BILLY BREMNER MEMORIAL JOIN OUR CAMPAIGN
Date: 24th November 2024
Legacies…
Bill Hiddlestone is a name that is marked in infamy within the realms of Scottish football history. He was the guy who was the last chairman of Third Lanark and died before the law was able to catch up with him. To me he was one of the last Principals of Ayr College and a Queen of the South fan… Third Lanark stands as the epitome of the loss of a football club as Cathkin Park lies somewhat midway between a ruin and a place of leisure run by a variety of different people in the south side of Glasgow trying to resemble the park that once held world title fights with Benny Lynch and a former club that was the Hi Hi of the south side.
Now we are looking and staring at the face of two clubs, not one but two clubs who may be on the way out of Scottish football. Appointing administrators this week, Dumbarton would appear to have succumbed to something that many people thought was likely over the last few years and that is some form of financial ruin.
For many fans of Dumbarton, the way forward would be to allow the fans to come in and take over but one of the roadblocks that is obviously an announcement this week that they have had to bring in the police to investigate the possibility of some kind of wrongdoing.
Dumbarton sits beneath the rock and the that is the hard place that supporters have had to go to watch their club yo-yo down and up the lower leagues.
Little does it matter that Dumbarton are one of Scotland’s oldest football clubs having been founded in 1872. They have not been at the forefront of people’s minds battling for prizes for a considerable amount of time but that does not make this club any less special. That does not make this club any less important. That does not make this club any less in the eyes not just of its supporters but should also be in the eyes of all supporters.
Not for the first time the mention of land deals and things outside of the club and football has been mentioned. Not for the first time a move to another stadium for Dumbarton football club was mooted.
The deal that was to see them go there seemed oddly unable to materialise. Not for the first time supporters have stood on the outside looking in, gazing on wee models and fancy prospectii. What they want to see is their football club thriving. What they are left with is wondering why it isn’t. Once more the people who made promises are the people who are in the metaphorical dock as far as Dumbarton are concerned.
And so, the administrators, the 15-point penalty, the investigation by the police will all have to play out their time until such times as Dumbarton either survive or they don’t.
The one thing as a supporter of another club that I found very odd was the fact that Dumbarton had moved into a new stadium but then within a short period of time in comparison to many others seemed to be looking to have yet another stadium built. Now it may be my age because Dumbarton moved into their current edifice a long time ago but it’s within my living memory and I can’t think of another club who wanted to bounce between two new stadiums within such a short period of time.
I know that Ayr United have built a fourth part of their ground and a stand that now encloses it, which had been laying open for decades, and therefore the redevelopment of existing stadium is something that’s not out with the realms of possibility. However, that has meant that chairman David Smith put in his own money in order to make it happen. There clearly is not such a sugar daddy in the Dumbarton area but I do hope as many in Scottish Football Supporters Association do, including one of our founders, that Dumbarton survive.
The 42 clubs in Scotland who are currently in the SPFL have a right to be there. They have fans, people who will loyally turn up every week. We hope that the club have the people to ensure that that legacy continues for many, many decades to come and of course we hope that for Inverness Caledonian Thistle as well.
And just as Hiddlestone emerged as the villain in 1967, who in 2024 shall be found behind the curtains of this travesty? Perhaps the polis will know before we do…
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