Dave Bassett

Dave Bassett (born 1947), is an English football manager.

Wimbledon

Bassett as manager helped Wimbledon rise through the Football League during the 1980's. The team won promotion from the Fourth Division in 1982–83 and four seasons later, in 1985–86, they finished third in the Second Division and were promoted to the First Division after just nine seasons of league football. In Wimbledon's first-ever season of top division football, 1986–87, they finished in an impressive sixth place. Bassett then resigned as manager, handing over the reins to Bobby Gould – who guided Wimbledon to a famous FA Cup victory over Liverpool the following season.

Watford

Bassett's reign as Watford manager was short-lived and disastrous. The team had just finished ninth in 1986–87 under the management of Graham Taylor, who had left to take charge of relegated Aston Villa. But Watford started terribly in the 1987–88 season and Bassett was sacked in February when relegation to the Second Division looked certain.

Sheffield United

In 1987–88, Dave Bassett became one of the few managers to be involved with two relegated clubs in the same season. Within weeks of leaving Watford he took over at Sheffield United. He was unable to prevent the team from sliding into the Third Division, but restored them back up at the first attempt in 1988–89. A second successive promotion following in 1989–90, and First Division football returned to Bramall Lane in the 1990–91 season for the first time since the 1970's. The most influencial player in this team was striker Brian Deane, who was capped twice by England in the summer of 1991.

Sheffield United failed to win any of their first 17 league games in 1990–91, and went into the new year at the bottom of the First Division. But a rousing resurgence in the second half of the season saw the Blades climb up to a secure 12th place in the final table. They did even better in 1991–92, finishing ninth in the First Division and securing a place in the new Premier League.

Sheffield United's Premier League debut was reasonable. They finished 14th in the final table, reached the semi finals of the League Cup, and condemned Nottingham Forest to relegation by winning the penultimate game of the season. But Brian Deane was sold to Leeds United during the 1993 close season, and without him the Blades struggled. Bassett's luck finally ran out on the last day of the 1993–94 season when they lost 3–2 at Chelsea when a single point would have kept them in the Premiership. An eighth place finish in the 1994–95 Division One campaign was not enough for a playoff place, and Bassett resigned the following October with relegation looking more likely than promotion. The Blades have yet to regain their Premiership status, although they have been losing playoff finalists twice.

Crystal Palace

Dave Bassett took over at Crystal Palace in early February, taking charge of a club which was standing in 16th place in Division One and had lost most of its players the previous summer. Dave Bassett set about rejuvenating the side, and a storming run meant that automatic promotion was still a possibility until the last-but-one game of the season. In the end, they finished third in the table and reached the playoff final where they lost 2–1 to Leicester City.

Nottingham Forest

In March 1997, Dave Bassett left Crystal Palace (who went on to win promotion under new manager Steve Coppell) to take charge of Premiership strugglers Nottingham Forest. He was unable to prevent them from being relegated, but they were promoted back to the Premiership at the first attempt after winning the 1997–98 Division One championship. But Forest kicked off a terrible start to the 1998–99 Premiership, and Bassett was sacked in October after 19 months at the helm. Forest was unable to avoid the drop under Bassett's successor Ron Atkinson, and have stood outside the Premiership since.

Barnsley

Dave Bassett's next job was at Barnsley. He succeeded John Hendrie as manager in June 1999, and rounded out a good job in his first season at the helm. The team reached the Division One playoff final but missed out of promotion to the Premiership after losing to Ipswich Town. Bassett left the following November after failing to mount another promotion challenge, and Barnsley has since slipped into Division Two (now Coca-Cola League One).

Leicester City

Dave Bassett's most recent managerial job was perhaps his least successful. He was named as Leicester City manager in October 2001 and took charge of a club which 12 months earlier had established a two-week lead at the top of the Premiership. For a while it looked as though Bassett could save Leicester's Premiership status, but a four-month winless run from December condemned the team to relegation from the Premiership after a six-year tenancy. Just before relegation was confirmed, Bassett became Director of Football (a role which he is still in now) and handed over his managerial duties to assistant Micky Adams (who has since been replaced by Craig Levein).