Musa[OPENING SEQUENCE]
EXT. CITY GROUND, NOTTINGHAM – NIGHT
Rain slicks the pitch. The stadium is empty, silent. A single floodlight illuminates the centre circle.
TITLE CARD: THE CITY GROUND – 3:32 AM
V.O. (DAVID TENNANT):
“In football, there are miracles. And then there’s Nottingham Forest.”
ARCHIVAL PHOTOGRAPH: BRIAN CLOUGH – 1975
He stands on a training ground, tracksuit, hands in pockets. That look. Half smirk, half challenge.
V.O.:
“This is the story of the most impossible achievement in English football history. A middle-aged man with a drinking problem. A second division team with no stars. And two years that changed everything.”
[TITLE CARD: I BELIEVE IN MIRACLES]
[CUT TO]
INT. NOTTINGHAM COUNCIL HOUSE – 1865 – BLACK AND WHITE REPRODUCTION
Hand-tinted image. A group of shinty players. Garibaldi red shirts.
ARCHIVAL TEXT: NOTTINGHAM FOREST FOOTBALL CLUB – FOUNDED 1865
V.O.:
“Nottingham Forest are older than the Football Association. Older than the rulebook. They gave the world professional football’s first shin pads. They gave Brian Clough his last chance.”
[CUT TO]
EXT. LEEDS UNITED – 1974 – ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE
Clough walks out of Elland Road. Forty-four days. The camera flashes catch his face. Fury. Humiliation.
TITLE CARD: 44 DAYS
V.O.:
“He’d been sacked by the champions. The press wrote him off. Arrogant. Unmanageable. Finished. At forty, Brian Clough was yesterday’s news.”
[CUT TO]
EXT. CITY GROUND – JANUARY 1975 – ARCHIVAL
A small man in a raincoat enters through a side door. No fans. No cameras.
V.O.:
“Nottingham Forest were 13th in the Second Division. They’d won nothing for decades. They had no money, no stars, no hope. They were perfect.”
[INTERVIEW CLIP – ARCHIVAL]
MARTIN O’NEILL: (young, laughing)
“He walked in and said, ‘Right lads, we’re going to win the European Cup.’ We thought he was mad. Absolutely mad.”
[CUT TO]
INT. CLOUGH’S OFFICE – RECONSTRUCTION
Dim light. Two chairs. Clough and Peter Taylor. The partnership.
V.O.:
“Peter Taylor was the only man Clough ever trusted. He found the players. Clough made them believe they were better than they were.”
[MONTAGE – THE SIGNINGS]
Larry Lloyd – discarded by Liverpool, deemed past it.
Kenny Burns – Scottish, violent reputation, gambler.
John Robertson – overweight, unathletic, smoker.
ARCHIVAL INTERVIEW – CLOUGH:
CLOUGH: (grinning) “John Robertson? He’s too heavy. He’ll never make it. But put him on that wing, give him the ball, and he’ll lose that weight in sweat. He’ll beat three men and cross it onto your head. That’s not coaching. That’s knowing.”
[CUT TO]
EXT. PROMOTION – 1977
Black and white footage. Rain. Mud. A goal. The crowd spills onto the pitch.
V.O.:
“Two years. From 13th in Division Two to promotion. It was supposed to be enough. It was just the beginning.”
[TITLE CARD: 1977-78 – THE FIRST DIVISION]
[MONTAGE]
Liverpool 0-1 Forest. Arsenal 0-3 Forest. Leeds United, smashed at Elland Road. The team no one had heard of, beating everyone.
ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE – KENNY BURNS:
Hard man. Scowl. Trophies.
V.O.:
“Kenny Burns was a midfielder who’d never been tested. Taylor moved him to centre-back. Burns became Footballer of the Year.”
ARCHIVAL INTERVIEW – PETER SHILTON:
SHILTON: “He called me at 10pm. ‘Peter, you’re coming to Forest.’ I said, ‘Brian, you’re in Division Two.’ He said, ‘Not for long.'”
[CUT TO]
EXT. HIGHBURY – MAY 1978
Arsenal fans, silent. Forest players, disbelieving. The title is won.
TITLE CARD: CHAMPIONS OF ENGLAND
V.O.:
“No one had done it. Newly promoted team, champions. No one has done it since.”
[INTERVIEW – ARCHIVAL]
JOHN McCOVERN:
“We went to Anfield, won 2-0, and I thought, ‘We might actually be good.’ Not good. Unstoppable.”
[TITLE CARD: EUROPE – 1979]
[CUT TO]
EXT. OLYMPIC STADIUM, MUNICH – MAY 1979
Floodlights. Noise. Malmo, the underdog story. But Forest are the real story.
V.O.:
“A year after winning the league, they were in the European Cup final. A team of misfits, journeymen, and one million-pound man.”
ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE – TREVOR FRANCIS:
The first £1m player in Britain. Arrives. Scores. Header. 1-0.
V.O.:
“Trevor Francis had been signed that morning. He didn’t train. He just scored.”
[CELEBRATIONS]
The trophy. Clough, smiling, almost shy. The players, dazed.
V.O.:
“It was a miracle. But miracles don’t usually happen twice.”
[TITLE CARD: 1980 – THE DEFENCE]
[CUT TO]
EXT. SANTIAGO BERNABéU, MADRID – MAY 1980
The final. Hamburg. Kevin Keegan, European Footballer of the Year. Forest, the same team, same faces, same belief.
V.O.:
“Forty thousand Germans. Fifty thousand neutrals. Two thousand Forest fans. No one gave them a chance.”
ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE – JOHN ROBERTSON:
Picks up the ball. Left wing. Drifts inside. Shoots. The net bulges.
V.O.:
“John Robertson. Too fat. Too slow. Smoker. Drinker. Genius.”
[FINAL WHISTLE]
ARCHIVAL – CLOUGH:
He walks onto the pitch. Hands in pockets. Nods. As if he expected it all along.
V.O.:
“Back-to-back European Cups. Only Real Madrid, Benfica, Inter, Ajax, Bayern, Liverpool, Milan had done it. And Nottingham Forest.”
[TITLE CARD: THE RECORD THAT WILL NEVER BE BROKEN]
V.O.:
“Nottingham Forest have won the European Cup more times than they’ve won the English league. No one else can say that. No one else ever will.”
[CUT TO]
EXT. NOTTINGHAM – 1993 – ARCHIVAL
Rain. Relegation. Clough, older, greyer, walking away. The City Ground, half-empty.
V.O.:
“He stayed too long. They always do. The drinking caught up. The magic ran out. In 1993, Forest were relegated. Clough retired. The dream was over.”
[INTERVIEW – ARCHIVAL]
CLOUGH: (late 1990s, softer voice)
“I don’t regret anything. I’d do it all again. The same way. The same players. The same everything.”
[CUT TO]
EXT. CITY GROUND – 2024
Modern drone shot. The stadium, renovated, alive. Fans streaming in. Premier League football.
V.O.:
“Forest fell. They rose again. They fell again. They’re still here.”
[INTERVIEW – MODERN]
CLUB OFFICIAL:
“What Clough built wasn’t just a team. It was a belief. That anything is possible. That the little club from the forest can beat anyone.”
[FINAL MONTAGE]
ARCHIVAL: Robertson’s goal, 1980. Shilton’s save. Burns, snarling. O’Neill, running.
ARCHIVAL: Clough, young, arms folded. Clough, old, waving goodbye.
ARCHIVAL: 2024, the City Ground, full, singing.
V.O.:
“Forty years on, no one has repeated it. A newly promoted team, winning the European Cup. Twice. It wasn’t a tactic. It wasn’t a system. It was a man. And a moment. And a miracle.”
[FINAL SHOT]
EXT. CITY GROUND – NIGHT
The Brian Clough Stand. Lit up. Silent. A single light in the director’s box.
TITLE CARD: BRIAN CLOUGH – 1935-2004
TITLE CARD: NOTTINGHAM FOREST – EUROPEAN CUP WINNERS – 1979 • 1980
TITLE CARD: “I BELIEVE IN MIRACLES” – THE JACKSON SISTERS
[FADE TO BLACK]
[SOUND: Distant crowd. Then silence. Then a match being lit. Then nothing.]
Musa
