Don Howe, who has died aged 80, made a bigger name for himself in football as No 2 to a succession of managers than most have done from being in the hot seat itself. Following a successful playing career in the 1950s and 60s for West Bromwich Albion, Arsenal and England, he was intermittently appointed to a number of high-profile managerial posts. But it was in the influential position of head coach or assistant manager that Howe really made his mark.
An instrumental backroom figure with Bertie Mee’s league and cup double-winning Arsenal side of 1971, he was a more than able lieutenant to the England managers Ron Greenwood, Bobby Robson and Terry Venables, and helped to engineer FA Cup wins for Arsenal under Terry Neill in 1979 and for Wimbledon under Bobby Gould in 1988. A master tactician with great insight into the game, particularly in terms of defence, he was one of the best coaches Britain has ever produced.
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