Brian Clough statue fund

As most visitors to this site will be well aware, Wednesday 20 September was the second anniversary of the death of a man who needs no introduction - a certain Mr. Brian Howard Clough.

Whether you`re a Reds fans or not, it`s hard to argue that Cloughie`s transformation of Forest back in the 70s - from a bunch of no-hopers to European champions in just four years - stands as one of the greatest achievements in the history of the beautiful game. And hopefully, by the third anniversary of his passing, the people of Nottingham will have a special place where they can go and pay homage to the great man - with the Brian Clough Statue Fund edging closer and closer to its £60,000 target.

The fund was launched in June 2005, with money raised currently standing at approximately £46,000. Much of the cash generated so far has come from the sale of merchandise such pin badges and green sweatshirts, and fundraising events including a formal dinner at the Council House back in June.

But how did the whole thing come about?


"The fund was initiated really by the guys who run the Cloughie tribute website, www.brianclough.com," says Rich Fisher, one of the volunteers behind the fund.

"For quite some time prior to Cloughie`s death, they`d been actively campaigning to get him Knighted, and had collected a petition with thousands of signatures.

"Sadly though, the news then came of Cloughie`s passing - which kind of derailed the whole Knighthood thing really, because the Government has a policy of not giving out posthumous Knighthoods.

"A lot of momentum had been built up though with the campaign, and so the guys behind www.brianclough.com decided to build on this by looking at the possibility of raising money for a statue. That was the point when I got involved - and after getting backing from Nottingham City Council, Nottingham Forest Football Club and the Clough family, we quickly got to work in terms of raising the money."

The fund was officially launched with a mobile press conference on board the city`s Brian Clough tram! And Rich says the response from the public has been phenomenal.

"It`s been hard work for myself and the other volunteers involved in the fund, as we all have busy 'day jobs` and have had to do all the organising and running around in our spare time," he says. "But people have been incredibly generous in supporting our fundraising activities, which has made it all worthwhile."

Further fundraising activities are planned for the coming months, with Rich and the other members of the committee behind the fund hoping to hit their £60,000 target by Christmas. Watch this space for further details...!


A very big Thank you goes to Rich Fisher for producing this article and keeping the vital website and our viewers up to date with the latest on the Brian Clough statue fund.



For more information about the Brian Clough Statue Fund, visit www.brianclough.com

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