[4][5] Clough's father had moved on to manage Nottingham Forest in 1975 and as a young prospect Nigel signed apprentice forms with the club in 1982.

Nottingham Forest experienced a downturn in their performances culminating in the relegation of the club from the Premier League, and the retirement of his father as manager in 1993.

He was dismissed in May 2015 and returned to Burton in December, leading them to promotion to the Championship for the first time in the club's history in May 2016 and the League Cup semi-final in January 2019.

[citation needed] Clough was widely expected to leave Forest in order to continue playing Premier League football, and was sold to Liverpool that summer for £2.25million.

At the time, he was one of the most expensive players ever to be signed by Liverpool, who had finished a disappointing sixth in the new Premier League having been the dominant English club side of the last 20 years of the old First Division.

Liverpool were also enduring another disappointing season in the league, which led to the resignation of Graeme Souness as manager at the end of January 1994 and the appointment of coach Roy Evans as his successor.

However, the continuing effectiveness of Fowler and Rush in attack meant that Clough made only a handful of appearances for the Reds in 1994–95, and was not in their League Cup winning side.

[8] Clough played in all of Manchester City's remaining 15 league appearances after his arrival at Maine Road, scoring twice, but could not stave off relegation and shortly afterwards he lost his place in the team due to injury.

[12] After playing 15 times for the England under-21 side from 1986 to 1988, scoring three goals, Clough finally made his senior international debut on 23 May 1989 against Chile at the age of 23.

[13] In October 1998, he moved into management when he accepted the role of player-manager at Burton Albion in the Southern Football League Premier Division.

[14] Now aged 32, Clough was still registered as a player, which possibly explained his apparent lack of ambition to move into League management (his father bitterly lamented the premature curtailment of his own playing career).

The United team featured Ole Gunnar Solskjær and Louis Saha, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney introduced as second-half substitutes.

[18] Burton midfielder Chris Hall said: "After the match, the press were buzzing... but we had a local cup game, against Stourbridge, I think, and the gaffer only wanted to focus on that.... With his playing career, he was used to the publicity...

[20] Clough won the Conference Premier Manager of the Month for December 2008, after completing 11 straight wins in the division and guiding Burton to 13 points clear at the top of the table.

[22] He was appointed the next day,[23] prior to his taking charge, on 8 January,[24] Academy Head Coach David Lowe guided Derby to a victory over Manchester United 1–0 in the first leg of the League Cup semi-final.

[26] Clough's first full season in charge of Derby saw significant changes to the playing staff as he brought in nine players and moved on fourteen as well as making substantial dealings in the loan market.

He was accused by counterpart Billy Davies of kicking him in the knee in a pitch side altercation during Derby's 1–0 victory over local rivals Nottingham Forest.

[33] Derby's Chief Executive Tom Glick answered fan's concerns by reiterating the club's support for Clough, saying: "Nigel is absolutely our guy.

"[34] During Derby's post-November struggles Clough came under focus for his consistent criticism of individual players,[35] which came to a head when he strongly criticised Tomasz Cywka after his mistake led to a late Portsmouth equaliser in a 1–1 draw at Fratton Park.

The results came during discussions over Clough's contract – which was due to expire at the end of the season[39] with Forest allegedly interested in securing their former player's services.

"[41] Clough signed a new three-year deal, to take him through until summer 2015, on 17 October, two days after a 1–1 draw with league leaders Southampton had kept Derby in the play-off places.

[53] Clough was named League One's Manager of the Month for February 2014 after an improved run of form with four wins from five matches, including four clean sheets.

[58] Clough returned to Burton Albion for a second spell as manager in December 2015, after Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink left the post to join Queens Park Rangers.