DOUGLAS Lawrence Cameron, who has died aged 52, was a housing developer who was passionately interested in football and athletics and achieved his lifetime ambition to be a director of Dumbarton Football Club.

Widely known as Dougie, he was born at Braeholm Maternity Hospital in Helensburgh, to Margaret and Dugald Cameron, who lived in Overwood Grove, Dumbarton, next to Boghead Park,�where his love of Dumbarton FC began.

Douglas was "Dumbarton daft" and was hugely enthusiastic about all sports, not just football, and he distinguished himself on the athletics tracks at Hartfield Primary School and Dumbarton Academy.

Dougie was Club Captain and Vice President of Dumbarton Harriers, now Dumbarton Amateur Athletic Club, from 1978-81.

He was just 19 at the time and he was instrumental in encouraging youngsters to join the club. He put together a team of young athletes to compete in the Scottish Young Athletes League.

His proudest achievement was winning the West of Scotland Scottish schools championships 100m in 1976. His personal� best for the 100m was 11.2 seconds.

His nephew, Alan King, said: "Unfortunately the school forgot to enter Dougie and his best friend Peter Hamill, the long jump champion, for the National Schools Championship in Edinburgh and so he didn't compete there." Douglas was a bright, popular pupil at Dumbarton Academy and went on from there to study town and country planning at Glasgow School of Art and Kirkcaldy College.

His interest in business took him into a management role at Akram's extensive entertainment, restaurant and nightclub complex in Dumbarton.

He moved on from there to take up posts in housing development with the Springburn Housing Association in Glasgow and international company Wimpey Homes before starting his own business in property development at Lennoxtown in East Dunbartonshire, carrying out projects at various locations in and around Glasgow.

�Twice married and divorced, Douglas is survived by his former wives, Angela and Gail, his 13-year-old son, Grant, stepdaughter, Angela, his sisters, Kirstine and Helen and nephews and nieces, Cameron, Desmond, Fiona, Kirsty and Alan.

Douglas, who served on the board of Dumbarton FC in 2008 after they moved to their new Strathclyde Homes stadium at Dumbarton Rock, died in Glasgow Royal Infirmary on December 17.

He had been suffering poor health for some time and was admitted 12 days earlier. However his death from a gastro-intestinal haemorrhage was still unexpected. The funeral took place at Cardross Crematorium on Friday December 23 and was well attended by family, friends and colleagues.

BILL HEANEY