If the decision to promote Bedford Jezzard to team manager was a bit of a gamble, it was popular with players and supporters alike. Successful as a player (he set a new club scoring record of 154 goals) and hugely under-rated as a manager (all but one of his six seasons were in the old First Division), few people have made a bigger contribution to Fulham over the last 100 years than the modest and unassuming Jezzard.
With Osborne taking care of the administration, Jezzard could concentrate team affairs, on making the most of the very limited resources at his disposal and, after winning promotion in his first season, he succeeded in keeping the Cottagers in the top flight for the rest of his tenure, often by the narrowest of margins.
This was no mean achievement given the reluctance of the board to spend to protect the club's status. In the end, it appears that Jezzard was not given the support from the board to which he was entitled.
The sale of Mullery to Spurs without the manager's knowledge was a deceitful act and clearly undermined the manager's position.
It was not long afterwards, in December 1964, that Jezzard resigned and left football to run the family's pub. He was only 37 when he left and Fulham missed him more than he appeared to miss football.