Football&Movies: The Damned United

“The Damned United“ is a 2009 film directed by Tom Hooper, and adapted by Peter Morgan from David Peace‘s largely fictional novel The Damned Utd. In 1974 Brian Clough, former footballer of Middlesbrough and Sunderland, and, most of all, great character and manager, left his beloved Derby County, whose manager was Nigel Clough, Brian‘s son, until September 2013, to become the manager of Leeds United, the dominant team during those years, because its former manager, Don Revie, had been chosen to replace Alf Ramsey as England manager. But a nightmare was going to start for Brian Clough, who had never liked Leeds United, its ownership, its players and its unfair football style and wanted to change these features, but he met several difficulties. Moreover Peter Thomas Taylor, Brian‘s precious and faithful assistant, didn’t follow Clough in Leeds and chose to manage Brighton & Hove on his own. Anyway the duo would have reunited few years later and what they would have done with Nottingham Forest is part of football history, and it is told at the end of the movie. The film is quite well made, it’s pleasant to be watched and defines a psychological portrait of Brian Clough. There are also few comics scenes, especially when the manager shows his maniacal perfectionism and how he deals with every detail. Anyway Brian’s family has been very critical about both the book and the movie.

Title: The Damned United.
Year: 2009
Lenght: 97 min.
Director: Tom Hooper
Main Actors: Michael Sheen, Timothy Spall, Colm Meaney, Jim Broadbent, Stephen Graham, Henry Goodman.

Grade: 8/10 (Maxi Lozzo).

Here there’s a documentary about Brian Clough: