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Diamonds, Dynamos and Devils: The transformation of Chelsea FC under Tommy Docherty
Tommy Docherty managed Chelsea FC for six tumultuous years. Between 1961 and 1967 he got hired, relegated, promoted, lauded, let down, criticised, vilified, backed, victimised and fined. His departure was in keeping with much of his time at Chelsea – controversial and played out in newspaper headlines.
Garrulous, volatile, unpredictable, impulsive, innovative, intensely competitive, highly talented and much-loved by Chelsea supporters, ‘The Doc’ won one trophy for The Blues and was close to winning plenty more. He transformed and modernised the club, built a highly-regarded young team from the ashes he inherited but over time he fell out with, and sold, key players. In the end, amid gathering controversy, his parting was probably inevitable.
It can be argued that more happened to Chelsea in the six years of The Doc’s reign than in any comparable period before or since and this book to cover every major incident and key personality.
The famous victories. The numbing defeats. The players – Venables, Tambling, Bridges, Bonetti, Mortimore, Blunstone, Upton, Shellito, Murray, Harris, McCreadie, Graham, Hollins, Hinton, Boyle, Osgood, Cooke and more. The supporters. The heroes. The villains. The rows and the fall-outs. The controversies – Blackpool, Bermuda, the Roma riot and more. His relationships with chairmen, players, journalists and the football authorities. The stars he created, bought and sold.
Diamonds, Dynamos and Devils utilises extensive newspaper and book research to examine all of these and more, and draws a series of conclusions about one of the most exciting periods in Chelsea history. It also includes an exclusive recent interview with The Doc, whose talent for expressing trenchant views remains undimmed.
Docherty is still revered by many lifelong supporters who saw his teams play and Tim Rolls explains exactly why he is remembered with such affection, half a century after he left the club.
Garrulous, volatile, unpredictable, impulsive, innovative, intensely competitive, highly talented and much-loved by Chelsea supporters, ‘The Doc’ won one trophy for The Blues and was close to winning plenty more. He transformed and modernised the club, built a highly-regarded young team from the ashes he inherited but over time he fell out with, and sold, key players. In the end, amid gathering controversy, his parting was probably inevitable.
It can be argued that more happened to Chelsea in the six years of The Doc’s reign than in any comparable period before or since and this book to cover every major incident and key personality.
The famous victories. The numbing defeats. The players – Venables, Tambling, Bridges, Bonetti, Mortimore, Blunstone, Upton, Shellito, Murray, Harris, McCreadie, Graham, Hollins, Hinton, Boyle, Osgood, Cooke and more. The supporters. The heroes. The villains. The rows and the fall-outs. The controversies – Blackpool, Bermuda, the Roma riot and more. His relationships with chairmen, players, journalists and the football authorities. The stars he created, bought and sold.
Diamonds, Dynamos and Devils utilises extensive newspaper and book research to examine all of these and more, and draws a series of conclusions about one of the most exciting periods in Chelsea history. It also includes an exclusive recent interview with The Doc, whose talent for expressing trenchant views remains undimmed.
Docherty is still revered by many lifelong supporters who saw his teams play and Tim Rolls explains exactly why he is remembered with such affection, half a century after he left the club.
- GenresHistory
421 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 6, 2017
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August 30, 2019
Interesting but far too much detail. Badly needed a good editor (who might have spotted annoying spelling errors and typos too).
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