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The Damned United
Taking over Leeds United, Brian Clough's abrasive approach and his clear dislike of the players' dirty style of play make it certain there is going to be friction. Glimpses of his earlier career help explain both his hostility to previous manager Don Revie and how much he is missing right-hand man Peter Taylor.
2009 · Directed by Tom Hooper · 97 min · Drama · History · Screenplay in the scene database · 3 frames
Tagline
They love me for what I'm not... ...they hate me for what I am.
Plot
In 1974 Don Revie, the highly successful manager of Leeds United, is appointed manager of England. He is replaced at Leeds by Brian Clough, the former manager of Derby County and a fierce critic of Leeds because of their physical style of play under Revie. Clough's conflict with Leeds stems from a 1968 FA Cup match when they, the leaders of the First Division, played Derby, who were struggling near the bottom of the Second Division. Despite preparations Clough made to welcome and accommodate Leeds at the Baseball Ground, Revie did not even acknowledge him before, during or after the match, which Leeds won 2–0. Clough is not joined at Leeds by his long-time assistant manager, Peter Taylor.
Following the defeat by Leeds, Clough and Taylor recognise that despite their players' physicality, Derby are not good on a technical level. They sign Dave Mackay and several young players, initially concerning club chairman Sam Longson, but by the season's end Derby are promoted to the First Division. Despite losing their first league game 5–0 to Leeds, Derby go on to win their first League championship in 1972, earning them a European Cup campaign the following season. Against Longson's insistence to rest players ahead of their semi-final against Juventus, Clough plays his best squad in the preceding match against Leeds, purely out of determination to beat Revie. Several Derby players suffer injuries in the match and the team subsequently lose 3–1 to Juventus.
Taylor suffers a heart attack and Clough tries to secure their position at Derby by offering his and Taylor's resignations in protest at Longson's ownership of the club. Longson accepts the resignations and despite Derby fans calling for their reinstatement, Dave Mackay is appointed manager instead. Clough and Taylor then accept jobs at Brighton & Hove Albion, after which Clough is approached to become the new manager of Leeds. With Taylor wanting to stay in Brighton, believing they can achieve more success there than at Leeds, the two fall out and go their separate ways. At his first training session at Leeds, Clough alienates the players by accusing them of having only previously won by cheating and threatening punishments for anyone who mentions Revie's name.
Plot summary from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA.
Crew
- Screenplay: Peter Morgan
- Cinematography: Ben Smithard
- Edited by: Melanie Oliver
- Music: Rob Lane
- Production design: Eve Stewart
- Produced by: Andy Harries, Grainne Marmion, Lee Morris
Cast
- Michael Sheen as Brian Clough
- Timothy Spall as Peter Taylor
- Colm Meaney as Don Revie
- Jim Broadbent as Sam Longson
- Maurice Roëves as Jimmy Gordon
- Stephen Graham as Billy Bremner
- Henry Goodman as Manny Cossins
- Mark Bazeley as Austin Mitchell
- Giles Alderson as Colin Todd
- Martin Compston as John O'Hare
Production
- Country: United Kingdom
- Language: English, Hungarian
- Studios: BBC Film, Screen Yorkshire, Left Bank Pictures, Columbia Pictures
- Budget: $10,000,000
- Themes: northern england, based on novel or book, sports, 1970s, biography, partnership, resignation, yorkshire, brighton, england, football (soccer)
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