Editing Tommy Docherty (section)

===Wolverhampton Wanderers===

Docherty returned to England once more with [[Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.|Wolverhampton Wanderers]] just after their relegation from the First Division in 1984. He was sacked just over a year later, however, 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.

Docherty's time at Wolves was to be a tough task. The club had once been three times champions of England in the 1950s and had also hosted [[Budapest Honvéd FC|Honved]] under the floodlights at the [[Molineux Stadium]] in 1954, pioneering the way for European club football.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2014-12-13 |title=The night Wolves became 'champions of the world' against Honved |first=Nick |last=Miller |url=http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/dec/13/wolves-world-champions-honved-molineux-hungary-wembley |access-date=2023-01-29 |work=[[The Guardian]] |language=en}}</ref> They had since gone on to be finalists in the [[1972 UEFA Cup final|1972 UEFA Cup]] and winners of the 1980 League Cup where [[Andy Gray (footballer, born 1955)|Andy Gray]] scored the winning goal after setting a British transfer record when signing for the club.<ref>{{Citation |title=Wolverhampton-Nottigham Forest 1-0 League Cup Final 1979-80 HQ |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekephV2RDMA |language=en |access-date=2023-01-29}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Gray reflects on the original big deal |url=https://www.expressandstar.com/sport/2009/09/08/gray-reflects-on-the-original-big-deal/ |access-date=2023-01-29 |website=www.expressandstar.com |language=en}}</ref>

The club 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. A rescue package had to be brought in place during 1982, with the club just hours away from going out of business it was purchased by the Bhatti Brothers, two Saudi Arabian businessmen with help from club legend [[Derek Dougan]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=From 1958 to 2010 – What Molineux could have been |url=https://www.expressandstar.com/sport/football/wolverhampton-wanderers-fc/2015/07/22/from-1958-to-2010-what-molineux-could-have-been/ |access-date=2023-01-29 |website=www.expressandstar.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Wolves' bankruptcy in 1982, 40 years on: How former players are still giving something back in old gold and black |url=https://www.skysports.com/amp/football/news/11095/12643522/wolves-bankruptcy-in-1982-40-years-on-how-former-players-are-still-giving-something-back-in-old-gold-and-black |access-date=2023-01-29 |website=Sky Sports |language=en}}</ref>

The brothers were property developers and wanted to develop the land around the stadium but when the council did not grant them permissions they sought to build a supermarket adjacent to the Molineux stadium. Relationship with the club soured and the club was receiving no investment and involvement from the brothers.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-01-22 |title=Decade of Decline: Wolverhampton Wanderers in the 1980s |url=https://footballwhispers.com/blog/decade-decline-wolverhampton-wanderers-in-1980s/ |access-date=2023-01-29 |website=footballwhispers.com |language=en-GB}}</ref>

Following relegation from the top flight the previous season, several key players left the club, including goalscorers [[Mel Eves|Mel Eaves]] and [[Wayne Clarke (footballer)|Wayne Clarke]], as well as [[Tony Towner]] and second highest club appearance holder [[Kenny Hibbitt]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wollaston |first=Steve |date=2013-03-13 |title=Nostalgia gallery: Wayne Clarke |language=en-GB |work=BirminghamLive |url=https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/birmingham-city-nostalgia-gallery-wayne-1742185 |access-date=2023-01-29}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-03-05 |title=Flying winger Tony 'Tiger' Towner immortalised in children's TV programme |url=https://inparallellines.wordpress.com/2017/03/05/to-me-to-you-rotherham-winger-tony-tiger-towner-is-chuckles-hero/ |access-date=2023-01-29 |website=In parallel lines |language=en}}</ref>

"Tommy Docherty came in as manager and he knew I didn't want to be around to see the club in such dire straits", commented Hibbitt when interviewed on his thoughts on leaving Wolves.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The ex-Wolf - Kenny Hibbitt |url=https://www.expressandstar.com/sport/football/wolverhampton-wanderers-fc/2015/07/10/the-ex-wolf-kenny-hibbitt/ |access-date=2023-01-29 |website=www.expressandstar.com |language=en}}</ref>

Docherty would also have problems leading into the season with first choice goalkeeper [[John Burridge]], who was making demands of the club but instead of meeting these, Docherty promoted 17 year academy player [[Tim Flowers]] into goal, where he remained for the season with Burridge also leaving the club.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tim Flowers {{!}} SaintsPlayers.co.uk |url=https://www.saintsplayers.co.uk/player/tim-flowers/ |access-date=2023-01-29 |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Wolves Heroes » Blog Archive » Doc Failed To Cure Wolves' Ills |url=https://www.wolvesheroes.com/2011/12/11/doc-failed-to-cure-wolves-ills/ |access-date=2023-01-29}}</ref>

The [[1984–85 Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. Season|1984-85 season]] began at home to [[Sheffield United F.C.|Sheffield United]] in front 14,908 fans. After a good start to the season, later progress started to slowly disintegrated and the club found themselves bouncing around position 13th - 15th position in the table by November.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sheffield United (H) 1984/85 |url=https://wolvescompletehistory.co.uk/sheffield-united-h-1984-85/ |access-date=2023-01-29 |website=Wolverhampton Wanderers |language=en-US}}</ref>

Wolves were misfiring but despite this, Docherty allowed defender [[Geoff Palmer (footballer)|Geoff Palmer]], having played 394 times for the club, to move to Burnley. Palmer was a very experienced defender and with him leaving, this left a far less experienced team to that which had finished the previous season. Palmer left the club believing he had fallen out if favour with Docherty and cited that "the club just wasn't a nice place to be at the time, it wasn't being run properly, and was on its knees."<ref>{{Cite web |title=From fan to a Molineux great, Geoff Palmer played in every division for Wolves |url=https://www.expressandstar.com/sport/football/wolverhampton-wanderers-fc/2020/12/03/from-fan-to-a-molineux-great-geoff-palmer-played-in-every-division-for-wolves/ |access-date=2023-01-29 |website=www.expressandstar.com |language=en}}</ref>

Shortly afterwards, Wolves endured a 21-match winless run in all competitions (19 of those in the Second Division). Pressure was mounting in January 1985 and former fan favourite and now Chairman [[Derek Dougan]] eventually resigned from his position on the board.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-01-22 |title=Decade of Decline: Wolverhampton Wanderers in the 1980s |url=https://footballwhispers.com/blog/decade-decline-wolverhampton-wanderers-in-1980s/ |access-date=2023-01-29 |website=footballwhispers.com |language=en-GB}}</ref>

The season performances would also see the club be beaten 5-1 on three occasions. Two were televised live on [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] and the other away at [[Brighton & Hove Albion F.C.|Brighton & Hove Albion]] on the day the club were officially relegated. Docherty's final game at home was against [[Huddersfield Town A.F.C.|Huddersfield Town]], where Wolves secured just their eighth victory of the season in front of only 4,422 fans. Wolves finished the season bottom of the table and Docherty left the club in July 1985.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Huddersfield Town (H) 1984/85 |url=https://wolvescompletehistory.co.uk/huddersfield-town-h-1984-85/ |access-date=2023-01-29 |website=Wolverhampton Wanderers |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=1984/85 Canon League Second Division |url=https://wolvescompletehistory.co.uk/1984-85/ |access-date=2023-01-29 |website=Wolverhampton Wanderers |language=en-US}}</ref>

When asked about his time at Wolves Docherty said: "I could hardly say 'no' when a club as famous as that came in for me... But it was a hopeless task really. There was no money. I wasn't sure I'd be able to work with Derek Dougan but I accepted the challenge anyway. As for the Bhattis, I only met them twice – once when they hired me and once when they fired me".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Wolves Heroes » Blog Archive » Doc Failed To Cure Wolves' Ills |url=https://www.wolvesheroes.com/2011/12/11/doc-failed-to-cure-wolves-ills/ |access-date=2023-01-29}}</ref>

Docherty took up his final managerial position at [[Altrincham F.C.|Altrincham]]. He retired from management at the end of the [[1987–88 in English football|1987–88 season]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://extra.ie/2020/12/31/sport/soccernews/tommy-docherty-tributes|title=Manchester United lead tributes to former boss Tommy Docherty|publisher=[[DMG Media#Other services|Extra.ie]]|access-date=31 December 2020|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210101052750/https://extra.ie/2020/12/31/sport/soccernews/tommy-docherty-tributes|archive-date=1 January 2021}}</ref>