Dougan and the 1960 Cup Final ....

[sympatheticclaret]

One for the Grey-Beards here .... Can anyone enlighten me on what actually happened before this game ? I've heard various stories, that Dougan led the players threatening not to play in a row over Bonus's or that he put in a transfer request the day before the final ...

Does anyone have a definitive answer ?

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

He put in a transfer request the day before the final...not exactly great timing.

[matt83]

Then played injured to have his moment in the sun. Or so the story goes. Pre Kean Dougan was the Kean of the older family generation  

[47er]

He certainly pretended to be fit. He wasn't going to mis that game. Didn't last 30 seconds after deliberate foul by Flowers 3 seconds after kick-off.

Did put a transfer request in day before. A shitty day all round really.

[Hanks]

There were doubts about his fitness and the story I was told that he put in a transfer request as a threat because he didn't want to miss the final. I remember Dougie saying in an interview that he slipped a ball through him after a minute which Dougan should have pounced on but it was evident he wasn't fit and fluffed the opportunity.  From the kick off he looked static. Full video of the game here , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfiSQKZR8u8

 

[Boroblue]

When I was a kid I went to blackburn home and the week after Burnley home games with my dad and his mates. All Rovers fans and about 10 / 15 of them and to a man they hated dougan. He personified everything that went wrong at that final and turned fans against the club.

Never saw him play, didn’t know him but if my dad says he’s a wanker then he is.

[AllRoverAsia]

14 hours ago, Boroblue said:

When I was a kid I went to blackburn home and the week after Burnley home games with my dad and his mates. All Rovers fans and about 10 / 15 of them and to a man they hated dougan. He personified everything that went wrong at that final and turned fans against the club.

Never saw him play, didn’t know him but if my dad says he’s a wanker then he is.

Your Dad was right.

My Dad went to the Final, I was a young kid back then, and basically said Dougan was something I didn't understand until quite a few years later.

A Rovers player from that Final told me that it was known that Dougan had been carrying an injury but that he declared himself fit to play when he wasn't. Management believed him and he was a passenger from KO. Also said losing Whelan put us down to 9 men + Dougan.

Edited March 14, 2021 by AllRoverAsia

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

6 hours ago, AllRoverAsia said:

Your Dad was right.

My Dad went to the Final, I was a young kid back then, and basically said Dougan was something I didn't understand until quite a few years later.

A Rovers player from that Final told me that it was known that Dougan had been carrying an injury but that he declared himself fit to play when he wasn't. Management believed him and he was a passenger from KO. Also said losing Whelan put us down to 9 men + Dougan.

It was a red hot day as well. We did well to keep it to 3-0.

[bazza]

On 13/03/2021 at 08:51, matt83 said:

Then played injured to have his moment in the sun. Or so the story goes. Pre Kean Dougan was the Kean of the older family generation  

Steve Kean was a football coach who was promoted above his station at the time and did his best. But Rovers were a basket case of a club under new, stupid, ill-advised, lunatic, naive (etc.) owners. You cannot compare Kean to the most hated and despised Rovers player ever to wear the shirt.

Derek Dougan was a great footballer, bought from Portsmouth, a wonderful centre forward. We fans loved him. Because of his unorthodox hair style he was called "Cheyenne". What he did before the final and during the final was far worse than anything Kean did. I cannot find words to describe my feelings towards Dougan. That's probably the best because we really should not speak ill of the dead.

 

[Ianrally]

There was also the ticket fiasco as well. Two of my uncles never went to Ewood again after that final because of certain players lining their pockets from ticket sales when so many fans were not able to get a ticket. I was only ten at the time and was totally gutted not to be able to get a ticket. The following year my dad promised that he would get me to the final and we easily got tickets. In a way I have to say that it was a privilege to witness the Spurs double winning team. It was even more special when we beat them 7-2 at Ewood. A truly great side nonetheless. 

[AllRoverAsia]

16 hours ago, Ianrally said:

There was also the ticket fiasco as well. Two of my uncles never went to Ewood again after that final because of certain players lining their pockets from ticket sales when so many fans were not able to get a ticket. I was only ten at the time and was totally gutted not to be able to get a ticket. The following year my dad promised that he would get me to the final and we easily got tickets. In a way I have to say that it was a privilege to witness the Spurs double winning team. It was even more special when we beat them 7-2 at Ewood. A truly great side nonetheless. 

My Dad got a ticket but an Uncle missed out. He never went to Ewood again and referred to Rovers as 'that shower' thereafter until he passed.

[AJW]

My uncle said he and my grandfather listened to it on the radio , he said it’s was the one and only time he saw his father weep a little 

[AJW]

Just while we are getting nostalgic , I have seen somewhere a photo card I.d of my grandfather for away travel (must have in 70’s as he died in 1980) does anybody remember them or why they were necessary 

Edited March 19, 2021 by AJW

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

4 minutes ago, AJW said:

My uncle said he and my grandfather listened to it on the radio , he said it’s was the one and only time he saw his father weep a little 

Who was it said “ If you have tears, prepare to shed them now “ ?
 

Everything went wrong all at once - Dougan breaking down after the first minute or two, the Mick McGrath own goal, Dave Whelan breaking a leg. The game was over as a spectacle at half time to be honest. Nine and a half men on a blistering hot day May Day. No subs then. As I said earlier, we did well to keep it to 3-0.

It was the first time I’d seen Rovers on TV and I remember taking my ball outside on my own and just kicking it against a wall until the empty feeling went away.

[47er]

37 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

As I said earlier, we did well to keep it to 3-0.

Didn't they have 2 goals disallowed for offside? 

But you're right, it was a stinking hot day. and we did well to stay on our feet. Never felt anything like it in May.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

2 hours ago, 47er said:

Didn't they have 2 goals disallowed for offside? 

But you're right, it was a stinking hot day. and we did well to stay on our feet. Never felt anything like it in May.

I think they might have. I can’t recall a hotter Cup Final day in early May.

[bazza]

My dad and I watched it on TV. I was so upset it's the only time I was unable to eat my tea afterwards.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

 What sort of reception did he get in the following season ? Did Dougan ever play at Ewood again after he left ? I can’t recall seeing him play again at Ewood. I remember Norman Deeley, who was involved in the incident were Dave Whelan broke his leg, getting roundly booed right from the kick off when he was playing for Leyton Orient at Ewood. I thought that was a bit harsh, it looked a pure accident to me.

[matt83]

59 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

 What sort of reception did he get in the following season ? Did Dougan ever play at Ewood again after he left ? I can’t recall seeing him play again at Ewood. I remember Norman Deeley, who was involved in the incident were Dave Whelan broke his leg, getting roundly booed right from the kick off when he was playing for Leyton Orient at Ewood. I thought that was a bit harsh, it looked a pure accident to me.

“Dougan returned for both villa and Leicester. He stayed around for another year. There was a lot of fall out following the cup final so that the flack was spread out. It was when he joined Wolves that the full impact was felt.”

[broadsword]

I might be wrong but wasn't dougan involved in some car crash or other that was quite controversial. 

[oldjamfan1]

18 hours ago, broadsword said:

I might be wrong but wasn't dougan involved in some car crash or other that was quite controversial. 

You're not wrong https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/local-news/wolverhampton-wanderers-legend-derek-dougan-250335

[Leonard Venkhater]

On 24/03/2021 at 15:37, oldjamfan1 said:

You're not wrong https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/local-news/wolverhampton-wanderers-legend-derek-dougan-250335

Blimey!

[Leonard Venkhater]

From Wiki...

However, he did not enjoy his time at Ewood Park, and later wrote that "the dourness of the club matched that of the town. I could not shake off the depression that caused me to wake each day regretting that I had to go to the ground. Life was grey and monotonous".^[21] This led to him handing in a transfer request the day before the final, which he later admitted was an occasion where his "vanity triumphed over common sense".^[22] He was not at full fitness in the final itself, and had a quiet game as Blackburn lost 3–0 to Wolverhampton Wanderers.

[jim mk2]

I always understood Dougan asked for a transfer on the morning of the final, but that may be a story that got embellished over the years. Never saw him play for Rovers but he was an excellent centre forward for Wolves 10 years later in partnership with John Richards. 

[bazza]

As I understand it he posted (in a post box) his transfer request on the day before the final or on the morning of the final. It was definitely before the game was played. The manager wouldn't have got it until Monday morning. No-one knew he wanted a move.

So he hates the club and wants away yet declares himself fit to play when he obviously wasn't. Scum bag.