He also played for Wycombe Wanderers in 1963–64, for St Albans City, where he made 11 appearances in the 1967–68 season and for Walton & Hersham between 1969 and 1974,[3] where he was captain of the side that won the FA Amateur Cup in 1973.
Bassett was promoted to first team manager following the departure of Dario Gradi to Crystal Palace in January 1981, when Wimbledon were ninth in the Fourth Division.
Wimbledon's form improved substantially following Bassett's appointment, and a 4–1 home win over Rochdale on 28 April 1981 (the penultimate game of the season) secured promotion to the Third Division.
In June 1984, Bassett accepted an offer to become manager of Second Division club Crystal Palace, but changed his mind within 72 hours, refused to sign the contract at Selhurst Park, and returned to Wimbledon, stating that "I gave it some serious thought, but in the end it just did not feel right.
"[citation needed] Wimbledon's life as a Second Division club began with a notable 2–2 home draw against promotion favourites Manchester City on the opening day of the 1984–85 season.
The team had just finished ninth in the 1986–87 season under the management of Graham Taylor, who had left to take charge of relegated Aston Villa.
They finished 14th in the final table, reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup, and condemned Nottingham Forest to relegation by winning the penultimate game of the season.
[15] An eighth-place finish in the 1994–95 Division One campaign was not enough for a play-off place, and Bassett resigned the following December with relegation looking more likely than promotion and protests against the board mounting.
Bassett took over at Crystal Palace in early February 1996,[16] taking charge of a club which was standing in 16th place in Division One and had lost most of its players the previous summer.
Bassett set about rejuvenating the side, and a remarkable run of form meant that automatic promotion was still a possibility until the penultimate game of the season.
However Pearce was unable to prevent them from being relegated,[19] but they were promoted back to the Premier League at the first attempt under Bassett's charge after winning the 1997–98 Division One championship.
However, Forest began their Premier League campaign without both Kevin Campbell and Pierre van Hooijdonk, who had scored 53 goals between them during the promotion season.
Campbell was sold to Trabzonspor against Bassett's wishes while he was on holiday, then van Hooijdonk went on strike and refused to return to the club.
[20] Forest had a very poor start to the 1998–99 Premier League, and Bassett was sacked in January 1999, with "player power" cited as a reason.
In his first season at the helm Barnsley reached the Division One play-off final but missed out on promotion to the Premier League after losing to Ipswich Town.
After a 1–0 defeat to Manchester United which confirmed Leicester's relegation, Bassett became director of football, handing over his managerial duties to assistant Micky Adams.
[27] On 29 January 2008, it was reported by the Yorkshire Evening Post that Bassett had left the club, following Dennis Wise's resignation as manager.