Having been involved in football for over 70 years as a junior, professional, manager, pundit and after dinner speaker, Docherty has fascinating stories and he kept the audience enthralled with his humourous reminiscences.
From when he got the push from his first job as a window cleaner because he "couldn't stand heights", through his playing career at Celtic: " take that Rangers forward out of the game - what for ever or just for today...?"
and Preston North North End to the turbulent times as a manager with, among others, Chelsea, Manchester United and Queens Park Rangers, Tommy told of how he turned down Panathenaikos because he didn't like the Greek military junta and why he was sacked by Manchester United within days of winning the FA Cup for running off with the physio's wife..!
The second half of the show was given over to questions from the audience and Tommy was invited to give his views on such varied topics as his all time best Manchester United 11, what makes somebody a good manager (it's difficult to say...) , who's his top player in the world ("Lionel Messi...") and would Burnley win promotion this season ("no...").
Tommy has a great reputation as an after dinner speaker at sportsmens events but this occasion gave an opportunity for what Tommy refers to as "Mr and Mrs Public" to hear his stories and ask him questions.
While all of his stories were interesting, one the more fascinating things he said as far as we were concerned was why gave up his dream job of managing the Scottish National Team to go and manage Manchester United. Tommy said that he missed the ‘day-to-day’ aspect of running a football club and that having different players come together for just a few days at a time didn't really work. He added that the players also find this difficult and that they are always happy when the international is over and they can go back to their clubs as well. .
There are always discussions about why such and such player is good for his club but not for his country.. from what Tommy said, the whole international set up obviously needs a rethink!
Tommy Docherty is a fantastic speaker with a wealth of football knowledge and lots of funny stories. If you have the chance to go and hear him, do go along - we are sure you won't be disappointed!
