Sainty began a coaching career under
John Bond. The duo worked together at
Norwich City and
Manchester City before Sainty went alone by taking the
Chester manager's job (initially on a caretaker basis) in November 1982 after
Cliff Sear stepped down. Sainty led the club to a mid-table finish in
Division Four in
1982–83 and the semi-finals of the
Football League Trophy, but financial problems meant Sainty was told to halve the wage bill at the end of the season. Most of his signings were non-contract players such as
Paul Manns,
Paul Raynor,
Trevor Phillips,
John Ryan and
Dennis Wann, while youngsters including
Peter Bulmer and
Phil Harrington became regulars in the side. Chester endured a miserable start to
1983–84 and had just one league win to their name when Sainty left the club in November 1983. They had though overturned a 3–0 first-leg deficit to knock
Bolton Wanderers out of the
League Cup in the first round. Sainty teamed up again with Bond at
Burnley, before managing non-league sides
Armthorpe Welfare and
Mossley. He later became assistant manager to
Danny Bergara at
Stockport County and worked as academy director at
Southampton. He then became head coach at
Bemerton Heath Harlequins. ==Death==