Former Wolves captain Mike Bailey said Derek Dougan had been a “superstar” signing for the club and believed he should go down as a Molineux legend.

“Legend isn’t too strong a word to describe Derek – he was a household name who played for his country,” said Bailey.

“When people ask of the era I played in and I mention John Richards, they always ask about Derek Dougan.

“He was a huge signing for us and I thought it was a particular sign that the club wanted to go places. He was a real extrovert and a showman – at away games, the crowd would have a go at him and he’d always come back with something.”

Bailey admitted he was in disbelief at Dougan’s death, the first of the successful early 1970s team.

“When I got a call yesterday, I was shocked. I thought it can’t happen, not to one of ours,” he said.

“With the recent passing of Alan Ball, it’s two big names who have died and it’s very sad.”

Bailey added: “I was at Wolves a year before Ronnie Allen signed Derek and he was such a brilliant buy because he came to us at the right time.

“We were top of the league with Coventry going for promotion and having Derek lifted the whole place.

“Without a shadow of doubt, he pushed us all the way into Division One and it was the start of something big.

“I always remember playing three games in four days over Easter – Derek scored a hat-trick on his home debut against Hull and then we travelled to Huddersfield and beat them 1-0 before returning to Molineux the next day, where we beat them 1-0 again.

“Huddersfield were one of our main rivals for promotion, but that put them out of the reckoning.

“Derek had eight years at Wolves and most of the team stayed together the whole time.”

Bailey said Dougan was a charismatic figure on and off the pitch who was as fit as a fiddle. “He was very athletic, very good in the air and made good runs,” said the former skipper.

“He was very fit – he took his training very seriously and could run all day.

“But he was also a huge name and the crowd loved him because they hadn’t had many household names for a while.

“He had them in the palm of his hand and he obviously took to them as well because he had eight years there and settled in the area for the rest of his life.

“He had a caring side too – Frank Munro, who is wheelchair-bound, told me Derek had popped in to see him just last week and I know he was a regular visitor.”

Bailey said Dougan’s strike partnership with John Richards in the early 1970s was as lethal as anything around.

“Him and John Richards were a real handful and at times defenders would be watching Derek which allowed ‘Ritchie’ the chance to score and vice-versa.

“He helped John enormously and having someone of his name helped us all really.

“He was a big-game player too – the bigger the game, the better for him and he really came alive in those European games.

“The UEFA Cup was probably his best time as a player and I thought he performed very well in those ties.

“But he was a big part in our League Cup run in 1974 when we beat Manchester City in the final. City were big favourites to beat us and rightly so because of the big names they had.”

Friend and former striking partner Dave Wagstaffe was one of the first to be told about Dougan’s death.

Dougan and “Waggy” formed a close bond on and off the pitch and they had stayed close after finishing their Molineux careers. And his fellow partner-in-crime reckons the chemistry between player and club was always right.

“Derek Dougan and Wolves were a marriage made in heaven,” he said.

“He actually surprised us all by staying at the club. He’d had a few clubs when he came to us and he scored so many goals that we all natually assumed he’d leave. But I think he knew that Wolves were great for him and he was great for Wolves.

“My enduring memory was of a player who was always available on the pitch. His running off the ball was excellent and his goalscoring record spoke for itself.”

And Wagstaffe paid tribute to the “tireless” Dougan.

“I would say he was a flamboyant and individualistic character but having said that he was certainly an excellent person to have in your side and on your side,” he said.

“And having said he was flamboyant and an individual – he was never like that in the dressing room.

“Even at the age of 69 he was still trying to forge a career in other fields – whether it was in the Professional Footballers’ Association or the ex-professional association. He was never one to sit down for five minutes and he kept going right until the end.”

Waggy has fond memories of Dougan’s home debut, where he plundered a hat-trick against Hull City to start a fantastic relationship with the Molineux faithful.

“He arrived in a fairytale manner – that first home game was something special. I will never forget it.

“I have been writing a book and I have said that whoever wrote the script for that first game must have been the same person who wrote the Roy of the Rovers cartoons. You couldn’t have dreamt it up.

“There were some other great memories of goals he scored and his great partnerships with John (Richards). That partnership was second to none in the Football League.”

Wolves’ record appearance maker Derek Parkin mourned the loss of a great friend with the passing of Derek Dougan.

“It’s such a shock to so many people – he’s always been a good friend and I was only talking to him last week,” said Parkin.

“My wife has got cancer and Derek was the first one on the phone to ask how she was. He’s always rung whenever there has ever been any upset.

“It’s unbelievable to think I’ll never see him again. Whatever people say about him, he was always a good friend to me. I had a lot of respect for him – you talk to any of the lads who have had any difficulties and he was always first on the phone.

“You tend to forget how long you’ve been associated with people and it must be 35, 40 years which is unbelievable.”

Parkin said the death of his friend was all the more surprising because he was so full of life. “Derek was so much alive – he was a real character and someone that once you met, you never forgot and he was interesting company,” he added.

“He was larger than life and a pleasure to be with – you never came away disappointed. You could talk and listen to him all night.

“But we were in Europe a lot during the early 1970s and people shouldn’t forget he was a major part of our success.”

Parkin admits Dougan was a controversial character, but believed many people had the wrong impression of him.

“A lot of people got the wrong end of the stick about him,” he said. “He was a very thoughtful man and I had a lot of respect for him and I’m sure all the lads feel the same.

“I think when he went back as chairman, a lot of stuff that went on didn’t come out. He was Wolves through and through. He was a Wolves legend and always will be.”

The former full-back revealed he learnt lessons from Dougan that stayed with him.

“He was a tremendous showman, but he had all the time in the world for people,” added Parkin.

“That’s the thing I remember about him as a young player and it always stuck with me throughout my career.

“After we’d played in the rain, we’d go and shower, have a drink and there would still be supporters wet through from the pouring rain for autographs.

“He told me ‘You must sign autographs’ and that’s why he was so popular.”

Parkin, who made 501 League appearances between 1967 and 1982, said Dougan’s strike partnership with John Richards was feared throughout the game.

“He was the most unlikely footballer, physique-wise, but he caused havoc.

“When we played in the UEFA Cup in the early 1970s, they were probably the best strike partnership in Europe – they frightened the life out of people, not just in England, but abroad too.

“He was a great professional – he was about 10 years older than me, but he was the guy who always at the front in the running.”