Joker Doc was second to none with great career
TOMMY DOCHERTY was one of football’s great characters.
The former Manchester United boss managed 12 clubs and Scotland during the most colourful of careers.
He spent nine years as a player with Preston and ran out for Scotland at the 1954 and 1958 World Cups.
A managerial career took him to Portugal and Australia but he is best remembered for five years at Old Trafford.
Born in the Gorbals in Glasgow on April 24, 1928, he started his career as a right-half at Shettleston before joining boyhood heroes Celtic in 1947 after leaving the Army, making his debut in a 1-0 home league defeat by Rangers.
He left for Preston in 1949. His time at Deepdale included an appearance in the 1954 FA Cup Final and he won the first of his 25 Scotland caps, playing twice in the 1954 World Cup.
He played for Arsenal and Chelsea then went into coaching at the Blues.
In 1964-65 they won the League Cup against Leicester but lost the 1967 FA Cup showpiece to Tottenham.
He left to boss Rotherham and said: “I promised I would take Rotherham out of the Second Division – and I took them into the Third. The old chairman said, ‘Doc, you’re a man of your word!”’
He had spells at QPR, Aston Villa, Porto and Hull before leaving in 1971 to become manager of Scotland, first on a temporary basis then permanently.
In December 1972, with Scotland on their way to the 1974 World Cup finals in West Germany, he quit to take over Manchester United.
He led United to FA Cup Final glory against Liverpool in 1977, then went to Derby, QPR, Sydney Olympic twice, Preston, South Melbourne, Wolves and Altrincham before retiring in 1988.
He was inducted into the Scottish Football Hall of Fame in 2013 and the famous joker proudly said: “This is something that will be there forever and will never be obliterated.”