Saturday 26th April had seen Derek Dougan’s last appearance for Wolves, coming on as a replacement for Steve Kindon in a 1-1 home draw with Leeds United.
The end of the match saw a hero’s farewell for the Doog as he was mobbed by fans marking the end of a career spanning three decades. But today, Monday 20th October, marks the 50th anniversary of the testimonial match held to mark the Doog’s nine years of service to the Wolves and his 18-year career in professional football.
Dougan had begun his Wolves career at Plymouth towards the end of the 1966/67 season. Ten games and nine goals later and following a hat-trick on his home debut, Derek had helped them to regain their First Division status.
Altogether the Doog played in 244 league games (plus 14 as substitute) for Wolves, to add to 289 with Portsmouth, Blackburn, Aston Villa, Peterborough and Leicester. Adding in cup games, Derek made 317 (plus 16) appearances in gold and black, scoring 95 league goals and 123 in total. During the 1972/73 season, he also became the first Irishman to break the 200 goal barrier.
As was the case in those days, the testimonial match was trailed by advertisements in the Express & Star, with tickets available for the princely sum of £1.30 in the Waterloo Road Centre Stand, and £1 in other stands. In advance of his big night, the Doog admitted that in spite of finding it difficult to cut himself off from football he had shelved thoughts of making a comeback after his last game against Leeds the previous April.
The 37-year-old said: “My fitness isn’t in doubt and in conversation with Bill McGarry I suggested that perhaps I could turn out again. At the moment I’m experiencing withdrawal symptoms and I keep on thinking I’d like to get back in the game for another season. But on reflection it’s better for the situation to remain as it is with my final game being my testimonial match at Molineux on Monday.”
On the afternoon of Monday 20th October I made the pilgrimage from Lime Street Station in Liverpool, where I was at university, to become one of the 25,658 paying their respects to the Doog. This turn out is put into perspective when one compares it against a Wolves season’s average attendance for 1974/75 of 23,377 and 23,228 for the first seven games of 1975/76.
The match between Wolves and a Don Revie Select XI was preceded by an entertaining run out between Tiswas and All Stars teams. Chris Tarrant captained the Tiswas team that comprised Gary Newbon, John Dee and Peter Tomkinson, and was trained by angling expert ‘Tight lines’ Terry Thomas. The All Stars boasted Jasper Carrott and Bev Bevan. Dave Wagstaffe was asked to run the role over E&S reporter Dee.
Under the headline, ‘Dee-cline of a football dee-mon’, Waggy commented: “Dynamic Dee? You must be joking. He was more like Desperate Dee! But I hesitate to use that phrase because Desperate Dee is a good racehorse – and our man hardly raised a gallop.
“After his series of warming-up exercises, consisting of gazing round the terraces and tying up his bootlaces, there is not much more you can say about Dee’s performance. He touched the ball five times – and one couldn’t be sure if it was intentional on every occasion.”
Against a Wolves first XI, England manager Revie put out a strong team that was captained by Gerry Francis and featured stars like Peter Shilton, Alan Hudson and Frank Worthington.
The final line-ups were as follows:
Wolves XI | Pierce, Palmer, Parkin, Bailey, Munro, McAlle, Hibbitt, Carr, Richards, Dougan, Daley.
Subs | Farley (for Daley), Kindon, Taylor.
International XI | Shilton (Stoke), Gidman (Villa), Pejic (Stoke), Dodd (Stoke), Watson (Man City), G. Francis (QPR – England captain), Hudson (Stoke), Thomas (QPR), Bell (Man City), Bowles (QPR), Worthington (Leicester).
Subs | Parkes (QPR) for Shilton, Whitworth (Leicester) for Gidman, Kendall (Birmingham) for Hudson.
Injured and unavailable, but at the game | Tueart (Man City), Little (Villa), T Francis (Birmingham).
Unfortunately, the big match was something of a damp squib as it ended goalless, but even this could not tarnish a magical occasion.
Reporting for the Express & Star, Brian Clifford described an emotionally charged night at Molineux. His copy carried the headline, ‘Doog’s swansong robbed of a goal.’
Clifford expressed how many felt: “During all the arrangements made for Doog’s testimonial, someone forgot to give the International XI a script. All good testimonial ‘plays’ should end with the recipient scoring – even if it’s only from a rather dubious penalty.”
Unfortunately, referee Jack Taylor was not sufficiently generous. In the first half a Doog header was wending its way into the net when Stoke’s Mike Pejic cleared it off the line. What was he thinking? Brian Clifford labelled him a ‘bounder’!
Given the experience of the Ron Flowers testimonial that five years earlier had ended in an 8-4 win for Ron’s team over an International XI, Doog’s match got a little too serious.
Those of us packed on the North Bank and elsewhere were denied the chance to air our feelings through a goal celebration. The attendance said everything for the admiration and esteem in which Dougan was held by so many. At the final whistle the Doog was chaired off and cheered to the echo by those present.
Clifford commented: “The night still belonged to Doog and his 25,658 admirers, who were delighted to say farewell in style to a man who has graced the game with his own particular brand of magic.”
In the following Saturday’s Sporting Star, John Dee tried to assess the appeal of ‘Doog, the people’s man, a man of the people’.
He wrote: “What made Dougan such a hero at Molineux? Perhaps it was because Doog thought as much about those who idolised him as they did about their King. On the field the fans saluted him, off the field he would go to extremes to help them – and many others as well.”
Dee went on to tell an illuminating story about an incident the previous November when Dougan was injured and only a spectator for a home match against Stoke. A young boy had been taken into the Wolves dressing room before kick-off to talk to the players.
After the match he had been introduced to Stoke players, including Peter Shilton. As he was walking towards the old Waterloo Road exit he saw Dougan coming towards him. He immediately asked his hero for an autograph.
The Doog stopped and asked, “What’s your name?” to which the boy replied, “Neil.” “Ah, let’s see”, commented the big Irishman, “You’re the lad who got knocked off his bike not so long ago, aren’t you?” Dougan had read about the incident in the newspapers and although he didn’t know that the boy would be at Molineux that day, had remembered without prompting.
For all of the faults of this complex personality, this little story says it all. It also explains Peter Knowles’ comment five years earlier, “I’ll never be the ‘King’ as long as Dougan is here.”
I will certainly never forget the privilege of seeing every one of Doog’s home games and numerous away matches – we will never see his like again.
Clive Corbett
