Douglas McBain joined the Royal Air Force on his 18th birthday, was commissioned as a flying officer air gunner and posted to India but spent most of World War Two as part of a football team which toured Asia giving exhibitions to British troops. After the war he worked for the civil service and played for the Queen’s Park club in the Scottish League. He was one of seven Scottish players picked for the British team in 1948 under the management of future Manchester United legend, Matt Busby. His performances at right-half for Queen’s Park brought the offer of professional contracts from a number of clubs but he eventually chose to sign for Queen of the South and spent seven successful years with the Dumfries club. A contractual dispute saw McBain leave professional football in 1955 and he then ran a post office business for over a decade. He had lost the chance to attend university due to the war but used the money from the sale of his business to finance his way through Edinburgh University. After earning his degree he became an economics and business studies lecturer at Telford College. A keen golfer, he was secretary of his local Barberton Golf Club.
Great Britain