One of the advantages of the Premier League season starting a week later than some European
leagues is that it gives us a chance, for one weekend at least, to watch other leagues that we
necessarily wouldn't have as much time for once the season kicks off.
And what better way to spend the weekend by watching the real life drama of The Damned
United when Derby County play Leeds United at Elland Road in the Championship?
You've see the film The Damned United, or read the book by David Peace that inspired it. The
question that remains is, to what extent has the outspoken, charismatic and often times hilarious
manager left a lasting impression on you?
For me, Clough embodies what I think of when I imagine English football in the 60's and 70's and
he remains a true legend in the game.
Took a few days off with the girlfriend and kids - and while they played in the snow, I thought I'd
finish up my stack of David Peace novels - having sailed through the 1974, 1977, 1980 and 1983 Red
Riding Quadrilogy I still had The Damned Utd and GB84 to read.
For whatever reason - and I may have mentioned it before - this last couple of years I've become
even more nostalgic, I think it's my age.
New football book titles out this month include We Are The Damned United, another take on Brian
Clough's ill-fated stay at Leeds in the 70s, written as a response to David Peace's classic The
Damned Utd and an autobiography of BBC football commentator John Motson Motty: Forty Years in the
Commentary Box.
Dirty, dirty Leeds. Dirty fucking Leeds. After reading David Peace's novel The Damned Utd these
words cycled through my head for days. They work as an obsessive refrain in Peace's account of
Brian Clough's infamous 44 days as the manager of (dirty, dirty) Leeds.
I knew nothing about Clough, Leeds, and this bizarre story before reading Peace's novel.
Dirty, dirty Leeds. Dirty fucking Leeds. After reading David Peace's novel The Damned UTD these
words cycled through my head for days. They work as an obsessive refrain in David Peace's account
of Brian Clough's infamous 44 days as the manager of (dirty, dirty) Leeds.
I knew nothing about Clough, Leeds, and this bizarre story before reading Peace's novel - that I
enjoyed the book, and felt as if Clough himself, in all his puerile genius, had wormed his way into
my head is as good a testimony as I can give to the intensity and distinctiveness of Peace's
writing.
Earlier this year, we sent Ted Carter to the cinema with a paper bag containing some crab
paste sandwiches and a ticket for the movie version of David Peace's 2006 novel, "The Damned
United". The film is released on DVD next Monday, so we thought that it was time to revisit this
interpretation of Brian Clough's forty-four days at Leeds United.
Well, I didn't think it would happen, but thankfully it has. Sony Pictures has decided to bring
The Damned United to U.S. movie screens.
The adaptation of the controversial novel by author David Peace about the 44 day period that
Brian Clough spent as manager of Leeds United will be released this Fall.
The Australian Financial Review ran a great story in its Review pages this Friday, 'Pitch black:
England and its national game in the 1970s' by Dominic Sandbrook. It was inspired by David Peace's
book 'The Damned United' which will be released here in August.
I was very young in 1974 playing for the Redbacks.
The young Brian Clough?Just seen Michael Sheen on Jonathan Ross (that's me crazy guy, crazy Friday
night) and I'm looking forward to The Damned United film. And I enjoyed the book.I'm sorry that the
Clough family have been upset but it is, essentially, a fictionalised account of real events
involving Brian Clough.
The young Brian Clough?Just seen Michael Sheen on Jonathan Ross (that's me crazy guy, crazy Friday
night) and I'm looking forward to The Damned United film. And I enjoyed the book.I'm sorry that the
Clough family have been upset but it is, essentially, a fictionalised account of real events
involving Brian Clough.
One of the most eagerly anticipated movies of the year is scheduled to debut on March 27 when
"The Damned United," the story of Brian Clough's 44-day reign as manager at Leeds United,
hits the silver screen in the United Kingdom. This promises not to be just another football movie.
Based on the novel by acclaimed [.
It's a standing joke in the-not-from-LA LA footie community that a bit of rain cancels
everything.
The U10 lads dominated my weekend, we lost ignominiously 6-2 on Saturday and then exited the 5 v 5
tourney in the first round. I've heard all the excuses, but we were short two lads in the first
half on Saturday, and robbed of 4 minutes playing time in the first of two games on Sunday.
It's a standing joke in the-not-from-LA LA footie community that a bit of rain cancels
everything.
The U10 lads dominated my weekend, we lost ignominiously 6-2 on Saturday and then exited the 5 v 5
tourney in the first round. I've heard all the excuses, but we were short two lads in the first
half on Saturday, and robbed of 4 minutes playing time in the first of two games on Sunday.
Karen Carney and Kelly Smith got the two against Germany's 6 - the dream of England's women wasn't
to be. But the lasses final was England's first final since the year of Hope Powell's birth. She's
magic she is. It's just a bit pathetic that it wasn't on live TV here.
Fabio did the business against Slaven.
Karen Carney and Kelly Smith got the two against Germany's 6 - the dream of England's women wasn't
to be. But the lasses final was England's first final since the year of Hope Powell's birth. She's
magic she is. It's just a bit pathetic that it wasn't on live TV here.
Fabio did the business against Slaven.
There is an ingredient in Diet Coke that stops it from fizzing up like crazy at the soda fountain.
Whatever that ingredient is, it's not approved in the EU, so Diet Coke fizzes up like crazy either
when you serve it as a member of staff or when you serve yourself.
There are ingredients in Diet Irn Bru that prevent it from being distributed in the United States
in it's original recipe.
There is an ingredient in Diet Coke that stops it from fizzing up like crazy at the soda fountain.
Whatever that ingredient is, it's not approved in the EU, so Diet Coke fizzes up like crazy either
when you serve it as a member of staff or when you serve yourself.
There are ingredients in Diet Irn Bru that prevent it from being distributed in the United States
in it's original recipe.
A sudden blow: the great wings beating still
Above the staggering girl, her thighs caressed
By the dark webs, her nape caught in his bill,
He holds her helpless breast upon his breast.
How can those terrified vague fingers push
The feathered glory from her loosening thighs?
The curse of The Damned United has struck again. Johnny Giles, the former Leeds United
midfield player, sued the publishers of the acclaimed David Peace novel after being painted in a
Machiavellian hue. He won.
Clough's widow, Barbara, was deeply upset by the book, but had no legal recourse given libel laws
and the dead.
All the stuff being covered outside the unfriendly confines of the award winning Dirty
Tackle...
More from SWP's charity event Steve Sidwell says people yell "Ginger!" at him on the streets and
he has no desire to weigh in on the Jordan and Peter business. [ChannelBee]
Though he didn't even play, Flamengo fans still came through on their warning of revenge when
Corinthians came to town by proclaiming Fat Ronaldo to be the "King of The Transvestites.
