MEMORIES FROM AUGUST 1989

At the start of the 1989-90 season, a trophy-laden Cloughie was pictured on the front cover of the programme for Nottingham Forest's first match of the new Division One campaign. 

Cloughie proudly held the Littlewoods and Simod trophies which the Reds had won the previous season, proving that he could once again re-build a successful team from scratch. As well as finishing third in the league, Forest had beaten Luton Town 3-1 in the Littlewoods Cup Final and defeated Everton 4-3 in the Simod Cup Final. Old Big 'Ead would later joke that Forest's team coach knew its own way to Wembley. 

The match programme for the game against Aston Villa, who had narrowly escaped relegation, cost 80p. It also included Cloughie giving his famous 'thumbs-up' in one of his advertisements for East Midlands Electricity. 

In his programme notes, Cloughie was in good humorous form. He said he had been intrigued during the summer to hear that "our lovely chairman (I've got to butter him up a bit at the start of the season)" had offered him the opportunity of working just one day a week. 

"My first thought, quite understandably in my opinion, was to sign up an agent and get him to ask the Board how many hours they expected me to work in that day," said Cloughie. 

Forest drew 1-1 with Villa in the season-opener. Clough said he had the utmost regard for the Villa boss Graham Taylor and the support he received from the chairman Doug Ellis. 

"Mr Ellis very kindly let me have the use of his office when I went down to Villa Park for the Neil Webb tribunal last month and I sat snugly in his seat," said Cloughie.

"I sat there comfortably for a few minutes and I've got to confess my mind started wandering off and thinking...'Cloughie, you could get used to this one day a week business.'"