Tommy Docherty

**Thomas Henderson "Tommy" Docherty,** nicknamed "The Doc", was a Scots professional football player and manager. He coached South Melbourne Hellas in two separate stints during the second half of the 1982 National Soccer League season.

As a player. Docherty spent most of his career with Preston North End, for whom he played over 300 games. Docherty also played 83 matches for Arsenal, and won 25 caps for Scotland.

After retiring from playing, Docherty turned to managing, most notably coaching Chelsea and Manchester United, winning the League Cup with the former, and the FA Cup with the latter. On arriving in Australia in 1981 Docherty coached Sydney Olympic, returned to England to coach Preston North End, and then returned to Australia where he took on the job of senior coach at South Melbourne.

Docherty was in Australia in May of 1982 to promote a soccer skills program over a five week period. During this time, South approached him to take over the club for those five weeks in his spare time, with an option to coach out the rest of the year. Despite big spending on numerous "name" players, under incumbent coach John Margaritis the team had played disjointed, inconsistent football, was suffering from poor morale, and was entrenched in the bottom half of the table midway through the season.

Docherty took over the coaching reigns from round 14 onward, with Margaritis stepping aside from the position of head coach while remaining within the coaching structure; that was an arrangement that would last little more than a few hours, with Margaritis quitting soon after introducing the players to their new coach.

After Docherty's five-week spell concluded, he returned to England to take care of pressing financial and legal matters - namely the matter of a court summons over maintenance arrears due to his first wife, Agnes. During Docherty's absence, Mick Watson was caretaker manager for the next four weeks, before Docherty returned and saw out the rest of the season.

Though it seemed that the intent was for Docherty to return as Hellas head coach in 1983, contemporary reports suggest that Docherty was already on his way out of Hellas by mid-September 1982. After the club canvassed several options for Docherty's replacement. Rale Rasic was appointed South coach in October 1982. Docherty went on to coach Sydney Olympic in 1983, and it is at that club that he is best known and remembered within an Australian soccer context.

Interviewed in January 2000, in the lead up to South Melbourne's match against Manchester United in the Club World Championships, Docherty remembered his time at South as requiring more diplomacy in the changerooms than he was accustomed to; he also noted of South's fans that "they were the best winners in the world, and the worst losers". The same article notes that with South Melbourne only training three days a week, Docherty had the freedom to supplement his Australian income with television and radio work, which along with his coaching salary, reputedly earned him more than he would have earned at even leading English clubs.

## References

1. ↑ 1982, 'The Doc considers an offer', *Sydney Morning Herald,* 11 May, p.26
2. ↑ 1982, 'Stop Press: Dockerty for Hellas', *Soccer Action,* 12 May, p.6
3. ↑ 1982, 'Docherty delays Greenhoff bid', *Soccer Action,* 19 May, p.1
4. ↑ Windsor, P., 1982*, '*Doc's $29,000', *Soccer Action,* 14 July, p.10
5. ↑ Schwab, L, 1982, 'Well done Parkes, ho-hum Doc, snap goes Toddy', *Soccer Action,* 8 September p.11
6. ↑ MacKenzie, C, 1982, 'Hellas, Morwell, Ajax: McLachlan just won't say', *Soccer Action,* 15 September, p.2
7. ↑ 'Hellas brings him back home', 1982, *Soccer Action,* 6 October, p.1
8. ↑ Warren, J, 1983, 'National team in good hands', *Sydney Morning Herald,* 17 September, p.40
9. ↑ Collins, R,, 2000, 'United Sit Poorly With the Doc', *The Guardian,* 11 January, p.28