MU head coach sleeps with subordinate's wife

Flying chair because of adultery scandal

Thomas Henderson Docherty (Tommy Docherty's full name) had a spell in charge of Manchester United in the 1970s. In total, the Scottish manager won 99, drew 54 and lost 62 in 215 games in charge, from 1972 to 1977. The pinnacle of Docherty's time at Old Trafford was when his exciting young side beat fierce rivals Liverpool to win the FA Cup at Wembley in 1977.

Not only was it the club's first trophy in nearly a decade, it was also a bold statement of intent in their rivalry with Bob Paisley's side. Many fans expected Docherty to lead United to challenge Liverpool for the top spot in English football at the time.

However, “The Doc” (Tommy Docherty’s nickname) time as manager at United came to a dramatic end in 1977 after his affair came to light. Just two months after lifting the FA Cup with United, “The Doc” left the club amid controversy when it was reported that he had an affair with Mary, the wife of United’s physiotherapist Laurie Brown.

When the incident was exposed and he was fired by MU for "breaching the contract in terms of... ethics and lifestyle", Docherty still did not regret. Instead, he criticized MU, because it was a "personal problem". "I must be the only man who lost his job because of love," Docherty said about his relationship with Mary Brown, "Love is not wrong. I have no regrets about following my heart. Mary is worth more than MU and I believe in my choice". It is also worth noting that the MU leadership at that time was heavily influenced by Sir Matt Busby's opinion, so they decided to terminate the contract with Docherty.

The couple was considered “adulterous” in MU, then one left his wife, the other divorced her husband to get married and live together as if nothing had happened. After marrying Mary Brown, “The Doc” had two more children, Grace and Lucy, born in the 1980s.

Destroy the dream marriage

Docherty’s affair with Mary, 18 years his junior, also ended his dream marriage to Agnes, who he married in December 1949. After the marriage broke down, Docherty only had regular contact with his son Mick, one of his four children with Agnes. Before that, Docherty was considered an exemplary coach both on and off the pitch.

On 27 January 1949, exactly one day before moving from Celtic to Preston North End for £2,000, a club record transfer fee at the time, Docherty married Agnes at Sacred Heart Church, Girvan (Scotland). The couple later welcomed four children into their family.

In the press conference to introduce MU in 1972, "The Doc" firmly affirmed: "Agnes and her family are the foundation of my successful career". After nearly 30 years of living happily with Agnes, Docherty unexpectedly threw everything away to rush into an extramarital relationship with Mary.

Agnes’s marriage broke down because of her husband’s betrayal, and she lived in misery for the rest of her life. In his autobiography “Married To A Man Of Two Halves”, Tom Docherty Jr, son of “The Doc”, provided shocking details: “My mother was so heartbroken, she had a heart attack and died because of this”.

In fact, cases like Tom Docherty are not uncommon. In 1998, David Moyes was appointed as the head coach of Preston North End. Exactly two years later, the 1950-born coach was accused of "cheating" on Toni Bauserman - Preston's fitness coach. The incident became even more noisy when Bauserman suddenly attacked David Moyes in the car park of the Lancashire team on May 28, 2000.

A former member of Preston's board of directors at that time revealed: "David Moyes was accused by Toni of flirting with and sleeping with his wife - Jessica Bauserman. The two had an argument in the car park of the team's training ground. That day, Toni used a weapon to attack Moyes and if it weren't for the timely intervention of Chris Woods (who later became Moyes' assistant at MU), something terrible could have happened." According to the investigation, Toni Bauserman only discovered that his wife was having an affair with... Moyes when he heard the players talking about it during their leisure time.

Unlike the Tommy Docherty case, Preston's board of directors did not "fire" Moyes but arranged for Toni Bauserman to... quit his job to keep things quiet. After breaking up with Preston, Toni Bauserman also dragged his cheating wife Jessica to court for divorce to vent his anger.