A sack of spuds and a wad of cash – brilliant Brian Clough story from former Nottingham Forest star
Brian Clough #BrianClough
When Brian Laws signed for Nottingham Forest he hoped his connections to the North East would give him a leg up with Brian Clough.
Both Boro boys, they had played for Middlesbrough and had roots in the area.
In one sense, Laws was right, Clough was ready to make maximum use of him – on and off the field as it turned out.
Any player who worked under Clough has a story or two about the legendary manager and Laws is no different, starting when he joined Forest in 1988 after making his name at Middlesbrough as a reliable right-back.
“I had the most extraordinary first meeting with Brian Clough when Forest came in for me, which I was excited about as they were a club going places,” Laws said on this week’s Garibaldi Red podcast.
“He laid the cards on the table. He said ‘listen, I’m going to ask you a question – are you a good player or a bad player?’ I thought it was quite extraordinary to ask someone who is going to come and play for you that question.
“I thought I’d be a bit arrogant and say I was a good player. He said ‘Ha! We’ll find out. I’ve not seen you play, lad I’ve never seen you play. I’m going to tell you one thing. If you’re a good player tell everyone I signed you. If you’re rubbish make sure everyone knows Ron Fenton signed you.’
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“That was the start of the affair. A lot of people would have walked out but I just wanted to be part of it.
“I thought he was pulling my leg, but he’d never seen me play.”
Laws’ early days at the club got no less unusual. In his first pre-season, he incurred the wrath of captain Stuart Pearce for running too hard in training and threatening to make his new teammates look bad in a relaxed build to the campaign ahead.
Then came the fringe benefit of Laws’ arrival for Clough, a potential courier service between him and his brother Joe back in Middlesbrough.
“I thought the North East connection might be a significant help, but I only realised one of the reasons he might have got me in in my first pre-season,” Laws said.
“We went to Italy and in the airport on the way back, Cloughie came up to me and gave me a wad of cash and a bottle of whiskey!
“He said to take it to his brother and walked off. I had to say I didn’t know he had a brother. I thought he was a one-off!
“I looked at Nigel Clough and said ‘Nige your dad has chucked me a wad of cash.’ Nigel said ‘put that money away! Put it away!’
“I had to ask who his brother was. I was still travelling from Middlesbrough at the time.
“He gave me the address and contact number. When I rang it sounded just like Cloughie.
“He was standing outside his property when I arrived. He was being so secretive, looking round to make sure no one was watching.
“He told me to reverse in, so I reversed in. Then he told me to flip my boot open, so I flipped my boot open.
“All I heard was a huge thud as he put the boot down. I thought what on Earth has he put in my boot!
“I gave him the exchanges Cloughie wanted and I drove off panicking. I thought I’ve got to have a look, I can’t drive back to Nottingham in this state.
“I opened the bag and it was full of potatoes! Monday morning I drive into the car park and who is there is waiting for me, Cloughie.
“He’s opened the boot and starts smelling these potatoes going ‘you don’t get potatoes like that anymore!’
“He handed me one said I could have it. That was it! I got a single spud for all that. It was crackers.”
In many ways it is hard to fathom how Forest were so successful under Clough, especially against modern methods of sports science and a data driven obsession with detail.
Laws is not the only person to say Clough never took a training session. Set pieces were far from a focus and the opposition a borderline inconvenience to beat rather than scrutinised in depth.
Yet it worked until the final year of Clough’s tenure once he got the ball rolling in the late 1970s.
After the League title and European Cup wins, Forest were a force to be reckoned with again during Laws’ stay as he helped them win two League Cups at Wembley, a ground that became almost a second home at the time.
Laws points to a confidence, almost in-built arrogance, that a team so well versed and united would simply win.
“If I could bottle the genius of Clough I’d make a fortune. I would say he bought in intelligent players,” he added.
“He wanted players who know how pass a ball and keep it simple.
“That simplicity worked and it was incredible to be part of. It’s a philosophy I’ve never seen before and it won’t be repeated again.”
In the end it all crumbled for Forest as alcoholism gripped Clough and he was relegated in his final season in 1993.
Laws believes a failure to adapt to the back-pass rule changing was the key factor that season, as Forest’s lack of fitness was exposed when goalkeepers were no longer allowed to pick the ball up and let outfield players recover.
He also feels the signs of Clough’s waning powers were present in the 1991 FA Cup final defeat to Tottenham, which took place 30 years ago this week.
It was a painful day for Laws on a personal level as he was left out at the expense of Gary Charles, although he did get off the bench in unfortunate circumstances when Charles was cruelly injured by an out of control Paul Gascoigne.
“I was gutted I didn’t do Gary Charles before Gascoinge did! That was a sore point,” Laws says, joking about injuring Charles, but genuine in his personal disappointment.
“My expectation was I’d play. I was told the night before I wasn’t. Not by Cloughie.
“He gave Pearcie a scruffy old piece of paper when we got on the team bus after training. He read it out and I said he was talking rubbish.
“Cloughie wouldn’t let me see him until the day of the game. I couldn’t get to the point where I wanted to have a real argument with him.
“I didn’t want to spoil the day for everyone so I had to take it on the chin. It was a real blow to me.
“It was a chance for Cloughie to win the only trophy he’d not won. I really wanted to do that for him.
“Don’t get me wrong, Gary Charles was a good player and I certainly didn’t want to see him get injured the way he did.
“To come on doesn’t feel the same. It wasn’t a great final for me or the fans.
“When I look back now, not at the time, but when I look at his attitude on the bench, we had an arrogance where we expected to win.
“There was a moment where we needed him to give us a lift when there was a bit of extra time. He just sat there and watched.
“I look back and think maybe he didn’t have the effect he had in the past. Then questions are asked.
“The demise of the team after that was incredible.”
The FA Cup was not always kind to Laws. A year earlier he scored an own goal in the semi-final against Liverpool, when the game was played in the weeks after the Hillsborough disaster, when 96 Liverpool fans lost their lives after being crushed in the Leppings Lane End.
“It’s a game I’ll never forget, never. The memories are so strong,” Laws said.
“I can still see faces and remember where I was on the pitch. The game started ferociously and the noise at kick-off was deafening.
“You think fans are going nuts for the game. I remember taking a throw and people ran across me.
“I’m not embarrassed to say my very first thought was it was a pitch invasion. Most of us did.
“We thought get off the pitch you idiots. The referee called us off because there were so many people and the noise was deafening.
“The Leppings Lane End was dug out so you couldn’t see people suffering, just those coming over the top.
“When we got in the dressing room the manager told us to relax and we’ll get back on when the referee cleared the pitch.
“The chief inspector came into the dressing room and said there had been a few fatalities but we might try to get the game back on.
“Cloughie said there was no way we would be going back on. You think has someone been stabbed. It was only then we heard there were loads of bodies on the pitch.
“Panic set in. My wife and kids were in the stand. We all just wanted to find our families.
“Walking down the tunnel to still a fullish stadium, but there was silence. It was in slow motion.
“It was horrific. There was a relief to know your own family was ok, but the reality hit you. My heart goes out to the Liverpool families who lost children, grandchildren and fathers.
“Every year I look back on those times and I’m sure all the players are like that.”
The desperate sadness of the second game was all-encompassing with the nation behind Liverpool. Nonetheless, their striker John Aldridge did himself no favours when he ruffled Laws’ hair after his own goal.
A few weeks later, Laws had carte blanche to exact his revenge, if he could get to Aldridge.
“People talk about the disrespect of it all. I fell to my knees and thought it was one of my own players in the moment,” he said.
“I didn’t realise it was Aldridge until 10 or 15 seconds later. After the game Cloughie was going mental.
“We had to play Liverpool in the league two or three weeks later. It was the first time Cloughie came up to me and said if you get sent off I don’t mind.
“I remember getting off the bus and John Aldridge was waiting apologise. I told him it was too late.
“I was so wound up. By heck did I try to nobble him. He jumped out of every tackle and even the referee turned his back as if to say go on then.
“I got my revenge years later when I was Grimsby manager and he was at Tranmere. I sold him a player who was completely duff!”
That player was Ivano Bonetti – a very different story for another day when it comes to Grimsby fans.
Laws would leave Forest in 1994 after making 212 appearances for Forest. He had lost his place with new manager Frank Clark signing Des Lyttle as he built a more dynamic team.
There were mixed emotions for Laws, who wanted to stay, but got the chance to move into management with Grimsby at the age of 33.
“After relegation there was going to be significant change,” he said.
“Frank Clark came in and I love him to death. He had to start again and get players fitter, younger and stronger.
“Cogs start going and you think about your future. I had two years left on my deal. I’d worked too hard for my career to frazzle out.
“Grimsby sparked my career in coaching,. In a way it was the right time. I wanted to help Forest get back but it was the right time for me.”
Laws went on to manage Scunthorpe twice, Shamrock Rovers, Sheffield Wednesday and in the Premier League with Burnley.
These days he is heard as a summariser on BBC Radio Nottingham. It all started for him at Wallsend Boys Club, the breeding ground of Alan Shearer, Peter Beardsley, Michael Carrick and many more.
Laws never hit those heights. He played for England B in a game which went badly as he struggled with illness.
He wouldn’t change that though. He would only change one thing if he could.
“I wouldn’t change a thing other than I might grab a hold of Pearcie’s FA Cup piece of paper. I’d rub out Gary Charles’ name and put mine in!”
The full Garibaldi Red podcast with Laws is out now. You can listen in full here, or watch it here.
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