Tommy Cavanagh

{{Infobox football biography

| name = Tommy Cavanagh

| image =

| caption = Cavanagh while Brentford coach in 1963.

| full_name = Thomas Henry Cavanagh

| birth_date = {{birth date|1928|6|29|df=y}}

| birth_place = Liverpool, England

| death_date = {{death date and age|2007|3|14|1928|6|29|df=y}}

| death_place = Driffield, England

| position = Inside forward

| youthyears1 =

| youthclubs1 =

| years1 = 1948–1950

| clubs1 = Preston North End

| caps1 = 0

| goals1 = 0

| years2 = 1950–1952

| clubs2 = Stockport County

| caps2 = 32

| goals2 = 2

| years3 = 1952–1956

| clubs3 = Huddersfield Town

| caps3 = 93

| goals3 = 29

| years4 = 1956–1959

| clubs4 = Doncaster Rovers

| caps4 = 119

| goals4 = 16

| years5 = 1959–1960

| clubs5 = Bristol City

| caps5 = 24

| goals5 = 6

| years6 = 1960–1961

| clubs6 = Carlisle United

| caps6 = 33

| goals6 = 4

| totalcaps = 301

| totalgoals = 57

| manageryears1 = 1961

| managerclubs1 = Cheltenham Town

| manageryears2 = 1965–1966

| managerclubs2 = Brentford

| manageryears3 = 1983

| managerclubs3 = Rosenborg

| manageryears4 = 1985–1986

| managerclubs4 = Burnley

}}

Thomas Henry Cavanagh (29 June 1928 – 14 March 2007) was an English football player and coach. As a player, he was an inside-forward at six professional clubs, most notably Huddersfield Town, Doncaster Rovers and was player manager at Cheltenham Town, Brentford, Newcastle, and Manchester United, leading the latter to win the FA cup in 1977.{{cite web|url=http://www.wsc.co.uk/content/view/2743/29/|title=When Saturday Comes – Cheltenham Town|author=WSC 190 Dec 02|work=wsc.co.uk|access-date=19 October 2015}}

Career

After retiring as a player, Cavanagh coached and later managed Brentford.{{Cite web |url=http://www.brentfordfc.co.uk.p.preprod.performgroup.com/page/LatestNews/0,,10421~998103,00.html |title=Brentford {{!}} News {{!}} Latest News {{!}} Latest News {{!}} FORMER BRENTFORD MANAGER PASSES AWAY |date=16 March 2007 |website=brentfordfc.co.uk |access-date=12 February 2018}} He coached at Nottingham Forest from 1966 until 1972. He then linked up with his former Preston teammate Tommy Docherty as a coach at Manchester United. 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, but he left the club following Ron Atkinson's appointment in 1981. From 1976 to 1979 he was also Northern Ireland assistant manager to Danny Blanchflower.{{cite web|url=http://www.irishfa.com/news/item/2877/obituary-tommy-cavanagh|title=OBITUARY: TOMMY CAVANAGH|work=Irish Football Association|access-date=19 October 2015}} He later had a spell as coach at Newcastle United.

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.Svardal: 153 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 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, 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 and died in March 2007, aged 78.{{Hugman|3273|accessdate=19 October 2015}}

References

;Bibliography

{{cite book |title=Historien om Rosenborg Ballklub 1917–2007 |last=Svardal |first=Geir |publisher=Tapir Akademosk Forlag |location=Trondheim |language=no |year=2007 |isbn=978-82-519-2188-6}}

;Notes

External links

{{soccerbase (manager)|id=1228}}
[http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/doc-in-salute-to-cavanagh-985478 Manchester Evening News Obituary]

{{succession box

| before=Frank Blunstone

| title=Manchester United F.C. assistant manager

| years=1977–1981

| after=Mick Brown

}}

Category:1928 births

Category:2007 deaths

Category:Deaths from Alzheimer's disease in England

Category:English men's footballers

Category:Men's association football inside forwards

Category:Preston North End F.C. players