From non-league to Tractor Boys, thanks to Wor Jackie
IPSWICH TOWN manager Mick McCarthy is delighted with the players he recently recruited from Scottish football.
The former defender believes he got a bargain with the signings of Joe Garner and Martyn Waghorn from Rangers.
Both strikers are Englishmen who were playing north of the border.
But back in the 1960s, Ipswich regularly looked north for Scottish players.
There were 12 Scots on the books in 1963.
One signing could certainly be classed as a snip, after George Dougan made the leap from non- league football straight to the English First Division.
He explains the long and winding route he took to top-flight football.
“I was one of 10 children in Glasgow and was evacuated to Denny during the Second World War,” said George.
“I only played football in a field behind the house, until a chap appeared one day and asked if I’d like a trial with his juvenile team.
“That led to me joining Armadale Thistle. It was a great club and from there I joined Berwick Rangers.
“I played two seasons with them until I was called up for National Service.
“Berwick weren’t the richest club and couldn’t pay my expenses to come up from the south of England to play for them.
“I went away down to Portsmouth to join the Army Ordnance Corps.
“I spent some time on loan at Swindon Town and played in the Army team alongside famous names like Alex Young, Ron Yeats and Alex Parker.
“When I left the forces, I decided I wasn’t going back to Scotland.
“I saw an advert from Southern League team Yiewsley Town, who were looking for footballers who hadn’t made it in the professional ranks.
“Their player- manager was for mer Newcastle and England striker Jackie Milburn.
“I signed for Yiewsley and was there until Jackie left to become manager at Ipswich.
“He took over from Alf Ramsey and took me to Portman Road with him. I think they paid £1000.”
“I made my first-team debut in a 1-1 draw against Aston Villa. George Graham was just starting out in his career in the opposition midfield.
“Ipswich had been league champions the season before I joined, and I was now up against teams like Arsenal, Tottenham and Wolves.
“We went on a tour behind the Iron Curtain, where we played in East Germany and Czechoslovakia.
“We used to have some great fun with all the Scots lads.
“Our Scottish goalkeeper, Jim Thorburn, was always getting wound up by Ted Phillips.
“In Switzerland, he put a sausage in Jim’s bunnet. The crowd didn’t know what was going on when we fell about laughing after it popped out!”
An injury cut short George’s time with the Tractor Boys.
He said: “I hurt my knee playing against Tottenham and had to have a cartilage operation.
“Bill McGarry took over as a manager and thought there were too many Scotsmen at the club. “He told me I wasn’t in his plans. “That led to me going to South Africa, where I played for Addington for several years.
“I had done a carpentry apprenticeship and became a project manager for a construction company.”
Now 78, George is now back in the UK and lives in Buckinghamshire.