December 1st 2018
We didn’t anticipate attending a Dumbarton game this early in the process, mainly because we all live in the surrounding areas of Dumbarton (with the exception of Ross) but we had a night out pre-planned in Glasgow later that evening and decided that as we knew Dumbarton quite well already, this would be stop number 5 of the 42 tour, Dumbarton Stadium, the home of Dumbarton Football Club.
It was a four ball again with Ross, Boab, Ian and myself (Simon) in attendance to watch Dumbarton take on Brechin City in a League One clash between two teams who have recently struggled and made managerial changes. This was the second time that we have watched a team managed by Jim Duffy, who was recently appointed Dumbarton Manager, previously being the Greenock Morton manager in our first game at Cappielow Park back in March.
A bit about the ground.
The stadium sits in the shadow of Dumbarton Castle, which rests on top of Dumbarton Rock and where the River Clyde meets the River Leven. There are not many teams in the world that can boast of such a beautiful backdrop than Dumbarton Stadium.
The club moved to the new ground in 2000 having played for over a 100 years in the north side of town at Boghead Park, which due to its deterioration after years of neglect and an offer to purchase the land from a housing developer, the club decided to move to a site just under Dumbarton Rock. It’s worth pointing out that recently the club have been making noises about another move in town, apparently the land around the castle has become quite sought after for new build housing. My own view is that I would like them to stay at Dumbarton stadium, it may make financial sense to the club but there are not many clubs that can take claim of such a stunning backdrop.
The stadium has had many name changes since its erection in 2000 due to selling the sponsorship rights and has been known in the past as the Strathclyde Homes stadium, the Bet Butler stadium, The Cheaper Insurance Direct Stadium and the Your Radio Stadium, however at the time of writing it is called the C&G Systems Stadium. So in Scottish Football terms, the stadium is like that lassie in your class in school who would come back after every summer break with a different second name.
The current stadium holds just over 2000 and has only the one north facing stand with all other 3 sides surrounded by a silver fence. I’m a bit old-fashioned in that I like my football grounds to have a stand or terracing on each side but the club have cut their cloth accordingly and there is no point building additional stands if you can’t fill them as some Scottish clubs have found out to their cost.
The price of a ticket was £16 for an adult and kids (under 12) can get in to the game for £8. There is a parent and child deal for £20 and auld buggers and teenagers, up to 16 years old, can get in for tenner.
If you are coming from Glasgow, a return train ticket will cost £5 (off-peak) and £18 from Edinburgh. Dumbarton East station is probably closest to the stadium however, you can stay on to Dumbarton Central if you fancy a pub crawl though the High Street.
A bit about the team
The club was established in 1872 and they are one of our oldest clubs. The club won the Scottish Cup in 1883 and won the first ever Scottish league in 1891, albeit they shared with Rangers who finished on the same points. They did however go on to become clear champions of Scotland in the following season. The club have never bettered those early achievements although they did reached the Scottish Cup final a few more times in the late 19th Century.
Dumbarton have won the league in 4 different tiers of Scottish football, one of only 2 clubs who have achieved such a feat although that may depend on who you are talking to about the validity of that achievement. The clubs last venture into Scotland’s top flight was season 1984-85 and have been playing in the lower leagues ever since, although up until this year the club enjoyed 6 straight seasons in the Scottish Championship, which was good going for a part-time club in a full-time league.
The club this year reached the Scottish Challenge Cup final but were beaten by winners Inverness Caledonian Thistle with a goal at the death. It was first time in 121 years, since their glory days, that the club had reached a National final and they took a few thousand folk up to Perth for the (hopefully not) once in a lifetime game.
The game
The cold winds blowing in from the rivers to the west were biting at the start of the game. So much so, I was convinced my uncontrollable vibrating was putting the players off in what was a quiet first half. Having just the one stand and no other structures to stop the winds, you are open to the elements and would recommend, wrapping up if you plan to go to the stadium in the winter months.
The Pie (and Bovril)
The Pie didn’t get pass marks from the 42 boys this time, with a rubbery texture to the pastry and not much in the way of meat within, meaning a collective 3.5 out of 10 for the Dumbarton pie. I had seen a few folk pass by with a Bovril, so I decided to purchase one for myself, mainly due to the cold and the fact that I hadn’t had one for years and man it was good. So good that I recommended it to Ross, who purchased one also, he didn’t take to it and I drank his also. I then entered into a brief salt and gravy coma after exceeding my recommended intake for the month. Quickly rejuvenated, I was ready for the 2nd half.
Both teams had been relegated from the Championship last season and the game had not been great in the first half and with the cold, we needed a bright re-start and that is what we got. Dumbarton scored 2 quick goals and soon they went 3 up before Brechin pulled one back. Dumbarton scored late on to make it 4-1, giving us the highest scoring game of the tour so far. A good solid 2nd half performance won the game for Dumbarton, who had made a poor start to the season, despite being early favorites to win the league. Hopefully they can kick on from here.
The day out on the sauce
I had arranged to meet Ross and Ian in the Waverley bar in the West Bridgend area of Dumbarton. Ross, even though he was coming from his house 20 miles away, made it in to the bar before me, even though I live a 10 minute walk away although, that may be more telling about Ross’s unresolved alcohol problem than my own tardiness. The Waverley bar is owned by former Hearts player Drew Busby and who himself was recently inducted into the Hearts Hall of Fame , so we made sure this was going to be our first stop in our pre game crawl.
We then headed down to Dumbarton High Street which has plenty of pubs for a crawl – pre or post match – should you ever decided to head down to Dumbarton for a game.
We went into the Riverside bar, the Lennox and the The Burgh Bar which is where we met up with Boab before heading along to the stadium. We have previously been in all the High Street pubs on many occasions, so will mention that further along there is the obligatory Spoons, the Counting House, which is a good pub for football and grub, as is the Clipper at the end of the High Street.
We sent a tweet as we usually do in the days before the match to declare that we were coming along to the game as part of the tour. Usually it gets ignored but Dumbarton tweeted us back and the club along with a few supporters advised us to come along to the ground early and have a pint in Bar 72. The bar itself was in a hall within the stand and was pretty busy pre match. They had a boy playing guitar and we managed to get a few pints in before kick-off and went in for another one post match. Hats off to Dumbarton for this as it gave us our best pre-match experience yet.
After the game, we went along to the Stags Head which is located just outside Dumbarton East train station for a few pints before heading up town for a pre-planned night out.
It’s all a bit of a blur afterwards as we headed into town but I remember Ross giving Ian a loan of £40 as confirmed in the picture below.
We lost Boab when he drank a room temperature can of lager, served to him at the O2, which was projected back out onto the floor of the venue and he quickly disappeared. I then lost Ross and Ian who mysteriously disappeared, no doubt for Ross to get pay back for that £40 loan by non financial means.
I was left on my lonesome and returned solo on the train back to Dumbarton. Well when I say Dumbarton, I fell asleep on the train and was awakened by the ticket collector at Balloch station, who advised that this was the last train for the night. This resulted in me having to find an alternative route home and £15 in a taxi later I was back at headquarters with another stadium ticked off the list.
Until the next game
The 42
The 42 