The Damned United (Cert 15, 97 mins)
Stars: Michael Sheen, Timothy Spall, Jim Broadbent, Joseph Dempsie, Colm Meaney, Stephen Graham, Maurice Roëves, Elizabeth Carling
Directed by Tom Hooper

THE beautiful game is full of larger-than-life characters; men of boundless desire, on and off the pitch, who inspire lifelong devotion from the fans.

Key to any team’s success is the manager: the architect of every hard-fought battle between the goal posts, who must weather the storm when players fail to perform.

In the annals of modern British football, Brian Clough remains one of the most charismatic, bullish and successful figures.

He is still the only domestic manager to win back-to-back European cups.

In August, 2006, David Peace published his controversial book, The Damned United, about a tempestuous period in Clough’s professional life during the 1974 season.

Friends and family reacted angrily to the depiction of Old Big ’Ead as bullying and selfish.

Those same loved ones have predictably refused to watch Tom Hooper’s film, adapted for the screen by Peter Morgan (Frost/Nixon, The Queen).

They need not worry. Steeped in nostalgia and blessed with an endearing performance from Michael Sheen as the so-called “greatest England manager we never had”, this Valentine to the former darling of Nottingham Forest shoots and scores on many levels.

The film opens in July, 1974, with Brian and his two boys, Simon and Nigel, travelling to West Yorkshire to succeed Don Revie (Meaney) as manager of Division 1 champions, Leeds United.

An impromptu interview with Granada TV, in which Brian openly criticises Revie’s tactics, declares war against senior squad members including Billy Bremner (Graham), Johnny Giles (McDonald) and Norman Hunter (Cameron).

“I don’t have to justify myself to you,” Brian tells Johnny sternly after a disastrous start to the campaign.

“No, but come Saturday, there will be 40,000 people here who you do have to justify yourself to,” retorts the player cockily.

Flashbacks to six years earlier reveal the seeds of Brian’s dislike of Revie as he, and loyal assistant Peter Taylor (Spall), take Derby from the foot of Division 2 to the dizzy heights of Division 1.

The Damned United is an enthralling and largely affectionate tribute to a man who wears egotistical bravado like a comfortable, old jumper.