Douglas Herbert Wallace (20 February 1919 – 25 September 1999) was a South African professional

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 as a

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 ...

in the

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km south ...

for

Clyde Clyde may refer to: People * Clyde (given name) * Clyde (surname) Places For townships see also Clyde Township Australia * Clyde, New South Wales * Clyde, Victoria * Clyde River, New South Wales Canada * Clyde, Alberta * Clyde, Ontario, a tow ...

Dunfermline Athletic Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently play in Scottish League One after being relegated from the 2021–22 Scottish Championship. Dunfermline ...

and

Albion Rovers Albion Rovers Football Club is a semi-professional football team from Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. They are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in Scottish League Two, the fourth tier of the Scotti ...

, and was a player and coach of

Llanelly Llanelly ( cy, Llanelli) is the name of a parish and coterminous community in the principal area of Monmouthshire, within the historic boundaries of Brecknockshire, south-east Wales. It roughly covers the area of the Clydach Gorge. The popula ...

in England's

Southern Football League The Southern League is a men's football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from the South and Midlands of England. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven and eight of the English fo ...

Career

Club

Born and raised in South Africa (

Krugersdorp Krugersdorp (Afrikaans for ''Kruger's Town'') is a mining city in the West Rand, Gauteng Province, South Africa founded in 1887 by Marthinus Pretorius. Following the discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand, a need arose for a major town in the west ...

Transvaal Province The Province of the Transvaal ( af, Provinsie van Transvaal), commonly referred to as the Transvaal (; ), was a province of South Africa from 1910 until 1994, when a new constitution subdivided it following the end of apartheid. The name "Trans ...

) in a family of Scottish origin,The Team That Never Was
Scots Football Worldwide. Retrieved 14 February 2022 as a teenager Wallace featured for a local side against the

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

squad that was touring the country in 1937, managed by

Paddy Travers Patrick Travers (28 May 1883 – 5 February 1962) was a Scottish football player and manager in the first half of the 20th century. He played for many clubs in his native Scotland and for Barnsley in England, before becoming involved in coachi ...

. A year later, Travers became

boss and soon invited the player over to sign for his new club. The move was successful: Wallace (playing at

inside left 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 ...

to accommodate Willie Martin) opened the scoring in the

1939 Scottish Cup Final The 1938–39 Scottish Cup was the 61st staging of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. The Cup was won by Clyde who defeated Motherwell in the final.

, a 4–0 win over

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

which secured the trophy for the first time in Clyde history.Scottish Cup final: 80th anniversary for Clyde side that held the trophy longest
BBC Sport, 27 May 2019 He is also one of a small group of players to have scored four goals in a match for the ''Bully Wee''.

World War II 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 ...

then intervened, with Wallace playing for Clyde in unofficial competitions throughout its duration. Record of pre-war Scottish League Players John Litster / Scottish Football Historian magazine, October 2012 In May 1943, he turned out for Hibernian in the

Rosebery Charity Cup The Rosebery Charity Cup was a football competition organised for senior clubs from the East of Scotland. History The tournament was organised by and named for an early patron of Scottish football Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery and ...

; in what seems to be his only full appearance for the

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

side, he scored Hibs' goal but the trophy was won by rivals Heart of Midlothian on the toss of a coin (he had also scored in the first attempt to play the match, which was abandoned). After the conflict ended, in 1946 Wallace moved to

, then in late 1947 signed for

, helping the

Coatbridge Coatbridge ( sco, Cotbrig or Coatbrig, gd, Drochaid a' Chòta) is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, about east of Glasgow city centre, set in the central Lowlands. Along with neighbouring town Airdrie, Coatbridge forms the area known as ...

club to gain promotion to the top tier. The subsequent 1948–49 Scottish Division One campaign ended in relegation with only eight points collected, but remains a significant point in Rovers' history as the last time they played among the nation's elite. In one of his final appearances, Wallace scored the consolation goal in a 4–1 defeat to

Rangers A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

which meant that the ''Gers'' won the championship after title rivals

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

unexpectedly lost. There were some high points in the season, which included remarkable back-to-back league comebacks. Firstly, Rovers trailed 1–4 at

Easter Road Easter Road is a football stadium located in the Leith area of Edinburgh, Scotland, which is the home ground of Scottish Premiership club Hibernian (Hibs). The stadium currently has an all-seated capacity of , which makes it the fifth-larges ...

to reigning champions Hibs; Wallace scored the first of three Rovers goals in the last ten minutes and the game ended in a 4–4 draw. In the next match, Rovers were 1–3 down to

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 Fo ...

at home with nine minutes left. Having already netted the first goal for his side, Wallace scored the equalizer on 85 minutes to secure a 3–3 draw. Appointed as player-coach in August 1949, Wallace accepted an offer from

, a lower-league club from Wales with ambitions to become full members of the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

. Joining as a player-coach under Jack Goldsborough, Wallace played a large part in persuading former Albion Rovers teammate

Jock Stein John "Jock" Stein (5 October 1922 – 10 September 1985) was a Scottish football player and manager. He was the first manager of a British side to win the European Cup, with Celtic in 1967. Stein also guided Celtic to nine successive Scottish ...

to join the club. However, having been promoted to the Southern League, Llanelly were unsuccessful in their Football League applications and their fortunes declined as investment and interest in the project waned. Wallace also served a period as Llanelly manager.

International

Despite his birthplace, Wallace made three appearances for

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

in unofficial wartime fixtures, scoring a brace in a 3–2 win over

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in February 1941; however the other two

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

were in defeats to the same opposition. In the last of these, a 4–0 loss at

Hampden Park Hampden Park (Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden''), often referred to as Hampden, is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The -capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland. It is the no ...

, Wallace reacted to rough treatment from England captain

Stan Cullis Stanley Cullis (25 October 1916 – 28 February 2001) was an English professional footballer and manager, primarily for Wolverhampton Wanderers. During his term as manager between 1948 and 1964, Wolves became one of the strongest teams in the En ...

by grabbing the defender by the groin. The referee took no action at the time, but the SFA decided afterwards that Wallace would not be considered for internationals again. He had also been selected by 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 1941 (the representative match was arranged for the benefit of the

RAF Benevolent Fund The Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund (RAF Benevolent Fund or RAFBF) is the Royal Air Force's leading welfare charity, providing financial, practical and emotional support to serving and former members of the RAF – regardless of rank – as well ...

even though the league itself had been suspended) and was among the scorers again, albeit in a 3–2 defeat by

The Football League XI The English Football League XI was a representative side of the Football League. The team regularly played against the Scottish Football League XI and other national league select teams between 1891 and 1976. For a long period the annual fixture b ...

Personal life

His son

Gordon Gordon may refer to: People * Gordon (given name), a masculine given name, including list of persons and fictional characters * Gordon (surname), the surname * Gordon (slave), escaped to a Union Army camp during the U.S. Civil War * Clan Gordon, ...

– born in Scotland, raised in Wales – also became a footballer, playing in England for

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

and

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

. He died in 1999 in

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan county, metropolitan and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of List of ceremonial counties of England, 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Merse ...

, England, with his ashes buried at the family tomb of his wife Helen – who predeceased him by five years – in

Ballingry Ballingry ( or locally or (older) ); sco, Ballingry, Bingry, gd, Baile Iongrach) is a small town in Fife, Scotland. It is near the boundary with Perth and Kinross, north of Lochgelly. It has an estimated population (2016) of . The once separat ...

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

, Scotland.

Honours

Clyde *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1938–39 * Paisley Charity Cup:

1939 This year also marks the start of the Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Third Reich *** Jews are forbidden to ...

1940 A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January *January ...

Albion Rovers * Scottish B Division: promotion 1947–48

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wallace, Dougie (footballer) 1919 births 1999 deaths South African men's soccer players White South African people Sportspeople from Krugersdorp Soccer players from Gauteng South African people of Scottish descent Men's association football forwards Clyde F.C. players Hibernian F.C. wartime guest players Albion Rovers F.C. players Dunfermline Athletic F.C. players South African expatriate men's soccer players South African expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland South African expatriate sportspeople in Wales Expatriate men's footballers in Wales Southern Football League players South African emigrants to the United Kingdom Llanelli Town A.F.C. players South African soccer managers Llanelli Town A.F.C. managers Scottish Football League players Scottish Football League representative players Scotland men's wartime international footballers