I was never off TV, I was writing for a national newspaper, I was captain of my country, I was running the players' union and I never had to ask permission about anything.

CONTROVERSIAL. Colourful. Brilliant. Born in east Belfast in 1938 to a working-class family, Derek Dougan spent much of his career frustrating club after club. At Portsmouth in 1957, his first sojourn into English football, he helped the struggling club to a shock 3-0 win over then champions Manchester United on his debut but a year on his side had been relegated, he had railed against authority by criticising the training regime and continuously fought it out with manager Freddie Cox. It wasn't long before he left but he took a troublesome reputation with him.

Next up was Blackburn and he guided them into the 1960 FA Cup final. Shortly after scoring twice in the semi-final he strained a muscle that ought to have kept him out of the Wembley showpiece. He went on to hand in his transfer request, withdraw it the morning of the match before declaring himself fit to start, believing his teammates could carry him to glory. In an era before substitutes, Rovers were quickly handicapped and when Dave Whelan, now owner of Wigan, also got injured, Rovers were down to nine and lost 30 to Wolves.

But it was with the Molineaux side he finally found a way of mixing controversy with class. "When I came to Wolves, it was to a club with a great reputation, a great history, a great standing, " he said in Running with Wolves: Tales from the Gold and Black Country. "It was only after I'd been here a few years that the gold of that strip got into my blood." Late in his career, maybe, but he would do enough to be remembered as one of Wolves' and Northern Ireland's greats, scoring 123 goals in 323 games for the midlands' club. He also played 43 times for his country, including the 1958 World Cup where he made his debut against Czechoslovakia.

His international career was noless controversial. He was part of the Shamrock Rovers XI, effectively an all-Ireland selection, that lost 4-3 to Brazil at Lansdowne Road in 1973.

The IFA had been vehemently opposed to the game and Dougan maintained that its president Harry Cavan had instructed manager Terry Neill never to pick him again, even if he was already in the twilight of his career. But footballing retirement couldn't keep him out of the limelight.

As president of the Professional Footballers' Association he was determined to get freedom of contract for players, something achieved in 1978. He was part of the ITV panel for the 1970 World Cup, one that contained Malcolm Allison, Paddy Crerand and Bob McNab, and one that revolutionised soccer punditry.

More recently he helped carry the coffin of George Best, and appeared on Question Time as a member of the UK Independence Party.

Controversial, colourful and brilliant to the end, Dougan died last month, suffering a heart attack at his home in Wolverhampton.