Ian Mellor today saluted Brian Clough as the man who made possible Albion's most famous goalscoring double act.

Mellor revealed he only signed for the Seagulls because Clough was manager.

The striker nicknamed 'Spider' went on to form a legendary partnership with Peter Ward after Clough controversially quit for Leeds.

Clough died of stomach cancer in Derby City Hospital yesterday, aged 69. The former Nottingham Forest and Derby boss managed Albion for eight months in 1973-74 and signed Mellor for a club record £40,000 from Norwich.

Mellor said: "I dropped down two divisions from Norwich because of Brian Clough. I wouldn't have signed for Brighton if it wasn't for him.

"He had such a reputation and I felt he could get my game back together again. I cannot believe he's dead. It's very sad, he was a one-off.

"When I walked into his office to sign there were cans of beer all over the desk.

"It was towards the end of the season and he told me he didn't want me to play with the rabble there but to report a couple of months later to Heathrow for the club's end-of-season tour in Spain.

"When I went over to him at the airport he didn't even say hello. The first thing he said to his record signing was 'where is your tie?'

"I never had the pleasure of playing for him, apart from a match against the waiters in our Spanish hotel. He suggested we had a few pints before that game and I scored five goals.

"He went to Leeds soon after that. It is one of my biggest disappointments that he signed me and I never played a proper match under him, so I never found out how good he was.

"The guy was eccentric, very knowledgeable about football and a great disciplinarian.

"I would have loved to have played for him because I never got booked or sent-off. If you look back at his teams they were never allowed to retaliate."

Norman Gall credits Clough for extending his career after making him Albion's captain.

The long-serving defender revealed: "I had bad knees and was ready to retire the year before under Pat Saward. On his first day Cloughie asked 'who is the Geordie?'. I put my hand up and he said 'you are captain'.

"He kept me going for another year and I enjoyed every minute. He knew exactly what he wanted, who was good, who was bad and what they could and couldn't do.

"We lost 8-2 at home to Bristol Rovers in front of the TV cameras and I was expecting a rollicking after that. Instead he told me not to worry about it, go home and have a drink and that I was playing next week."

Steve Piper, father of Albion scholar Matt Piper, experienced Clough's uncoventional behaviour after he was carried off injured in a 4-0 FA Cup defeat at home to non-League Walton and Hersham.

"He didn't believe I was injured, so the trainer Glen Wilson had to carry me into his office over his shoulder to prove I couldn't walk," Piper said.

"I remember meeting him for the first time at the White Hart Hotel in Lewes. Everyone was pooping themselves, even the older players were so in awe of him.

"The first person he picked on was John Templeman with his long hair. He called him Shirley Temple.

"He had unbelievable charisma and he was great for me as a young lad in the short time he was at Brighton.

"His training methods were totally different. He would come in an hour before the game on a Saturday, give his speech and then that was it. We didn't see him again then until the following Thursday.

"For his first game against York he put about 10,000 extra fans on the gate. That was the sort of impact he had. It was like Arsene Wenger coming to Brighton now."

Albion won 12, drew nine and lost 13 of their 34 matches under Clough. He made his name by winning the League Championship with his previous club Derby, a feat he repeated at Nottingham Forest after leaving Albion.

He also won back-to-back European Cups with Forest before retiring when they were relegated in 1993.

Clough had a successful liver transport in 2003 after fighting alcoholism.