67: Dougie Freedman, Crystal Palace, Merlin’s Premier League Kick Off Sticker Collection, 1997

Just over four years ago the entire world was plunged into the harrowing Covid-19 pandemic. Tragically many lost their lives and all of us, in one way or another, had our lives irrevocably changed by the first of many lockdowns that put a stop to day to day life. Huge amounts of time in our houses forced us to do strange things from home haircuts, baking banana bread, donning a tinfoil hat or, in our case, deciding to start writing a load of nonsense about old football stickers. To celebrate our four-year anniversary we will be taking it in turns to reflect on some happier times with a look at our cult heroes. Thanks to anyone and everyone who has been involved in this frankly ridiculous journey over 350 posts. There’s plenty more in the locker and we’re always open to requests or guest spots.

Early on in my nearly eighteen-year long relationship with my now wife we were having a chat about the happiest day of our lives. Common sense should have told me that the romantic thing to say was “when I met you” but, being a football obsessed cretin I responded with “when I met Dougie Freedman”. I can say now with sincerity that our wedding day and the birth of our son have pushed this particular meeting down the list somewhat but, on a balmy September afternoon outside Selhurst Park in 2003, I was thrilled to be meeting my boyhood hero and easily my favourite player to ever grace Crystal Palace Football Club.

The main reason I was at South London’s finest establishment that day was actually to try and see the man who, in an ideal world, would have partnered Freedman in my all time fantasy team. For no apparent reason Palace took on Serie A side Brescia in a friendly during an international break which, of course, meant that the one and only Roberto Baggio was finally coming to Selhurst. A naturally excited group of us spent the pre-match warm up badgering Palace players for any hint of the Divine Ponytail’s presence with Andy Johnson politely telling us he had no idea. As it transpired the Italian visitors decided to rest their prized asset and a youthful Palace side raced into a 3-0 lead. Perhaps foreshadowing the “bouncebackability” Iain Dowie would bring to us later that season we duly lost 4-3 with the main highlight of the second half being Tommy Black singlehandedly damaging any future attempts to bring back the Anglo-Italian Cup by decking Antonio Filippini.

Outside the ground after the game I went autograph hunting and tried to convince myself that getting Luigi Di Biagio to scrawl on my programme was a good enough story for the playground on Monday. At this point Dougie Freedman emerged from the Player’s Lounge and I wandered over to add him to the collection. He seemed surprised that anyone had recognised him and when I asked for an autograph and a photo he replied “I wasn’t even playing today.” To hammer home my potential stalker credentials I stated “It doesn’t matter mate, you’re Dougie Freedman”. One very cheesy grin later I had evidence of, at that point, the greatest moment of my life and Luigi Di Biagio and his mates could, quite frankly, do one.

Dougie Freedman was at the heart of so many of my favourite moments following Palace that it’s hard to understate how excited I was to meet him that day. His twenty goals in his debut season in 1995/96 had propelled his new club towards promotion and only f***ing Steve Claridge and his shin volley denied Palace an instant return to the Premier League. Although not as prolific in the following campaign Freedman still banged them in at vital points none more so than his two beautiful goals against Wolverhampton Wanderers to send the Eagles to Wembley and play-off retribution against Sheffield United. After spells with Wolves and Nottingham Forest he returned to Selhurst Park and, thanks to goals against Portsmouth and Stockport County in the last two games of the 2000/01 campaign, saved Palace from almost certain relegation to the third tier. 

He enjoyed a fruitful partnership with academy graduate Clinton Morrison and, while Palace struggled to launch convincing promotion challenges, the pair terrorised First Division defences for fun. Two Freedman goals that stand out from this time were an audacious chip from an acute angle at home to Gillingham and a twenty-yard lob running on to a Neil Shipperley knockdown away at Torquay United in the League Cup which are both firmly in my top ten witnessed live and direct. Although the aforementioned Iain Dowie underused Freedman upon the club’s return to the top flight he still did his best to keep Palace up with a final day goal against Charlton Athletic and chipped in as the Eagles reached the play-offs in 2005/06 most notably with a brace to earn a famous victory against Brighton and Hove Albion.

It always felt something of a travesty that Freedman didn’t finish his playing career at Palace, especially while watching the likes of Shefki Kuqi and James Scowcroft provide mediocre returns, so it was a rare moment of joy to see him return as Assistant Manager in 2010 with the club on the verge of liquidation. After helping Paul Hart keep Palace up, and in existence, he stayed on as part of new manager George Burley’s coaching staff and stepped into the breach when his fellow Scotsman’s miserable tenure came to an end. Despite his inexperience he helped to galvanise a young squad and led Palace to a League Cup semi-final via a famous win at Old Trafford. Freedman shocked Selhurst Park when he resigned as manager, with the club near the top of the Championship, to take up the reins at Bolton Wanderers and, although Ian Holloway guided the club to promotion, it left something of a sour taste. His return as Sporting Director in 2017 helped to heal the wounds and, despite criticism from some, he has helped Palace make some bold steps forward with the appointment of Patrick Vieira and his role in the signings of Connor Gallagher (albeit on loan), Mark Guehi and Michael Olise who have all made a generally positive impression in South London.

When Crystal Palace supporters were asked to nominate names for the club’s centenary eleven in 2005 there was no place for Dougie Freedman as the exceptional Ian Wright and contemporary goal machine Andy Johnson took the starting positions. It’s telling that five of the side came from the club’s run to the 1990 FA Cup Final and that Attilio Lombardo earned a call up despite spending just over a season at Selhurst while all-time top scorer Peter Simpson missed the cut probably due to the fact that no one who saw him play back in 1926 was taking part in an online vote. Dougie Freedman sits in sixth place on the all-time Palace goalscorers’ list and seventh in all time appearances and it is thus not at all hyperbolic to describe him as a club legend. The fact that Freedman played some of his best football for a club that endured such ups and downs during his time on the pitch and his huge contributions to the establishment of Palace as a credible top-flight club only act to confirm this. A lot has happened since 2003 and while I can no longer describe the day I met him as “the best day of my life” the fact that sentence even came out of my mouth says much about how integral he was to my love affair with this ridiculous game. And the fact I’d still put it in and around the Europa League spots for what it’s worth.