The Brian Clough Trophy is contested whenever

East Midlands The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England. It comprises the eastern half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It consists of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire (except for North Lincolnshire and North East ...

rivals Derby County and

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

play each other (known as the East Midlands derby). The trophy is named after Brian Clough, who managed both clubs to great success. The trophy is currently held by Nottingham Forest.

Background and history

Derby County and Nottingham Forest, football clubs located less than 20 miles apart, have long been arch rivals. Unusually, the same man managed both clubs during their greatest periods of success: Brian Clough. He managed Derby County from 1967 to 1973, a time in which they won their first

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

title, and Nottingham Forest from 1975 to 1993, during which they won their only Football League title and two

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

s. On both occasions, he lifted the club from

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third tier ...

to the First Division title. In doing so, Clough was only the second manager, after Herbert Chapman, to win the Football League with two different clubs. Clough himself retired from football in 1993 and died in 2004. In early 2007, officials from Derby County, Nottingham Forest and the Brian Clough Memorial Fund, along with Brian Clough's widow Barbara and his son Nigel, agreed to institute an official tournament between the two clubs that Clough was most successful with as a manager. In a further twist in 2009, Nigel Clough himself became manager of Derby County, having previously played with distinction under his father at Nottingham Forest. The competition does not regularly demand its own fixture, but is competed for whenever the two clubs happen to meet. The first match, however, was a specially-arranged pre-season friendly, with all proceeds going to charity. That initial game was won by Derby County. For the full history behind the trophy matches – including photos of various matches – there is the official Brian Clough tribute website. One year after that initial Derby friendly win, the two clubs found themselves in the Football League Championship, where they both would remain for 14 consecutive seasons. As well as these 28 league meetings the clubs were also drawn together in the 2008–09 FA Cup 4th Round, which after a replay meant that the trophy has been contested in 2 FA Cup Fixtures. The trophy been contested in a League Cup fixture once, in the 2019–20 season. The 2022–23 season was the first since the trophy's inception in which it was not contested, as Nottingham Forest competed in the Premier League while Derby were in League One. The trophy itself is a silver

loving cup A loving cup is a large cup with two arching handles. It can describe a shared drinking container traditionally used at Christian lovefeasts, as well as at weddings and banquets, often made of silver. Loving cups are also given as trophy, trop ...

with a lid. The cup is over 100 years old, though it had never been used before becoming the Brian Clough Trophy.

Winners

As of 2 February 2024, Derby County have held the trophy for the longest combined time at 3,441 days. Current holders Nottingham Forest have held the trophy for a combined 2,963 days.

Overview

As of 31 .

Results

2007–08 season

Friendly ----

References

{{Nottingham Forest F.C. English football trophies and awards Football competitions in England Derby County F.C. Nottingham Forest F.C. Awards established in 2007 Brian Clough

Background and history

Winners

Overview

Results

2007–08 season

2008–09 season

2009–10 season

2010–11 season

2011–12 season

2012–13 season

2013–14 season

2014–15 season

2015–16 season

2016–17 season

2017–18 season

2018–19 season

2019–20 season

2020–21 season

2021–22 Season

References