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IMDbPro

The Damned United

  • 2009
  • R
  • 1h 38m
IMDb RATING
7.5/10
45K
YOUR RATING
Michael Sheen in The Damned United (2009)
A look at Brian Clough's 44-day reign as the coach of Leeds United.
Play trailer2:09
16 Videos
99+ Photos
BiographyDramaSport

The story of the controversial Brian Clough's 44-day reign as the coach of the English football club Leeds United.The story of the controversial Brian Clough's 44-day reign as the coach of the English football club Leeds United.The story of the controversial Brian Clough's 44-day reign as the coach of the English football club Leeds United.

  • Director
    • Tom Hooper
  • Writers
    • Peter Morgan
    • David Peace
  • Stars
    • Colm Meaney
    • Henry Goodman
    • David Roper
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    7.5/10
    45K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Tom Hooper
    • Writers
      • Peter Morgan
      • David Peace
    • Stars
      • Colm Meaney
      • Henry Goodman
      • David Roper
    • 97User reviews
    • 152Critic reviews
    • 81Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 5 nominations

    Videos16

    The Damned United -- U.S. Trailer
    Trailer 2:09
    Watch The Damned United -- U.S. Trailer
    The Damned United - UK Trailer
    Trailer 2:01
    Watch The Damned United - UK Trailer
    The Damned United - The Dossier
    Clip 1:06
    Watch The Damned United - The Dossier
    The Damned United - Team Talk
    Clip 1:39
    Watch The Damned United - Team Talk
    The Damned United - On the road
    Clip 0:51
    Watch The Damned United - On the road
    The Damned United - Management
    Clip 0:58
    Watch The Damned United - Management
    The Damned United - Mallorca
    Clip 0:50
    Watch The Damned United - Mallorca
    The Damned United - Game Plan
    Clip 2:02
    Watch The Damned United - Game Plan
    The Damned United - FA Cup  Draw
    Clip 1:07
    Watch The Damned United - FA Cup Draw
    The Damned United: TV Interview
    Clip 1:00
    Watch The Damned United: TV Interview
    The Damned United - New Players
    Clip 1:20
    Watch The Damned United - New Players
    The Damned United: Don Revie
    Clip 1:04
    Watch The Damned United: Don Revie

    Photos117

    Michael Sheen in The Damned United (2009)
    Colm Meaney in The Damned United (2009)
    Mark Cameron and Stephen Graham in The Damned United (2009)
    Michael Sheen in The Damned United (2009)
    Colm Meaney in The Damned United (2009)
    Michael Sheen in The Damned United (2009)
    Michael Sheen and Colin Harris in The Damned United (2009)
    Mark Cameron, Stephen Graham, and Maurice Roëves in The Damned United (2009)
    The Damned United (2009)
    Michael Sheen in The Damned United (2009)
    Timothy Spall and Maurice Roëves in The Damned United (2009)
    Stephen Graham, Michael Sheen, and Ross Donnelly in The Damned United (2009)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Colm Meaney
    Colm Meaney
    • Don Revie
    Henry Goodman
    Henry Goodman
    • Manny Cussins
    David Roper
    • Sam Bolton
    Jimmy Reddington
    • Keith Archer
    Oliver Stokes
    • Nigel Clough
    Ryan Day
    • Simon Clough
    Michael Sheen
    Michael Sheen
    • Brian Clough
    Mark Bazeley
    Mark Bazeley
    • Austin Mitchell
    Timothy Spall
    Timothy Spall
    • Peter Taylor
    Maurice Roëves
    Maurice Roëves
    • Jimmy Gordon
    Stephen Graham
    Stephen Graham
    • Billy Bremner
    Peter McDonald
    Peter McDonald
    • Johnny Giles
    Mark Cameron
    Mark Cameron
    • Norman Hunter
    Frank Skillin
    • Younger Nigel Clough
    Dylan Van Hoof
    • Younger Simon Clough
    Sydney Wade
    Sydney Wade
    • Younger Elizabeth Clough
    Elizabeth Carling
    Elizabeth Carling
    • Barbara Clough
    Jim Broadbent
    Jim Broadbent
    • Sam Longson
    • Director
      • Tom Hooper
    • Writers
      • Peter Morgan(screenplay)
      • David Peace(based on the novel by)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The film has been criticized by the Clough family as they state it was not a true story of events.
    • Goofs
      The tie against Leeds shows Derby being so badly fouled by the Leeds players they have to field reserves against Juventus. While Derby did suffer some injuries in the tie against Leeds that year, it actually came before their quarter-final match against Spartak Trnava, which Derby still won despite missing some key players. Moreover, the injuries were not as serious as implied in the film, and all the injured players had recovered by the time of the eventual 3-1 defeat by Juventus which was with a near full-strength Derby squad minus two players who were suspended.
    • Quotes

      Brian Clough: [to the assembled Leeds players] Well, I might as well tell you now. You lot may all be internationals and have won all the domestic honours there are to win under Don Revie. But as far as I'm concerned, the first thing you can do for me is to chuck all your medals and all your caps and all your pots and all your pans into the biggest fucking dustbin you can find, because you've never won any of them fairly. You've done it all by bloody cheating.

    • Connections
      Featured in De wereld draait door: Episode #4.124 (2009)
    • Soundtracks
      Leeds, Leeds, Leeds (Marching On Together)
      Performed by Leeds United A.F.C. (as Leeds United Team) and Supporters

      Written by Les Reed / Barry Mason

      Published by Universal Music Publishing Ltd / Dick James Music Ltd / Barry Mason Music Ltd / MCS Music Ltd

      Licensed from Chapter One Records Ltd

    User reviews97

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    9/10
    Excellent character study of depth and resonance. A great Brit-flick.
    I am currently two thirds of the way through the novel. I'm finding it to be a great discovery. Peace's writing has all the energy and pace of Irvine Welsh at his best and having just caught the Red Riding trilogy, he's captured my imagination. What he has truly captured in The Damn United is the true spirit of the 70's and the days when I would watch football dressed in the kit of whatever team I was supporting that week, on my Dad's knee. My Dad loathed Brian 'Bigmouth' / 'Bighead' Clough! But even as a boy I loved him, thought he was hilarious. Reading the novel and seeing the film, we discover a man truly out of time ... more a man / celebrity of the future. The first celebrity football manager? If he'd been a manager in the Britpop era, he'd be a national treasure now ... and may even have been given the England job he so coveted and that the fans longed for him to have. watching Sheen (yet again!) faithfully recreate voice, mannerisms ... inhabiting this character, makes this film (for it is a 'film' in the truly British sense) all the more compelling. Cloughie is complex, sensitive, probably with an inner shyness that he masked outrageously with his outspoken diatribes. He was everywhere when I was a kid ... TV, papers, magazines ... always with a controversial line that makes Noel Gallagher look like he minces his words. The on screen footie from actors is mercifully kept to a minimum, as - as always, actors don't make for convincing footballers. Even the moments from them we do get, they look clueless. But it doesn't detract from the story ... a story of obsessive desire, absolute drive and male relationships, in a time when male bonding usually meant trading a punch or two. This is a good if unfaithful adaptation of the novel. Why in the film do Cloughie and Peter Taylor fall out with a row on the Malaga harbour? In the novel, they trade punches and Cloughie makes a real show of himself ... thus making the reunion all the more difficult. But it's a small gripe. The thing I really took from this was although times have changed for football - when did Man Utd dressing room last have ashtrays??? - essentially, things have changed little. Big star players, vast amounts of money (£150,000 was considered a fortune back then), teams fortunes spinning on their positions in the old division one, the league being dominated by one or four big clubs. And the cheating, and the ref baiting ... little has truly changed.

    Good to see a strong Brit-flick that doesn't resort to mockney gangster schlick or the current plethora of cheap horror schlock. This is a character study of depth and resonance. Beautifully, stylistically photographed and wonderfully performed. GO SEE IT!
    helpful•37
    6
    • iandfleming
    • Mar 31, 2009

    FAQ1

    • Who was managing Derby in the match that Brian Clough snuck into, if Dave Mackay hadn't been appointed yet?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • March 27, 2009 (United Kingdom)
    • Country of origin
      • United Kingdom
    • Official sites
      • Sony Pictures (France)
      • Sony Pictures (United Kingdom)
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Đội Bóng Chết Dẫm
    • Filming locations
      • Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England, UK(Assistant manager, Peter Taylor's home)
    • Production companies
      • Columbia Pictures
      • BBC Films
      • Screen Yorkshire
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $10,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $449,865
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $32,065
      • Oct 11, 2009
    • Gross worldwide
      • $4,091,378
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 38 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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