Thomas Henry Cavanagh (29 June 1928 – 14 March 2007) was an English

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and coach. As a player, he was an inside-forward at six professional clubs, most notably

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 ...

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system after winning the 202 ...

and was

player manager A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make change ...

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1887, ...

, Brentford, Newcastle, and Manchester United, leading the latter to win the FA cup in 1977.

Career

After retiring as a player, Cavanagh coached and later managed

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

. He coached at

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

from 1966 until 1972. He then linked up with his former Preston teammate

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 ...

as a coach at

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

. During this time he worked with George Best, who notably bought him a white television for being late for training. Cavanagh stayed at United when Docherty was sacked in 1977 and became assistant manager under Docherty's successor,

Dave Sexton David James Sexton (6 April 1930 – 25 November 2012) was an English football manager and player. He was notable for managing Chelsea to their first European trophy. Playing career Son of former professional boxer Archie Sexton, he st ...

, but he left the club following

Ron Atkinson Ronald Frederick Atkinson (born 18 March 1939) is an English former football player and manager. Nicknamed "Big Ron", he was regarded as one of Britain's best-known football pundits in the 1990s and early 2000s. Nicknamed "The Tank" during his ...

's appointment in 1981. From 1976 to 1979 he was also

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

assistant manager to

Danny Blanchflower Robert Dennis Blanchflower (10 February 1926 – 9 December 1993) was a Northern Ireland footballer, football manager and journalist who played for and captained Tottenham Hotspur, including during their double-winning season of 1960–61. H ...

. He later had a spell as coach at

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

. Ahead of the 1983 season, Cavanagh was hired as manager of Rosenborg. In Norwegian, the terms coach and manager are used interchangeably. Cavanagh had previously done an excellent job as coach at Manchester United, but lacked abilities in team selection, tactics and inspiration. He used players in the wrong position, and instructed the ball to be kicked over the midfield, making it impossible to use the playmaker. He believed in breaking down the players and then building them up, and was unarguably good at the former.Svardal: 154 By the summer, his style was costing the club players:

Knut Torbjørn Eggen Knut Torbjørn Eggen (1 November 1960 – 20 February 2012) was a Norwegian football coach and player, famous for his time in Rosenborg as a player, and Moss and Fredrikstad as a coach. He was the son of Norway's most successful football coach, ...

transferred to Orkanger in the Fourth Division, while Øivind Husby transferred to Brøndby in Denmark. Cavanagh was fired in August, at which time the club was second-last in the league, and Nils Arne Eggen took over as manager for the rest of the season.Svardal: 155 The team finished on a seventh place.Svardal: 263 President Erling Meirik withdrew as a consequence of the hiring, stating that in the future, the club should hire people based on more than their reputation and that they should seek judicial assistance with the contract. In 1985, he became Martin Buchan's assistant at

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 ...

, and took over as manager when Buchan was sacked later that year. After leaving Burnley in 1986, he worked at the FA School of Excellence at Lilleshall until his retirement.

Personal life

In 2002, Cavanagh was diagnosed with

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

and died in March 2007, aged 78.

References

;Bibliography * ;Notes

External links

*
Manchester Evening News Obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cavanagh, Tommy 1928 births 2007 deaths Deaths from Alzheimer's disease in England English men's footballers Men's association football inside forwards Preston North End F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players Cheltenham Town F.C. players English football managers Brentford F.C. managers Newcastle United F.C. non-playing staff Manchester United F.C. non-playing staff Burnley F.C. managers Cheltenham Town F.C. managers Rosenborg BK managers English Football League players Footballers from Liverpool Deaths from dementia in England 20th-century English sportsmen