Douglas Michael Fraser (born 8 December 1941) is a Scottish former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

full-back. Fraser began his career in Scottish minor football, appearing for Eaglesham Amateur and Blantyre Celtic.T. Matthews, ''West Bromwich Albion - The Complete Record'', 2007, p. 111 After being rejected by both

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

and

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

, following trials Fraser turned professional with

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

. Fraser's form attracted the attentions of English clubs and in September 1963

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

manager

Jimmy Hagan James Hagan (21 January 1918 – 26 February 1998) was an English association football, football player and manager. He played between 1938 and 1958 for Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United and once for England national football team, Engla ...

paid £23,000 for his signature. Making his debut against

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 ...

that same month, Fraser initially played in a number of defensive and midfield positions before making the right back slot his own.G, Willmore, ''The Hawthorns Encyclopedia'', 1996, p. 78 Fraser played in four cup finals during his time at

The Hawthorns The Hawthorns is an All-seater stadium, all-seater association football, football stadium in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England, with a capacity of 26,688. It has been the home of EFL Championship, Championship club West Bromwich Albion F.C. ...

. His final Albion game was a 2–2 draw against Chelsea in November 1970 before manager Alan Ashman sold him to

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

for £35,000. He would later play for

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

where he hit the headlines after he was red carded for fighting with

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers FC is a men's professional football club in Bristol. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club is affiliated to Bristol Rovers W.F.C., whose team play in the FA Women's National Leag ...

' Kenny Stephens - a former Albion teammate. During his time with West Brom, Fraser made seven appearances for the Scotland national team. He made two appearances in 1968, against

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

and the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. The other five appearances were during a 1967 overseas tour that the

Scottish Football Association The Scottish Football Association (; also known as the Scottish FA and the SFA) is the governing body of football in Scotland and has the ultimate responsibility for the control and development of football in Scotland. Members of the SFA incl ...

decided in October 2021 to reclassify as full internationals, which increased Fraser's cap tally from two to seven. After his retirement from playing Fraser was appointed manager at Walsall, a position he held until 1977. Following this Fraser left football and took up a position as a prison guard at Nottingham Gaol.

Career statistics

Club

International

Managerial record

Honours

West Bromwich Albion *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

: 1967–68

References