Northern Ireland v Cyprus (12/06/2020)

He was the leader of a consortium which took Wolverhampton Wanderers out of liquidation. It is a supreme irony that Dougan, who was always highly critical of what went on in a club’s boardroom, then became chairman of Wolves for an eight-year period. Since Dougan was never short of an opinion, and never afraid to voice that opinion to journalists, it is not surprising that television signed him up as a pundit . He was a member of a very successful ITV team commenting on and analysing the World Cup tournaments of 1970 and 1974. The whole emphasis of these panels was not only shrewd comment on the games, but also good entertainment in the banter among the panel members. Of course my fondest memories of him are in the famous green jersey. The Doog made his debut for Northern Ireland in the World Cup finals of 1958. He played 43 times for Northern Ireland, scoring eight goals. My favourite memory of Dougan was his performance against Scotland at Windsor Park in 1965. He scored the equaliser to level the scores at 2-2 and then, in the last minute, headed a Jimmy McIlroy free kick back across the face of the goal to set up Willie Irvine’s spectacular bicycle-kick for the winner. I was in a jam-packed Spion Kop that day and we all went absolutely wild. The last time I saw him on television was as a pallbearer at George Best’s funeral in 2005. He passed away two years later. Rest in peace Doog, and thanks for the memories.

Derek Dougan was a legend in his own lifetime. In a game full of larger than life characters he was larger than most. In his playing days he was the ideal target man and striker. He was over six feet tall , tough, determined and wiley. He was deadly in the air whether at heading goals or playing team- mates into striking positions with craftily flicked headers. Defenders never enjoyed playing against him. He was most effective when linking up in attack with a nippy predator like George Best . As a teenager he won an Irish Cup winner’s medal with Distillery in 1956 before moving across the water to Portsmouth. In 1960 he led the Blackburn attack in the FA Cup Final . Arguably The Doog was in his prime after the age of 30 when he became the darling of Wolverhampton Wanderers fans. At Wolves he formed a successful attacking partnership alongside the lively John Richards. At that time Wolves became a force to be reckoned with, winning the League Cup in 1974. When he left England to finish his playing career in the USA, Derek Dougan could boast a total of 279 goals in 661 league games over no less than 18 seasons. He finally hung up his boots aged 37. After retirement Derek would never be content with the rocking chair, pipe and slippers. Always an enthusiast for the game he loved, he flung himself into management with great energ y. As coach of Kettering Town he negotiated the first shirt sponsorship deal in English football . He served as chair of the Professional

Footballers’ Association for eight years, helping to secure players’ rights and establishing the PFA Players’ Awards.

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