Larry Lloyd obituary, fearsome defender and one of the 'Miracle Men' at Nottingham Forest
29 Mar 2024
The Times
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Nottingham Forest](/thumb/phpThumb.php?src=%2Fuploads%2Fnews%2F56%2F5658%2F1%2F5658111-larry-lloyd-obituary-fearsome-defender-and-one-of-the-miracle-men-at-nottingham-.jpg&w=750&hash=acdf410603523676534df81a726d983c)
Brian Clough recruited him for Nottingham Forest with a washing machine as a ‘signing-on fee’
It was a highly unusual way to seal a footballing deal. Nottingham Forest’s idiosyncratic manager, Brian Clough, wanted the defender Larry Lloyd to drop a division and join his club. Lloyd, who had been a young star at Liverpool and an England international before a disappointing spell at Coventry, had his doubts about playing for a manager he knew only as a “mouthy git”.
The conversation then took a strange turn when Clough quizzed Lloyd about the state of his kitchen equipment, and Lloyd admitted that his washing machine had broken. Shortly afterwards, a new machine appeared at his home and was installed. “So that was my signing-on fee,” he recalled, “a washing machine.” It was only when he turned up for training and met