Douglas Alan Freedman (born 25 May 1974) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player. He is currently the sporting director of Al-Diriyah, where he has been since 2025.
Freedman played as a striker, primarily for Crystal Palace and also had spells as a player at Queens Park Rangers, Barnet, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Nottingham Forest, Leeds United and Southend United. Freedman had two caps for the Scotland national team where he scored one goal in a 2002 World Cup qualifier against Latvia.
Freedman started his managerial career with Crystal Palace in 2011. He moved to fellow Championship club Bolton Wanderers in 2012, but left this position in October 2014. He became manager of Nottingham Forest in February 2015, with whom he parted company in March 2016.
Club career
Barnet
Freedman began his career with top flight Queens Park Rangers in 1992, but never made their first team. He moved to Third Division Barnet on a free transfer in July 1994, aged 20.
Crystal Palace
Freedman was signed by Crystal Palace for a fee of £800,000 in September 1995. before being sold to Crystal Palace in October 2000.
Return to Crystal Palace
Freedman rejoined Palace in October 2000 for a transfer fee of £600,000.
The following season saw Freedman bag 21 goals in all competitions, his best seasonal tally for Palace.
Leeds United
He was in excellent form for the Elland Road club, scoring five goals to ensure a play-off place including a brace against Carlisle United in a 3–2 win at Elland Road and also receiving praise from Leeds manager Gary McAllister. This form earned him League One's "Player of the Month" award for April, while another vital late play-off goal in the first leg of Leeds' semi-final tie with Carlisle United and an assist for a last minute Jonny Howson goal in the second leg helped the Whites to Wembley, where he featured in the play-off final on the day of his 34th birthday, as Leeds were downed 1–0 by Doncaster Rovers.
Freedman is held in high regard by the Leeds United's supporters despite a short spell at the club; his impact in helping the team to the playoff final and his impressive interviews during his time at Leeds are remembered.
Southend United
After returning to Palace at the end of the season, Freedman was granted a testimonial match to reward him for 10 years' service at the club over two spells, with the match to be a first-team pre-season friendly fixture against Fulham at Selhurst Park which ended in a 0–0 draw. Following this match, Warnock allowed Freedman to depart Selhurst. He was heavily linked with a permanent move to Leeds, however this never materialised.
Instead Freedman moved to Southend United on a free transfer, scoring four goals in his first four outings for the Shrimpers. Scotland manager Craig Brown considered selecting Freedman for the full national side in 1996, when main striker Kevin Gallacher was injured. Freedman made his Scotland debut on 6 October 2001, in a 2002 World Cup qualifying match against Latvia at Hampden Park. The Scots won the match 2–1, with Freedman scoring the equalising goal. It was scored by a header past then Crystal Palace teammate, goalkeeper Aleksandrs Koliņko, and came after another Palace teammate, Andrejs Rubins, had given Latvia a 1–0 lead. Despite this victory, Scotland failed to gain a place in the World Cup. Craig Brown resigned after the match Freedman only earned one more Scotland cap following Vogts' appointment, playing the first 45 minutes of a 5–0 defeat by France in a March 2002 friendly.
Managerial career and Sporting Directorship
Crystal Palace
Freedman's coaching career began when he was appointed as the reserve team manager of Crystal Palace in November 2005. He was in this role alongside his playing duties for the club's first team. This role ended when he joined Leeds United on loan the following March. Following his move to Southend United, he began coaching alongside playing for the Shrimpers' first team.
After his retirement from his playing duties, in March 2010, Freedman returned to Crystal Palace, now as the assistant manager to Paul Hart, with John Pemberton as first team coach. At this time, Palace were in administration, with the new coaching staff's task being to avoid relegation from the Championship, which was achieved on the final day of the season. When George Burley was appointed as Palace's new manager to succeed Hart, Freedman was retained to act as his assistant manager.
Burley was dismissed on 1 January 2011, resulting in Freedman being appointed caretaker manager. Palace's first-choice to replace Burley was AFC Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe, though he was appointed as manager at Burnley, with Freedman being made permanent manager of Palace, signing a two-and-a-half-year deal. He quickly moved to bring in Lennie Lawrence as his assistant and former Palace teammate Tony Popovic as first team coach.
He was ultimately successful in guiding Crystal Palace out of the relegation zone, with the club achieving safety with a game to spare. Palace began the 2011–12 season well under their new manager, occupying the playoff places at the end of October and also enjoying a good run in the Football League Cup, where they knocked out Manchester United 2–1 at Old Trafford with goals from Darren Ambrose and Glenn Murray. Crystal Palace ended the season in 17th place. They made a strong start to the 2012–13 season.
Bolton Wanderers
On 23 October 2012, Crystal Palace released a statement announcing "that first team manager Dougie Freedman has joined Bolton Wanderers." At the time Bolton, in 16th place in the Championship, were 12 places below Crystal Palace in 4th. His first match in charge of Bolton finished in a 2–1 win over Cardiff City. His first signing as Bolton manager was that of Norwich City midfielder Jacob Butterfield on a month-long loan.
Throughout November, Freedman's first full month in charge, his new team remained undefeated, the first time they had achieved this for two years. He continued to lead Bolton Wanderers to five consecutive wins (last done in 2006) in the late push for promotion, taking the club from 20th to 7th position in the Championship. Bolton narrowly missed out on qualifying for the play-offs on the final day of the season, whereas Crystal Palace made it into the play-offs and ultimately ended up winning the play offs and being promoted. After guiding Bolton to a late push for the play-offs, Freedman won the Football League Championship Manager of the Month award for April 2013. The 2013–14 season was less successful as Bolton were inconsistent and finished in 14th, their first win not coming until October.
The 2014–15 season started similarly, Bolton failed to win any of their first 6 games and only one of the first ten. Freedman left the club on 3 October 2014 by mutual consent.
Nottingham Forest
On 1 February 2015, Freedman was appointed as manager of Nottingham Forest, following the sacking of Stuart Pearce. After a positive start to his tenure, on 16 April 2015 it was confirmed that Freedman had signed a new contract to keep him at the City Ground for a further two years. Forest finished 14th for the 2014–15 season. Following only three wins in 22 games, Freedman's position at Forest came under threat, with former Forest player Nigel Clough being linked to replacing Freedman as manager. However, following wins against Reading, Fulham and MK Dons, plus away draws against Wolves and Blackburn in November and December 2015, Freedman's position stabilised, even more so when Clough was appointed manager of Burton Albion in December. In spite of having a number of key players injured and Forest being severely restricted because of a transfer embargo, Freedman went on to lead Forest to a 13-game unbeaten run. This ended on 30 January 2016 with a 1–0 defeat to Watford in the fourth round of the FA cup. However, shortly after, Forest lost form, managing only one win in six games. Following a 3–0 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday at the City Ground on 12 March 2016, in which eight Forest players were unable to play because of injury, Freedman was sacked the following day.
Return to Crystal Palace
On 21 August 2017, Freedman returned to Crystal Palace as the club's sporting director. In the summer of 2021, Freedman played a big role in helping bring former Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira to Crystal Palace as their manager. He also secured the loan signing of Conor Gallagher from Chelsea as well as permanent deals for centre-back Marc Guehi and winger Michael Olise. In 2024, Freedman oversaw the hiring of Oliver Glasner as manager, and in 2025, Crystal Palace won the FA Cup as the first major trophy in the club's history, qualifying them for the Europa League for the first time. Freedman ultimately departed the club in 2025.
Al-Diriyah Club
In March 2025, Freedman accepted a role to become the sporting director of second-tier side Al–Diriyah in Saudi Arabia. In addition to his directorship role, Freedman will also take on a multi-sports purpose role which includes overseeing recruitment of Al–Diriyah.
Career statistics
Club
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
|-
!rowspan="2"|Club
!rowspan="2"|Season
!colspan="3"|League
!colspan="2"|FA Cup
!colspan="2"|League Cup
!colspan="2"|Other
!colspan="2"|Total
|-
!Division
!Apps
!Goals
!Apps
!Goals
!Apps
!Goals
!Apps
!Goals
!Apps
!Goals
|-
|rowspan="3"|Barnet
|1994–95
|rowspan="2"|Third Division
|42||24||2||0||4||5||2||0||50||29
|-
|1995–96||0||44||20
|-
|1996–97
|44||11||1||0||3||1||2
|Premier League
|7||0||colspan="2"|―||2||0||colspan="2"|―||9||0
|-
!colspan="2"|Total
!90!!31!!3!!0!!5!!1!!5!!2!!103!!34
|-
|Wolverhampton Wanderers
|1997–98
|Premier League
|31||9||1||0||4||3||colspan="2"|―||36||12
|-
|1999–2000
|rowspan="2"|First Division
|34||9||3||1||4||1||colspan="2"|―||41||11
|-
|2000–01
|5||0||colspan="2"|―||1||0||colspan="2"|―||6||0
|-
!colspan="2"|Total
!70!!18!!4!!1!!9!!4!!colspan="2"|―!!83!!23
|-
|rowspan="9"|Crystal Palace
|2000–01
|40||20||0||0||2||1||colspan="2"|―||42||21
|-
|2002–03
|29||9||2||0||3||2||colspan="2"|―||34||11
|-
|2003–04
|35||13||1||0||3||2||1
|Premier League
|20||1||0||0||3||2||colspan="2"|―||23||3
|-
|2005–06
|rowspan="3"|Championship
|34||6||3||1||2||1||2
|34||3||2||0||1||0||colspan="2"|―||37||3
|-
|2007–08
|19||1||0||0||1||1||colspan="2"|―||20||2
|-
!colspan="2"|Total
!237!!64!!10!!1!!15!!9!!3!!0!!265!!74
|-
|Leeds United (loan)
|2007–08
|rowspan="2"|League One
|16||5||2||0||0||0||0||0||18||5
|-
|2009–10
|20||1||1||0||1||0||1||0||23||1
|-
!colspan="2"|Total
!36!!6!!3!!0!!1!!0!!1!!0!!41!!6
|-
!colspan="3"|Career total
!520!!161!!26!!4!!32!!14!!12!!3!!590!!182
|}
International goals
:Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Freedman goal.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ List of international goals scored by Dougie Freedman
|-
!scope="col"|No.
!scope="col"|Date
!scope="col"|Venue
!scope="col"|Opponent
!scope="col"|Score
!scope="col"|Result
!scope="col"|Competition
|-
| align="center"|1 || 6 October 2001 || Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland || || align="center"|1–1 || align="center"|2–1 || 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
|}
Managerial statistics
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|+ Managerial record by team and tenure
|-
!rowspan="2"|Team
!rowspan="2"|Nat
!rowspan="2"|From
!rowspan="2"|To
!colspan="8"|Record
|-
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
|-
|align=left|Crystal Palace
|
|align=left|2 January 2011
|align=left|23 October 2012
|-
|align=left|Bolton Wanderers
|
|align=left|25 October 2012
|align=left|3 October 2014
|-
|align=left|Nottingham Forest
|
|align=left|2 February 2015
|align=left|13 March 2016
|-
!colspan="4"|Total
|}
Honours
Crystal Palace
- Football League First Division play-offs): 1997, 2004
- Football League Third Division PFA Team of the Year: 1994–95
- Crystal Palace Player of the Year: 2001–02
- Football League First Division PFA Team of the Year: 2001–02
- Football League First Division Player of the Month: August 2003
- Football League One Player of the Month: April 2008