Hearts was saddened to learn this week of the death of former player Bobby Dougan.

Born in Glasgow in December 1926, Bobby was a cultured centre-half whose composure, positional sense and creative ability, set him apart from the other defenders of his time. Accordingly, he played for Scotland in a 3-1 victory over Switzerland in April 1950 and also represented the Scottish League on three occasions. Only injuries prevented the lean and athletic Glaswegian from gaining the highest honours in the game.

Bobby served in the Royal Navy, and after his release in 1946, he worked as a structural draughtsman, while also developing his football career with Shawfield Juniors. He was signed by Heart of Midlothian, on a provisional basis, in September 1946, but Bobby was allowed to remain at Shawfield where he helped to win the Scottish Junior Cup in 1946-47 and he also played for his country at that level.

Bobby was called-up by Hearts in the summer of 1947 and made his debut in a 3-1 League defeat at Fir Park, Motherwell on 27 August 1947. However, he subsequently impressed the supporters with his constructive play at half-back, although Bobby earned even greater acclaim when he moved to centre-half in October 1948, on the same day that the "Terrible Trio" came together against East Fife.

His interceptions and tackling were of the highest order and the classy defender helped Hearts to move up to third place in the League in 1949-50. The following season, Bobby was a star turn on Hearts' tour of Germany and his artistic style was applauded on further tours to Sweden (1953) and South Africa (1954).

Tragically, on his second appearance for the Scottish League, in September 1951 against the Irish League, Bobby suffered torn ankle ligaments after only four minutes and he was on the treatment table for almost a year. Nevertheless, he came back to re-establish his position in the Hearts' team and made a third appearance for the Scottish League when the Football League was beaten 1-0 in March 1953. A month later, he was in the Hearts' side that lost to Rangers in the Scottish Cup Semi-Final.

Hearts was second in the League in 1953-54, but Bobby only played during the early part of the campaign, as he required an operation on a damaged knee cartilage. Sadly, he then struggled to regain full fitness and in December 1954 Bobby was allowed to join Kilmarnock for a fee of £4,300. The fans were certainly sorry to see him go, but pleased that he was able to continue his career. Bobby had played 212 games for Hearts, with 168 of these being in the three major domestic competitions.

Bobby was a defensive cover man with Kilmarnock, but eventually suffered from a number of injury problems and played his last competitive game in September 1959. He subsequently worked for many years in the office of the Scottish Football Association.

Hearts extends its condolences to Bobby's family at this sad time.