 Nigel Clough April 2024 after guiding Mansfield Town to promotion to League One | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Nigel Howard Clough[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 19 March 1966[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Sunderland, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[3] | ||
| Position(s) | Forward, midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Mansfield Town (manager) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1982–1984 | Nottingham Forest | ||
| 1983–1984 | → Heanor Town (loan) | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1984–1993 | Nottingham Forest | 311 | (101) |
| 1993–1996 | Liverpool | 39 | (7) |
| 1996–1998 | Manchester City | 39 | (4) |
| 1996–1997 | → Nottingham Forest (loan) | 13 | (1) |
| 1997 | → Sheffield Wednesday (loan) | 1 | (0) |
| 1998–2008 | Burton Albion | 227 | (16) |
| Total | 630 | (131) | |
| International career | |||
| 1986–1988 | England U21 | 15 | (3) |
| 1990–1991 | England B | 3 | (1) |
| 1989–1993 | England | 14 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1998–2009 | Burton Albion | ||
| 2009–2013 | Derby County | ||
| 2013–2015 | Sheffield United | ||
| 2015–2020 | Burton Albion | ||
| 2020– | Mansfield Town | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Nigel Howard Clough (born 19 March 1966) is an English professional football manager and former player who is currently the manager of Mansfield Town. Playing predominantly as a forward, but later in his career used as a midfielder, Clough was capped by England 14 times in the early 1990s.
Clough was born in Sunderland, the son of Brian Clough who had been one of the most promising strikers in the English game until injury ended his career. Nigel was subsequently raised in Allestree, Derby, after his father became the manager of Derby County in 1967.[4][5] Clough's father had moved on to manage Nottingham Forest in 1975 and as a young prospect Nigel signed apprentice forms with the club in 1982. He 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 in 1993, also going on to make his England debut in 1989 and was part of the squad at UEFA Euro 1992.
Clough's 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. Nottingham Forest experienced a downturn in their performances culminating in the relegation of the club from the Premier League, and the retirement of his father as manager in 1993. He subsequently signed for Liverpool before moving onto Manchester City. Following loan moves to Sheffield Wednesday and a brief return to Forest, Clough moved into non-league football at the age of 32 when he became player manager with Southern Football League Premier Division side Burton Albion in 1998.
Over the next decade, during half of which he continued to play a regular role on the field, Clough took Burton up from the seventh tier of the English football league system to the brink of promotion to League Two. Halfway through the 2008–09 season he followed in his father's footsteps by joining Derby County as manager but was dismissed in September 2013. He 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. He 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. He stepped down in May 2020, and returned to work in November at Mansfield Town.
- ^ "Nigel Clough". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
- ^ Culley, Jon (9 January 2011). "Nigel Clough: Thick-skinned, brutally honest. Who does he take after?". The Independent. London. Retrieved 30 September 2013. Some sources such as his Liverpool FC profile Archived 3 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine indicate a 9 March 1966 birth date.
- ^ Rollin, Jack, ed. (1980). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1980–81. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 266. ISBN 0362020175.
- ^ Derby County boss Nigel Clough goes back to his roots as former school celebrates 50 years Archived 18 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine Derby Telegraph, 8 September 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2014.
- ^ "Allestree".