Dundalk F.C.

Total Appearances:	33
Total Goals:	1
Position:	W/IF
Nationality:	SCO
Debut:	26-Aug-45, City Cup, (A) v. Waterford

Bio:

Scottish-born left-winger Arthur Douglas made his name with well known nursery Larkhill Thistle before signing in August 1934 with Clyde in the Scottish League Division 1.

He spent three seasons with Clyde, broken by a couple of months on loan with Hamilton Academicals at the tail-end of the 1935-36 season, before a June 1937 move to Albion Rovers where he participated in Albion’s second spot in the Second Division, earning promotion to the top grade.

He was signed by Glentoran at the beginning of the 1938-39 season and for six seasons became part of the Glens furniture, missing very few games (245 appearances and 59 goals).

Twice honoured by the Irish League selectors for their annual fixture against the League of Ireland, in 1939 and again in 1942, he was on the losing side in two Irish Cup finals, against Linfield (1942) and Belfast Celtic (1943) but in 1944 there was the consolation of the Inter City Cup victory over Celtic. He also collected two County Antrim Shield winner’s mementos after successes in 1939-40 and 1940-41.

Over his first six seasons he missed only 15 games, but with the return of Johnny Lavery after his Dundalk spell and the acquisition of future English International Bobby Langton, Arthur’s Glentoran activity was restricted in the 1944-45 season and after a half dozen games he went to Derry. After finishing the season at the Brandywell (4 goals) he came to Dundalk in the summer of 1945.

Equally at home on the right wing, he was a very clever dribbler of the ball and he alternated between both right-sided forward positions from where he became supplier-in-chief for leading scorers George Sterling (24 goals) and Willie Fallon (9). Small (5’ 6”) and light, he had an excellent understanding with Sterling, a former Glentoran colleague, and he missed only 2 matches during his single year at Oriel Park.

After his first season with Glentoran the assessment of Ireland’s Saturday Night was ‘…he is obliged to rely on his craft rather than avoirdupois…his football skill seldom lets him down…shows rare cleverness in outwitting an opponent…has a very happy knack of stopping dead on the line and then cutting in behind a defender…can use either foot with equal facility…’

At Dundalk he had joined up again with fellow-Scot Jimmy Dykes, having been together at Glentoran, but he picked up no awards during his single Oriel Park season, when Dundalk failed to finish higher than fifth place in any of the three League format competitions—League, Shield and City Cup—and made early exits from all of the knock-out Cup competitions.

His last Irish League port of call was Ards where he stayed for three seasons (1946-47 to 1948-49), completing 15 seasons in three Leagues—Scottish League (4), League of Ireland (1) and Irish League (10). He finished his playing career with Ballymoney United in the Intermediate League.

What They Said About Him

After his first season with Glentoran the assessment of Ireland’s Saturday Night was ‘…he is obliged to rely on his craft rather than avoirdupois…his football skill seldom lets him down…shows rare cleverness in outwitting an opponent…has a very happy knack of stopping dead on the line and then cutting in behind a defender…can use either foot with equal facility…’