(Derby County v West Ham United 12 April 1975)
When I lived in London in 1974/75 I took to following the Derby County Football Club. It was a fortuitous selection as they won the English Championship whilst I lived there, yet Chelsea, whose home ground was around the corner from my flat, were relegated. I can't recall the reasons why I chose to support Derby County although my interest in a sporting team often arose from how good its players looked so that was probably a big influence on me at the time. I tend to be very loyal in my sporting allegiance and still take an interest in Derby County to this day.
At the time one of the most famous football managers and media personalities was Brian Clough, an opinionated and egocentric individual whose glittering playing career had been cut short by injury and who had managed my now favourite club from the doldrums of lower divisions to a Championship a few years earlier.
In 1974, Brian Clough was appointed manager of Leeds United, then the powerhouse of English football much as Manchester United is today. It proved to be a disastrous appointment. Clough was sacked after just forty-four days in the position. It is this story and the lead up that are depicted in The Damned United.
Michael Sheen portrays Clough in an interesting study of genius, ambition, envy and revenge. The film does not require any knowledge of soccer; in fact the game itself only features occasionally. Sheen certainly is a versatile actor having recently played Tony Blair in The Queen and a vampire (I believe) in New Moon.
The film is also a fascinating reminder of the extent to which big time sport has changed in the intervening years.
Ironically, nowadays Derby County has dropped back into the second tier of English football whilst Leeds United is competing in an even lower division, albeit currently it's leader.
London indeed. I pick my teams in a similar manner. Now who does Craig Wing play for? Well, who did he play for. He is now playing in Japan or somewhere exotic.
ReplyDeleteAndrew - Wing started his career with South Sydney Rabbitohs then spent many years (and most of his career) with Sydney (Eastern Suburbs) Roosters before returning for several injury affected years to the Rabbitohs.
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