Bloody Southerners Clough and Taylor’s Brighton & Hove Odyssey
In 1973, Brian Clough and Peter Taylor stunned the football world by taking charge of Brighton & Hove Albion, a sleepy backwater club that had rarely done anything in its 72-year existence to trouble the headline writers. The move made no sense. Clough was managerial gold dust, having led Derby County to the Football League title and the semi-finals of the European Cup. He and his sidekick Peter Taylor could have gone anywhere. Instead they chose Brighton, sixth bottom of the old Third Division.
Featuring never-before-told stories from the players who were there, Bloody Southerners lifts the lid for the first time on what remains the strangest managerial appointment in post-war English football, one that would push Clough and Taylor’s friendship and close working relationship to breaking point.
Reviews
“This book tells the story you didn’t know about the Clough era at Brighton. An enthralling read.”
Des Lynam OBE
“A fascinating piecing together of an overlooked and under-reported phase of Brian Clough’s career, but an important one for Clough, Peter Taylor and Brighton.”
Nick Szczepanik
"Sheds light on Brian Clough's ill-fated spell in charge at Brighton."
Nottingham Post
"Fascinating and hilarious!"
The Telegraph
"Vignes captures the story in great depth."
When Saturday Comes magazine