Martin O'Neill believes Nottingham Forest achievements under Brian Clough will never be matched

County Derry’s Martin O’Neill believes that Nottingham Forest’s achievements under Brian Clough in 1977 and 1980 will never be matched in English football.

The former Celtic manager was speaking on the Stick to Football podcast with former footballers Roy Keane, Gary Neville, Ian Wright, and Jill Scott.

During this period at Forest O’Neill, they won the First Division, two European Cups, and two League Cups, which is arguably the best achievement by any English football club.

He said: ““It will never happen again. 

“Leicester City’s achievement in 2016 was terrific. For a side to go and get promotion and immediately win the league against that Liverpool side, to win the league and win two European Cups and two league Cups and things like that all in a period of three or four years, it was brilliant.”

Liverpool were dominant throughout the 1970s within English football, winning five league titles from 1970 until 1980 while also lifting two European Cups.

Nottingham Forest entered the First Division in the 1977 and 1978 season, with Clough guiding the club to the title that campaign.

O’Neill was a key part of the squad, but he can’t envisage this ever happening again with the modern landscape of football.

Finances in the sport have changed and have arguably made it impossible to achieve this, even though Leicester came close in 2016, having been promoted to the Premier League in 2014.

The majority of fans of English football may be unaware of the achievement today, with many failing to look back past 1992, the first year of the Premier League.

But O’Neill jokingly spoke about how important his former assistant at the Republic of Ireland and Nottingham Forest, Keane, is to remind younger fans through his work as a pundit today when covering matches.

He said: “This is why I need you, Roy, to keep telling them that.”

O’Neill believes that if Ipswich Town under Kieran McKenna manages to maintain their Premier League status this season, then it will be considered a great achievement.