Former Gala boss invites Mourinho to Borders

Ally McGilvray • Published 25 May 2010 11:48 0 Comments

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HE is the most sought-after coach in world football. And this week there was much speculation about the future of Jose Mourinho after he led Inter Milan to glory in the Champions League at the weekend.

It was widely believed he would be unveiled as the new manager of Real Madrid before the end of the month.

However, Dougie Anderson, the Scottish Football Association's Senior Football Development Officer for the Borders, revealed The Special One has already invited him to watch a training session at his new club after confiding in him about the planned move - two weeks ago. Although, despite the speculation, Dougie remained tight-lipped about the name of his new club this week.

The former Gala Fairydean manager, who now works in Scottish Borders Council's Sports Development Unit in Galashiels, struck up a relationship with Mourinho while studying for his A (coaching) Licence five years ago.

He wrote to him when he was manager of Chelsea to ask if he could watch a training session at Stamford Bridge as part of his course. Dougie also oversaw the Italian champions in training in Milan last year.

On Saturday, he was invited to the Champions League final between Inter Milan and Bayern Munich at the Bernabeu - ironically, the home of the Spanish giants - as Mourinho's guest.

And now he has extended an invitation to him to visit the Borders. Speaking to the Border Telegraph this week, Dougie, who is tasked with growing football at its grassroots in the Borders, said: "It was absolutely brilliant.

"It's great to get to a Champions League final - the stadium was amazing, the atmosphere was electric and when Inter Milan scored their second goal the whole place went beserk." But he added: "The special bit was I got a ticket from him (Mourinho).

"He's been so good to me. He did tell me when I first met him that his wife really likes Scotland, so I don't know if that has something to do with it. There remains an open invitation for him to come over here. It would be great if I could get him to talk at one of our (coaching) courses."

Dougie explained he had kept in touch with Mourinho, who became only the third manager ever to win the Champions League with two different clubs following Inter Milan's 2-0 victory over Bayern Munich on Saturday night, by exhanging emails about "general football chat" throughout the season.

"I first got in touch with him when I was studying for my A Licence because I had to watch a training session as part of the course," Dougie said. "He was regarded as one of the top five coaches in the world back then and I thought I may as well learn from the best.

"After the Champions League semi-final against Barcelona, I wished him well for the final and said I would love to be there to cheer them on but there was no chance of me getting a ticket. He then offered me the ticket as long as I could get there. I was a very, very, lucky boy.

"It was a nightmare trying to get the accommodation and I had to get up at 4am on Saturday to catch a flight from Liverpool - I just had to take what flights I could at such short notice - but the experience was something else.

"I picked up the tickets from Mourinho's personal advisor and entered the ground two hours before kick-off to savour the atmosphere. The seats were excellent, I was in the first tier so had an excellent view, and I was sitting next to two guys who went to school with Mourinho and had known him all their lives."

Dougie also met Galashiels-born Scotland legend John Collins in Spain. "He was in the tier above me and he said it was the best (Champions League final) he's been at as well."

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