Nigel Clough

Club career

Nottingham Forest

Clough joined First Division club Nottingham Forest as an apprentice on leaving school in 1982. He left after two seasons to sign for non-league side Heanor Town, but was back at the City Ground on a professional contract in December 1984. On Boxing Day 1984, Clough made his league debut against Ipswich Town. He became a regular player in the 1985–86 season, was Forest's top scorer with 15 goals in the First Division and was crowned Nottingham Forest Player of the Season, as the club finished eighth in the league. Clough was ever-present the following season as Forest repeated their eighth-position finish. Clough would again be Forest's top scorer. In April 1988, he was the subject of a £1.5 million bid from Italian side Pisa, but the bid was turned down and Clough remained at Forest, who finished third that season and the season after. He 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. They were also FA Cup semi-finalists in 1988 and 1989 and runners-up in 1991. Clough also contributed to Forest winning the last Full Members' Cup in 1992. They also reached another League Cup final that season, but lost 1–0 to Manchester United. Clough was Forest's top scorer in 1992–93 with ten goals in the new Premier League, but Forest were relegated, following which his father Brian retired after 18 years as manager. Towards the end of…

Burton Albion

In October 1998, he moved into management when he accepted the role of player-manager at Burton Albion in the Southern Football League Premier Division. Now aged 32, Clough was still registered as a player, which possibly explained his apparent lack of ambition to move into League management (his father bitterly lamented the premature curtailment of his own playing career). However, Clough had not played regularly for Burton since the early stages of the 2005–06 season, though he did play in the team's 6–3 win over Sutton Coldfield Town in the Birmingham Senior Cup on 27 October 2008. His final senior appearance for Burton came in the league against Droylsden on 12 February 2008, his only appearance of the season. In January 2006, Burton, then in the Conference, held Manchester United to a 0–0 draw in the third round of the FA Cup. The United team featured Ole Gunnar Solskjær and Louis Saha, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney introduced as second-half substitutes. Burton midfielder Chris Hall said: "After the match, the press were buzzing... but we had a local cup game, against Stourbridge, I think, and the gaffer only wanted to focus on that.... With his playing career, he was used to the publicity... It was brilliant and it was quite a breath of fresh air, but at the same time, the gaffer kept us grounded". In the replay at Old Trafford, Burton were beaten 5–0, but earned a reported £600,000 in the process. Clough won the Conference Premier…

As a player

Nottingham Forest

Football League Cup: 1988–89, 1989–90 Full Members' Cup: 1988–89, 1991–92 Individual

Nottingham Forest Player of the Year: 1985–86, 1987–88 Young Eagle of the Year: 1987–88 Midlands Soccer Writers' Association Midlands Player of the Year: 1987–88

As a manager

Burton Albion

Football League One second-place promotion: 2015–16 Northern Premier League Premier Division: 2001–02 Southern League Cup: 1999–2000 Southern League Championship Shield: 2000 Bass Charity Vase: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 Southern League Premier Division runner-up: 1999–2000, 2000–2001 Birmingham Senior Cup runner-up: 2007–08 Mansfield Town

EFL League Two third-place promotion: 2023–24 Individual

LMA FA Cup Manager of the Year: 2014 Football League One Manager of the Month: February 2014 EFL League Two Manager of the Month: February 2024 EFL League Two Manager of the Season: 2023–24

Other

On 18 December 2025, Clough was awarded an honorary doctorate by Nottingham Trent University for his contributions to football. His father, Brian, received an honorary Master of Arts degree from University of Nottingham in 1990.