Wolves legend Dougan to be buried

Derek Dougan died last month aged 69

Former Northern Ireland international footballer Derek Dougan will be buried in Wolverhampton later.

The former Wolverhampton Wanderers striker died last month, aged 69.

Nicknamed 'The Doog', he won 43 international caps and several of his former team mates are expected to attend the funeral.

The east Belfast man was an advocate for an all-Ireland football team and an outspoken chairman of the Professional Footballers' Association.

After he retired, Dougan was involved in a diverse range of projects including standing as an independent candidate against sitting East Belfast MP Peter Robinson in a parliamentary election.

He was also a newspaper columnist and wrote an autobiography entitled The Sash He Never Wore.

Dougan was a friend of George Best and carried his coffin at the former Manchester United star's funeral in December 2005.

Dougan scored more than 120 goals for Wolves and was in their victorious 1974 League Cup side. He also played for Portsmouth, Blackburn Rovers, Aston Villa, Peterborough United and Leicester City.