Crystal Palace - Dougie Freedman - Nottingham Forest Webjam

Over the years a number of players have split opinion amongst Forest fans but none more so than striker Dougie Freedman (pronounced ‘Duggie’ not ‘Doogie’).

Born in Glasgow he played his youth team Football at Rangers (Queens Park not Glasgow) without making their first team and moved to Barnet on a free transfer in July 1994. He made an instant impression after making his debut in August 1994 scoring 24 goals in his debut season.

A good start to the following season (1995/96) when he scored 3 goals in the opening 5 games persuaded Division One (now Championship) Crystal Palace to pay £ 800,000 for his services. He had no problem adjusting to his new surroundings and scored 20 goals for his new club including an eleven minute hat-trick against Grimsby in March.

He was less prolific in front of goal the following season with only 11 goals but helped Palace reach the Promotion Play-Offs where he scored two late goals in the semi-final against Wolverhampton Wanderers to help his side get to Wembley. Palace would beat Sheffield United 1-0 in the final meaning the club and Dougie had reached the Premiership.

However Freedman’s first experience of the Premiership was a brief one after only eight appearances in the top division he moved back down a division to join the team he had helped beat in the play offs Wolverhampton Wanderers initially on loan but then the move was made permanent for a £ 800,000 fee plus right back Jamie Smith going in the opposite direction.

Freedman would be Wolves top scorer during the 1997/98 season in what was a disappointing season for the club as a predicted promotion challenge did not materialise and when Robbie Keane emerged from their youth team Freedman found himself on the move again.

This time he finally got the chance of a full season in the top division as newly promoted Nottingham Forest paid £ 950,000 for his services. However he found his new club badly equipped for the new higher level with the sales of Colin Cooper and Kevin Campbell leading to the infamous strike of Pierre Van Hooijdonk. Even though Forest made an promising start to the season with an encouraging display in an opening weekend 2-1 defeat to reigning champions Arsenal followed by two back to back wins against Coventry and Southampton. Freedman would score his first Forest goals in a Worthington Cup game against Leyton Orient in September with his League first coming a month later at Anfield in a 5-1 defeat where Michael Owen scored four by which time Freedman had been joined up front by his former Palace team mate Neil Shipperley.

Even though Forest were outclassed during the season Freedman was one of the few Forest player who emerged with some credit as he managed to be the clubs top scorer with 9 goals.

Freedman was expected to be a key Forest player the following season but new manager David Platt did not seem to rate him and with rumours of dressing room unrest behind the scenes with Freedman along with Mark Crossley and Nigel Quashie the most vocal dissenters (allegedly) Freedman found himself in and out of the side with Marlon Harewood and new signings Jack Lester and Stern John gaining preference.

Freedman remained at the club the following season but would be only on the fringes of the team and when Robbie Blake was signed on a long term loan Freedman was on the move again. This time instead of moving to pastures new he found himself in familiar surroundings as he rejoined former club Crystal Palace.

His first season back at Selhurst Park saw Crystal Palace in a relegation battle with a distinct possibility of demotion to the third tier of English football and in all probability would have done so without Freedman’s contribution. He managed 11 goals for the club during the season with the 11^th goal one of the most important in his career as it came 3 minutes from the end of the final game of the season which kept Palace in the division and relegated Huddersfield instead.

Freedman was amongst the goals again the following season with another 20 in the league and also winning an international call up to the Scotland squad where he scored on his debut against Latvia. It would be a brief International career as Craig Brown left shortly after that game and his replacement Berti Vogts only gave Freedman 1 more cap.

A quiet 2002/03 season followed as new Palace manager Trevor Francis preferred Ade Akinbiyi, Dele Adebola and Andrew Johnson as his strikeforce but when Iain Dowie replaced Francis the following season Freedman was back in favour again and back amongst the goals as he helped Palace to play off success and a return to the Premiership.

With Palace opting to play only one striker at the top level (Andrew Johnson) Freedman became a bit part player again but would finally score a Premiership goal for Palace when he scored in the final day draw at Charlton which was not good enough for Palace to survive and they were relegated back to the Championship.

Freedman remained a regular member of the Palace team upon relegation but was forced to make more and more appearances from the substitutes bench. After initially rejected the chance of a move to Leeds in 2004/05 Freedman finally moved on loan to the club for the last part of the 2007/08 season and his goals helped Leeds reach the League One play off final only to lose to Blackpool.

Upon his return to Palace he was rewarded with a testimonial game as a thank you for his services before making his final playing move to Southend United.

Towards the end of his Crystal Palace playing career he took the role of Reserve Team Manager and earlier this month he returned to Selhurst Park as Assistant Manager to new boss Paul Hart.

My opinion of Freedman is that he never got the credit from Forest fans that he deserved with moments of magic such as his Ricky Villa-esque goal at Walsall mixed in with him missing a sitter at Norwich. But he was unfortunate to play in a poor Forest side and his goal record is pretty decent considering the circumstances.

CAREER STATS

LEAGUE CAREER

Barnet 1994/95 to 1995/96 47 (27)

Crystal Palace 1995/96 to 1997/98 93 (31)

Wolverhampton Wanderers 1997/98 29 (10)

NOTTINGHAM FOREST 1998/99 to 2000/01 70 (18)

Crystal Palace 2000/01 to 2007/08 237 (64)

Leeds United (Loan) 2007/08 11 (5)

Southend United 2008/09 to 2009/10 36 (6)

NFFC SEASON BY SEASON

1998/99 League 20+11 (9)

F.A.Cup 1 (0)

League Cup 4 (3)

TOTAL 25+11 (12)

1999/2000 League 28+6 (9)

F.A.Cup 2+1 (1)

League Cup 4 (1)

TOTAL 34+7 (11)

2000/01 League 2+3 (0)

League Cup 0+1 (0)

TOTAL 2+4 (0)

TOTAL League 50+20 (18)

F.A.Cup 3+1 (1)

League Cup 8+1 (4)

TOTAL 61+22 (23)

INTERNATIONAL CAREER

Scotland Full 2001 to 2002 2 (1)

Scotland U21 8 (2)

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