Dougall

The story of Andrew William McDougall’s life is an intriguing one that only came to light some 70 years after he passed away at Hilton, South Australia in 1941. Recent research has revealed that Dougall, after playing two senior games with Carlton in 1902, joined the Australian army under the assumed name of James Davidson in 1914, at the outbreak of World War 1.

Davidson became an outstanding soldier who served at Gallipoli, and later in France. He was wounded twice, promoted through the ranks to Captain, and awarded the Military Cross in 1918. Having survived the war, he later married and lived out his life in South Australia – still under the pseudonym he had adopted.

Well beforehand however, 18 year-old Andrew Dougall had turned up at Princes Park in 1902 to answer the call from Carlton Football Club coach Jack Worrall – who was busy urging any aspiring League footballers to try their luck with the Blues. Dougall obviously made a good impression on Worrall, and the youngster made his debut with the senior team in round 11 of 1902, playing on a wing in Carlton’s three-point loss to Melbourne. He was dropped for the following game, but returned for the round 14 clash with Collingwood – a game that ended in another heavy defeat for the Blues. Dougall was named to play as a forward pocket rover that day, but didn’t trouble the scorers in his last appearance.

Educated earlier at Geelong College, Dougall was studying medicine at Melbourne University when he joined Carlton, but it seems that he either did not complete his studies or abandoned the profession prior to his enlistment in the army some 12 years later. More details of this remarkable ex-Blue’s story are provided in the linked article from Carlton Football Club below.