P RESS R ELEASE

Matador For Pete’s Sake The Peter Taylor Story

Wendy Dickinson and Stafford Hildred

For Pete’s Sake began life on a wet and windy April day in 2009 in a deserted cinema in Derby. The family of the late football manager, Peter Taylor, were there to watch the controversial film, The Damned United, starring Timothy Spall as Peter and as his friend and partner, .

As Clough & Taylor, the pair had transformed the way football clubs were managed in the Sixties and Seventies, winning countless major honours, including the European Cup twice, with unfashionable Midlands’ clubs Derby County and Nottingham Forest.

Clough & Taylor’s story didn’t have a happy ending as, after 25 years of friendship and success, the two men fell out, never spoke again and were never reconciled before their untimely deaths.

“Although The Damned United was hugely entertaining for fans I didn’t recognise the characters or actions of Dad or Brian,” says Peter’s journalist daughter, Wendy Dickinson. “Timothy Spall is a great actor but seeing my 6 ft 2” handsome father played by a short, tubby bloke with a Brummie accent was a bit odd. However, his appearance was a minor issue. My Dad’s contribution to Clough and Taylor’s success was huge but he was depicted in the film as a bit of a comic in a flat cap who did Brian’s bidding. It just isn’t true. I knew I had to do something about it and For Pete’s Sake is my Dad’s true story.”

For Pete’s Sake, written by Peter’s journalist daughter Wendy Dickinson and author Stafford Hildred, puts Peter back where he belongs – at Brian Clough’s side. It is published as Derby County, the club they took to great heights, this summer unveil a major statue of the pair by acclaimed sculptor, Andrew Edwards, outside Pride Park in Derby.

“I have been a coward over the years,” says Wendy, “as I’ve watched my father’s contribution to football’s greatest partnership diminish. I don’t blame Brian for that. Some things just happen. But I thought it was time I stopped complaining in private and got my dad’s story into print. It’s been a fascinating experience and has taught me a lot about their unique relationship. To this day people always ask me why dad and Brian split up. After looking into their lives together I’m tempted to ask how on earth they managed to stay together for so long.”

For an author interview or a review copy of the book contact: Jane Rowland Troubador Publishing Ltd, 5 Weir Road, Kibworth Beauchamp, Leicester, LE8 0LQ Tel: 0116 279 2299 Email: [email protected] Wendy can be contacted on 07710 015490. Stafford can be contacted on 07885 118565 P RESS R ELEASE Page 2

Peter and Brian first met as young footballers at a pre-season practice match in Middlesbrough in 1955. If Peter, a lanky goalkeeper, and Brian, a skinny centre forward could have seen into the future they would hardly have believed what lay in store for them. This first volume of Peter’s story takes him from a wartime childhood in the backstreets of Nottingham, through playing days with Nottingham Forest, Coventry and Middlesbrough, to meeting a man who would change his life and on to life at the very top of his profession. There are contributions from many players including Roy McFarland, Alan Hinton, John O’Hare and and from Peter and Brian’s team-mates at Middlesbrough who bring to life a time when footballer’s earned no more than the maximum weekly wage of £15, walked to ‘work’ together because no-one had a car and often had second jobs to make ends meet. Players the pair signed at Hartlepools in the Sixties talk of ragged kit, battered match day balls and the dash to be first in line on pay day in case the money ran out. And those who were part of the glory days at Derby County remember how Peter, Brian and the players weren’t just a team but a family.

This deeply personal biography also reveals the impact that a nomadic football lifestyle had on family life, where the pursuit of success meant being prepared to move from club to club at the drop of a hat. Wendy and her brother, Philip, were torn out of schools at crucial times in their early years and Peter’s wife, Lilian, got used to making new homes in unfamiliar and often bleak locations. “I’ve learned many things about my Dad while researching and writing this book, not least, how brilliant he was at his job,” says Wendy. “I’ve also had to come to terms with his ruthlessness, his desperate ambition and an impetuous nature that sometimes lead him and Brian into trouble.”

What others say about Peter & Brian:

‘Peter was the master of finding talent and finding players who needed man management. He was a big supporter of mine and I found him to be not only my boss but also a friend. He was a very impressive man, a genius in the areas of his knowledge of the game and his personable way of getting into players hearts and minds to get the very best out of not only the best but also the most ordinary. A winner and a legend and his relationship with Brian was truly the experience of a lifetime.’ Alan Hinton, Derby County FC 1967-1975

“Whenever I was around they were together. We would travel down on the train on a Friday for an away match and my strongest memories are of Peter and Brian in a carriage together. They would get a compartment, just the two of them, lock the door and they’d be in there playing dominos and talking together. Brian and Peter excluded everyone else from their conversations. They would be rattling on very intensely about football. They were different. No one else took the game as seriously as those two.” Alan Peacock, ex-Middlesbrough FC & Leeds Utd

About the Authors: Wendy Dickinson is a former newspaper and radio journalist and BBC publicist. She has recently been Communications Manager for a major UK charity and is a trustee of the charity Ryder Cheshire Volunteers. Wendy started her journalism career as a trainee reporter on the Derby Evening Telegraph when Clough & Taylor were managing Derby County. She was also a reporter the Brighton Evening Argus when Peter Taylor was manager of that club and on BBC Radio Nottingham when Clough & Taylor were managing Nottingham Forest. She is married to John, a television producer, and has two daughters, Laura and Alex.

Stafford Hildred is a former Fleet Street showbusiness reporter who now specialises in writing books on sporting and entertainment celebrities. Married with two daughters, he lives in Derbyshire.

PUBLICATION DATE 4 September 2010 ISBN: 9781848764477 Price: £17.99