THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM

Does anyone know where Dumbarton is in Scotland? You should, it has a football team, founded on December 23rd, 1872; the club  is known as the Sons of the Rock-see below. They remained amateur until 1893.

In the Summer of 1995, Dumbarton FC, a semi-professional club, had just won promotion to the Scottish First Division on the last day of the previous season, beating Stirling Albion. Murdo MacLeod, the Dumbarton manager, took his team to promotion on the final day of the season and then, typically, was poached by Premier League club Partick Thistle, so a new regime had to begin (at both clubs). 

Dumbarton, managerless at the start of the new season, won their first two games and sat nicely at the top of the table. The club directors then appointed Jim Fallon, one hour before the next game.

Fallon, had played over 600 games for Clydebank and known to be a well qualified manager, was brought in one hour before the club's third league match, taking over at Dumbarton,. That is where the trouble began. 

In his first match in charge, the "Sons" played Dunfermline Athletic (later Division champions) and lost 0-4. Having beaten Dundee United 1-0 next, seven games later The Sons were thumped 0-8 in the return game and things only got worse. The final season's 19 games were lost and the club won more points, managerless, before Fallon arrived, (6pts), than during Fallon's reign (5pts).

Nevertheless, he was given a new contract and in the first 12 matches of the next season, there was one win and 8 losses, including a 5-0 defeat by Livingstone. Clearly, he had "lost his way" and "he was let go! 

Dumbarton consequently won three of their next four games, but the club dropped two divisions consecutively. Fallon's total record was: P46 W2 D5 L39.

You might wonder what the elephant on the badge is all about? Dumbarton Castle is sited on a volcanic plug (as Edinburgh is) and the outcrop of rock resembles an elephant (apparently...see photo below). 

The club nickname is The Sons, as any child born in the town is called. The club founded in 1872 is the 4th oldest Scottish club, after Queen's Park (1867), Kilmarnock (69) and Stranraer (70) and resided at Boghead Park from 1879-2000. 

They were one of the most successful Scottish clubs of the nineteenth century, winning the Scottish Football League in the first two seasons of the competition (the first jointly with Glasgow Rangers), in 1890. The rules in force at the time required that the teams contest a play-off match for the championship, which finished in a 2–2 draw, and the first ever championship was thus shared between two clubs, the only occasion on which this has happened.

Dumbarton was the first team (and one of only two) to win at least one league title in each of the top four tiers in the  Scottish Football League. Rangers must be the other club!

The club ceased playing in 1901 and did not return to action until 1905. Although at the time it was emphasised that this was a new club, subsequent directives by the SFA and Scottish Combination appear to countermand this, possibly to fast-track the re-formed club into their competitions.

The Sons now play at the Cheaper Insurance Direct Stadium, overshadowed by the Rock and accommodating just over 2,000 crowd. They presently play in the Scottish League Two, having been relegated from League One, last season.

The Dumbarton Football Stadium, known "creatively" as The Rock, and currently named The moreroom.com Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is the third smallest stadium in the SPFL. The stadium has a capacity of 2,020, and was built in 2000 after the move away from Dumbarton's former home, Boghed Park. It was built on part of the site formerly occupied by Denny's Shipyard.