Michael Docherty (born 29 October 1950) is an English former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

. He is the elder son of

Tommy Docherty Thomas Henderson Docherty (24 April 1928 – 31 December 2020), commonly known as The Doc, was a Scottish football player and manager. Docherty played for several clubs, most notably Preston North End, and represented Scotland 25 times bet ...

Playing career

As a player, Docherty started his career in the youth team of Chelsea, but in 1967 he moved to Burnley. He was a full-back for

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

and

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

, before an injury brought an early end to his playing career.

Coaching career

After his retirement from playing, Docherty joined Sunderland's coaching staff. In the 1980–81 season,he took over as

caretaker manager In association footballing terms, a caretaker manager or interim manager is somebody who takes temporary charge of the management of a football team, usually when the regular manager is dismissed or leaves for a different club. However, a caret ...

with four games of the season to go. He managed to save the club from relegation with a 1–0 victory over

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

Anfield Anfield is a Association football, football stadium in the area of Anfield (suburb), Anfield, Liverpool, England, which has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since its formation in 1892. The stadium has a seating capacity of 61,276, making it the ...

on the last day of the season. They finished 17th, two points clear of relegation. Since then he has consistently managed to find work in the game, although rarely as a manager. He was briefly manager of

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They were founded in 190 ...

between June and December 1983, a spell chiefly noted for the signing of the ailing

Ray Kennedy Raymond Kennedy (28 July 1951 – 30 November 2021) was an English Association football, footballer who won every domestic honour in the game with Arsenal F.C., Arsenal and Liverpool F.C., Liverpool in the 1970s and early 1980s. Kennedy playe ...

from

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club ( ; ) is a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales. It competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Swansea have played their home matches at ...

. He later assisted Dave Sutton and succeeded him in 1994 as manager at

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

, accepting the job after three preferred candidates declined it. In 1994–95, he led Dale to the Northern Final of the Auto Windscreens Trophy. In his only full season in charge, 1995–96, a bright start led to an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

third round match at

. Thereafter the team went into a steep decline and shortly after the end of the season, Docherty was dismissed, apparently due to alarm at some of his decisions on the retained list, and replaced by

Graham Barrow Graham Barrow (born 13 June 1954) is an English former footballer who has since become a professional manager in the English game. He is currently working for Wigan Athletic as an assistant manager to Shaun Maloney. Playing career Having previo ...

. This season is well documented in the fly on the wall book ''Kicking In The Wind''. Docherty was coach at

where he worked alongside

Ronnie Jepson Ronald Francis Jepson (born 12 May 1963) is an English football manager, coach and former player. A striker, he scored 86 goals in 354 league games in an eleven-year professional career. He moved from Nantwich Town to Port Vale in 1989, tur ...

and

Stan Ternent Francis Stanley Ternent (born 16 June 1946) is an English former footballer and manager. He managed Blackpool, Hull City, Bury, Burnley, Gillingham and Huddersfield Town. He was a scout for Hull City until January 2017. As a manager, he won ...

. He was released alongside them at the end of the 2003–04 season, but rejoined Jepson, now manager of Gillingham, as his assistant in January 2006. When Jepson resigned in September 2007, he was named as joint caretaker manager with

Iffy Onuora Ifem "Iffy" Onuora (born 28 July 1967) is a Scottish former professional footballer, manager, and coach for the England U21 national team. He is also the current equalities coach for the Professional Footballers Association. As a player, he wa ...

, but Docherty left Gillingham on 8 October 2007. On 14 May 2008, he again teamed up with Stan Ternent and Ronnie Jepson in a coaching role at

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...

. He left the club on 4 November, following Ternent's departure as manager. He now coaches at Burnley College football academy.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Docherty, Mick 1950 births Living people Footballers from Preston, Lancashire Men's association football fullbacks English Football League players English men's footballers English football managers Burnley F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. managers Hartlepool United F.C. managers Rochdale A.F.C. managers Gillingham F.C. managers Blackpool F.C. non-playing staff Burnley F.C. non-playing staff Huddersfield Town A.F.C. non-playing staff