For these roles the Scot chose two young athletic defenders – Shellito on the right and for his left-sided equivalent, Eddie McCreadie. They were the pioneers of flying full-back play in England.

'We came in for pre-season in 1962 and the training was completely different, a hell of a lot better,' Shellito recalled when talking to this website in 2008. 'Tommy Doc came to us and said, this is how we are going to play. I'd always been a good passer of the ball and wanted to get more involved but it was always a case of don't go any further up the pitch. But Tom and Dave Sexton [the future Chelsea manager who was back then a coach under Docherty] opened up the game and it all stemmed from there. Eddie and I started it and other clubs in England followed.’

It certainly worked for Chelsea as promotion was quickly achieved. There was a lengthy break in the 1962/63 season caused by an infamous ‘Big Freeze’ winter. ‘Docherty’s Diamonds’ had been near unstoppable before that halt and it took some time to recapture form after it but a 7-0 win over Portsmouth in the final game ensured second place. Shellito later cited that game - and the celebrations that followed - as his standout Chelsea memory. He played 34 of the 42 league games which had taken us back into the big time.

He was called into the England team, making his international debut against Czechoslovakia in May 1963, and he was well on course to be the right-back in the legendary 1966 World Cup side until fate dealt a cruel blow. The following October in a corner of the Stamford Bridge pitch against Sheffield Wednesday, with no-one nearby, he turned, his studs caught in the turf and he suffered a serious knee injury. He had been due to play for England against the Rest of the World the following Wednesday.

A series of operations followed and Shellito made it back into the Chelsea team, helping us achieve high-place finishes in the First Division, and back into the England squad. But he later admitted he did not feel as effective as before. Then the knee went again and having made his final Chelsea appearance in December 1965, he was forced to retire.