Thomas Henry Cavanagh (29 June 1928 – 14 March 2007) was an English football player and coach. As a player, he was an

inside-forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

at six professional clubs, most notably

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. Th ...

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

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. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league sy ...

, where he was sacked as manager for swearing during matches after complaints by two supporters' club members.

Career

After retiring as a player, Cavanagh coached and later managed Brentford. He coached at

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

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 betw ...

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 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 ever major European trophy. Playing career Son of former professional boxer Archie Sex ...

, but he left the club following

Ron Atkinson Ronald Frederick Atkinson (born 18 March 1939), commonly known as "Big Ron" or "Mr. Bojangles", is an English former football player and manager. In the 1990s and early 2000s, he was regarded as one of Britain's best-known football pundits. Nic ...

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

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

assistant manager to Danny Blanchflower. He later had a spell as coach at Newcastle United. Ahead of the 1983 season, Cavanagh was hired as manager of Rosenborg. In

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

, 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 Orkanger is a town and the administrative centre of Orkland municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The town is also a former municipality which existed from 1920 until 1963. The town sits at the end of the Orkdal Fjord, an arm of the Trondhe ...

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 Nils Arne Eggen (17 September 1941 – 19 January 2022) was a Norwegian footballer, manager and teacher from Orkdal. Eggen was closely tied to Rosenborg, the club he managed for 23 years between 1970 and 2010. He is Norway's most successful clu ...

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 Martin McLean Buchan (born 6 March 1949) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a centre back. Born in Aberdeen, he played for Aberdeen, Manchester United and Oldham Athletic. He also played in 34 international matches for Sc ...

's assistant at

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...

, 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.

References

;Bibliography * ;Notes

External links

*
Manchester Evening News Obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cavanagh, Tommy 1928 births 2007 deaths Deaths from Alzheimer's disease 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