Former Chelsea manager Dave Sexton has died

I was very sorry to hear of the death of Dave Sexton, who was manager of Chelsea when they won the FA Cup in 1970 and the European Cup Winners Cup the following year and thus one of my boyhood heroes.

Sexton was not a colourful figure like Tommy Docherty, whom he succeeded at Chelsea and was to succeed at Manchester United a few years later. Nor was he a paterfamilias like Jose Mourinho or Sir Alex Ferguson. At Chelsea, at least, he seemed subservient to the personalities of the team's leading players.

But he must have been a great coach. On the BBC Sport site, Sir Trevor Brooking pays his tribute:

"Anyone who was ever coached by Dave would be able to tell you what a good man he was, but not only that, what a great coach in particular he was. 

"In the last 30-40 years Dave's name was up there with any of the top coaches we have produced in England - the likes of Terry Venables, Don Howe and Ron Greenwood. His coaching was revered."

Perhaps Sexton's greatest achievement was not at Stamford Bridge or Old Trafford. In 1975/6 his QPR team came close to winning the title. finishing only a point behind Liverpool.

This goal sums up all that was good about Sexton's QPR.