In the Roman Abramovich era of Chelsea Football Club, supporters grew used to managers being turned over at a rate of knots. Whether they won something or not, they were out of the door as soon as the Russian decided it was time to move them on. That wasn’t the case during the club’s more formative years, with managers able to keep their place for longer. That was especially true of those that brought silverware to Stamford Bridge, which is exactly what Dave Sexton managed to do. Replacing the man who won the League Cup for the first time was never going to be easy, but Sexton achieved some firsts of his own.
Dave Sexton’s Honours as Chelsea Manager
| Season | League Titles | Domestic Cups | European/International Cups |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1969/70 | – | FA Cup | – |
| 1970/71 | – | – | Cup Winners’ Cup |
Sexton’s Short Playing Career
David James Sexton was born in Islington, London on the sixth of April 1930. He was the son of a former professional boxer by the name of Archie Sexton, so a career in sport was perhaps always likely for him. He began playing as a footballer for non-league clubs, starting out at Newmarket Town before signing for Chelmsford City. A talented inside-forward, it didn’t take him long before he caught the attention of professional side Luton Town, who signed him up in 1951. He played nine league games for the Hatters, eventually earning himself a move back to London with West Ham United in 1952.
During a three-year stint with the Hammers, Sexton played 74 league games and notched up 27 goals. He then moved to Leyton Orient, with whom he played 24 times in the league and scored four goals, helping the club achieve its objective of winning the Third Division South title at the end of the 1954-1955 season. From there he moved to Brighton & Hove Albion, getting 26 league goals in 49 games and once again won the Third Division South title. There was one more London club left in his playing career, signing for Crystal Palace in 1959 and playing 27 times for them in the league, scoring 11 times.
Becoming Chelsea Manager
Sexton actually began his coaching career at Chelsea, but it was with his former club Leyton Orient that he started as a manager. He joined them in 1965 and impressed, with Bertie Mee, the then Arsenal manager, employing him as a first-team coach for the Gunners. When Tommy Docherty retired as the Chelsea manager in 1967, the decision was taken to bring Sexton in from Arsenal in order to get him to take over as the manager at Stamford Bridge. He was a unique individual for the times, reading French poetry and watching foreign football to see what, if anything, he could learn from teams on the continent.
Not only that, but Sexton also introduced film footage to his coaching sessions as Chelsea manager, as well as employing numerous different playing systems. Whilst most of football in England was married to a 4-4-2 formation, Sexton had his players lining up in a 4-3-3 or 3-4-3 system depending on what the game called for. Having inherited a good squad, the new manager brought in a couple of shrewd signings such as John Dempsey and David Webb, seeing his analytical approach allow the Blues to play some of its most consistent football for more than decade. The club still had a swagger, but now it was matched with tactical flexibility.
With Sexton at the helm, Chelsea finished sixth in his first season, fifth in his second and then third. If his third season in charge wasn’t impressive enough thanks to the league performance, it was made even more noteworthy when the team managed to make its way through an FA Cup final against Leeds United, which had to be settled thanks to a replay – a match that remains the most-watched domestic cup match in the history of television in Britain. He wasn’t done there, however. The fact that Chelsea had won the FA Cup allowed them to play in the Cup Winners’ Cup the following season, defeating Real Madrid to win the Blues’ first European trophy.
The End of Life at Chelsea & More Managerial Success
Having stocked his squad full of big personalities, Sexton soon realised that he wasn’t able to control them. Bust-ups between him and his unruly stars were legendary, with the manager failing to get them playing cohesively enough to defeat an ageing Stoke City in the 1972 League Cup final. As an intellectual and studious person, he failed to understand why the players lacked personal discipline and made a decision to try to find replacements that were more malleable to his requirements. As the years went on, however, his track record for good signings began to drop off and the likes of Steve Kember and Chris Garland failed to make an impression.
Stamford Bridge was redeveloped during Sexton’s time at the club, with the cost of that taking its toll on the team’s budget. Club icons were sold to cover the costs, with both the team and the manager missing them hugely. A disappointing 1973-1974 campaign meant that his management was in a tailspin, resulting in him being sacked on the third of October 1974. That didn’t kill his managerial ambitions altogether, though. A few weeks later he took over at Queens Park Rangers, then in 1977 he was given the manager’s job at Old Trafford, where he remained until 1981. Alongside that, Sexton was also the England Under-21 manager.
When time was eventually called on his Manchester United career, Sexton was employed as Coventry City manager, lasting until 1983. Having been the England Under-21 manager until 1990, he was invited back to the same role in 1994 for a further two years. When he died in 2012, Chelsea Football Club said that the first manager to win the FA Cup for the Blues was ‘without a doubt one of the greatest managers in Chelsea history’. The fact that he added the UEFA Under-21 Championship to his medal collection in both 1982 and 1984 suggests that the Blues might not have been too far off the mark in their verdict.