[Archived] The Life Of A Legend

[67splitscreen]

The Let are running a series of interviews with him, the first is here.

Some nice details of his early years in this one.

Bryan Douglas

[deryck guyler's spoon]

Simon Garner? Alan Shearer?

Fatboy Paton was very good at hide and seek though.

Bryan Douglas by the way played 40 plus times for England during the era of Finney and Matthews including the '58 and '62 World Cups. And you call the Payton "a Legend"

"LOL" is what my 11year old daughter texts to her mates

[jny]

So what the creator of Papa lazarou and star of Benidorm (Steve Pemberton) is from Blackburn whereas burnley have the worlds most famous gay wizard (Ian Mckellen aka Gandalf)

[67splitscreen]

Part 2, incase any forget.Link

As these are interviews, maybe parts will be relevant for the history section.

[OhmiBRFC]

Totally agree, this topic is not for 6 fingered banter, fumigate them.

Cheers for these links

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Bryan was my first Rovers hero and he's still my favourite Rovers player. It's a real shame that not a great deal of footage of his skills survive, people today don't realise just how good he was. Both on the wing and in the middle he was the sort of player that wins games on his own, his mesmeric dribbling ability was truly exceptional and his ability to spot a defence splitting pass was up there with the best. He also had a eye for goal and two great feet, sadly because of his size I don't think he got too many goals with headers, I never saw any. When Radio Lancashire chose a team of players to represent the County since the war the forward line was Mathews, Douglas, Shearer, Mc Ilroy, Finney - that tells you how good he was.

He gave me some of my most cherished memories- like the time he wiped the floor with Law and Charlton at Old Trafford when we hammered them 3-0. Nobby Stiles was supposed to be marking him but he never got near. Another 10/10 performance was against the mighty Spurs at Ewood when he destroyed them with his mazy runs from midfield to lead us to a 7-2 win. The time we beat Everton ( who won the league that year) 3-2 when we came back from 2-0 down with 15 minutes to go. Rovers were awarded a last minute penalty in a howling blizzard, Dougie shuffled up to the ball in the teeth of the gale and sent the ball into one bottom corner and Everton's Gordon West into the other other. Class

His greatest moment for me was the famous goal he got against West Brom on Easter Saturday 1963. Playing in the second half towards the Darwen End he picked the ball up in the centre circle and proceeded to beat man after man in an amazing dribble towards the West Brom goal, some of the defenders got up ,ran after him and had another go but he just beat them again !

When he got to the edge of the box he just coolly drilled his shot into the top corner, turned on his heel and walked , almost like he was embarrassed , back toward the centre circle. No knee slides, no punching the corner flag. Just a faint smile on his face. As he walked back the West Brom players applauded him all the way to the half way line. I was behind that goal that day, a 14yr old kid. As I looked at the trail of defenders still on the ground I'd a feeling then I'd never see another goal like that ever.

Thanks for that Bryan, It'll live with me for ever. The words legend and genius are much over used these days but this guy was both. There'll never be another like him, that's for sure.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Douglas/Clayton:England internationals and REAL football Legends.

[den]

Tyrone - thanks for the memories of Duggie.

I saw the Spurs game and it will stand in the memory of everyone who saw it, for ever. The Everton game I actually left the ground with us 2-1 down and only a few minutes left. I remember sitting on Fishwicks bus and being told we had won 3-2. I didn't believe it until I got home.

I also remember the goal against West Brom. That stands in my memory as the best goal I ever saw. The press at the time reckoned he went around 8 men before he put the ball away. Memories fade with time, but that was up there with the best ever goals. We all see clips of George Best going past players with all the flair in the world, - Douglas could do that equally as well, but he never got the moments recorded on film, to show to the kids of today, that the modern superstars aren't doing anything anything new.

He was my hero too and to me, will always be the greatest. In his later years at Ewood and after serious injury problems, he played one evening at a rain drenched Ewood for the reserves. I made the journey as a young lad, by train to Blackburn and walked from the town centre to the ground, getting absolutely soaked on the way - and back again, just because Duggie was playing for the reserves.

Fabulous player and man.

[67splitscreen]

The mindless comments from the Dingle morons need removing from this site A.S.A.P. I'm not usually in favour of censorship but I think the persons responsible would benefit from being banned from the board for a while.

Bryan was my first Rovers hero and he's still my favourite Rovers player. It's a real shame that not a great deal of footage of his skills survive, people today don't realise just how good he was. Both on the wing and in the middle he was the sort of player that wins games on his own, his mesmeric dribbling ability was truly exceptional and his ability to spot a defence splitting pass was up there with the best. He also had a eye for goal and two great feet, sadly because of his size I don't think he got too many goals with headers, I never saw any. When Radio Lancashire chose a team of players to represent the County since the war the forward line was Mathews, Douglas, Shearer, Mc Ilroy, Finney - that tells you how good he was.

He gave me some of my most cherished memories- like the time he wiped the floor with Law and Charlton at Old Trafford when we hammered them 3-0. Nobby Stiles was supposed to be marking him but he never got near. Another 10/10 performance was against the mighty Spurs at Ewood when he destroyed them with his mazy runs from midfield to lead us to a 7-2 win. The time we beat Everton ( who won the league that year) 3-2 when we came back from 2-0 down with 15 minutes to go. Rovers were awarded a last minute penalty in a howling blizzard, Dougie shuffled up to the ball in the teeth of the gale and sent the ball into one bottom corner and Everton's Gordon West into the other other. Class

His greatest moment for me was the famous goal he got against West Brom on Easter Saturday 1963. Playing in the second half towards the Darwen End he picked the ball up in the centre circle and proceeded to beat man after man in an amazing dribble towards the West Brom goal, some of the defenders got up ,ran after him and had another go but he just beat them again !

When he got to the edge of the box he just coolly drilled his shot into the top corner, turned on his heel and walked , almost like he was embarrassed , back toward the centre circle. No knee slides, no punching the corner flag. Just a faint smile on his face. As he walked back the West Brom players applauded him all the way to the half way line. I was behind that goal that day, a 14yr old kid. As I looked at the trail of defenders still on the ground I'd a feeling then I'd never see another goal like that ever.

Thanks for that Bryan, It'll live with me for ever. The words legend and genius are much over used these days but this guy was both. There'll never be another like him, that's for sure.

Brought tears to my eyes and a lump in my throat reading that.

Oh the memories, Boxing day 63, Rovers 8 WHU 2

Nominated for post of the year, at least.

Well done TS.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

We were lucky to see him in his prime Den, he was the mainspring behind the most entertaining Rovers team I've ever seen. Just to return to the Everton game, my memory was playing tricks. We opened the scoring just after half time - Ian Lawther out jumping Brian Labone to a lovely Ferguson cross for a flick header. Everton almost immediately went into a 2-1 lead courtesy of two goals fired through crowded goalmouths from two half cleared corners. Pickering then decided to take the game by the throat and was running Everton ragged out on the left hand side. Just after you must have left he got away on that flank again and equalised with a fierce cross shot from an acute angle. Minutes later he was set to repeat the treatment and was all set to pull the trigger again when he was brought down, PENALTY ! Like I said it had started snowing and by this time it was really coming down. Dougie was the calmest man on the ground, I was on the half way line in the Riverside enclosure and I could just about see the goal. He just shuffled up and drove it into the corner, Gordon West was diving as far away from the ball as you could get, sent completely the wrong way.

A good pal of mine played with Bryan at Great Harwood when Dougie was over the hill, my pal said even then he could send you the wrong way without moving his feet, just a sway of the body.

In my eyes the greatest ever Rovers and probably the most entertaining as well.

[bazza]

I'm sure there is film somewhere in the archives of Duggie playing for England and out-jumping the tall Spanish defence to score a brilliant header. Or was it the Italians?

[den]

I'm sure there is film somewhere in the archives of Duggie playing for England and out-jumping the tall Spanish defence to score a brilliant header. Or was it the Italians?

The only film I can find of Douglas and indeed rovers from years gone by, are on the pathe news website Bazza.

I've linked to it quite a few times previously.

[jim mk2]

The only film I can find of Douglas and indeed rovers from years gone by, are on the pathe news website Bazza.

I've linked to it quite a few times previously.

I've seen archive film of him scoring for England in a 1-1 draw against Brazil at Wembley, circa 1961 (??). Other than that, there's very little footage more's the pity.

Little more I can add from what has been said already. Duggie was the sort of player who made football "the beautiful game", a pocket genius full of skill and endeavour who often made his opponents look silly but would never dream of mocking them.

I was privileged to be at Ewood for the 7-2 drubbing of Tottenham. Douglas was imperious that day, one of his greatest performances in a Rovers shirt he always wore with pride.

Like the others I would ask the moderators to remove the photo of Andy Payton which besmirches a thread devoted to probably best Rovers player of all time.

[hi-jaq]

At 28, I'm afraid I've never seen anything of Bryan Douglas, just a few pictures (obviously I've heard quite a bit about him). What gets me here is reading through the memories that you chaps are recalling... pure quality, the goal against West Brom & the Spurs, Everton & Man Utd games, I'm sat here trying to imagine what it would have been like to be watching them, and the sad thing is thats all I can do. You must have some fantastic memories of our greatest players, you are lucky & priviliged, as there seems to be very little footage around for us to look back on. In years to come, I can show my children & their children footage of players that will be the legends of my age, but the images of those games & goals mentioned in this thread are for the people who were there.

I a immensely proud to be a Rover, for all our heritage & the memories for you lucky few that were there. Please dont let some mindless Burnley fan ruin this thread that is for memories of Rovers legend. Not pictures of their players & pointless banter that should be left in the pub.

Maybe I'm alone in this veiw, but as this is a site dedicated to Blackburn Rovers & the Supporters of this glorious football club, maybe mindless idiots such as the chap who has insulted us & our club by posting pictures of this type, should have himself & his posts removed, utterly disrespectful. (Just the type of behaviour we come to expect I suppose!!!).

[thenodrog]

At 28, I'm afraid I've never seen anything of Bryan Douglas, just a few pictures (obviously I've heard quite a bit about him). What gets me here is reading through the memories that you chaps are recalling... pure quality, the goal against West Brom & the Spurs, Everton & Man Utd games, I'm sat here trying to imagine what it would have been like to be watching them, and the sad thing is thats all I can do. You must have some fantastic memories of our greatest players, you are lucky & priviliged, as there seems to be very little footage around for us to look back on. In years to come, I can show my children & their children footage of players that will be the legends of my age, but the images of those games & goals mentioned in this thread are for the people who were there.

I a immensely proud to be a Rover, for all our heritage & the memories for you lucky few that were there. Please dont let some mindless Burnley fan ruin this thread that is for memories of Rovers legend. Not pictures their players & pointless banter that should be left in the pub.

Maybe I'm alone in this veiw, but as this is a site dedicated to Blackburn Rovers & the Supporters of this glorious football club, maybe mindless idiots such as the chap who has insulted us & our club by posting pictures of this type, should have himself & his posts removed, utterly disrespectful. (Just the type of behaviour we come to expect I suppose!!!).

Don't be so prickly. Anybody with half a brain knows that Ranulf is not taking the ###### out of Duggie but rather out of himself and 'Pates' by even attempting that ridiculous comparison. Some half arsed padiham numpty who only played in the lower divisions v the bloke that displaced both Finney and Matthews from the England team! Remember the great Burnley manager of recent years 'When you have a mini and your opponent has a Ferrari'..... a perfect comparison.

[mhead]

Of all the thousands of players who have played for our great team over 134 years there are just a small group who stand that little bit higher as legends of the Club. Not Toogs,not even our Colin or even Alan Shearer BUT true football geniuses who mesmerise you when you see them....who attract your eye every time you watch a match.

Traditionally Man U and Spurs have had a lot of these imperious footballers AND we have had a handful. Only one stayed as long and left a very big memory and that was the great Duggie. I firmly believe that Bob Crompton for many reasons is the biggest figure in the Club's history BUT Duggie was the reincarnation of the Blackburn lad playing fantastic football for the team he loved! Long may he grace the Club on Matchdays.

[unluckymorton]

Garner scored a few in the 3rd - Paytes has a near 50% strike record for Celtic.

So you are proud of you're leg end playing well for another team? Your team's legend should have a good record for YOUR team, not a second rate leagues team. 50% strike rate against sunday league sides. What a record for Fat Boy payton.

It really is time ranulf goes back to his own clubs supporters website, oh sorry I forgot, not enough dingles have access to t'internet so "he's" got to try to get involved on ours.

If you can't handle our club having true legends then just stay away and don't comment.

[yoda]

So you are proud of you're leg end playing well for another team? Your team's legend should have a good record for YOUR team, not a second rate leagues team. 50% strike rate against sunday league sides. What a record for Fat Boy payton.

It really is time ranulf goes back to his own clubs supporters website, oh sorry I forgot, not enough dingles have access to t'internet so "he's" got to try to get involved on ours.

If you can't handle our club having true legends then just stay away and don't comment.

fatboy is a leg end in the wardrobe industry

[thenodrog]

Of all the thousands of players who have played for our great team over 134 years there are just a small group who stand that little bit higher as legends of the Club. Not Toogs, not even our Colin or even Alan Shearer BUT true football geniuses who mesmerise you when you see them....who attract your eye every time you watch a match.

Those two in bold are most definitely in my list mhead.

The contract situation now means that we will never be able to hold on to their likes in their prime..... Even Duggie admits to wanting to leave as did Tom Finney confess to wanting to go to Italy but simply not being allowed by the PNE Chairman.

[67splitscreen]

If LET have their heads screwed on, I hope they follow this up with more of the same, Ronnie Clayton next please.

[toogs]

For those who saw him play - who would you compare him to in today's game in terms of playing style?

[67splitscreen]

Maradona was almost as good.

Can't think of one to be fair. There was just so many different aspects of his game that he excelled at.

As others have mentioned, if he had played at one of big clubs of the day, he would have no doubt been recognized as a worldie.

He was that good.

Thinking as I write, maybe a Messi type.

[bazza]

For those who saw him play - who would you compare him to in today's game in terms of playing style?

Difficult but I'll try. He had the same stature as Villanueva but the skills of Messi, Ronaldo, Best and Giggs combined.

[67splitscreen]

I am only posting these reports so after the final one perhaps someone will want to edit them down just to his quotes and maybe put then in the history section or somewhere.

Part 3.

Wish I could have seen this forward line play.

"That forward line of me, Peter Dobing, Derek Dougan, Thomas Vernon and Alastair MacLeod, the team got promotion in 1958, was full of goals".

[deryck guyler's spoon]

I am only posting these reports so after the final one perhaps someone will want to edit them down just to his quotes and maybe put then in the history section or somewhere.

Part 3.

Wish I could have seen this forward line play.

"That forward line of me, Peter Dobing, Derek Dougan, Thomas Vernon and Alastair MacLeod, the team got promotion in 1958, was full of goals".

Is it me or is that a typo by the LT ?(surely not ) I always thought it was ROY Vernon the Wales striker who went on to sign for Everton?