THE DOONHAMMERS

12th  April 2008: Queen of the South F.C. beat Aberdeen 4-3 in the Scottish Cup to qualify for their first Scottish Cup final. The club, from Dumfries, was founded in March 1919 when the merger of two local clubs - the 5th Kirkcudbrightshire Rifle Volunteers/5th Kings Own Scottish Borders Football Team (yes all that) and Arrol-Johnston F.C. (and this). The new club's name was taken from David Dunbar, a local poet/politician who once referred to the town of Dumfries as "the Queen of the South." The club is usually referred to as "Queens" or "QOS". Their home ground is Palmerston Park. club has played there since 1919 and since 2013, South of Scotland League Club, Heston Rovers have shared the ground.

Nicknamed "the Doonhamers," Queen of the South FC was invited to join the Scottish Football League in 1923 as part of the Third Division. Gaining promotion to the Second Division for the 1925-26 season the club then promoted to the First Division for the 1933-34 season. However, in 1959 the club was relegated back to the Second Division. They returned to the top flight briefly for the 1962-63 and 1963-64 seasons, but have since moved between the second and third levels of the Scottish football pyramid. They currently play in the second tier, which is known as the "First Division" since the introduction of the Scottish Premier League, in 1975.

Although the Doonhamers lost the 2008 Scottish Cup Final to Rangers, 3-2, the final remains a high point in the club's history. Marc Horne wrote in "The Scotsman";  following Queen's appearance in the Cup Final: "In the Palmerston Park club's songbook, it is clear there is no room for songs which feature religion, violent vendettas or centuries-old battles that took place in other lands."

Appearing in the Scottish Final meant that QOS was able to travel to the 2008 UEFA Cup qualifying tie in Denmark, for a tie with FC Nordsjaelland. Queen of the South fans were hailed as "a great credit both to their club and to Scotland" by Danish police, who welcomed around 850 supporters of the club.

The club mascot is 'Dougie Doonhamer', a human-sized border collie dog, that has been played for many years by local supermarket worker Brian Harkness. On 25 August 2017, Dougie Doonhamer won the Ladbrokes SPFL mascot race at Hamilton Park, having been runner-up the previous year. Dougie won it again on 31 August 2018!

The town of Dumfries got its nickname 'Queen of the South' from David Dunbar, a local poet, who in 1857 stood in the general election. In one of his addresses, he called Dumfries "Queen of the South" and this became synonymous with the town. The Doonhamers is the nickname of people who represent Dumfries and the surrounding area in the Scottish Football League.

The term doonhamer comes from the way that natives of Dumfries over the years have referred to the area when working away from home. The town is often referred to as doon hame in the Scottish language (down home). 

The crest of Dumfries contains the words, "A Lore Burne". In the history of Dumfries close to the town was the marsh through which ran the Loreburn whose name became the rallying cry of the town in times of attack – A Lore Burne (meaning 'to the muddy stream'). In 2017 Dumfries was ranked the happiest place in Scotland by RightMove

Queen of the South are often humorously cited as the only league club in the United Kingdom to be mentioned in the Bible. Luke 11:31 states "The Queen of the South shall rise up at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them..." Queen of the South is similarly quoted under Matthew 12:42. In the biblical quote the "Queen of the South" is considered to be the Queen of Sheba!! "The Only Team in the Bible" by Neil Grant is always played at Palmerstone Park before the teams appear from the tunnel. During August 2019, in an edition of the BBC's popular "Off The Ball", Scottish journalists, Stuart Cosgrove and Tam Cowan, challenged the songwriter to recreate the song and it has since become a hit with the club's supporters.

Club captain Josh Todd, at 28,  was born (1994) in Carlisle, has been around the block; 

Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2010–2014	Carlisle United	1	(0)
2012	→ Workington (loan)	1	(0)
2013–2014	→ Annan Athletic (loan)	17	(9)
2014–2016	Annan Athletic	81	(23)
2016–2017	Dumbarton	20	(0)
2017–2018	St Mirren	14	(1)
2018	→ Queen of the South (loan)	8	(0)
2018–2019	Queen of the South	30	(5)
2019–2020	Dundee	13	(0)
2020–2021	Falkirk	12	(0)
2021	→ Ayr United (loan)	4	(1)
2021–	Queen of the South	52	(6)

Highest free standing floodlights in Scottish football: Queen's floodlights were first used on 29 October 1958 and at 85 feet (26 m) high they are the tallest in Scotland. To mark the occasion Preston NE sent a team north for a friendly "illuminated" match.

Highest "terrace" in Scottish football: Following the trend towards all seater stadia, the height differential between the lowest and highest step on the Portland Drive terrace, records this as the highest remaining terrace in Scottish football.

Dunfries Saints Rugby Club is one of Scotland's oldest rugby clubs having been admitted to the Scottish Rugby Union in 1876–77 as "Dumfries Rangers".