Malcolm Macdonald had spent an unhappy few months as a player at Fulham during the turbulent 1968-9 season, but had gone on to find striking success with Luton, Newcastle and Arsenal before injury prematurely ended his playing days.
His return to the Cottage in a business-related role was an attempt to rebuild his career but many people had reservations when he stepped up to the manager's job.
Some interpreted his firmly expressed views as arrogance whilst there were doubts about his coaching skills and tactical awareness.
Any misgivings the supporters might have had, however, were soon dispelled for Macdonald was to prove a revelation in the job.
Like Stock before him, Macdonald's great asset as a manager was in creating the right environment for other people to do their jobs effectively. Where Campbell shouted and bellowed, Macdonald was relaxed and free from pressure. Unlike his immediate predecessor, he allowed players freedom to play their way on the pitch and he always preferred to fill a gap with someone who was already at the Cottage.
The transfer market was very much a last resort, and to be used preferably when the players were on frees. Macdonald's other strength was to pick good coaches to work with him, first Roger Thompson, a colleague from Arsenal days, and then Ray Harford, who was working with the juniors at Colchester, and Terry Mancini.
The result was that the same players who had under-performed so lamentably for Campbell started to realise their potential under Macdonald. In less than a year, with no additional outlay on new players, there was a remarkable transformation at the Cottage and Fulham had a team that was not only successful but one that was winning with style.
For two seasons, the Cottage regulars enjoyed a team that played a clever passing game and scored plenty of goals and which was rewarded with a promotion success in 1982 to Division Two. For much of the following season, Fulham looked a short-odds bet to jump straight into Division One, but the momentum started to slow early in the New Year.
Even though Fulham threw the opportunity away themselves, the way they were finally cheated out of the last match at Derby, a shambles that was endorsed by Graham Kelly and the League authorities, left a very bad taste. After this, it started to go wrong for Macdonald.
The team went off the boil and the chairman became more irascible, but it was his tangled private life that led to his downfall in the spring of 1984. It was the start of a long downward spiral for Macdonald who never realised his unquestioned managerial potential.