28 Facts About Tommy Docherty

Tommy Docherty played for several clubs, most notably Preston North End, and represented Scotland 25 times between 1951 and 1959.

Tommy Docherty then managed a total of 13 clubs between 1961 and 1988, as well as the Scottish national team.

Tommy Docherty was manager of Manchester United between 1972 and 1977, during which time they were relegated to the Second Division, but promoted back to the First Division as champions at the first attempt.

Altogether Tommy Docherty made close to 300 appearances for the club.

Tommy Docherty then went to play for Chelsea where he brought an end to his playing career in 1962.

At Preston, Tommy Docherty received the first of his 25 full Scotland international caps.

Tommy Docherty was part of the Scotland squads that played at the 1954 and 1958 FIFA World Cup finals which were held in Switzerland and Sweden, respectively.

In February 1961, Tommy Docherty was offered the post of player-coach of Chelsea.

Less than twelve months later, upon Ted Drake's departure and with the club facing relegation from the top flight, Tommy Docherty took over as manager.

Tommy Docherty changed the club's home colours, switching from white shorts to blue shorts, the combination that remains as of 2022.

The team, nicknamed "Tommy Docherty's Diamonds", achieved promotion back to Division One in their first attempt and finished fifth the following year.

Tommy Docherty led Chelsea to the FA and the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup semi-finals a year later, before reaching the FA Cup Final in 1967, which they lost to Tottenham Hotspur.

The month following his departure from Chelsea, Tommy Docherty became manager of Rotherham United.

Tommy Docherty then became Doug Ellis' first manager at Aston Villa in December 1968, for 13 months.

Scotland were on course to qualify for the 1974 World Cup under Tommy Docherty, having won both of their matches against Denmark in qualification Group 8.

Tommy Docherty left the job a month later and was succeeded by Willie Ormond, who secured qualification for the World Cup by winning a home match against Czechoslovakia in September 1973.

Shortly afterwards, news that Tommy Docherty was having an extramarital affair with the wife of a United physiotherapist, Mary Brown, became public.

In 1988 Tommy Docherty married Mary, and the couple remained together until his death in 2020.

Tommy Docherty became manager at Derby County in September 1977, where he stayed for two seasons before resigning in May 1979.

In May 1980, Tommy Docherty was sacked by chairman Jim Gregory, then reinstated after just nine days away.

Tommy Docherty left after a few months, returning to Australia to manage South Melbourne until the following year.

Tommy Docherty returned to England once more with Wolverhampton Wanderers just after their relegation from the First Division in 1984.

Tommy Docherty was sacked just over a year later when Wolves had suffered a second successive relegation, eventually going on to suffer a third relegation in a row the season after Docherty's departure.

The club Tommy Docherty was taking over as Manager was far away from the historic club Wolves had once been with the chairman in 1978 bankrupting the club with the rebuilding of the Molineux Street stand.

Tommy Docherty would have problems leading into the season with first choice goalkeeper John Burridge, who was making demands of the club but instead of meeting these, Tommy Docherty promoted 17 year academy player Tim Flowers into goal where he remained for the season with Burridge leaving the club.

Wolves were misfiring but despite this, Tommy Docherty allowed central defender Geoff Palmer, having been capped 394 times for the club, to move to Burnley.

Tommy Docherty married his first wife, Agnes, in December 1949, after he left his native Scotland to sign for Preston North End.

Tommy Docherty died on 31 December 2020, aged 92, following a long illness.