Thousands of tributes have poured in for Mr Hibs ‘Big Frank’ Dougan who sadly died on 18 April.
Frank was the driving force behind the Hibernian Supporters Association and the Hibernian Supporters Club, and for several years served as a Non-Executive Director elected by fellow fans.
When Hibs finally won the Scottish Cup, Frank made sure as many fans as possible got to see the famous old trophy up close.
Frank played a vital role in the ‘Hands Off Hibs’ campaign.
Following an emergency supporters’ club meeting and alongside other supporters, Frank gathered more than 200,000 signatures that were delivered to Tynecastle and Margaret Thatcher in Downing Street to stop Wallace Mercer’s takeover bid in 1990.
He was a regular figure at the Sunnyside premises of the Hibernian Supporters Club where he was a long-serving Treasurer and Trustee, and his long service to fans was recognised when he was made an Honorary President of Hibernian Supporters Association.
Frank was a lifelong Hibee, but the depth of the connection he felt with Hibernian ran even deeper than that.
In a rare interview some time before the 2016 final he said: “My great grandfather was one of the members of the Catholic Young Men’s Society that founded Hibs, he wasn’t part of the Hibs team, but he was part of the Catholic Young Men’s Society that founded Hibernian Football Club.
“My great-grandfather, my grandfather, my father, my brothers, my nephews. There’s no choice.
“My first Hibs game – I was 18 months old. My mother was heavily pregnant with my brother and my father was told to look after me, so he took me to Easter Road.
“We beat Partick 2-1, not that I remember anything of the game. The first time I can remember was crying my eyes out at Hampden at the ‘58 Cup Final against Clyde.
“I thought all we had to do was turn up to beat them. We got beat 1-0, my dad told me at that point ‘Don’t worry, there’s plenty time, we’ll win it one day.’
“Now, my dad’s been dead a number of years and he never saw it. I just hope that one day…”
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
