Posted June 25, 200717 yr I haven't seen any mention here of his death yesterday, so I thought I'd make up for it. He was only 69; I saw him play a few times against us, at the Bridge and at Molineux. Not sure whether he was playing in the 7-1 game or not. Neither have I got any specific memories of him; rather a kind of awareness that he was one of the old time greats, a Northern Ireland international. There's a wikipedia page on him here and a BBC pictorial summary of his career here
June 25, 200717 yr A great footballer and a gentleman . Derek Dougan scored a total of 222 goals in 546 matches in a career that lasted nearly 20 years and like George Best missed out on playing in the world cup finals . Later in his career he was one of a few N Ireland players who played in a unofficial all Ireland team in 1973 . Together with Pat Jennings and Martin O'Neill. The team was called Shamrock Rovers XI. There Opponents that day Were Brazil and Dougan scored one of Rovers goals in the 4-3 defeat. The Northern Ireland F A had opposed the staging of the game and Dougan, who had helped organise it, he never played for Northern Ireland again. He later maintained that IFA President Harry Cavan had instructed manager Terry Neill not to pick him. Derek Dougan 1938 to 2007 R.I.P.
June 25, 200717 yr DD was a founder member of a business called Astral Sports around about 1977-78. Astral became part of the House of Fraser group and eventually had around 170 stores. Alongside Olympus Sports they were the 70's & 80's equivalent of todays JJB & Sportsworld which as you will all know are linked to Dave Whelan of Wigan and Mike Ashley of Newcastle. Shame DD didn't get the equivalent wages the modern day sports shop moguls got but it shows he had great vision of the sports trade and was effectively the trend setter for the likes of Whelan and Ashley.
June 25, 200717 yr I saw Dougan play against us many times while he was at Wolves, partnering the likes of Peter Knowles, Hugh Curran, Kenny Hibbitt, and John Richards. He was a great player, for both Wolves and Northern Ireland, a fiery character who wouldn't take any sh*t from anyone. He later became chairman of the Professional Footballers Association. I'll always remember Dougan doing his pundit stuff on the ITV 'panel' during the 1970 World Cup, alongside the likes of Brian Clough, Malcolm Allison and Paddy Crerand. Dougan & Clough made what was undoubtedly the best-ever World Cup Finals even better, with their knowledge, passion and humour. p.s. - Lofty, I'm pretty sure Dougan was still at Wolves when they beat us 7-1 in the 74/75 season, but he didn't play in that game.
June 25, 200717 yr Author You're right, he was definitely still with Wolves then but I didn't know if he was in the side. One of the blokes in our minivan had brought a Chelsea flag with him that day. Not one of our regulars, I almost felt sorry for the bloke. Probably not true but my memory insists that the biggest cheer of the day was for our goal. "We want two!" Anyway. Derek Dougan R.I.P.
