Arbroath FC Thank Neil Douglas / 36nilTV
Arbroath FC Thank Neil Douglas / @36nilTV
As you all know, our good friend and club videographer Neil Douglas suffered a stroke at Gayfield on 16th March during the half time interval as we faced East Fife.
The positive news is that Neil is now home from hospital and reunited with his wife Natasha and is making remarkable progress in his recovery from such a life changing event.
Neil has shown incredible determination and fight in his rehabilitation and now makes daily visits to Hospital for physiotherapy but is back in the comfort of his own home every night.
It’s important that Neil puts all his efforts into making a full recovery and so Neil has decided to take early retirement from videography and hang up his football boots and videocamera.
We know how passionate Neil is for Arbroath Football Club and for videography and he has our full support and gratitude.
Arbroath Football Club would like to thank Neil Douglas for the dedication and time he has given not only us as a football club, but to the hundreds and thousands of supporters out there who have enjoyed his videos and interviews all over the world.
It’s not just arriving at Gayfield or traveling to any of the other grounds around Scotland and filming the match and staying behind to film the post-match interviews, but it is the sacrifice of giving up your Saturday with your family and also sitting down behind a computer for several hours to seamlessly edit the footage, create graphics and then upload the footage before sharing it on social media.
All of that goes unseen, and it all appears effortlessly as fans sit down at 12.01am (Neil used to have it done and uploaded sometimes by 9pm but we got our wrists slapped, so we had to wait until midnight) to watch the goals, sliding tackles and controversial moments before taking to social media or to football forums to prove they were right.
Neil is a Lichtie and through his YouTube Channel, Instagram Page and Twitter Page of 36nilTV we would be treated to match highlights, post match interviews, Goal of the month, Goal of the season, Hall of Fame Celebration Dinner Dances, End of season awards and so much more.
Neil’s Youtube channel has had over 300,000 views and contains hundreds of uploaded videos since he began in the summer of 2016 and captured that amazing day in Stirling from start to finish not to mention all of the stunning goals captured and his footage has been used frequently on the SPFL Official pages as well as on the BBC and STV news – and not to mention a View from the Terrace!
In recognition of his services as a volunteer to Arbroath FC, Neil was awarded “The John Christison Community Services Trophy” this season which was picked up by his wife Natasha at the end of season awards.
Despite not being in the TV Gantry this season, Arbroath Chairman Mike Caird has set Neil the challenge of being in the boardroom for the first league game of the season when the flag will be raised over Gayfield Park.
Club Captain Mark Whatley, Louise Walker and Graham recently visited Neil in Hospital and Neil got photographed with the Ladbrokes League One Trophy and we hope to recreate that photograph when Neil returns to Gayfield in August.
We hope that Neil will still be able to make it to Gayfield as often as possible and take in all the action of the Lichties in the Championship.
From absolutely everyone at Gayfield and on behalf of all the Arbroath supporters near and far we thank you for your commitment and dedication Neil!
Keep on that path to recovery and see you soon!
