Superheroes Number 22 - Dougie Lawrie When John Brogan took over as Albion manager, he quickly established himself as a shrewd operator in the transfer market. He quickly identified players that he wanted to bring to the club, and Airdrie defender Douglas Lawrie was one of them. Douglas was a local-lad, brought up in Alloa. While a pupil at Alloa Academy he won Scotland Schoolboy honours, and made his first tram debut for Airdrie as a 16-year old. His career at Broomfield never really developed the way people expected, and by the late 80’s he was in and out of their side. He came to Albion on loan in November 1989, but the move was quickly made permanent with a fee of £10,000 changing hands. Lawrie quickly slotted into the centre half berth and gave us stability in that area. He was also a potent threat at set pieces, scoring a number of goals with well-timed runs to the near post. Douglas was a magnificent ambassador for Stirling Albion both on and off the park. He was seldom booked during his career. Even when he was dropped to the reserves his attitude never wavered and he always gave 100% for the club. His crowning moment was skippering the team to the Second Division title in 1991, and then helping us to a great season in Division One after that. In total he played 172 games for Albion, scoring 14 goals. Midway through 1993/94, when it became clear he was no longer in John Brogan’s plans, he was transferred to Alloa for £10,000. | 