An intriguing answer would be the truth behind a ‘round-robin’ allegedly signed by nine first-team players after several incidents of unrest in the changing room. If I remember correctly Brian was constantly annoyed with several of his team-mates who he alleged were betting against the team and ‘deliberately’ conceding goals, and that sometimes he came to blows with some of them. So I’d be very surprised if Alan Peacock, Billy Day or Eddie Holliday were signatories to that ‘round-robin’, I think it would be most likely the defenders so the reported ‘nine’ signatories seems an exaggeration to me. Whether journalist Doug Weatherall [who was close to Clough] can throw some light on that I don’t know as I would think that these sort of things would usually be kept in house. It’s also possible Alan Peacock would know the true story, but perhaps understandably wouldn’t want to spill the beans after all these years.
However several players were subsequently convicted for deliberately throwing matches at that time. Apparently there was a lot of unrest in the changing room because of Brian’s supposed arrogance, with stories emanating that he influenced the manager Bob Dennison in team selections. As team captain he probably thought that that was his right, but it was rumoured at the time that that was the main reason for the ‘round-robin’ demanding he be stripped of the captaincy. I’m not sure of the immediate outcome of the ‘round-robin’, although I believe it was unsuccessful. In my opinion though I think the captain of a football should not be a centre forward/striker, but I thought that Dennison was too easygoing and I was surprised that his tenure lasted nine years – much too long in my opinion, especially for a team so talented in scoring goals but failing to gain promotion.
That ‘round-robin’ saga appears to have resulted following a 0-5 defeat away to Leyton Orient on 31st October 1959. Brian Phillips was the centre half that day and he was either injured or dropped afterwards, because he only played four more times for Boro. He was subsequently transferred to Mansfield and banned following the 1964 betting scandal. Derek Wilkie played at centre half in the next two matches and I believe he got injured, so Alan Peacock took over at centre half for the next three matches before a replacement could be bought.
I seem to remember that the ‘round-robin’ saga only came to light in late November after which Brian Clough received a rousing reception on the 5th December before the home match with Brighton during which he scored twice in a 4-1 victory. Ken Thomson was then bought from Stoke City and took over at centre half so that Alan Peacock could revert to his inside forward position. Thomson subsequently took over the captaincy the following season. It is however ironic that Thomson was also eventually implicated in the 1964 betting scandal and jailed for six months whereas Phillips was banned but, as far as I can recall, escaped imprisonment.
Maybe if David Pearce had been a writer at that time, his book “The Damned United” might have been merely a sequel to the happenings at Ayresome Park but under a different title. It could be said that Brian’s manner in his 40 days as manager at Leeds was in character with what happened as captain at Middlesbrough, but who’s to say he was wrong? I’m certainly not, for he was the best striker I ever saw at Middlesbrough and that includes Mickey Fenton, Hasselbaink and Viduka.
Brian Clough wasn’t liked by some of his colleagues, mainly defenders, because as in his whole life, he was outspoken, but he had certainly every right to be about Boro’s defending. I recall particularly three separate instances when he showed his displeasure with Boro’s centre halves.
The season when Boro had beaten Brighton 9-0 in the opening match, come the reverse fixture and Boro were leading 5-1 with two first half goals from Peacock and a second half hat trick from himself, but struggled to win 6-4. As the captain he had strong words to say about the defending that day.
The next season following a 0-5 defeat at Leyton Orient in October he again lambasted the defence, but this time reportedly during the match, and that was when the “round robin” letter started questioning his right to be captain, presumably because the forwards hadn’t scored either. Brian Phillips, the centre half was injured during that match and maybe we played with ten men. I can’t remember, but substitutes were not allowed in those days, so maybe the defenders felt Clough’s criticism wasn’t justified. What I do know is that Phillips played only one more match for Boro and that even Alan Peacock played centre half in three matches until we bought Ken Thomson from Stoke. Meanwhile the “round robin” letter gathered momentum, and eventually was presented to the Board of Directors who threw it out, and Clough received a hero’s welcome from the fans a few weeks later when he scored twice in a home win against Brighton.
But when Boro let a 4-1 lead slip to a 6-6 draw at Charlton the next season with Clough having scored another hat trick and with Ken Thomson now the centre half, he was reported in the press saying something on the lines that Boro might need to score double figures to win the next match.
It can be no coincidence that both Phillips and Thomson were involved later in the 1964 match-fixing scandal, the former being banned until 1971 and the latter serving a six month jail sentence, so were they betting against their own team? Certainly the 6-6 draw at Charlton seemed to suggest so.
Clough certainly didn’t suffer with an inferiority complex, but he did seem to envy Peacock’s heading ability, or was it that he preferred to have the ball played on the grass? After all when manager of Nottingham Forest he did make some comment to his players on the line of “if God had intended football to be played in the air he wouldn’t have invented grass but maybe concrete instead”.