13/03/2013 00:00
TW
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By Humphrey Carter

PALMA
THE late legendary football manager Brian Clough used to own a holiday home here in Majorca and, as a result, the island features in the forthcoming biopic The Damned United which is going to be released at cinemas at the end of this month.

Based on a book, written by David Peace and published in 2006, set in the 1960s and 1970s it tells the infamous story of Brian Clough's doomed 44-day tenure as manager of Leeds United.

The Damned United was shot on locations throughout Yorkshire, including Leeds, Derbyshire and Majorca last year.
Michael Sheen, who played Tony Blair in the award-winning The Queen (2006), and has also played Kenneth Williams and David Frost, will star as Brian Clough. Co-stars will include Timothy Spall and Jim Broadbent.

Before the arrival of Clough in 1974 Leeds United were managed by Don Revie (Majorca-resident Colm Meaney), and were experiencing the club's most successful period.

Opponents claimed Leeds had an aggressive and cynical style of football and Brian Clough looked to change that.

CLASHED
Taking the Leeds job he clashed with a changing room full of Don's boys, Clough's way of winning over the Leeds United players was to apparently suggest chucking all their medals into a bin because they had been won by cheating.

It looked like it was going to be a bumpy ride and that is exactly what happened.
An explosive mix that lead to an unheralded examination of Clough's belligerence and brilliance over 44 days.
The new film tells that story. The story of The Damned United.
Adapted for the screen by Peter Morgan (The Queen, The Last King of Scotland) the film has been directed by Tom Hooper (Longford, Elizabeth I).
The film has been financed by BBC Films, Columbia Pictures and Screen Yorkshire.
Sony Pictures Entertainment has worldwide rights and is due to be released in the UK on March 27 and is currently receiving highly positive reviews over the past week in the British newspapers.

But, Clough's widow, Barbara Clough, who was already an outspoken critic of Peace's book, expressed disappointment that the film was being made. On the implication that it would be similar to the book, she said “It's going to be pretty dire”.