Peter Taylor

Increased interest in the level of remembrance for the other half of the Clough / Taylor partnership at the moment following the InsideOut documentary on Monday night. Readers from outside the Midlands region can still catch up with the program on the BBC iPlayer.

In a nutshell, Peter’s widow and daughter are still upset with Nottingham Forest that while Brian Clough has his statue & stand named after him, it’s almost as if Peter has been airbrushed out of history, while at the other end of the A52 the powers that be at Derby are planning on a statue depicting both Clough and Taylor outside their ground.

I think it’s certainly partially true that the Derby statue is a show of one-upmanship over Nottingham’s single man affair, however, that would be a churlish sentiment. It could also be noted that it’s over 35 years since the Clough and Taylor partnership left the Baseball Ground, and that was as a result of a stand-off between two stubborn people in a dispute of Peter Taylor’s actual role at the club.

But, better late than never.

While the Derby success was completely Clough AND Taylor, it could be argued that, at Forest, while the main glory years were Clough and indeed Taylor, Clough individually is more synonymous with the club than the partnership.

The early eighties brought with them a time of economic & performance down-turn for Forest resulting in Taylor’s Forest funded “retirement”. The subsequent Taylor re-appearance 12 miles down the road and the lack of communication surrounding the John Robertson transfer facilitated possibly the worst & ultimately unnecessary partnership fall-outs ever witnessed. “We pass each other daily on the A52”, said Clough, “But if I ever saw him broken down at the side of the road, I’d run him over.”. The Forest board were also non-plussed.

Only Clough will know how close he ever came to a reconciliation, but Taylor’s sudden untimely death in 1990 took that choice of opportunity out of Clough’s hands, not an easy thing for a man now completely in control of his kingdom. The lack of a minutes silence in the next match after Taylor’s death was a surprise, it was certainly expected by the fans. But that decision would have only come from one man; Brian Clough. The fact that Forest scored during what would have been the silent minute possibly more of a testament to the man.

It could also be argued that it was this event that triggered the downward spiral with Clough. As Clough wrote; “The laughter had gone.”

So, do Forest now come up with a lasting memorial to their former assistant manager ? And if so, what ?

Parts of the new stadium, if it happens, if England win their World Cup bid, if Nottingham becomes part of it etc etc, would certainly need naming, The Brian Clough Stand & a Peter Taylor stand side by side. We could even do that now, the Peter Taylor Bridgford End, for example, or the now ironical Main Stand. But would this be out of true remembrance, or as a retaliatory tit-for-tat answer to Derby’s forth-coming statue ?

One thing is for sure, those of us who were there during the good times, those who are entering these discussions on message boards, in pubs and at the game on Saturday, we do still remember. We still remember Clough, sure, but also Peter Taylor. And for a man who so shunned the publicity, polarising his chat-show favourite partner, maybe simply remembering him is the best way.