If Roy Race were looking for a strike partner at Melchester Rovers, few would fit the bill as well as Dougie Arnott; dependable, unselfish, hard-working and, most importantly, possessing a deadly eye for goal, Arnott would be the perfect foil for the comic-book hero.
One of Motherwell’s all-time greats, Arnott, who was born in nearby Lanark in 1961, spent his full senior career at Fir Park, having been signed from Pollok Juniors by ‘Well manager Tommy McLean in 1986.
Hammer of the Old Firm
It took Arnott a couple of years to nail down a starting place in the Motherwell side, but a sustained run in the team towards the end of season 1988/89 brought the striker his first goal for the club in a 2-2 draw against Celtic at Fir Park. Scoring against Celtic and Rangers would become a theme of Arnott’s career, earning him the moniker ‘Hammer of the Old Firm’.
Season 1990/91 was Arnott’s most prolific in claret and amber, the striker netting 18 times across all competitions. It also brought the Steelmen’s greatest triumph in recent decades.
Inconsistent league form saw McLean’s side finish sixth in the Premier Division, but the ‘Well saved their best form for the Scottish Cup. Wins over Aberdeen, Falkirk, and Morton took Motherwell to a semi-final showdown with Celtic. A nil-nil draw meant a midweek replay at a rain-lashed Hampden Park; despite the storm, this was Arnott’s time to shine. A predatory penalty box finish brought Motherwell level after Celtic had taken the lead in the first half. Celtic regained their advantage before half-time, but a stunning second half header from the diminutive Arnott drew the Steelmen level for a second time. A Colin O’Neil thunderbolt from distance and a deft finish from Steve Kirk booked Motherwell’s place in the final, where they would face a Dundee United side managed by Tommy’s brother Jim.
Before the final, Arnott managed another brace, this time against Celtic’s Old Firm rivals. Travelling to Fir Park on the penultimate day of the 1990/91 league season, Rangers knew that a win would secure them the league title. However, a 3-0 victory for the home side, sealed by two late goals from Arnott, meant the league title race between Rangers and Aberdeen went to the final day.
Steelmen’s Scottish Cup success
Dougie Arnott wasn’t on the scoresheet at Hampden on 18 May 1991, but he more than played his part in a remarkable match that’s widely recognised as one of the greatest Scottish Cup finals of the modern era. After the teams shared six goals in a breathless 90 minutes, the final went to extra-time. The match was eventually decided by a close-range header from Steve Kirk, which brought the Steelmen their first major trophy in 39 years and the only honour of Arnott’s senior career.
His appearance at Hampden also meant that Arnott had played in the amateur (Motherwell Miners), Junior (Pollok) and senior Scottish Cup finals. Has anyone else achieved this feat? Possibly not, but we’ll leave the definitive answer to the football historians.
Arnott’s goals, determination and passion ensured he was a fans’ favourite on the Fir Park terraces. Rab Bryson is one such supporter who grew up with Dougie Arnott in his pomp. As a show of devotion to his hero, Rab’s great gran knitted him a miniature version of his favourite player, which he keeps to this day.
“Dougie’s size, his spirit, and his goals against the Old Firm will always stay with me,” Rab says of his hero.
An outstanding player & a natural goalscorer
Cammy Murray, who was part of Tommy McLean’s coaching team at Motherwell, remembers Dougie Arnott as an ‘outstanding player, and very difficult for opponents to play against.’
“I cannot speak highly enough of Dougie,” Cammy says. “He was a very natural goal scorer, and when the ball was played up to him, he very seldom lost it. He was an unselfish player, and he formed some great partnerships over the years.”
Arguably his best partnership was formed when Tommy Coyne arrived at Fir Park in 1993. In their first season playing together, Arnott and Coyne’s goals led the Steelmen to a third-place finish in the Premier Division, and a place in the following season’s UEFA Cup. A year later, in Alex McLeish’s first season as manager, they finished runners-up behind champions Rangers.
The Lanarkshire side’s prize for reaching European competition in 1994 was a first-round draw against German giants Borussia Dortmund – a side packed full of talent that would go on to win the Champions League less than three years later. In the first leg in Germany, Arnott and his teammates produced an excellent performance and were unlucky to lose 1-0. A fortnight later in Motherwell, Arnott was sent off in the first half for two bookings, and the Germans went on to win 3-0 on aggregate.
Stuart Graham, Motherwell FC’s club historian, describes Dougie Arnott as ‘the perfect professional footballer’. “Not once did I ever see Dougie give less than 100%,” he says. “His short height gave him the ideal low centre of gravity and I’ve yet to see a Motherwell player receive a ball at his feet, control it, turn and the ball remains within inches of his feet. He reminded me of the famous West German prolific goal scorer, Gerd Muller. Very few Motherwell players have given the fans so much enjoyment and Dougie had the biggest smile whenever he scored.
“As I’ve found since being appointed the club historian back in 2019, whenever I’ve met former players, Dougie along with others are so humble and often I don’t think he and his former teammates realise how much they’re still loved by the fans even though they’re no longer wearing claret and amber.”
Dougie Arnott & the age mystery
If you were to look back at football collector cards, match programmes, and magazines, you may see Dougie Arnott’s year of birth listed as 1964. However, the striker celebrated his 60th birthday in 2021!
Amongst the excitement of Motherwell’s preparations for their trip to Dortmund in ‘94, the club discovered Dougie Arnott’s true age for the first time. When signing from Pollok in 1986, Arnott’s agent decided to shave a couple of years off the player’s age in case Tommy McLean thought 25 was too late an age to debut in the senior game. Stuart Graham recalls the story of Arnott getting an earbashing from McLean after handing in his passport at Fir Park. “A few days later, he walked past the manager’s office and Tommy shouted at him to come in,” Stuart says. “Tommy said something along these lines, with a few choice words omitted: ‘If I had known your correct date of birth, I’d never have signed you.’” Safe to say, thousands of ‘Well fans, and surely Tommy McLean, are glad Arnott’s agent was economical with the truth all those years ago.
Arnott stayed at Motherwell until his retirement in 1998. Unsurprisingly, he found the net in one of his last games at Fir Park, a remarkable match that saw Motherwell beat Hibernian 6-2. In 2007, he was voted into Motherwell’s greatest-ever team by the club’s fans.
And what of the statistics behind Arnott’s ‘Hammer of the Old Firm’ nickname? Between seasons 1988/89 and 1995/96, he played 18 games against Rangers or Celtic in which he scored. In total, Arnott bagged 22 goals against the Glasgow sides (11 against each) and Motherwell only lost four of these 18 matches.
A hugely popular player and person, Dougie Arnott is a worthy Scottish football cult hero.
Special thanks to Motherwell FC Historian Stuart Graham for his insight, facts and figures, which greatly contributed to this article.
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