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Former England manager Terry Venables (Tim Ockenden\/PA).<\/p>\n
Having shown promise as a footballer, he joined Chelsea as an apprentice in 1958 before signing professional terms two years later, and then winning a League Cup winner\u2019s medal in 1965 following a 3-2 victory over Leicester.<\/p>\n
He had earned his two England caps the previous year in fixtures against Belgium and Holland, having represented his country at schoolboy, youth, amateur and under-23 level.<\/p>\n
It was his transfer to Tottenham in 1966 that led to his most successful period as a player, during which he won the following year\u2019s FA Cup with a 2-1 victory over his former club.<\/p>\n
He left Tottenham for QPR in 1969, moving on five years later to Crystal Palace.<\/p>\n
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His talents did not just lie on the pitch, though.<\/p>\n
During his playing career, Venables co-wrote detective novels, which were later turned into the TV series Hazell about a wise-cracking cockney private eye. It ran for 22 episodes from 1978-79.<\/p>\n
It proved a significantly bigger hit than one of his early business ideas \u2013 the \u2018Thingummywig\u2019, a hat with a built-in wig so women could go out without removing their curlers.<\/p>\n
After one season as a player at Palace he retired and joined the coaching staff and, in 1976, he was promoted into the role that proved his most natural fit \u2013 manager.<\/p>\n
Venables required only one year to lead Palace to promotion from the Third Division and just a further two to secure the Second Division title.<\/p>\n
In October 1980 he resigned to take over at QPR, leading the second-tier side to the 1982 FA Cup final, which they lost to Tottenham in a replay. The following season he guided them to the Second Division title, while becoming both their major shareholder and managing director.<\/p>\n
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He led QPR to a fifth-placed finish and qualification for the UEFA Cup in the 1983-84 campaign, but in May 1984 he resigned to become manager of Barcelona.<\/p>\n
He charmed the crowd present at his first match in charge by addressing them in Catalan and, more significantly, in his first season he led the club to their first Spanish league title in 11 years.<\/p>\n
Venables signed Gary Lineker and Mark Hughes during his time at the Nou Camp, also selling Diego Maradona.<\/p>\n
However, Barca only finished runners-up in the league during the following two seasons, also losing in the final of the 1986 European Cup as Romanian opponents Steaua Bucharest triumphed on penalties after a goalless draw.<\/p>\n
His dismissal in September 1987 was followed by his appointment as Tottenham manager in October. He brought Paul Gascoigne to the club and linked up with Lineker again.<\/p>\n
Venables led Spurs to 1991 FA Cup glory with a 2-1 victory over Nottingham Forest in the final, although the match was overshadowed by Gascoigne\u2019s cruciate ligament injury.<\/p>\n
When Venables and Alan Sugar won the takeover battle for the club that June, he was also appointed chief executive, but his relationship with the then chairman gradually broke down.<\/p>\n
In 1993 Sugar sacked him, and later that year the BBC\u2019s Panorama programme alleged misdealings connected with Venables\u2019 businesses, which he responded to by threatening libel action.<\/p>\n
Despite any damage to his reputation, in January 1994 he was appointed England manager, and his first fixture in charge came two months later when they defeated Denmark 1-0 at Wembley.<\/p>\n
That August, police also dropped their inquiry into allegations he paid Clough a \u00a350,000 bung to arrange a player transfer.<\/p>\n
In January 1996 Venables revealed he would resign as England manager after that year\u2019s European Championship to focus on pending court cases, but the imminent conclusion to his reign could not take the gloss off what so nearly became such a glorious summer for the hosts.<\/p>\n
With Arsenal\u2019s Tony Adams as his captain at the heart of defence, Alan Shearer in form up front and a rejuvenated Gascoigne pulling the strings in midfield, they progressed to the knockout stages following a 4-1 thumping of Holland that still ranks as one of England\u2019s finest performances.<\/p>\n
Venables\u2019 use of the \u2018Christmas Tree\u2019 formation was considered instrumental to their success, which also included a penalty shoot-out victory over Spain in the quarter-finals.<\/p>\n
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England produced another memorable display in the semi-final, only to lose on penalties to eventual winners Germany. Despite the cruel nature of the defeat and the fact it proved his final match as England manager, he later described that summer as the \u201cbest time of my life\u201d.<\/p>\n
That July, Venables made an unexpected return to the sport as Portsmouth\u2019s director of football and by November he had been appointed Australia manager, also becoming Portsmouth chairman, having bought the club for \u00a31.<\/p>\n
In January 1998 he stepped down from his role of chairman and also agreed to a High Court order banning him from holding company directorships for seven years.<\/p>\n
His return to Palace as manager that April was short-lived, but he was recruited again, this time by struggling Middlesbrough, in December 2000.<\/p>\n
Having left after leading them to Premier League survival, in July 2002 he returned for one last job in club management, this time at financially-troubled Leeds.<\/p>\n
The sale of key players including Rio Ferdinand, Robbie Fowler and Jonathan Woodgate contributed to their plight and in March, as the threat of relegation loomed, he was sacked again.<\/p>\n
Venables surprisingly returned to the England set-up as new manager Steve McClaren\u2019s assistant in the summer of 2006. Failure to qualify for Euro 2008 saw them dismissed in November 2007.<\/p>\n
Having speculated in clubs and property, his final business venture began in 2014 when he opened a boutique hotel and restaurant with wife Yvette in Penaguila, Spain.<\/p>\n
Venables, who died on Saturday, is survived by his wife and daughters Tracey and Nancy.<\/p>\n