DEREK DOOLEYDerek Dooley, who died on 5 March, 2008, aged 78, achieved a rare feat: being respected and admired by supporters of both Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United.He was a prolific post-war centre forward with Wednesday when his promising career was ended at 23 by the amputation of his right leg.He went on to manage Wednesday briefly before joining their rivals United in an administrative role. He eventually became chairman and oversaw the club’s ascent to the Premiership in 2006.Derek Dooley was born in the Pitsmoor area of Sheffield on 13 December, 1929. Both his parents were both factory workers and work commitments had once prevented his father from attending a trial with Bradford City.He left school at 14 and went into the manufacturing trade, making deaf aids with a local firm. He joined the YMCA so he could play for their football team, starting out as a defender but soon transferring his muscular frame to a striking role.In 1946 he was signed on amateur terms by Third Division North side Lincoln City. After just two first team appearances with the Imps (and two goals), Sheffield Wednesday and Wolves came in with a semi-pro offers and he opted to join his home town club.He made his debut for the Second Division side in 1950 at the age of 20, but was immediately called up for national service with the RAF. He rejoined the side the following year and began an incredible scoring run which saw him average better than a goal a game.He was a committed and fearless forward whose uncompromising challenges on goalkeepers made him no fans in the opposition terraces, though his scoring feats made him one of the most exciting players in football and he was hotly tipped for an England call-up.Wednesday had been promoted and relegated during Dooley’s absence, but in the 1951/52 season he fired them to the Second Division Championship with an incredible 47 goals. His total career haul with Wednesday was 62 goals in 61 games and he would have got many more had disaster not struck in February, 1953.In typical style he went full-in for a challenge on Preston North End’s goalkeeper George Thompson and came out with a broken leg. Nine weeks later a flirtatious nurse jokingly tickled his toes, but was alarmed when he gave no reaction. His cast was quickly removed and it was discovered that severe gangrene had developed from an earlier cut.He went in for emergency surgery but doctors were forced to amputate the leg above the knee. Mr Dooley then fell in to a deep depression. "I thought my world had collapsed," he said in a 2003 interview. "I’d been married for just six months, I’d got no house, no money and football was my life. I thought, ‘Well, I might as well snuff it because I’ve not got a lot to live for’."He benefited from the support of his bride Sylvia and his parents while recovering. Meanwhile, local newspaper raised money for a benefit fund and a testimonial match attracted 55,000 people. He worked in journalism then at a baker’s, but he still hungered for football.In 1962 his wish was granted when Sheffield Wednesday hired him to run their new youth development programme. Nine years later he was made manager following the club’s relegation to the Second Division and Danny Williams’ subsequent sacking. But he was unable get them promoted and was sacked with cruel timing on 24 December, 1973.Outraged, he turned his back on Hillsborough for the next two decades and defected to their bitter rivals Sheffield United who offered him the role of Commercial Manager the following November.During the ’70s and ’80s, United slipped as low as the Fourth Division, but Mr Dooley continued to rise through the ranks, becoming a director on the board and eventually chairman in 1999 to the delight of supporters. In 2003 the club reached the semi-finals of the FA and League cups and three years later they were promoted to the top flight as runners-up.Mr Dooley stepped down as chairman at the end of that season and became vice-president. He died at the Sheffield home that had been his since the ’50s and was survived by Sylvia, two children and four grandchildren. He had been given an MBE in 2003 and was also a freeman of Sheffield.Many in the footballing world paid tribute to Mr Dooley, including none other than Pele who met him at a recent event celebrating 150 years of Sheffield football. "When I was at Bramall Lane last year," he said, "I was able to spend some time with Derek talking about the past and how things had changed. We had a great time reminiscing about the old days of international football and club football. He was a lovely man."Sheffield Wednesday’s chief executive Kaven Walker said: "Derek was a great servant to this football club as well as our close neighbours. He will always be remembered with a great fondness by Sheffield football fans and he commanded a massive amount of respect both within the city and across the country. He was an excellent ambassador for the city of Sheffield."Kevin McCabe, current chairman of Sheffield United PLC, said: "Derek was Sheffield’s greatest ever sporting legend and one of only a few people who achieved the quite incredible feat of winning the utmost respect of football supporters from both sides of the Sheffield divide."He was a big man in every respect - in physical stature, in the way he treated others and also in terms of his standing in Sheffield. Derek showed great courage, too, in the way he overcame the devastating injury which ended his football career and also in many other areas of his life."
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