William Dougall (25 October 1895 – 15 November 1966) was a Scottish

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

. He played as a

left half In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. He spent the majority of his playing career with

Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...

and

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

. A qualified

physiotherapist Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is a healthcare profession, as well as the care provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through patient education, physical intervention, disease preventio ...

, Dougall later coached at a number of clubs and was appointed manager of Burnley in 1957. However, he held the position for only seven months before he was forced to retire through ill health.

Playing career

Dougall was born in Denny,

Stirlingshire Stirlingshire or the County of Stirling ( ) is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county of Scotland. Its county town is Stirling.Registers of Scotland. Publications, leaflets, Land Register Counties. It borders Perthshir ...

in 1895. In his teens he worked as a miner and was signed by local

Junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr., ...

club Denny Hibernian. He played for the club until 1921 when he transferred to senior club

. He spent five years with Falkirk, being selected for the

Scottish Football League XI The Scottish League XI was a representative side of the Scottish Football League. The team regularly played against the (English) Football League and other national league select teams between 1892 and 1980. For a long period the annual fixture be ...

in 1923, before his performances earned him a £3,000 transfer to

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...

side

. He made his debut for the ''Clarets'' on 27 February 1926 in the 1–1 draw with Everton and went on to play 60 league matches for the

Turf Moor Turf Moor is an association football stadium in Burnley, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Burnley F.C., Burnley Football Club since 1883. This unbroken service makes Turf Moor the second-longest continuously used ground in Footbal ...

club over the next three seasons. His career was abruptly ended when he seriously injured his knee cartilage in the game against

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

on 25 December 1928. He failed to recover from the injury and retired from professional football in early 1929.

After playing

After studying

physiotherapy Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is a healthcare profession, as well as the care provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through patient education, physical intervention, disease preventio ...

, Dougall was appointed as a coach at

Football League Third Division South The Third Division South of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to ...

outfit

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before moving to

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...

to become the assistant manager. In 1932 he returned to Burnley as the reserve team coach and went on to succeed Charlie Bates as first team coach two years later. Following the resignation of manager Tom Bromilow in 1935, Dougall was part of a selection committee that managed Burnley for four seasons until football in England was suspended due to the outbreak of the Second World War. In 1938, Dougall was appointed official schools coach by the Lancashire County Football Association. He continued to coach at Burnley and was described by club chairman Bob Lord as a "jewel", stating that Dougall and reserve team manager

Ray Bennion Samuel Raymond Bennion (1 September 1896 – 12 March 1968) was a Welsh footballer who played as a right-half in the Football League during the 1920s and 1930s. In his early life, he played for Gwersyllt School. He then played for Ragtimes and C ...

were "the finest servants a football club could have". At the age of 61, Dougall was offered to take over the manager's post from Alan Brown in July 1957. His first game in charge of Burnley was the 0–0 draw away at

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

on 24 August 1957. He got his first win three days later as his side defeated local

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

rivals

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

2–0 at Turf Moor. Soon after, he suffered ill health and control of the first team was passed to Ray Bennion while Dougall underwent hospital treatment. He was forced to relinquish his position as manager in January 1958 on medical advice, and was immediately appointed as Burnley's physiotherapist. He held the post for seven years before announcing his retirement at the end of the 1964–65 season.

Personal life

Dougall lived in England for three years following his move to Burnley, but returned to Scotland in 1929 to study physiotherapy in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

. He moved to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

the following year and lived in England for the rest of his life. He died in his home in

on 15 November 1966. His brothers

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(14 years younger and a teammate at Burnley) and

Jimmy Jimmy may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Jimmy'' (2008 film), a 2008 Hindi thriller directed by Raj N. Sippy * ''Jimmy'' (1979 film), a 1979 Indian Malayalam film directed by Melattoor Ravi Varma * ''Jimmy'' (2013 f ...

(18 years younger) and his son

Neil Neil is a masculine name of Irish origin. The name is an anglicisation of the Irish ''Niall'' which is of disputed derivation. The Irish name may be derived from words meaning "cloud", "passionate", "victory", "honour" or "champion".. As a surname ...

were also footballers; Jimmy too played for Falkirk though mainly for Preston North End; Neil was developed at Burnley while his father was on the staff, but played league football with

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

and

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...

. Both were selected for

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, each gaining one full

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

and appearing in wartime matches.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dougall, Billy 1895 births 1966 deaths Scottish men's footballers Scottish football managers Men's association football wing halves Scottish football coaches Falkirk F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Burnley F.C. non-playing staff Charlton Athletic F.C. non-playing staff Burnley F.C. managers Scottish Football League players Scottish Junior Football Association players English Football League players English Football League managers Scottish Football League representative players Denny Hibernian F.C. players Footballers from Denny, Falkirk 20th-century Scottish sportsmen