Dad defies disability to give hundreds of kids a platform for career in football

Dougie Wilkie had his career cut short when he was paralysed from the waist down in a train crash.

But he refuses to let his disability stop him giving k id s t he same chance in the game he always dreamed of. Tipped for stardom at Queen’s Park after playing with the likes Tommy Burns and Steve Archibald as a kid, his hopes of making it as a pro were cruelly taken from him at the age of 22 after signing for Dundee United. He refused to let it dim his passion for the game, though, starting Mearns United BC in East Renfrewshire to give his sons a chance to play. And 25 years on, at the age of 60, he’s still there at the side of the park in his wheelchair six nights a week , with both his grown-up boys by his side.

Dougie – who has been nominated for a McDonalds/ Sunday Mail Grassroots Award – said : “It’s a lot of work and time consuming but it’s worth it to give the kids an opportunity to learn the right way.

“It ’ s about trying to establish a set of values for them that’ll stand them in good stead for the rest of their days, whether they make it in the game or not.

“And me being in a wheelchair has never been a problem for any of them.

“If you can make yourself heard and understood, you can coach.”

Both his sons – Ryan and Kyle – made it in the game, the elder as a kid at Liverpool before going on to clubs like Gretna and Clyde, the younger with Hamilton, Morton, Livi and East Fife.

Now they’re helping Dougie provide the same platform they had.

Dougie said: “Our aim is always to get our players to the next level and we’ve done remarkably well.”