Sons' sorrow

[Nowhereman]

Aye, good effort Sir, and it's a trend we are going to see more of as players increasingly realise that a decent day job combined with p/t fitba is perhaps a less precarious route than the full-time one.

At no point over the last two seasons have Sons looked out of place fitness-wise and that reflects great credit on the current DFC set-up.

Just going back to the way it was before the advent of the spl. Dumbarton were part time in the old premier division as were Clydebank and possibly Hamilton. I'm sure that back in the 70's Scottish football was down to only nine full teams.

[Sons FC]

Just going back to the way it was before the advent of the spl. Dumbarton were part time in the old premier division as were Clydebank and possibly Hamilton. I'm sure that back in the 70's Scottish football was down to only nine full teams.I seem to recall

I seem to recall that we have had some full time players, within our part-time status over the years. I think Pat McCluskey worked on the Sons Pools at the time to take his time and income into full time equivalent. I also recall Murdo saying that he trained each afternoon at Dumbarton with some of the youngsters (may not have been full time but was returning in the afternoon for further training). Sometimes he was on his own and used to bounce the ball off the boundary wall to sharpen his reactions.

I am sure there will have been more.

[Sweet Pete]

Just going back to the way it was before the advent of the spl. Dumbarton were part time in the old premier division as were Clydebank and possibly Hamilton. I'm sure that back in the 70's Scottish football was down to only nine full teams.

Ayr United and Killie both played in the old top flight as part-time sides.

[Boghead ranter]

I seem to recall that we have had some full time players, within our part-time status over the years. I think Pat McCluskey worked on the Sons Pools at the time to take his time and income into full time equivalent. I also recall Murdo saying that he trained each afternoon at Dumbarton with some of the youngsters (may not have been full time but was returning in the afternoon for further training). Sometimes he was on his own and used to bounce the ball off the boundary wall to sharpen his reactions.

I am sure there will have been more.

Martin Mooney the player/groundsman.

[The Moonster]

Martin Mooney the player/groundsman.

Was there anything he couldn't do?

[Boghead ranter]

Was there anything he couldn't do?

make me look like a good player in the Meadow 5's on a Sunday morning

[Silverton End]

So I've written a wee article on the recent success of part-time teams if anyone's interested.

http://foursixzeroblog.weebly.com/championship.html

Feedback is welcome, unless it's bad in which case I may well be reduced to tears.

Good reading, nicely written.

If its any consolation I used to help wee Dick Jackson start his Lawnmower at Boghead when the wee guy was in his latter years.

He often reduced me to tears :-)

[johnny graham]

Former dumbarton legend chic halliday was employed as player/groundsman back in the early sixties. Wee Dick spent as much time running down to the bookies as he did being groundsman.

I think Willie Wallace may have been full time along with others like Brian herron and Ross mathie although even then they would not.have had great wages.

[Howlin' Wilf]

Just going back to the way it was before the advent of the spl. Dumbarton were part time in the old premier division as were Clydebank and possibly Hamilton. I'm sure that back in the 70's Scottish football was down to only nine full teams.

I think it may have been down to fewer than that at one stage. Gordon Smith recounts that he was part time with Killie. I have a feeling that in the early 70s full time fitba was the preserve of the cities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen.

[donald]

I think it may have been down to fewer than that at one stage. Gordon Smith recounts that he was part time with Killie. I have a feeling that in the early 70s full time fitba was the preserve of the cities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen.

And Scotland qualified for consecutive World Cups!

[George Parr]

Presumably Ian will be giving some thought to who stays/who goes at the end of the season. His list should look something like this:

Keep

Turner (already signed)

Kirkpatrick

Graham

Megginson

Nish

Fleming

Gilhaney

Agnew

McGinn

Linton

Coleman

Lumsden

McKerracher

Prunty

Punt

Phinn

McDougall

Smith

Grindlay

Ewings

McLaughlin

Shug

Ronald

(Also no point in Ian and Jack registering as players)

Current Loans

Miller

Kane

Thomson

[The Moonster]

Kirkpatrick is signed up as well. Wouldn't mind keeping all those players but I think we might see McGinn leave and Prunty may look to the lower leagues (assuming we don't collapse and end up there) for more regular football. Think we could have a problem holding on to a few of them actually.

[The Elephant In The Rock]

I honestly don't think Prunty would leave us through choice. Also, I doubt Owen Ronald will be punted - Murray just named his son after him.

[The Moonster]

We've not even given Ronald a squad number since he returned from loan, I highly doubt we'll see him back.

[Sweet Pete]

I would hope to see the following:-

Keep

Turner (already signed)

Kirkpatrick (already signed)

Graham

Megginson

Nish

Fleming

Gilhaney

Agnew

McGinn

Linton

Prunty

McLaughlin

Coleman - kept on but loaned out for more experience

Lumsden - kept on but loaned out to the Juniors for game time

McKerracher - kept on but loaned out for more experience

Punt

Phinn

McDougall

Smith

Hugh Murray

Ronald

Unsure about

Grindlay

Ewings

Both have performed well for us at times and both have had howlers for us at times. If it's possible to replace them both with better quality then obviously I'd be happy to improve the squad in that way, but if we aren't going to get noticeably better 'keepers in their stead then I'd hang onto them.

I'd also hope to try and get Kane and Miller back next season from St Johnstone and Celtic respectively, if possible.

That means we'd need cover / competition for left and right back, centre half, centre mid, both wings and centre forward, but we'd be keeping the core neucleus of a good squad together.

[Thommo90]

I said a while ago Shug wasn't good enough and some of you went mental lol

He's far too slow, takes ages to pass the ball and it's normally just shifted to the side of him.

Probably on a big wage too.

[Thommo90]

If we don't get Kane back (I don't think we will) who would you like to see come in? We would need a pacey striker.

[The Moonster]

I said a while ago Shug wasn't good enough and some of you went mental lol

He's far too slow, takes ages to pass the ball and it's normally just shifted to the side of him.

Probably on a big wage too.

At the time, Murray was doing fine and seemed interested. Ever since he has signed permanently he's been either not included or like last night doesn't look interested. Players change and an opinion on one player at the start of the season can change before the season is out. Why would he be on a big wage?

[Thommo90]

At the time, Murray was doing fine and seemed interested. Ever since he has signed permanently he's been either not included or like last night doesn't look interested. Players change and an opinion on one player at the start of the season can change before the season is out. Why would he be on a big wage?

I only seen one of his games before his injury, so fair play he might have been in good form before that.

Just thought he would be since he's coming from full time football and having that experience behind him no? Would say the same for Nish.

[Sweet Pete]

I only seen one of his games before his injury, so fair play he might have been in good form before that.

Just thought he would be since he's coming from full time football and having that experience behind him no? Would say the same for Nish.

That's not really how it works, certainly not for ageing pros who're going part-time because they're on the downslope of their career and young lads who've been released by full-time clubs.