Peter Dougall (21 March 1909 – 12 June 1974) was a Scottish

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

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 ...

for various clubs in the 1920s and 1930s. He later managed in the Netherlands.

Football career

Dougall was born in Denny,

Stirlingshire Stirlingshire or the County of Stirling, gd, Siorrachd Sruighlea) is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration countyRegisters of Scotland. Publications, leaflets, Land Register Counties. of Scotland. Its county town is Stirli ...

and played for

Dunipace Dunipace is a village in the west of the Falkirk council area of Scotland. The village is south of Stirling and north-west of Falkirk. The village is situated on the north bank of the River Carron and adjoins the town of Denny, to the south of ...

as a youth before moving to England to join

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

of the

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

in October 1926, aged 17 (his brother Billy had joined the ''Clarets'' around six months earlier). He broke into the first team in the following season when he replaced the well-established inside left Joe Devine for six matches, scoring twice. With Devine the first-choice for the No. 10 shirt, Dougall spent most of his time at

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

in the reserves, and in February 1929 he returned to Scotland to join

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 ...

. In September 1929, Dougall was signed by

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 ...

, with his transfer fee being met by the Saints Supporters Club. Described in the local press as "in the Alex James class", Dougall was able to combine skill with the ability to "beat a man on a sixpence", although he did have a tendency to over-elaborate. He made his debut for the ''Saints'' on 19 October 1929, when he replaced Herbert Coates in a 4–0 defeat at

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

. Coates returned for the next match and Dougall's appearances were initially limited until March, when he had a run of seven games.Peter Dougall
11v11.com. Retrieved 30 November 2021 In 1930–31, Dougall was again used as cover for Coates or Laurie Cumming, before taking over from Cumming in February 1931 for the remainder of the season. For the 1931–32 season, Arthur Wilson was new manager

George Kay George Kay (21 September 1891 – 18 April 1954) was an English football player and manager of Luton Town, Southampton and Liverpool. The highlight of his playing career was when he captained West Ham United in the first FA Cup final to be play ...

's preference at inside-left and Dougall only made three further appearances for Southampton, before he was transfer-listed at a

fee A fee is the price one pays as remuneration for rights or services. Fees usually allow for overhead, wages, costs, and markup. Traditionally, professionals in the United Kingdom (and previously the Republic of Ireland) receive a fee in contra ...

of £500. After spending a season in the south of France with

Sète Sète (; oc, Seta, ), also historically spelt ''Cette'' (official until 1928) and ''Sette'', is a commune in the Hérault department, in the region of Occitania, southern France. Its inhabitants are called ''Sétois'' (male) and ''Sétoises' ...

, Dougall returned to the English First Division when he joined

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

in September 1933. He made his first-team debut in February 1934. Dougall was never a regular at

Highbury Highbury is a district in North London and part of the London Borough of Islington in Greater London that was owned by Ranulf brother of Ilger and included all the areas north and east of Canonbury and Holloway Roads. The manor house was situ ...

, making only 23 appearances in four years – he made only five and eight league appearances respectively in the title-winning campaigns of 1933–34 and 1934–35 and it is unclear if he would have been given a medal, and did not play in the

1936 FA Cup Final The 1936 FA Cup Final was a football match between Arsenal and Sheffield United on 25 April 1936 at Wembley. The showpiece match of English football's primary cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup (better known as the FA Cup), i ...

nor in any of the three

FA Charity Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier Le ...

matches arising from these successes. His role was mainly to fill in for Alex James with whom he had been compared so favourably four years earlier (although

Bob John Robert Frederick John (3 February 1899 – 17 July 1982) was a Welsh football player and coach. Born in Barry, John played for Barry Town and Caerphilly, before joining English club Arsenal, who signed him, against stiff competition, in Jan ...

Cliff Bastin Clifford Sydney Bastin (14 March 1912 – 4 December 1991) was an English footballer who played as a winger for Exeter City and Arsenal. He also played for the England national team. Bastin is Arsenal's third-highest goalscorer of all time. C ...

and

Bobby Davidson Robert Holley "Bobby" Davidson (19 July 1928 – 17 December 1993) was a Scottish Association football, football Referee (association football), referee who also operated for FIFA. Career He was Scotland's representative at the 1962 FIFA World ...

also took James's place at various times) and he then missed all of the 1936–37 season, which brought another championship for the ''Gunners'', due to injury.Peter Dougall
Arsenal FC. Retrieved 30 November 2021 A transfer to Everton followed in August 1937. Dougall made 11 appearances for the ''Toffees'', before dropping down to the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

to join

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

in June 1938. His professional career was then effectively ended by 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 ...

, during the early part of which he guested for

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

. His elder brother Billy (a teammate at Burnley), younger brother Jimmy and nephew

Neil Neil is a masculine name of Gaelic and 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".. A ...

were all footballers. Jimmy and Neil were both selected 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 ...

, 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. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

and appearing in wartime matches.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dougall, Peter 1909 births 1974 deaths People from Denny, Falkirk Scottish footballers Men's association football inside forwards English Football League players Scottish Football League players Burnley F.C. players Clyde F.C. players Southampton F.C. players FC Sète 34 players Arsenal F.C. players Everton F.C. players Bury F.C. players Manchester United F.C. wartime guest players Scottish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in France Footballers from Falkirk (council area) Dunipace F.C. players Scottish expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in the Netherlands Amsterdamsche FC managers DHC Delft managers Scottish Junior Football Association players