's remaining 15 league appearances after his arrival at Maine Road, scoring twice, but could not stave off relegation and shortly afterwards he lost his place in the team due to injury.

16.

Nigel Clough returned to Nottingham Forest on loan in December 1996, when Stuart Pearce became manager on an interim basis after the departure of Frank Clark.

17.

Nigel Clough scored st Leicester City in 13 league games before returning to Manchester City.

18.

Nigel Clough made the final full international appearance of his career on 19 June 1993 against Germany.

19.

Nigel Clough won the Conference Premier Manager of the Month for December 2008, after completing 11 straight wins in the division and guiding Burton to 13 points clear at the top of the table.

20.

When key players returned from injury, Nigel Clough was able to start picking a regular team, and results began to improve.

21.

Nigel Clough denied the claim and, though Davies put in an official complaint to the league, nothing came of the incident.

22.

Nigel Clough's continuing stay at the club was rewarded by overseeing Derby's best start to the season in 106 years as they opened the season with four victories from four and earned a Championship Manager of the Month nomination.

23.

Nigel Clough left the club as the longest serving Derby manager in over a decade.

24.

On 23 October 2013, Nigel Clough was appointed new manager of Sheffield United on a two-and-a-half-year deal.

25.

Nigel Clough was named League One's Manager of the Month for February 2014 after an improved run of form with four wins from five matches, including four clean sheets.

26.

In May 2014, Nigel Clough was named FA Cup Manager of the Season by the League Managers Association in recognition of United's run to the semi-finals of the FA Cup.

27.

Nigel Clough returned to Burton Albion for a second spell as manager in December 2015, after Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink left the post to join Queens Park Rangers.

28.

Nigel Clough led the club to a 2nd place finish at the end of the season, gaining the club promotion to the Championship for the first time in their history.

29.

Nigel Clough kept the side in the league for two seasons before the club was relegated back to League One in May 2018 after a 23rd place finish.

30.

Nigel Clough later stepped down as manager in May 2020 due to the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the club.

31.

On 6 November 2020, Nigel Clough was appointed as manager of Mansfield Town.

32.

Nigel Clough cited Derby, Brighton, Leeds United and Nottingham Forest as teams he supported as a child.

33.

Nigel Clough said John Robertson was one of his football heros.

34.

Nigel Clough enjoyed playing sports, listening to music and sleeping in his spare time.

35.

Nigel Clough cited his parents as having the biggest influence on his career and unusually, lived at home long into his football career.