No-one can repeat Clough achievement - Allardyce

Bolton manager Sam Allardyce believes one of the late Brian Clough’s major achievements in the game will never be repeated.

In 1978 Clough, who died of stomach cancer earlier this week aged 69, led Forest to the league title in their first season back in the top flight, before leading them to two successive European Cups.

The gap in class between the first and second tier of English football has arguably widened, and Allardyce, whose side are punching above their weight by occupying fourth place in the Premiership, cannot see a club making such an impact ever again.

“They won the championship the first year up and that will never be repeated by a promoted side,” he said.

“Forest are a fairly small city club but at the time they were furnished pretty well by their spending power.

“Brian Clough persuaded the directors to go down that road and it’s the size of the manager when he can see what is in front of him.

“I remember the buys he made, the people he brought into the club and the work he and Peter Taylor did.

“They brought in Peter Shilton, Kenny Burns, Larry Lloyd and John McGovern. Then they bought in Trevor Francis for £1million. Clough was the first manager here to do that.

“He knew what he was doing. All of a sudden it made Nottingham Forest great.

“It was great by the fact he bought in those players and they were hugely successful immediately after getting promoted.”

Allardyce added: “He was a very good manager before he got to Forest. He then became one of the game’s greats. He made Forest good for a long time.”

However, Allardyce revealed Clough was only 90 minutes away from missing out on promotion at the end of the 1976-77 season.

Forest gained momentum to finish behind Wolves and Chelsea to go up, but it was a close call as Bolton were pipped by a point after they had to settle for a 2-2 draw against Bristol Rovers – a match in which Allardyce played.

The Bolton manager told the Press Association: “The Forest lads were sitting on the beach when we were playing our last game of the season.

“If we had won, they would have stayed down and we would have gone up.

“We drew, Forest got promoted and had that not happened Brian Clough may not have achieved what he did after that.

“As well as being very good, you have to be lucky. Brian would have told you that.”