FORMER Athletic defender and football writer Doug Baillie has been remembered by the club after he died at the age of 85.

The Pars said that it was with sadness that they learned of their ex-player’s passing, at his home in Hamilton, last weekend following a short illness.

After beginning his career with Airdrieonians, in 1953 – which included a brief spell with Swindon Town three years later – Baillie’s performances as a commanding centre back prompted Rangers to make a move for him in 1960.

His stint at Ibrox, which saw him mainly utilised as a reserve, lasted for four years before he moved across Glasgow to sign for Third Lanark.

However with the ‘Hi-Hi’ suffering a decline that would see the club liquidated in 1967, Baillie moved on to Falkirk in 1965.

In four years with the Bairns, he would go to make more than 100 appearances, before leaving Brockville for East End in 1969.

Then manager, George Farm, had sought cover for skipper Roy Barry who moved to Coventry City that same year, which saw Baillie becoming a regular in the side.

In a year with the Pars, he made 26 starts and made five substitute appearances for the club, with his last coming in a Fairs Cities Cup tie against Anderlecht in January 1970.

Despite a 3-2 win in that match, the second leg of the last 16 in the competition, Athletic were knocked out on the away goals rule.

In the first round of the tournament, Dunfermline defeated Bordeaux 4-0 at home before they survived what Baillie described as “a never to be forgotten 90 minutes” in the return, which they lost 2-0 .

That result didn’t tell the whole story, though, as the Pars players were subjected to immense provocation from the French players, whilst the Daily Record report said that “Dunfermline’s players had to run for their lives” during “terrifying moments of soccer insanity as hundreds of unruly, half-crazed French fans dashed from one side of the pitch to the other in an attempt to attack the brave men from Fife at the finish of his dreadful Fairs Cup battle”.

Bert Paton, quoted in ‘Black and White Magic’, recalled that Baillie was “provoked in the crudest ways possible", with the centre half himself noting: “For what started off as a stage for displaying all that is sordid in football ended with my East End colleagues and myself rolling about in laughter in the dressing room afterwards.

“After the match we’d fought our way off the field and battled our way to the relative sanctuary of changing rooms. All was well, we thought. Everybody had made it back safely. Wrong. One man was missing.

“There was no sign of George McLean. Five minutes later big George staggered into the dressing room with blood gushing from a head wound. He’d been hit with a beer can.

“’How are you feeling?’ I enquired anxiously. ‘Fine’ came the reply. ‘I was lucky. It was a can of LIGHT ALE!’

“Exit the after-match tension!”

After retiring as a player, Baillie, whose son, Lex, also went on to briefly play for the Pars in the 1990s, became a football journalist with the Sunday Post.

He became the publication’s chief football writer, a position he held for 32 years, during which time he reported on six World Cup finals’ tournaments, including in Argentina in 1978, and France in 1998, which is the last World Cup that Scotland’s men’s team have qualified for.

In addition, Baillie also became president of the Scottish Football Writers’ Association in 1990, and retired in 2002.