Farewell to the 'Doog'

Former Poppies Chief Executive and Wolves legend Derek Dougan passed away on Sunday aged 69. Dougan, nicknamed the 'Doog' won 43 caps for Northern Ireland and played for Portsmouth, Blackburn Rovers, Aston Villa, Peterborough United and Leicester City before joining Wolverhampton Wanderers, the club he will be most closely associated with and where he scored over 120 goals.

Derek Dougan will be fondly remembered by fans of Kettering Town for his short tenure as Chief Executive at Rockingham Road between December 1975 and June 1977, during which time he added another chapter to the history of the club when the team took the field bearing the name 'Kettering Tyres' blazoned across their chests, thus becoming the first British club to wear their sponsor's name on their shirts.

The FA quickly took exception and after a series of exchanges between Dougan and the FA, including a cheeky attempt to circumvent the rules by shortening the name to 'Kettering T' (claiming the 'T' stood for Town), the FA prevailed due to the threat of a fine (which would have been too much for Kettering to pay) and the sponsor's name was removed from the club's shirts.

Although perhaps more remembered for his off-field activities while in charge at Rockingham Road, he did manage to score a classic poachers goal from close range in an FA Cup 1st Round Replay at Oxford Utd (at the time they were in the 3rd Division of the Football League back when there was also a Division Four) sealing a 1-0 victory for the Poppies with the wry comment that he was 'deadly from 1yd'.

New signings and player updates

Poppies new manager Mark Cooper has been busy in the month since the season ended, signing two new players and securing the services of several of last season's squad who were not under contract for this season.

Kettering born defender Tommy Jaszczun was Cooper's first signing for the Poppies and was followed closely by 21 year-old midfielder Callum Lloyd. Next to move to Rockingham Road was experienced and well-traveled defender Jon Brady as the Poppies boss continued to strengthen the squad during the close season.

Good news for Poppies fans came with the announcement that both Brett Solkhon and John Dempster have signed terms for Kettering for the 2007-08 campaign in the newly re-named Blue Square Northern League.