Career
Early career
McDougall was brought up in the Cadder district of Glasgow and in his teens, showed promise as a boxer. His first involvement in professional football came after Hearts manager Bobby Seith saw him in a local amateur game and signed him on a schoolboy form for the Edinburgh club McDougall"s progress at Hearts was interrupted after an incident on a bus left him hospitalised for six months while his damaged eyesight was repaired.
He later dropped to Junior level with Duntocher Hibs and Glasgow Perthshire, and despite an unsuccessful trial with Partick Thistle, signed for Clydebank in 1978.
After scoring 28 goals in the 1978-1979 season for Clydebank, he was bought by Street Mirren for £150,000, which was a record transfer between two Scottish clubs at the time. Aberdeen
At Aberdeen, McDougall was troubled by a persistent back injury, diagnosed as traumatic spondylitis, and played his last game for Aberdeen in August 1986 against Hibernian.
Six months later, as his condition did not improve, he was forced to retire on medical advice around the time of his 29th birthday.