Dougal takes a firm hand

By Mark Chaplin

Injury spur
The Scot - 42 last weekend - fractured two vertebrae as a youngster, and the injury was the spur that led him to swap a football jersey for the referee's uniform and whistle. "I stopped playing football, but when I tried to return, my heart wasn't in it," he explained to uefa.com.

Meeting challenges
"So one of my father's friends, who was a top referee in Scotland, suggested that I take up refereeing. Since then, I've been lucky enough to 'fall upwards' as a referee," Dougal added. "It wasn't as if a light bulb went on to tell me that I could make a career of it, but it's been a case of gradually meeting every challenge through the ranks."

Impressive journey
The road from his first appointment - running the line at an under-13 final - to keeping control in the special atmosphere of a Glasgow Old Firm derby between Celtic FC and Rangers FC has been an impressive refereeing journey for Dougal, a senior manager who lives near Glasgow with his wife Barbara and two young daughters.

Derby date
Another Glasgow derby date crops up for Dougal tonight - a Scottish League Cup quarter-final - and, as always, he will strive to be on top of his game. He said: "They are great experiences and enormous occasions, the city is in the grip of the match in the days beforehand, and my job is to keep calm - it's a great education as far as man-management is concerned." If he can, he will let any game flow. He added: "Despite what people might think, if referees see that players want to play football, we'll try and make a positive contribution to the spectacle."

European regular
Dougal is a regular on the European club scene as well - his most recent assignment was FC Porto's UEFA Champions League game against Paris Saint-Germain FC last week. "There is a tremendous 'high' taking charge of games like this," he enthused. "You concentrate your mind fully on the game, but when I'm resting afterwards or flying back on the plane, I do think to myself how fortunate I am to be doing this."

EURO surprise
EURO 2004™ will remain ingrained on Dougal's mind for ever, especially as his participation was a total surprise. "It came out of the blue," he admits. "I had no idea that I was in the running, and when I got the phone call from UEFA on 4 December 2003 - I remember the date exactly! - I was astonished.

Team spirit
"It was a magnificent experience to be among my top colleagues," he added. "The camaraderie among the team was fantastic, and I trained especially hard, because I knew that I could be called upon at any time in a match, because as a fourth official, I obviously wasn't putting in the 'match work' like the actual referees."

Dallas guide
Most referees have a mentor who has guided them in their careers. In Dougal's case, fellow Scot Hugh Dallas - fourth official in the 2002 FIFA World Cup final - has been a vital influence. "We tend to have the same views and thought patterns about many things, and Hugh's been of terrific benefit to me," Dougal said. "I'm following in the distinguished footsteps of some fine Scottish referees down the years."