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Clough & Revie: The Rivals Who Changed the Face of English Football
Don Revie and Brian Clough were born a brisk walk away from each other in Middlesbrough, in 1927 and 1935 respectively. They were brought up in a town ravaged by the Depression and went on to become highly successful professional footballers. Then, as young managers, they both took clubs languishing in the doldrums (Leeds United and Derby County) and moulded them into championship winners. Despite the myriad similarities, these two sons of the Tees were as different in character as Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy. A bitter rivalry developed between them, which in turn enlivened and then blighted English football in the 1960s and '70s. In "Clough and Revie", exclusive interviews with players, relatives and friends shed fresh light on these two intriguing characters. Part footballing chronicle, part social history, this book is a revelatory exploration of the rivalry between the two men. It brings a fresh perspective on their early years in the North-East, tells how they nearly became teammates and explains why the feud began and what its repercussions were.
352 pages, Paperback
First published April 7, 2011
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46 people want to read
About the author
Roger Hermiston
4 books5 followersRoger Hermiston was until recently Assistant Editor of BBC Radio 4's Today programme. He began his journalistic career on weekly papers in Kent and Yorkshire, before becoming Crime Reporter on the daily Sunderland Echo. He then spent three years as reporter and feature writer on the Yorkshire Post, before joining the BBC in the early 1990s. On Today – among other things – he covered general elections at home, American presidential campaigns, war in Kosovo and civil war in Algeria. He was a member of the team that won a number of Sony Radio Awards for Best Programme. He lives in Suffolk and is a season-ticket holder at Ipswich Town FC.
- excerpted from David Higham Literary, Film and TV Agents
- excerpted from David Higham Literary, Film and TV Agents
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
May 20, 2014
Clough: buccaneering, maverick football genius. Revie: unbuccaneering, unmaverick football genius. Can they be friends? Of course not. Everyone knows that. They both got the job done though, so take your pick.
If you're contemplating reading this book you'll already know about them being born within inches of each other in a teeming Middlesborough alleyway and their conjoined careers thereafter. Revie wins the league with Leeds. Clough wins the league with Derby. Revie leaves Leeds. Clough takes over Leeds to win the league 'better'. Revie gets the England job coveted by Clough. Clough goes to Nottingham Forest and wins the European Cup twice. All that stuff. All that stuff which, come to think of it, isn't in this book.
Instead, prepare to wrap up warm and spend evenings in the rainy postwar north east watching Middlesborough Reserves as Hermiston conducts a successful attempt to shed new light on this rivalry to end all rivalries. This is unashamedly a book for the connoisseur/anorak, and I loved the way in which our man Hermiston brought dusty old team sheets back to life. There are some brilliant vignettes: star players falling off their bikes on the way home from the pub and missing important games, Colin Grainger supplementing his footballing income by crooning in local clubs, billed as 'The Voice With A Kick In It' - loads of them, and they are what makes this book what it is.
It would've been nice to have had Clough and Revie's whole careers covered, obviously. But if that had happened, there would've been no room for all those tiny details, and this would've been a very pedestrian book. Instead, it provides a fascinating and entertaining understanding of the lost environment in which the most famous personal rivalry in football was born, and if your boat has ever been floated by that sort of thing, you're going to love it.
If you're contemplating reading this book you'll already know about them being born within inches of each other in a teeming Middlesborough alleyway and their conjoined careers thereafter. Revie wins the league with Leeds. Clough wins the league with Derby. Revie leaves Leeds. Clough takes over Leeds to win the league 'better'. Revie gets the England job coveted by Clough. Clough goes to Nottingham Forest and wins the European Cup twice. All that stuff. All that stuff which, come to think of it, isn't in this book.
Instead, prepare to wrap up warm and spend evenings in the rainy postwar north east watching Middlesborough Reserves as Hermiston conducts a successful attempt to shed new light on this rivalry to end all rivalries. This is unashamedly a book for the connoisseur/anorak, and I loved the way in which our man Hermiston brought dusty old team sheets back to life. There are some brilliant vignettes: star players falling off their bikes on the way home from the pub and missing important games, Colin Grainger supplementing his footballing income by crooning in local clubs, billed as 'The Voice With A Kick In It' - loads of them, and they are what makes this book what it is.
It would've been nice to have had Clough and Revie's whole careers covered, obviously. But if that had happened, there would've been no room for all those tiny details, and this would've been a very pedestrian book. Instead, it provides a fascinating and entertaining understanding of the lost environment in which the most famous personal rivalry in football was born, and if your boat has ever been floated by that sort of thing, you're going to love it.
June 25, 2020
There have been many excellent books about Brian Clough but far too few about fellow Middlesbrough born rival manager Don Revie. Roger Hermiston explores the backgrounds and extraordinary careers and tries to get to the heart of one of the great football rivalries. In doing so he has to look closely at a third major character, Middlesbrough.
This is a fascinating exploration of post war Middlesbrough, the struggles and strife that acted upon these two incredibly successful men. It was from Middlesbrough that many of their ideas and some of the financial insecurities were born that haunted them. And it was from Middlesbrough that they needed to escape.
I live roughly in between the boyhood homes of Clough and Revie and on the site of the football ground where they both watched their early heroes play and where Cloughie became a scoring legend. Through Roger's book I have a far better impression of what made them tick and what drove them on to achieve. He takes on the pages at the pace of a Clough shot for goal or barbed tv riposte but I found it as attractive and inviting to read as the Revie plan false number nine or a Cloughie Forest side.
We can now view Revie's achievement in creating a top club at Leeds alongside that of Clough (and Taylor) at Derby and Nottingham Forest. Dirty Leeds did become the top team at the end of the decade, no matter what Mr Clough might have tried to tell everyone that would listen to him.
A better insight into the age of the great personality managers I do not know. This is something that is exposed so richly in that amazing head to head on Calendar Yorkshire TV.
There is a blue plaque on the house where the Clough family once lived and a statue of the boy Brian walking through the park. Roger's book of 2011 is hopefully the start of a long game to get equal recognition for Don Revie, and start to revive the reputation again of the boy that kicked a ball all day and night to escape from the sadness and loneliness at the early death of his mother.
Brian might not have liked it but hopefully one day there will be a blue plaque on his old house as well.
Great read.
This is a fascinating exploration of post war Middlesbrough, the struggles and strife that acted upon these two incredibly successful men. It was from Middlesbrough that many of their ideas and some of the financial insecurities were born that haunted them. And it was from Middlesbrough that they needed to escape.
I live roughly in between the boyhood homes of Clough and Revie and on the site of the football ground where they both watched their early heroes play and where Cloughie became a scoring legend. Through Roger's book I have a far better impression of what made them tick and what drove them on to achieve. He takes on the pages at the pace of a Clough shot for goal or barbed tv riposte but I found it as attractive and inviting to read as the Revie plan false number nine or a Cloughie Forest side.
We can now view Revie's achievement in creating a top club at Leeds alongside that of Clough (and Taylor) at Derby and Nottingham Forest. Dirty Leeds did become the top team at the end of the decade, no matter what Mr Clough might have tried to tell everyone that would listen to him.
A better insight into the age of the great personality managers I do not know. This is something that is exposed so richly in that amazing head to head on Calendar Yorkshire TV.
There is a blue plaque on the house where the Clough family once lived and a statue of the boy Brian walking through the park. Roger's book of 2011 is hopefully the start of a long game to get equal recognition for Don Revie, and start to revive the reputation again of the boy that kicked a ball all day and night to escape from the sadness and loneliness at the early death of his mother.
Brian might not have liked it but hopefully one day there will be a blue plaque on his old house as well.
Great read.
May 7, 2018
Between them, Clough and Revie have books involving them and the teams they were associated with to match their trophy haul. Identified correctly as the Kennedy and Nixon of English football their stories never cease to fascinate and revisit.
This book is a compare and contrast of the two men from their shared roots in the north east of England up to the point where Clough failed to become Revie's succesor as England manager.
The book does not cover the footballing acheivements in any detail and rather assumes a familiarity with them by the reader. It is a tale of two succesful football managers who blended together like oil and water in their many encounters.
This book is a compare and contrast of the two men from their shared roots in the north east of England up to the point where Clough failed to become Revie's succesor as England manager.
The book does not cover the footballing acheivements in any detail and rather assumes a familiarity with them by the reader. It is a tale of two succesful football managers who blended together like oil and water in their many encounters.
March 15, 2018
All books about Brian Clough are enjoyable, and this one is no exception, but it doesn't really bear comparison with Clough's own take on events in his autobiographies. Some interesting snippets of information though, and it does help in putting things into perspective
December 13, 2020
5stars
A well researched book that looks at the football careers of Don Revie and Brian Clough. It looks at them side by side starting with there playing careers and then there moves into football management. An enjoyable read.
A well researched book that looks at the football careers of Don Revie and Brian Clough. It looks at them side by side starting with there playing careers and then there moves into football management. An enjoyable read.
October 26, 2025
Great insight to two of the most influential managers in the game.
November 16, 2015
An interesting take on some previously well trodden paths, this book suggests more strongly than previous works involving the men just how connected their lives were – and makes for an interesting read in doing so.
The author, by way of alternating biographical updates draws out the conclusion that Clough & Revie not only grew up in close proximity to each other but would have been influenced by very similar cultures & factors, such as the hard times of the 30’s & 40’s and the impact of the war. Both men’s early heroes were Middlesbrough players and both were blessed with a real talent for the game.
Much of what I read about Clough was familiar to me, but much of the story of Revie was new to me and frankly surprising as he was shown to be a sensitive and decent man. I did wonder as reading this book if the author went a little easy on the problems that both men encountered and the flaws in their personalities. The story did touch upon the allegations that swirled around Revie in his later life about how he may have tried to buy the results of matches but did not test them strongly. A decent case was made, however, for much of the mud that was thrown around being by way of the FA’s attempts to discredit Revie after he resigned from the post of England manager and moved to the Middle East.
The book’s biggest impact upon me was the manner in which it made me rethink my attitude toward Don Revie. The explanation that he often had to support members of his extended family explained his attitude towards money as did his upbringing in the depths of the depression that beset Britain in the 1930’s.
There are some gems in this book, such as when Brian Clough hosted Don Revie’s son at a Derby County match and spent up to ten minutes before kickoff telling him what a great manager his Dad was.
Trying to understand why the initially cordial relationship between the two men deteriorated is one of the key themes of the book. The author suggests it may have been Clough’s disillusionment at what he regarded as Revie’s influence over referees. Other theories in the book point to the simple fact that Revie’s teams were, more often than not, successful against Clough’s teams.
Whatever the reason these were both very complex characters and enigmas even to those that knew them. This is a good book but one that could have continued beyond the point it stopped (1977) – a more detailed view of the later years when Clough’s drinking took greater hold may have given a fuller picture of quite how similar/different these two men were – but this was an interesting read.
The author, by way of alternating biographical updates draws out the conclusion that Clough & Revie not only grew up in close proximity to each other but would have been influenced by very similar cultures & factors, such as the hard times of the 30’s & 40’s and the impact of the war. Both men’s early heroes were Middlesbrough players and both were blessed with a real talent for the game.
Much of what I read about Clough was familiar to me, but much of the story of Revie was new to me and frankly surprising as he was shown to be a sensitive and decent man. I did wonder as reading this book if the author went a little easy on the problems that both men encountered and the flaws in their personalities. The story did touch upon the allegations that swirled around Revie in his later life about how he may have tried to buy the results of matches but did not test them strongly. A decent case was made, however, for much of the mud that was thrown around being by way of the FA’s attempts to discredit Revie after he resigned from the post of England manager and moved to the Middle East.
The book’s biggest impact upon me was the manner in which it made me rethink my attitude toward Don Revie. The explanation that he often had to support members of his extended family explained his attitude towards money as did his upbringing in the depths of the depression that beset Britain in the 1930’s.
There are some gems in this book, such as when Brian Clough hosted Don Revie’s son at a Derby County match and spent up to ten minutes before kickoff telling him what a great manager his Dad was.
Trying to understand why the initially cordial relationship between the two men deteriorated is one of the key themes of the book. The author suggests it may have been Clough’s disillusionment at what he regarded as Revie’s influence over referees. Other theories in the book point to the simple fact that Revie’s teams were, more often than not, successful against Clough’s teams.
Whatever the reason these were both very complex characters and enigmas even to those that knew them. This is a good book but one that could have continued beyond the point it stopped (1977) – a more detailed view of the later years when Clough’s drinking took greater hold may have given a fuller picture of quite how similar/different these two men were – but this was an interesting read.
October 8, 2014
Excellently written book that flowed well and reminded me of the events at the time. Possibly the best book of it's type that I have read. Revie and Clough were fascinating characters
March 17, 2014
Excellent read about the relationship between Clough and Revie
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews