Born Upper Welland, near Malvern 9th September 1934, died Tewkesbury 23rd January 2019
As a youngster, Doug lived close to a prisoner-of-war camp and used to crawl under the fence to play football with the German prisoners but post-war, he started playing locally and at the age of 14, he played for Worcestershire Schoolboys and had the honour of lining up alongside the great Duncan Edwards. Doug was a big, strapping lad and due to his height, 6'4", he naturally started off his career as a goalkeeper but soon converted to a left-back who could also play at left-half. Doug worked for the Royal Radar Establishment in Malvern as a Radar Technician and was a regular member of the Ministry of Aviation team. Locally, his first club was Wells United in 1952/53 and he also turned out for Worcester City Reserves and played regularly for the Worcestershire FA in representative matches. A spell at Grimley United led to Doug signing for Malvern Town in the summer of 1956 and he went on to enjoy four happy seasons at Langlands and captained their side.
Doug was invited for trials at Birmingham City in January 1954 and impressed sufficiently to be offered a contract but Doug's father was an avid Villa fan and refused to let his son join their fiercest rivals. Hereford's player-manager Joe Wade then "spotted" him playing for an FA Amateur XI against Oxford University at Malvern and invited him for trials at Edgar Street., where he impressed enough to be offered a contract. Doug made his debut for United's Reserves at Bilston in January 1960 but soon made the firs-team and played 11 times before the season end. Doug was a big, strong defender and a great header of a ball and he could hit it equally as well with either foot too. Doug made a total of 28 appearances during his two seasons at Edgar Street but was released in February 1961 and offered terms by Cheltenham Town.
Doug then had spells with Bromsgrove Rovers, Wellington Town and Kington Town before returning to Malvern Town as player-manager in the summer of 1964. Surprisingly, Doug quit after three months to join Kidderminster Harriers but sadly, his career was ended in 1968 when his motorcycle was in collision with a lorry in Malvern and he suffered a serious leg injury. After retirement, Doug took up Morris dancing and played the accordion, a skill he learnt from his German friends in the prisoner-of-war camp,