Dougie is currently the club's longest serving player, enjoying two separate spells in SE25 over the last few years and becoming one of the club's most popular players during that time.

A Scottish international striker, Dougie has the fantastic ability of spotting the pass that others cannot and he seems to be able to create something out of nothing, be it for himself or a team-mate.

Despie being born north of the border in Glasgow, Freedman's football career began as a youngster in the capital with Queens Park Rangers and has been spent entirely in England which is perhaps one of the reasons why he hasn't gone on to win more international recognition. Having been released by the Loftus Road outfit without making a first team appearance in 1994, he found his way to north London and Barnet, where he immediately caught the eye with his goalscoring record.

There was plenty of speculation over where he would be heading after scoring 32 goals in 57 appearances for the Bees, but Palace won the race for his signature when they paid £800,000 to the Bees in September 1995.

Dougie went on to score 20 goals in his first season at the club, before netting 14 the following term to help fire Palace to the Premiership via the play-offs.

His chance in the top flight never really materialised though and In 1998 he was on the move, as he left the club for Wolverhampton Wanderers in an £800,000 switch.

He lasted just a season at Molineux though before he moved across the midlands to Nottingham Forest for £950,000 to link up again with Dave Bassett, the man who had originally taken him to Selhurst Park whilst in charge of Palace. Again, he struggled to settle at his new club but in 2000, much to the delight of the Palace supporters, he returned to the Eagles for a fee of £600,000.

The club was in a perilous position during the 2000/01 season, as it had just emerged from administration and was hovering perilously close to relegation to the Second Division. However, three goals from Dougie in the final two games of the season gave the Eagles the points they needed to avoid the drop and he further enhanced his status as a rising legend in the fans' eyes.

Since then, Dougie has scored regularly for the club and reached the landmark of 100 goals for the club, only achieved by six other men, when he netted the first goal in a 3-2 win over fierce rivals Brighton and Hove Albion in 2005.

One of the nominations for the club's Player Of The Century award, Dougie remains an important member of the squad at Selhurst Park and will be hoping to be a part of any side which may fire the Eagles back to the Premiership and further establish himself in the club's history books. 

In 2007/08 he took the first steps on the road to management by coachign the reserve team.