The Damned United is a 2009 sports drama film directed by Tom Hooper and adapted by Peter Morgan from David Peace's bestselling 2006 novel The Damned Utd – a largely fictional book based on the author's interpretation of Brian Clough's ill-fated tenure as football manager of Leeds United in 1974.

Marking the fifth collaboration between screenwriter Peter Morgan and actor Michael Sheen, who plays Clough, the film was released in the United Kingdom on 27 March 2009 and in North America on 25 September.

Against Longson's advice, Clough uses his best squad in the last match before the semi-final against Leeds, purely out of pride and determination to beat Revie.

Several Derby players suffer injuries, and Juventus subsequently defeat them 3-1, and Clough publicly lambasts Longson.

Preparing for the 1974 season, Clough alienates his Leeds players in their first training session, first by accusing them of winning all of their awards by cheating, and then making them start with a 7-a-side game as if they were schoolchildren.

After Bremner and the players air their grievances to the board, the club terminates Clough's contract after just 44 days; he forces them to pay an enormous severance package.

After a war of words, Clough brings up the incident at the 1968 FA Cup, and Revie claims to have not known who the rookie manager was at the time.

The film's epilogue reveals that Revie failed as England manager and spent the rest of his career working in the Middle East, where he was accused of financial mismanagement.

[5] Morgan enjoyed it, stating, "It deals with themes I love: Alcoholism and self-destruction and psychotic male competitiveness and treachery.

In April, Colm Meaney, Timothy Spall and Jim Broadbent were announced as Don Revie, Peter Taylor and Sam Longson respectively.

[14] Saltergate was chosen because it had not undergone any significant structural modifications since the 1970s,[15] though some repainting work was done by the production team to differentiate the grounds from each other.

Other locations used in Leeds include Headingley Stadium, the former site of Cookridge Hospital, and a linen hire firm in Armley.

[24] The first television trailer premiered on Setanta Sports 1 on 23 January 2009 before the kick-off of the FA Cup fourth round tie between Derby County and Nottingham Forest.

The website's critical consensus reads, "Better than your average football pic, Damned United is carried by another star turn from Michael Sheen as Brian Clough.

[31] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three and a half stars out of four, and praised Sheen for portraying "modern British icons so uncannily that he's all but disappeared into them".

[32] Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave the film four stars out of five, calling it "fresh, intelligent... [and] terrifically involving", and also praised Sheen and Meaney's performances.

[34] Prior to its release, Clough's widow Barbara, already a critic of Peace's book, expressed disappointment that the film was being made at all.

[38] Producer Andy Harries responded to the Clough family's criticisms by stating that "The filmmakers' goal is to tell a wonderful and extraordinary story with universal themes of success, jealousy and betrayal".

[39] Dave Mackay sued Left Bank Pictures over his portrayal in the film, angered at the implication that he had betrayed Clough in taking the Derby manager's job.

Martin O'Neill, who played for Mackay at Nottingham Forest before his departure to manage Derby, suggested that the film falsely implied Mackay was still a player at Derby County when becoming manager of the club, whilst also questioning the portrayal of the relationship between Clough and Peter Taylor, though he praised the performances of the actors, particularly Sheen's.

[41] Roy McFarland agreed with Mackay's decision to take legal action and said that he enjoyed Sheen's performance, but otherwise "did not particularly like the film".

He wrote: "Many of the things Peace talks about in the book never happened and, for that reason, I felt it necessary to go to the courts to establish that this was fiction based on fact and nothing more.

"[43][44] BBC Sport journalist Pat Murphy, a personal friend of Clough, noted 17 factual inaccuracies in the film, including various errors regarding the timing of events.

He particularly dismissed as "absolute nonsense" a scene where Clough stays in the Derby dressing room during a match against Leeds, too nervous to watch.

Murphy also declared that the insinuation of Clough not wanting to debate with Revie about his tenure at Leeds United is completely inaccurate.

[49] The film shows Clough standing outside an entrance to Derby County's Baseball Ground featuring the stylised ram emblem, in 1968; in reality, the latter was not designed until 1971.