Michael Sheen attends premiere of The Damned United

The Damned United, the controversial film about the 44 doom-laden days Brian Clough spent as manager of Leeds in the 1970s, received its London premiere last night. As reported here, Clough’s widow and children boycotted the event - among other gripes, they are angry that the manager has been portrayed as a foul-mouthed boozer - but there were many others willing to trip down the red carpet, among them Sir Michael Parkinson, who interviewed Clough on a number of occasions.

Michael Sheen (above left, with Timothy Spall), who plays Clough, appeared keen to pour oil on troubled waters, saying he understood the late manager's family's concerns about the film, which is based on David Peace’s best-seller, The Damned Utd.

"If it was my family or a member of my family, I would feel the same way," he said, but added: "If they come and see the film they will see it's incredibly different to the book and it's an affectionate portrayal of the man."

And he paid his own tribute to the legendary manager. "He was one of the biggest stars we have ever had in whatever he did. He was funnier than anyone else, he was more outrageous than anyone else, he had more passion and he had a vision of the game that is unsurpassed.”

But what of the film itself, which was written by Peter Morgan, who provided the screenplays for The Queen and Frost/Nixon? Matt Dickinson in the Times praises Sheen’s performance - “a warm, engaging portrait of a great British maverick” - and concludes that The Damned United may just rank as one of the best films ever made about football.