Douglas McGibbon (24 February 1919 – 25 October 2002) was an English

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played at

centre forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

for

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

and Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic in the years just after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He once scored six goals in a match, one of which was timed at under 5 seconds from the second half kick-off.

Football career

Southampton

McGibbon was born in

Netley Netley, officially referred to as Netley Abbey, is a village on the south coast of Hampshire, England. It is situated to the south-east of the city of Southampton, and flanked on one side by the ruins of Netley Abbey and on the other by the Ro ...

, Hampshire, the son of Charlie McGibbon (1880–1954), who was a centre forward for several clubs, including Southampton, in the 1900s. At the time Doug was born, his father had retired and was employed as the Chief Clerk in the Statistical Office at

Netley Hospital The Royal Victoria Hospital or Netley Hospital was a large military hospital in Netley, near Southampton, Hampshire, England. Construction started in 1856 at the suggestion of Queen Victoria but its design caused some controversy, chiefly from F ...

. Doug McGibbon played his youth football with the Air Service Training at

Hamble Hamble may refer to: * The River Hamble in Hampshire, England * Hamble aerodrome on the banks of the River Hamble. ** Hamble-Warsash Ferry, a ferry service on the River Hamble * Hamble-le-Rice, a village on the river Hamble, close to the city of Sou ...

. During a charity cricket match, he approached the

manager Tom Parker for a trial. Parker gave McGibbon a game with the "Saints" "A" team, against

Lymington Lymington is a port town on the west bank of the Lymington River on the Solent, in the New Forest district of Hampshire, England. It faces Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, to which there is a car ferry service operated by Wightlink. It is within the ...

, during which he scored a

hat trick A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...

. This was sufficient to persuade Southampton to offer him a professional contract, which he signed in December 1938, going on to make his first-team debut in the final match of the 1938–39 season, replacing

Reg Tomlinson Reginald William Tomlinson (2 July 1914 – 16 May 1971) was an English professional footballer who played at centre-forward for Grimsby Town and Southampton in the 1930s before becoming a police officer in Southampton. Football career Tom ...

in a 2–0 defeat at

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

. McGibbon remained in Southampton at the start of the Second World War, making 16 appearances (scoring 7 goals) in the wartime leagues in 1939–40 before he moved to

Swindon Swindon () is a town and unitary authority with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Wiltshire, England. As of the 2021 Census, the population of Swindon was 201,669, making it the largest town in the county. The Swindon un ...

to work as an aircraft mechanic as part of the war effort. While at Swindon, he played for Swindon Railway in 1944 and then for

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at ...

in the 1945–46 season where he made five appearances, scoring three goals. Swindon Town approached Southampton with a view to signing him on a full-time basis, but the Saints board refused and McGibbon returned to Southampton. During the 1945–46 season, Southampton played in the League South pending the resumption of League football following the end of the war. During the league season, McGibbon made 30 appearances scoring 27 goals, including six in a 7–0 victory over

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

on 29 December 1945. In this match, McGibbon scored his third goal within five seconds of the kick-off for the second half. McGibbon kicked off to Ted Bates, who passed the ball wide to

Bill Stroud William James Alfred Stroud (7 July 1919 – 5 October 2006) was a football player and coach who played as a wing half. Born in Hammersmith, Stroud played the first half of his professional career with Southampton, and later played for Leyton Ori ...

, who immediately hit a long ball into the path of McGibbon, who had sprinted upfield. McGibbon hit a firm volley into the back of the net without a Chelsea player having touched the ball. The referee timed the goal at 4.6 seconds from the kick-off – this remains the fastest goal ever scored by a Southampton player from a kick-off, although the Dell pitch had been shortened slightly due to bomb damage at the Milton Road end. In total, including FA Cup matches, McGibbon scored 29 goals from 34 appearances in 1945–46, although his form did tail off towards the end of the season. McGibbon made his home League debut in the opening match of

the first season ''The First Season'' is a Canadian drama film, released in 1989. The film stars Kate Trotter as Alex Cauldwell, a woman in British Columbia who, following the death of her fisherman husband Frank (Dwight Koss), tries to support herself and her dau ...

of League football after the war, scoring a

in a 4–0 victory over Swansea Town. He scored three more goals in the next five games, before an injury forced him to sit out five games, with

George Lewis George Lewis may refer to: Entertainment and art * George B. W. Lewis (1818–1906), circus rider and theatre manager in Australia * George E. Lewis (born 1952), American composer and free jazz trombonist * George J. Lewis (1903–1995), Mexican ...

taking over. On McGibbon's return he continued to score regularly until he was dropped, in favour of Lewis, in December before manager Bill Dodgin sold him to

for a fee of £4,250 at the start of January. In his 13 league games for the "Saints", McGibbon scored nine goals.

Fulham

McGibbon scored a hat-trick against

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

in his Fulham debut, becoming only the second Fulham player to achieve such a feat. He subsequently found goals harder to come by, scoring a total of 18 in 43 league appearances up to the end of the 1947–48 season when he was transferred to Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic in September.

Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic

At Bournemouth, playing in the

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 on ...

, McGibbon again found his goal-scoring form and in each of his three seasons at

Dean Court Dean Court, currently known as the Vitality Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England and the home ground of AFC Bournemouth. History In 1910, Boscombe F.C. was gi ...

was the club's top scorer, with goal tallies of 30, 18 and 17 respectively.

Later career

In the summer of 1951, McGibbon dropped out of League football, moving to Newport,

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( cy, Sir Fynwy) is a county in the south-east of Wales. The name derives from the historic county of the same name; the modern county covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county. The largest town is Abergavenny, with ...

to play for

Lovells Athletic Lovell's Athletic F.C. was the works team for Lovell's sweet factory in Newport, Monmouthshire, Wales, which played professional football from 1918 until 1969. History Lovell's joined the Western Football League in 1923 and won the title in t ...

in the

Welsh League The Welsh League was the first club rugby league competition in Wales.Lush (1998), pg. 19 Its inaugural season was in 1908/09 when four additional teams were formed to join Ebbw Vale RLFC and Merthyr Tydfil RLFC, which allowed a league tournamen ...

. His footballing days came to an abrupt end when he smashed his head following a collision with a cross bar. After a spell in hospital, he returned to Hamble to work as an aircraft engineer and then as a sports officer. He later moved to

Isleworth Isleworth ( ) is a town located within the London Borough of Hounslow in West London, England. It lies immediately east of the town of Hounslow and west of the River Thames and its tributary the River Crane, London, River Crane. Isleworth's or ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

where he was sports secretary for

Gillette Gillette is an American brand of safety razors and other personal care products including shaving supplies, owned by the multi-national corporation Procter & Gamble (P&G). Based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, it was owned by The Gil ...

before finishing his working life with

Sperry Flight Systems Sperry Corporation was a major American equipment and electronics company whose existence spanned more than seven decades of the 20th century. Sperry ceased to exist in 1986 following a prolonged hostile takeover bid engineered by Burroughs ...

Basingstoke Basingstoke ( ) is the largest town in the county of Hampshire. It is situated in south-central England and lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon, at the far western edge of The North Downs. It is located north-east of Southa ...

. On his retirement, he initially settled in Isleworth before spending the last few years of his life in an

Aylesbury Aylesbury ( ) is the county town of Buckinghamshire, South East England. It is home to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery, David Tugwell`s house on Watermead and the Waterside Theatre. It is in central Buckinghamshire, midway between High Wy ...

care home, where he died in October 2002.

References

External links

Swindon Town profileCareer details
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mcgibbon, Doug 1919 births 2002 deaths People from Netley English men's footballers Men's association football forwards English Football League players Fulham F.C. players Southampton F.C. players AFC Bournemouth players Swindon Town F.C. wartime guest players Lovell's Athletic F.C. players Footballers from Hampshire