We're sunsetting PodQuest on 2025-07-28. Thank you for your support!
Export Podcast Subscriptions
cover of episode Mark Crossley: Hilarious Brian Clough Stories & Playing with Roy & Wrighty | Stick to Football EP 86

Mark Crossley: Hilarious Brian Clough Stories & Playing with Roy & Wrighty | Stick to Football EP 86

2025/6/5
logo of podcast Stick to Football

Stick to Football

AI Deep Dive AI Chapters Transcript
People
M
Mark Crossley
Topics
Mark Crossley: 回想起在克拉夫手下效力的日子,那是我职业生涯中最好的学习经历。他不仅仅教我如何在球场上踢球,还教我如何为人处世,比如如何正确地握手,如何进行眼神交流,以及如何在与人交谈时不要把手放在口袋里。他总是强调团队的重要性,认为球队里最重要的人是那些负责后勤的人,比如球衣管理员和泡茶的师傅,而不是我们这些球员。克拉夫的战术非常简单,他总是告诉我们做好自己的本职工作。作为一名门将,我的任务就是阻止球进入球门。他不喜欢复杂的战术,如果我不能按照他的要求做好简单的事情,他就不会留我。克拉夫也会使用一些心理战术。如果球队输了球,他会严厉批评我们,但如果球队赢了球,他会给我们放假。他甚至会因为我回传失误而打我,或者因为我在比赛后和裁判握手而打我。尽管如此,我对克拉夫充满了热爱,他改变了我的人生。即使人们说克拉夫已经不行了,我们仍然进了两次杯赛决赛。他是一位伟大的教练,也是一位伟大的人。 Mark Crossley: 我还记得有一次,克拉夫让我签一份空白合同。当时我非常震惊,但我还是签了。后来我才知道,克拉夫是为了测试我对他的信任。他还送给我一辆车,但这辆车实际上是他女儿的,我每个月还要从工资里扣钱来支付车款。克拉夫的管理方式非常独特,但他总是能激励我们做到最好。他会用各种各样的方式来激励我们,比如用板球和帽子,或者让我们去他儿子的周日联赛球队踢球。他也会用一些奇怪的方式来惩罚我们,比如因为我胡子拉碴而把我送回家,或者因为我说错话而让我永远无法为一线队效力。克拉夫是一位非常严厉的教练,但他也是一位非常关心球员的教练。他总是尽力帮助我们,让我们成为更好的人和更好的球员。

Deep Dive

Chapters
Mark Crossley discusses his time at Nottingham Forest, highlighting the team's transformation into an established Premier League team and the contributions of key players like Morgan Gibbs-White and Chris Wood. He expresses his admiration for their hard work and the team's effective counter-attacking style.
  • Nottingham Forest's rise to Premier League status
  • Morgan Gibbs-White's impactful midfield role
  • Chris Wood's successful season as a striker

Shownotes Transcript

Translations:
中文

Just before we get started, I just wanted to say a big thank you to our partner Skybet and please don't forget to subscribe if you like. I hope you enjoy this episode. As the main character of your life, you know how important it is to make the right choices for you and how sweet it is to feel good about your decisions. With the State Farm Personal Price Plan, you have options to help create an affordable price for you so you can continue living your best life.

Talk to a State Farm agent today to learn how you can choose to bundle and save with a personal price plan. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Prices are based on rating plans that vary by state. Coverage options are selected by the customer. Availability, amount of discounts and savings, and eligibility vary by state.

I'm not switching my team to some fancy work platform that somehow knows exactly how we work. And its AI features are literally saving us hours every day. We're big fans. And just like that, teams all around the world are falling for Monday.com. With intuitive design, seamless AI capabilities, and custom workflows, it's the work platform your team will instantly click with. Head to Monday.com, the first work platform you'll love to use.

If you're a lineman in charge of keeping the lights on, Grainger understands that you go to great lengths and sometimes heights to ensure the power is always flowing, which is why you can count on Grainger for professional-grade products and next-day delivery so you have everything you need to get the job done. Call 1-800-GRAINGER, click Grainger.com, or just stop by. Grainger, for the ones who get it done.

I'm taking my shirt off like that and as I've got to about there, he's come for me and started digging me. You're the only one that saved Matt Letizia's penalty, wasn't you? Yeah. That end is now called Cross the Place. It's at my house tomorrow morning, nine o'clock, and it would help if you bring your gloves as well. Playing as a ringer in his son's Sunday league team, they got fined 50 quid and Cluffy took the 50 quid out of my way. LAUGHTER

As the main character of your life, you know how important it is to make the right choices for you and how sweet it is to feel good about your decisions. With the State Farm Personal Price Plan, you have options to help create an affordable price for you so you can continue living your best life.

Talk to a State Farm agent today to learn how you can choose to bundle and save with a personal price plan. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Prices are based on rating plans that vary by state. Coverage options are selected by the customer. Availability, amount of discounts and savings, and eligibility vary by state. If you're a lineman in charge of keeping the lives on...

Grainger understands that you go to great lengths and sometimes heights to ensure the power is always flowing, which is why you can count on Grainger for professional grade products and next day delivery. So you have everything you need to get the job done. Call 1-800-GRAINGER, click grainger.com or just stop by. Grainger, for the ones who get it done.

Huh.

Huh. Turns out you can love a work management platform. Monday.com, the first work platform you'll love to use. He walks over to the bag and he pulls out an iron and he says, if you don't mend it, you ain't playing, sassy. I look over and he's stood like that. Mark, in we come. Mark Crosley. Mark Crosley, everyone. That's it for the big man. Thank you.

Hi, Crozza. Hi, guys. Welcome, Mark. Nice to see you, Mark. How are you? Good, yeah. Mark. You were just on about nicknames before there. Obviously, I do the dinner circuit a little bit now. And when COVID came and obviously we struggled on the entertainment side, my first gig was in Nottingham when we got back on the circuit. And it was full of Forrest fans.

And I turned up at the gig, and having played 12 years for them and 393 games, when I turned up, you would have thought they might have had a clue what I actually was when I turned up. So I goes in, the fella puts his hand out, shakes my hand. He goes, I can't believe it. And I said, believe what? He said, I can't believe that we've got the fella who sits in the caravan with the old woman on Gogglebox speaking at the dinner here tonight. LAUGHTER

Yeah? No? I don't know. I can see a bit of a resemblance. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I can see it. They're brilliant, aren't they? They're so good. You do look like him, Mark. Mel Gibson, Lee off of Gogglebox. Oh, that is funny. Talk to us about Forrest.

I think they've become an established Premier League team. We're looking at them this season now, which was the aim. Two seasons where it looked like they were definitely getting relegated. Surviving late on, beating Arsenal when there was a massive... Massive game. To stay up the first year, so...

I just think, but the owner has put his money where his mouth is and he's signed players. He's got money. He's not bothered what anyone says. Yeah, so you can't knock that, really. Yeah, people were ridiculing for us, weren't they? They have been incredible, though. People had them down for relegation. See where they are now. That was Carragher, wasn't it? Did he? Did he have them down for relegation? Yeah, he did. We're never going to get relegated. But what he's done is amazing, isn't it? I don't think we predicted them to be where they are now. They're playing some really good counter-attacking football and they've got a bit of pace and...

He's got a talented player called Morgan Gibbs-White playing in midfield. What I love about him is I see him come off the pitch and he's shattered every single game. I love to see that. It's amazing. Chris Wood. Chris Wood, it's like... I've never seen him having the season he's having. I think he started at the end of last season and he scored...

Quite a few goals and then never seen him. It's nice to see the old-fashioned type of centre-forward, isn't it? Can you imagine how happy he is, though? You see him cross, Mark, and you see him with that pace around him, Morgan Gibbs in front. All he's got to do is focus on finishing and you can see that he's got it. I noticed this year they're putting the ball in the box a little bit. I know it's an old cliche, but you don't put the ball in the box and somebody like Chris Wood is thriving off that. I don't know if it's the case as a striker that...

Once one's going in, two's going in, three, everything you wait seems to be going in. Just keep getting more and more confidence. And when you're not scoring, you're thinking, where's the next one coming from? Well, at the moment, everything he's hitting is going in, so fair play to him. Fingers crossed for him. You play with both these two? Yes. Yeah.

Tell us some stories. Who's the best team mate? Who's your favourite out of these two? That was only there for a month when I was over six months old. That's enough to get a picture of someone. We were on the slippery slope when righty come saw that. But Plattie won it, David Platt. Yes, Plattie brought me in. I remember I came in from training on a pitch one time. What did you put on my peg, Mark? Two pheasants. Two pheasants, man. So you know you walk in and you just come in and you go like that and I went, wah!

Two pheasants. I said, what's this? Birds? Pheasants? Real ones? We had a player called Andy Johnson. He used to shoot the pheasants in his back garden and he brought a brace in for me because I like pheasants. I like them. LAUGHTER LAUGHTER

He used to wear this long black leather coat and he hung it up so far. When we get out from training, them pheasants are going to be under that black leather coat. When he said he liked the birds, he didn't. LAUGHTER That was a good time. And Roy? Well, Roy was 18 when he had... I just remember, like, just when he turned up and even the first day you see that there's a special player like that, you know, and...

You see it instantly, don't you? I mean, and the rest is history, isn't it? You know, we had some great times. It was a little bit different back then. The best. But as I say, you know, under Cloughy, I would probably say that's probably the best learning curve you could ever have. It's the best education you could ever have. Why would that be? Just the way...

I don't know. People always say, well, you're scared of him and all that. And I don't think it was a case of that. I think it was in awe of him. He had a massive presence. He could just walk in the room and he didn't have to say anything. For me, when I look back, because I had six years with him, it was a kind of like, it didn't only try and teach me about what I'm meant to do on a football pitch. Because I was a little bit of a rogue and that when I was a kid. But he taught me

little things about a proper handshake, about eye contact, about not speaking to people with your hands in your pockets and all the little things that go with it. And at our football club, like, the most important person was the lady that does your kit. You know, the kit man that puts your kit out. The guy that goes and makes you a cup of tea at half-time or whatever. They were the most important people at the football club, not the players. And when I look back, I think that's how we... Kept it together like that. Yeah. Beautiful.

He kept it simple, didn't he? Everything was simple, the messages to all of us, wasn't it? Never complicated the game, did he? No. I know you've heard that many times before. I remember him once saying, like, what's your job, goalkeeper, what's your job? And you start coming on with these things and, no, just stop the ball from going in the goal. Full-back, stop crosses, play forward when you win it back, preferably to a red shirt, like, you know, but centre-backs, edit and kick it. And I know that's old school.

But if you didn't do them simple things that he wanted you to do, he didn't keep you. It's still prevalent. Center forward, get hold of the ball, keep it. Get it out wide, get in the box, score me a diving header. Get cut while you're doing it. It looks better in the newspaper on a Sunday morning. Just little... It was tough, wasn't it? It was tough. It was tough. Really tough. He was a great striker himself, wasn't he? He was a great striker.

Were there any tactics at all? Any sort of shape during the week that you'd work on? Never. Five a side. Just three. Let's pretend you've played on Saturday and you've got a game the following Saturday. What would your week look like from Sunday onwards? Sometimes, see you Thursday.

Wow. Really? From Saturday? Yeah. Now I know when before you were talking about training hard, to be fair, you only did one day a week. He puts his arse up on Friday. You wouldn't see him until Thursday, Friday anyway, but as soon as he appeared, training obviously went up a level, but even goalkeepers, we never had a goalkeeping coach. So who's doing that then? What were you doing? We were doing it between ourselves, but we'd play five a side and we'd play out.

Yeah. Jeez. 4-4-2, it never changed. But it was a good environment, wasn't it? Brilliant environment. Good environment for players. Like you had Percy and Nigel and Des, you'd all had good players, remember? Yeah, good players, yeah. What did his team talk about before a game in terms of how to motivate you or how to sort of... Well, you remember he used to have the cricket ball? Yeah. So he'd come in, like eight minutes to kick off, say, and he'd like you to sit down still with a towel over your knees.

Focus on the job. Have you got clothes on? Any particular reason? Do you just like to... I don't know. Keep warm, focus on the game and then he'd pull out his cricket ball and he'd throw it, catch it, throw it back. Next one. Catch it, throw it back. Catch it and then he'd take his flat cap off and he'd try and throw it on the peg. We used to have a ball in the middle of the dressing room on a towel and he'd go...

That's what we're playing with, keep it on the floor. That was it. That's it. Go and enjoy it, play with a smile on your face. That's it. Never did any, any, never, ever once mention the opposition. Never. Set pieces, nothing? Nothing. No set plays. Because he believed so much in you guys. And he could pick players, he obviously knew a good player. Off the cuff. Recruitment was fantastic.

Wow. That was a tough time. He definitely made sure you wouldn't be overthinking the game, would he? Yeah. It doesn't sound like it. No, you'd never go on the pitch thinking, you wouldn't know your job, that's really important part of management. And it would be all them simple things like looking after the ball, striker get hold of it, for me, just make some runs and...

So what about the opposing team with the runners just coming through and what? Nothing. Yeah, but subconsciously you'd be aware of who you're playing, but you wouldn't need the manager telling you that you know who you're up against. You'd be doing that by just watching games yourself and picking up on stuff. What would his non-negotiables say? I was just about to say, if you're playing in midfield and they've got midfielders that are going to run, you know it anyway, do you know what I mean? It's not like, exactly, that's what I mean. You just play the game in front of you, don't you? What were his non-negotiables in terms of what would he just not accept?

What would he lose his rag at, lose his temper at? Being late. Yeah, huge one for him, yeah. I remember going into training once and I was a bit... I wasn't clean-shaven. I mean, he didn't mind a bit, as long as it was neat. But if you were looking, you know... Scruffy. Yeah, he'd go...

I remember one sent me home, see you tomorrow. Because you had a beard? Because I was looking a bit scruffy in that. You were loving your days off, now, mind you. You were doing a full week. I was sticking my hair up in gel all over. How do you deal with this, this little thing? He wouldn't have noticed that. That was after him. I had a goatee as well and long curly hair. I remember his first words to me ever was... There wasn't an academy then, it was two-year apprenticeship. YTS, I think.

But the lead up to that was called a Colts team. The Colts? The Colts. So that was like the feeder group then. And you'd go and play against local football teams, men. So we were like 15, 16 coming through the Colts. We were playing in a local league that was men. And again, that was your great education, playing against men at that age. And he used to come and watch. The first team were at home in the afternoon. He'd come and watch the Colts to see...

I remember doing well in one game and he waited for me after. And I had long curly hair. He said, son. So I goes over to him, I said, yes. He said, no, it's boss. I said, yes, boss. He said, if you want to play football for me, I suggest that you get your hair cut. So what do you do the next day? You go and get your hair cut. Because I want to play football for him.

This episode of Stick to Football is brought to you by Skybet. My favourite story is when he made me sign a blank contract. A what? A blank contract. Blank? Yeah. What was blank? The contract. LAUGHTER The numbers? I remember it used to be like a blue A4 piece of paper. So it was amazing how I got this contract. So...

You were in the first team at this stage? No, yeah. I'd played in the first team, so I'd done my YTS, and your first year's pro was a non-negotiable £100 a week contract. The letter came to your digs, right, so you take it or leave it. There was no agents, there were not even any mobiles then. So I was one of the lucky ones, I got the £100 a week contract. Then the following year, I made my debut at 19, and he honoured it, and he'd rip that up then, and then he'd give you what you thought you was worth. Now, because he was this...

psychologist within himself probably without knowing it half the time my first contract was i was injured at the time it was half eight in the morning i got a dead leg he's getting assessed he wants to know his numbers by nine o'clock so i've gone in anyway as i go in like the baths running i can hear like a bath because we had little baths and a big bath then and showers and the baths running and you know the taps are still still running so i pups my head in the

in the bathroom, and he's in the bath. The gaffer's in the bath. Half eight in the morning. Yeah, he's having a bath. I said... Why is that the bit that blows your mind? Come on, I want to hear the story. Shh! I said, are you all right, boss? Get me a towel, son. So I go and get my towel, I come back, and he's gone. But his footprints are going out the dressing room, down the corridor. We've got a sauna halfway down. He's in the sauna. So I knock on the door, give him the towel.

when's your contract up? Such a great accent. I said, end of the season. Would you like a new one? So I said, well, I'd love one. Come and meet, I'll not say what he called me, but he said, come and see me Monday morning and I'll give you a new contract.

So I go and see him Monday morning, to get to see him, you have to go through Carol. She said, well, he hasn't said anything to me, but he's in. I ring his office, go down, just down the corridor, knock on the door, walk in. He's stood there, rugby shirt, green sweater, blue tracky bottoms, pair of wellies on, squash racket in his hand. I said, hello, morning, boss. He goes, what can I do for you? So I said, you've told me to come and see you about signing a new contract.

don't remember that one son I goes well you did he goes have a seat so I sit down and he opens the drawer and he puts the contract on the table and he said sign that I goes I can't sign that

Why can't you sign it? I said, it's blank. I'll fill it in. So he asked me to leave the office. So I'm literally in the corridor and he's closed the door. So I closed the door. I'm in the corridor. And like I say, you're not with an agent or a mobile. And I'm literally just walking up and down the corridor. He's going...

Four minutes. I gave you five to sign it, but I'm going to give you four now. Or you're off to Barnsley, where are you from? They'd love you in goal for them, son. So I'm thinking, what am I going to do? It's like, it's bullying really, isn't it? So I thought I'm going to have to go and sign it. So I goes in.

And I signed the contract and I'd been after a car as well. And to have a car when you were young, you had to ask him. Because if he said no, you couldn't have a car, and his answer to me was, I think you're a bit of an idiot. And while ever there's an idiot on the road, you're not having a car, so of course I'm still driving on the road. And I asked him for months and months and months anyway. So I signed this blank contract. It'll be ready in the morning.

So I go and pick it up Monday morning. Carol hands me some car keys. I said, what's this? She said, you wanted a car, didn't you? I said, yeah. She said, it's got your car. What is it? She said, I don't know.

I said, where is it? She said, it's in the car park. I said, Carol, there's 100 cars in that car park. The point of this car, anyway, it's a white XR3i. Wow. Yeah, and straight away I'm thinking, no one in Barnsley's got one of them. So I point to the car, the car's flashing, the flash isn't, so I've got that car, go back in, I said to Carol, oh, thank the gaffer. She said, here's your contract. I look at the contract.

Year one, £500 a week. Year two, £500 a week. Year three, £500 a week. Year four, £500 a week. In the little bonus section, Elizabeth's car.

So I go, it was Elizabeth. She said, his daughter. She bought that car, she didn't like it, so he's giving it to you. That's not the worst. So I get the wage slip at the end of the month and there's in the column underneath the wages, deduction, Elizabeth's car. £135. So all I did was take over the monthly payment. But that was just him. You know, signing that blank contract.

Even when I had bad times, I could never do wrong anymore. Because I've signed a blank contract.

trusted him and he's trusted me to sign it and that's the bond straight away. That was probably the car contract. That's such a good story that is. It's amazing. Was you happy with the £500? Yeah. As players you have a little chat with the people who are same age as you. So Stoney and Scotty Gemmillan they were all on £500 a week. That was the standard, that was it.

That was exactly the same with us at United. He gave us all the same contract. He gave us four grand signing on fee, £210 a week year one, £230 a week year two, £250, £270. All got Honda Prelude. We all got the same contract, I think eight of us.

I can't even tell you his career, can I? I can't even tell you his career, can I? But all your stories, you've warmed towards him, have you not? I loved him. You've no nastiness towards him, have you? No. A lot of players could look at that and go, it was bullying, I was out of order, but you... No, because I just like, well, he changed my life. So he gave me my debut at 19 against Liverpool, so I always look back as though that man changed my life. So I don't know any players or ex-players

What I do find fascinating is the amount of ex-players that want to know what he was like. And he'll never go away. He's never going away. That's the next part of your career. You have to do this. Fantastic. Yeah. But I talk about him with passion. And love. And love, yeah. Warmth. He was such a...

I don't know whether he knew what he was doing half the time but it was just like yeah but it was tough and you don't know was he tough I know you were saying he gave you a couple of days off after a Blackburn game but there must have been games where he went hey yeah he was tough yeah tough what was he like after a defeat erm

he'd play a mind game if you got beaten he's going to go after you and then he'd go the other way and go have a few days off and then if you'd won a few you'd go listen a couple of days off and he'd be no no you're all into Mars he'd definitely be playing mind games and I really looked after you going back to see your family in Ireland yeah always but also tough with me then yeah obviously the incident with me you with the Crystal Palace goal where he punched me after the game so he'd be like he'd give me days off and he'd be brilliant with my family yeah it was that was my fault what happened? it was my fault

It was a back pass. He left it a little bit short. You was actually charging me down. Was it me? Yeah. Was it? I think it was, you know. Wouldn't have been a good fit. No, but you were good with your feet. You were kind of shanked. Yeah, good left foot. Great left foot. And I'm looking, and honestly, it was like slow motion. You know about not upsetting the manager, because we all love Brian Clubby. Give us a chance like Norm did for me. And I remember John Salacco gets it. And I'm looking at Norm running back. John Salacco. What would he be, 45 yards out riding? Easily. At the city ground, wouldn't it? Norm.

no he didn't get in there he's fucking not getting there as soon as I hit the net how does it go how does that end up being a punch because he blamed me for the back pass and it was the cup game so I went to a replay and he was like he wanted a game done and dusted there I think he ended up going to three replays so they thought of having a free week and he goes I've got to go to London

all the way to London to play Palace in a cup game that we had at one so you blame me after a match obviously I don't think you said much after the game you were just let me take the rap for it you just punched me in the chest I don't think he said much you did it did he no nothing

I'm like, I forgot to win that one. He punched me as well. Did he? Yeah. Yeah, he punched me at Villa away. We drew 1-1. I saved a penalty from David Platt and obviously it wasn't a bad result. You're buzzing after the game and at Villa Park the tunnel is down at the bottom corner so I'm waiting for Nigel Spink to come down to shake hands as keepers do. I've shook hands with a referee as he's walking past me next minute

He grabs me and says, "Remember the stairs were like that?" Yeah, Villa. "Get up them stairs." I get in the dressing room and I'm watching him like this. I'm like, "What have I done? I haven't done anything wrong." Anyway, it goes and gets where I'm getting changed.

And I'm taking my shirt off like that, and as I've got to about there, he's come for me. He's hung my shirt on the peg. LAUGHTER And started, like, digging me in the stomach. Like, what are you doing? What are you doing? If I ever see you shake hands with a referee after a decision like that, son, it's I'll do more than punch you in the stomach. LAUGHTER

Is he mad at me or what? See, it was going on back then with the refs. And, like, Pacey had to jump in and, like, stop him. It was proper sending in at me, like. Sending in at me. But even at the end, I didn't respect him for it. Yeah, the few years I was there, people were saying he was finished back then. Brian Clough was finished. He's lost the plot. We got to two cup finals in three years. It would have been great if we'd won the cup. So you're doing your best now in the cup final. And yet everyone's saying Brian Clough was finished. Yeah. Yeah, nearly. Nearly.

As the main character of your life, you know how important it is to make the right choices for you and how sweet it is to feel good about your decisions. With the State Farm Personal Price Plan, you have options to help create an affordable price for you so you can continue living your best life.

Talk to a State Farm agent today to learn how you can choose to bundle and save with a personal price plan. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Prices are based on rating plans that vary by state. Coverage options are selected by the customer. Availability, amount of discounts and savings, and eligibility vary by state.

For the ones who get it done.

What's your best Brian Clough story? You're on the after-dinner circuit now. What's the sort of stories that you would tell? I think the one that goes down the best, and a lot of people don't believe it, is I made my debut against Liverpool. I threw a little bit of luck, really, because first-team goalie Steve Sutton had gone down with a virus. It was a night game, so he couldn't play. Hans Seegers was on loan at Wimbledon, and then we got a couple of more a little bit older than me that probably weren't good enough players.

and I was coming through with the reserves pretty well in that. So I played against Liverpool. The following Saturday we got Newcastle away, but Steve Sutton, the first-team goalie, has now trained all week, so I thought, I'm not going to play. Well, he kept me in. We won 1-0. Then the following Saturday he kept me in again. We beat Coventry in the FA Cup. After the game against Coventry, I didn't know, but it was time to take me out of the team then. Like, I'm 19, I've come in, I can do it. He's goalkeeper for the next 10 years or whatever. Um...

But I just, because I was on such a high, as I'm leaving the dressing room, I just turned around and said to the lads, thank you for the best ten days of my life that you've just given me. I can't believe actually what's just happened, but see you on Monday. And he goes, where do you think you are going? So he goes, I'm going home. Where's home? I said, I live in Barnsley. He said, my house tomorrow morning, nine o'clock, bring your boots and it would help if you bring your gloves as well.

Long story short, his son, Simon Clough, was the manager of a team in the Derbyshire Sunday League, Division 5, and they haven't got a goalkeeper on this morning. So I've gone to his house, not knowing what's happening, with my boots and gloves, thinking, why am I here, what am I doing? And his wife, Barbara, answers the door. She said, come on in, and Brian's upstairs, he'll be down...

So Brian Clough comes in the kitchen in his house and he said, thank you for agreeing to play for Simon's team this morning. They haven't got a goalkeeper and I thought you'd do. So I ended up playing for his son's Sunday league team, Coventry the day before, playing as a ringer in his son's Sunday league team. I hardly ever touched the ball.

It was just like bring you back down to earth type of thing. Right. And the team got fined, a record fine for playing a ringer, which was me. They got the points taken off them. They got fined 50 quid and Cluffy took the 50 quid out of my way. LAUGHTER

He made me pay the fine. That's because he thought, obviously, you were getting carried away by saying, see you, lads. Overstepping that level playing field. Now he's recognised that instantly. Yeah, that's psychology. Was he watching the game? He was watching the game. He shouted over during the game, I'm not allowed to swear, am I? Yeah. He used to call me shithouse all the time. That's what made me swear.

Any reason for that? Now he just... He used to call me imbecile. He used to call me bouncer, which is where I was from. He used to call me jigsaw. There's another story about that. I asked him why he started calling me jigsaw, and his answer was...

Every time the ball comes in the box, you go to pieces. Like, so... But at the game, the Sunday league game, he used to go and watch. He used to go and watch. On a Sunday morning, he'd have his dog and he'd be a couple of football pitches away and he shouted during the game, Shit house! So I look over and he stood like that. LAUGHTER LAUGHTER

At least he went to the game though, do you know what I mean? I love the stories. I love the stories on him. But if he felt the player was getting carried away with that, he'd done it to loads of players. Yeah, he did, yeah. Remember Lachlan, my buddy, remember Lachlan played a couple of firsts and Lachlan never played, he played two or three games and he said something in the training one time, he gave a ball to Pearce here on Nigel, it was short,

And he said, sorry lads. And apparently he reckons Brian Cluffer, what are you saying sorry for? And he said, he was finished after that. Oh my gosh. You're in awe of these players or something. He said, finished after that. Never played again for the first time. Wow. Just for saying sorry? Saying like, sorry I didn't give like, perfect pass or Nigel or whoever it was. And he said, what are you apologising for?

He says he never... Just a player just not having the right maybe mindset or whatever it might be. Or getting carried away. Would he be different with Stuart Pearce as the captain? Yeah, one percent. Pearce could do what he wanted, couldn't he? Yeah, to a certain extent. Yeah, of course. Pearce has got stories as well. Well, the best one, Pearce, remember he said to us when he got called in for England and Brian Clough called him. Like, Pearce, I was a younger player, but Pearce had a lot of power. He's captain of England. But he'd be still on his case. Yeah.

did Percy got called up for England the manager pulled him in Percy said this story before and the manager said do you think you're good enough for England and Percy was like Percy's obviously buzzing he's got called up for England and he says yeah yeah do Gaffer and he went I don't think you are now get out of my office that was to Percy Percy obviously tells it better than me that was to your Percy just keeping everyone grounded don't be getting carried away with it there was a story with the iron as well wasn't there where yeah yeah

when when Pearcey played non-league he was an electrician by trade and he used to get an advert in the in the programme Stuart Pearce electrician and the gaffer spotted it like and he so he's obviously thought about it and one day he's walked in with a shopping bag and the ball that I said that was on the towel he's knocked the ball off and put the bag down and stepped back and

Said to Percy about the electrician, what's all that about? On page nine, Stuart Pearce, electrician, if Barbara's light bulb goes out and she calls that number, you're not really coming, are you, to change it? No, my brother is.

And then he walks over to the bag and he pulls out an iron and he said, Barbara's iron's buggered. He says, if you don't mend it, you ain't playing, sassy. And Casey mended the iron and put it on his desk. Oh, my God. So... It's madness, honestly.

Madness but genius. Yeah. So your next job, you need to buy a cricket ball and iron. Well, that's a brilliant finish to a great episode. So good to see you. Great to have you on. Unbelievable story. So thanks very much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Hold on. Hold on. Nice one. Nice one.

Have you never spoken about his career, saving penalties in cup finals? You know what I mean? Oh, let's talk about that now. Matt Letizia. He saved one of Matt Letizia's... You're the only one that saved Matt Letizia's penalty, weren't you? Yeah. He took 48, yeah. He missed one, yeah. Wow. And he was in the final. Yeah, yeah. Wow. Yeah. It was weird because Matt actually sent me a picture because it was at the Dell, the old Dell. And he said, I was in this state now. Hmm.

And Matt sent me a picture that that end is now called Crossley Place and I didn't believe it. Wow. So the end that he missed his penalty, they've named the state after football players. All right. And that end is Crossley Place because of the penalty miss. Only one from Matt. Yeah, so I think there's only been three missed in a final in normal time penalties. Yeah, Bess. Bess, myself and Petr Cech. Petr Cech, yeah. Did you have some good nights out together? Yeah.

Can you remember the jersey ones were good, weren't they? You know, like mid-season. I was sent back. I had a fight with a hockey team or something. A full team? I'm sure it was you. We went out for an Indian. Can you remember? And you said, what's the hottest curry? Was it you or was it Gary Parker? And he said, oh, it's a tinderloo or something. A tinderloo. So the hotel where we were staying, the Grand Hotel, they had little dips on the side.

And was it not you that emptied all the dips and put the tinderloo in the things? So us business people will come in and dip in the mini-chips and the dips.

they're dipping it in this tinder and we're all sat there watching like as well as they're putting it in their mouth I can't take credit for that he sent me back from Jersey yeah there was an incident in the bar yeah I was obviously quite in the business something signed yeah someone threw a drink over me why because you wouldn't sign it no because I'd already signed something from him and I just said how many do you need oh and they threw a drink over me

What happened next? I said, that's unacceptable. Yeah, I did. He sent me back the next day. Yeah, he sent me back on a flight a few days early. The good days, huh? Nice days, great days. Howard. Nice one. Brilliant. Brilliant, man.

Hey, this is Jonathan Fields, host of the Good Life Project podcast. Boost Mobile reminds me of what I love, when someone re-imagines what's possible. They have invested billions in building America's newest 5G network, becoming the country's fourth major carrier. They are doing things differently, offering a $25 monthly unlimited plan that never increases in price, and letting you try their service risk-free for 30 days.

With blazing fast 5G and plans for all the latest devices, they're changing the game. Visit your nearest Boost Mobile store or find them online at BoostMobile.com. The Boost Mobile network together with their roaming partners covers 99% of the U.S. population. 5G speeds not available in all areas.

As the main character of your life, you know how important it is to make the right choices for you and how sweet it is to feel good about your decisions. With the State Farm Personal Price Plan, you have options to help create an affordable price for you so you can continue living your best life.

Talk to a State Farm agent today to learn how you can choose to bundle and save with a personal price plan. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Prices are based on rating plans that vary by state. Coverage options are selected by the customer. Availability, amount of discounts and savings, and eligibility vary by state.

For the ones who get it done.

Thanks for listening and thanks to our partner Skybet. If you want more, please subscribe and you won't miss an episode.