MANCHESTER United manager Tommy Docherty had been sensationally sacked by the club's directors on July 4, 1977.

A statement from the football club's board found him in breach of his contract.

Docherty caused shock at the club two weeks earlier when he announced he was leaving his wife after 27 years of marriage, for a woman 18 years his junior.

After United won the FA Cup against Liverpool in May, the manager thought his job was safe.

"The board wanted me to stay and that's terrific," he said after admitting his affair.

The directors' announcement did not mention the 49-year-old Scot's controversial affair with the wife of the club's physiotherapist, Laurie Brown.

On hearing the news of his dismissal, Docherty said he was "a bit shattered.

"I certainly did not expect this. It was a bombshell. I thought I would have been judged on my playing record, like Wembley in two successive years," the father of four continued.

Club directors recalled him from his holiday in the Lake District after coming under pressure from players' wives.

Speaking from the Cheshire home of girlfriend Mary Brown (31), Docherty explained he had been asked to resign but refused because he did not think he had done anything wrong.

The relationship between Docherty and mother-of-two Mrs Brown had developed over the past three years.

Tommy Docherty – known as the Doc – still had 10 months of his £20,000-a-year contract to run.