Nicholson, coach of Tottenham in club's glory years, dies at 85

LONDON (AP) -- Bill Nicholson, who coached Tottenham in its glory days of the 1960s and 1970s, died Saturday after a long illness. He was 85.
Nicholson's death at a hospital in Hertfordshire, outside London, was announced on Tottenham's Web site on behalf of his family.
Nicholson became Tottenham's coach in 1958 and, in his 16 years in charge, helped Spurs become the first club to achieve the league and FA Cup double championship in the 20th century, the first to win the league cup twice and the first British club to win a European trophy.
With a UEFA Cup victory in 1972, Tottenham also became the first British team to win two different European competitions.
"He lifted Spurs from mediocrity to the sublime as we became the first British club to win a European trophy, and to so many wonderful achievements such as that special 'double' of 1961," Spurs chairman Daniel Levy said.
"Throughout it all, as player and manager, he did things his own way. His teams played with his own brand of attacking flair, entertaining all the way. Indeed he made our famous old Spurs cockerel crow with pride."
Nicholson joined Spurs as a player in 1936, but his career was interrupted by World War II, where he fought as an infantryman. He returned as a player to White Hart Lane in 1946, helping Tottenham win the league title in 1951. That same year, he made his only appearance for England's national team in a game against Portugal.
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