Billy Dougall

William Dougall (25 October 1895 – 15 November 1966) was a Scottish association football player and manager. He played as a left half. He spent the majority of his playing career with Falkirk and Burnley. A qualified physiotherapist, Dougall later coached at a number of clubs and was appointed manager of Burnley in 1957. However, he held the position for only seven months before he was forced to retire through ill health.

Playing career Dougall was born in Denny, Stirlingshire in 1895. In his teens he worked as a miner and was signed by local Junior club Denny Hibernian. He played for the club until 1921 when he transferred to senior club Falkirk. He spent five years with Falkirk, being selected for the Scottish Football League XI in 1923, before his performances earned him a £3,000 transfer to Football League First Division side Burnley. He made his debut for the Clarets on 27 February 1926 in the 1–1 draw with Everton and went on to play 60 league matches for the Turf Moor club over the next three seasons. His career was abruptly ended when he seriously injured his knee cartilage in the game against Leicester City on 25 December 1928. He failed to recover from the injury and retired from professional football in early 1929.

His brothers Peter (14 years younger and a teammate at Burnley) and Jimmy (18 years younger) and his son Neil were also footballers; Jimmy too played for Falkirk though mainly for Preston North End; Neil was developed at Burnley while his father was on the staff, but played league football with Birmingham City and Plymouth Argyle. Both were selected for Scotland, each gaining one full cap and appearing in wartime matches.