In My Sporting Hero, a new podcast series from Nutmeg, footballers talk about the athletes who inspire them. Sometimes those sportsmen and women are also footballers. Sometimes not. You can listen to the audio on this post, on the podcast app of your choice (just search for ‘My Sporting Hero’) or enjoy the written version below.
Our next guest is Tony Docherty.
Tony’s playing career was relatively short, quitting Albion Rovers at the age of 26 to join the SFA’s technical department under the great Craig Brown. Inspired by his late father Gerry, who ran various teams in East Kilbride, Tony always had one eye on teaching the game, and studied Physical Education while a young pro at Dunfermline. He went on to collaborate with several top coaches, notably Derek McInnes, before taking up his first full managerial role at Dundee in May 2023. He has since instilled a highly watchable and winning style of football at Dens Park, and took the Dark Blues to a top-six finish in his first season in charge.
Tony’s sporting hero is Kenny Dalglish, whose goals – and goal celebrations – for Scotland and Liverpool in the 1980s made him want to be a footballer.
Kenny Dalglish had such a profound effect on me, he was such a great player. I grew up when Kenny was playing for Scotland, and as a youngster playing football, his goals and goal celebrations really lit a fire under me. He had that amazing smile when he scored a goal, with his arms held aloft, and it was absolutely inspirational for me and made me want to try and emulate what he did. I was too young to have seen him playing for Celtic – although I’ve seen footage of him from his days there, so my memories are of his time at Scotland and Liverpool, but it was his Scotland performances that particularly inspired me.
My fondest memory is my father taking me to a Scotland game at Hampden in 1984, a 3-1 victory against Spain, in which Kenny scored a really famous goal, which meant he had equalled the Scotland scoring record. Playing and scoring for your country is the pinnacle, and it actually gives me goosebumps just talking about it. I can actually close my eyes and see that goal. He took a touch from Davie Cooper, and just slammed it into the top corner. He just loved scoring, it was what he had to do and when he scored it was like a release, the way he reacted with that big smile and running away in celebration.
I remember when I was even younger, I was out playing with my pals when my dad called me in to watch the Archie Gemmill goal against Holland at the 1978 World Cup. That’s a special memory as well, and all these memories shape you and inspire you. People say football’s in your blood, but for me it’s the experiences that you have, such as going to Scotland games with my dad.
Anytime you were playing in the park as a kid and you scored, you’d imagine you were Kenny Dalglish. He had everything. He was so two-footed, and could score any type of goal. I don’t even know if you could coach a lot of the things that he could do, it was just purely natural. He did have that big bum, that kind of John McGinn bum, so he could just fend players off just with his presence. I remember another famous goal that he scored, against Wales. His movement to get on the end of that ball and header it was just phenomenal. So Kenny would be my sporting hero because he’s the one who lit my fire. He was also so relatable, because we were both from the south side of Glasgow. Also, despite the fact that he was a superstar who had won the Ballon d’Or Silver Award, he has never changed his accent or his mannerisms. That’s why everybody loves him, because he has remained so down-to-earth.
Liverpool were and will always be my favourite English club because of Kenny Dalglish. I remember back in the day it would be the FA Cup final and the Scottish Cup final that were the big events, and it always seemed to be Liverpool who were in the FA Cup final, and it would always be Kenny starring. I loved watching Liverpool and Kenny was obviously the talisman. I actually went down there as a wee boy, with one of the youth teams my father used to run. Kenny actually came to see us and gave us a wee chat, and it was just amazing to see my hero.
I also remember Maradona just amazed me, particularly at the 1986 World Cup which he won practically single-handedly. And then he went on to win the Scudetto with Napoli, again single-handedly. I don’t think anybody will ever do that again. He was by miles the world’s best footballer. I know that Pele and Lionel Messi are phenomenal, but look at what Maradona achieved on his own. There was also obviously the second goal against England in 1986, which showed his incredible talent, but he did it with such regularity. If you look at Maradona’s top-20 goals, it is ridiculous the different types of goals that he scored, particularly for someone with such a low centre of gravity. So if I was allowed to choose two sporting heroes, I’d choose Maradona as well as Dalglish.
Gordon Strachan is my technical director now, and we are friendly. Gordon and Kenny Dalglish are best mates, and I nearly got the opportunity to play golf with them both this summer. Gordon’s got a place over in La Manga, as does Kenny, but unfortunately Alan Hansen took ill so the game fell through. I actually don’t know what I would have said to him had I met him, because there’s still that part of you that is a wee boy who idolises him! Gordon says he is the nicest guy and very down-to-earth. I’m sure that day will come soon when I get the chance to meet him properly and maybe get a round of golf with him. In the meantime, I’m happy enough playing with Gordon, who is a good golfer. I spoke with Gordon on the phone one day, and he said, “I’m just walking down the 8th fairway with Kenny,” and I thought, how good would that be, walking down the 8th fairway with Kenny Dalglish? And I wondered, what on earth do they talk about?
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