Into rally to save club
many, like Dougan and his 15 mates, were based in the seaside towns around Genoa.
They soon found a home from home in a boozer run by a guy from Poland, which proved so popular with visiting fans Dougan organised 10 buses to transport fans for the games against Costa Rica, Sweden and Brazil.
Dougan added: “The boy couldn’t do enough for us – he even drove to Milan every morning to pick up copies of the Record for the guys to read.
“He even approached us one afternoon and said there was a phone call for me behind the bar – and in the days before social media and mobile phones I wondered who even knew we were there.
“On the other end was John Collins, who was calling to offer us six complimentary tickets for the match against Brazil in Turin.
“John had called Paul Kane to find out where we were and then PK phoned my mum, who then made contact with the travel agent who had booked the trip in the first place.
“He knew we’d found a home from home in the Polish bar and all the information was relayed back to John, who phoned from the team hotel.
“It was typical of John to be so kind and he even arranged for us to pass through the strict security around their hotel up in the mountains so that he could deliver the tickets in person.
“It was a wonderful gesture but there was only one problem.
“We spent so long looking for the hotel we ran out of petrol – and had to push the car all the way into the nearest town to fill up again!”
FRANK DOUGAN