About half an hour later he was out of the changing rooms and onto the pitch. He walked out from the tunnel and a cool, refreshing breeze swept over his face. He imagined the aerial cameras that would all be focused on him when he got through the England try outs. All focused on him… All on him.
This thought gave him a pump of adrenaline and he began to train with the others. Some very well know players were there including Vassel, James and Smith.
Two months later, he woke up at nine am in his new London penthouse. He dressed into his new England shirt… This is a good fit he thought. And it was… Custom fit. He took the lift down to the ground floor where a large man with a bald head and a black suit with an earpiece escorted him to his brand new car with tinted windows.
Having climbed in, Douglas said to the driver, “Culd yi take mi tu th airhporht ples?”
On arriving at the airport he was taken to Cardiff by a small Leah Jet. On the journey in the jet, Douglas didn’t sit or speak to anyone, not out of choice but because the other players didn’t seem to like him much. From the Airport the whole England team was taken to the millennium stadium for their first European qualifier. It was England versus Poland.
The team trooped onto the pitch, goalie first, then Poland followed in the same order. A shrill whistle blew and the game began. Douglas ran up and down the pitch but did not get passed the ball. England finally scored the winning goal in the last ninety seconds of injury time leaving the score England one, Poland nil.
That night Douglas switched on the television in an already disheartened mood to be sadly disappointed.
There was a report on the football and the reporter was saying, “The football at the Millennium today was exciting but the newest player didn’t contribute much.”
The other reporter followed this by saying, “True, Very true Ian. Perhaps the other players couldn’t understand if he was free with that Scottish accent of his.”
Douglas threw the control across the room and stormed down the stairs. He went to the bar where he had a large beer.
Soon the rest of the players had congregated down the stairs and were heading out when Sven, the manager and coach came over to Douglas and said, “Don’t listen to those reporters,” as though he knew what Douglas was thinking, “Come out and celebrate the victory.” Douglas went with the team and had a few drinks. He began to think that he was having a good time, even though they constantly joked about his accent and the news reporter. Then after they came out from the third bar one of the players who was very drunk said a little louder than he meant to, “That Scottish pillock thinks he’s so good,” Then he continued shouting even louder, “that Scottish prat thinks he’s so good.”
Douglas got back to the hotel minutes later. He threw his bags across the room in anger then packed all his stuff and left in a fit of rage.
When he got back to London he calmed himself and traveled back to Glasgow the next morning. Here he waited until Sven phoned him and announced the date of the next England match. He also told Douglas that the player who shouted at him was drunk and didn’t know what he was saying.
Weeks later Douglas’ next match was only a few days away. He was hardened by his abuse and even more determined to play well in this match. When he finally jogged out onto the pitch the mixture of cheers and boos pumped him up to his best performance. On the pitch, Douglas was everywhere but as the match continued it became much like the next. He only got the ball when he managed to intercept his own team’s pass and in his state of determination he knocked over an opposing player who was trying to tackle him. He was given a yellow card. The opposing team took a free kick.
After the match Douglas headed out of the back entrance of the ground hoping to avoid angry hooligans but there were still plenty there, what he thought looked like thousands of people.
They were shouting comments, “You Scottish pillock… We hate you… You suck… You’re rubbish… We’re not goin’ to listen to your excuses even wit your crappy Scottish accent.” The people shouted, “Who do you think you are playing for us?”
Later that day Douglas went into negotiations with the British Football Association. He wanted to know what they were going to do about the hooligans and players giving him abuse. He was very angry. What he was told by the BFA wasn’t a great help either. They had agreed in a unanimous decision that Douglas should leave the team. They told him that it was because during his first two games he hadn’t contributed to the final result. They told him he had hindered the team.
At this comment Douglas went crazy, he tipped up his desk and rushed from the building so fast that a glass fell from another table.
During the next year of qualifying for the Europeans, England had numerous injuries. Some of the better known players were out, including Beckham, Owen and Cole. England needed some good new players. With only one week to go before the Europeans began the BFA phoned Douglas and said, “We need your help Doug.” It was Sven.
“Yu du? Realli. I wuldn hve guessed tha.” Said Douglas, who was still hurt about his first two matches for England.
Douglas spent about half the weeks discussing terms and when it was finally settled he was flown down to London in a private Leah Jet.
He arrived in the stadium and boldly walked through a mass of confused supporters. They had not expected to see him back and had not been told by the press. Douglas was very confident and had a very good feeling about this game.
The whistle blew and the game began. England played solidly and Poland, whom they had beaten in the first round of qualifying, did as well. However, the final score was England seventeen, Poland nil. Out of the seventeen goals scored Douglas had scored fifteen. This was the most goals scored at International level by any one player in any one match. It was a new World Record.
After this match, Douglas watched The News something which he had refused to do ever since his earlier experience for England. The same reporter as that time said in a bewildered voice, “The Worlds best ever performance by a truly outstanding player.”
The other reporter then said, “Yes it was. Literally. That match will be played on international television for centuries to come. Compared to the Scots last two England games it was more than jus beating a World record it was like beating twenty. This will open so many doors for McDonald and it’s a good present for his twenty-forth Birthday last week.
AS Douglas grew older he wrote a book on his experiences and discrimination. It became a best-seller and now he’s a World record holder in Football and Literacy.
