Dumbarton Football Club
Dumbarton has a major French connection through Mary Queen of Scots who married the Dauphine after being hauled off to France.
It also has the French Prison which you can see in this brilliant picture of the Rock and Castle.
And then there is, of course, the Dumbarton Football Club stadium which looks penned in by new houses, the existence of which has been a major part of their problems.
The football pitch is on the site of the old Denny’s Leven shipyard, which was cleaned up using public money when the Sons of the Rock moved from Boghead Park.
There was then the usual boardroom wranging and horse trading that Dumbarton fans have come to expect over the years.
There was much nonsense talked about “the golden share” and the Community Stadium Company. What a load of palaver that was.
Football clubs, according to folklore, belong to the fans who keep them going through thick and thin. For those in desperate straits the fans used to send a sheet round at half time.
Thin is what is has been for Sons in recent times. The last time they were seen to be doing well was in 1972 when they had success on the field with a number of good players and a stable management and board of directors.
But then the boardroom ceiling fell in and Sons were in danger of going bust again. They did.
A new era began yesterday when this headline appeared in some national newspapers: Canadian entrepreneur Mario Lapointe completes takeover of Dumbarton
We were told: “The businessman stepped in after a previous rescue package collapsed.”
Sale: Dumbarton has been bought by Mario Lapointe.
The Sons were relegated to the fourth tier of Scottish football last season after a campaign in which they were placed in administration following years of financial uncertainty and docked 15 points.
Lapointe, who the club has described as a “Canadian entrepreneur and business owner with a passion for sport, particularly football”, was confirmed as the preferred bidder for Dumbarton after a previous proposal from Gareth Phillips was withdrawn due to his ill health.
A statement from club read: “Craig Morrison and Ian Wright, the joint administrators of The Dumbarton Football Club Ltd, are delighted to confirm the completion of the sale of the club to Mario Lapointe.”
Morrison and Wright added in the statement: “So many people have helped to get to this conclusion but most importantly has been the support of the fans.
“We wish Mario and everyone involved with the club every success for the season ahead and for the longer term future of the Sons.”
Mario who? A few phone calls and e mails elicited the information that Mario was an ice hockey fan, a gambler, a professional singer … and a businessman.
When The Democrat asked questions about Mario, opprobrium was heaped on us by a few Sons’ hangers on.
Our critics did not appear to realise that as journalists it was our job to ask questions.
Why did a Frenchman from Quebec in Canada want to buy a struggling football club in a deprived town in the West of Scotland.
We said it sounded daft. We still think it’s daft. But that doesn’t mean we do not wish Mario and his band success. He is possibly Dumbarton’s last hope before the bulldozers move in and dig up the playing field.
My heart lifted when I saw that Murdo Macleod was one of the first people to meet Mario and greet him.
It made me wonder again what would have happened to Dumbarton FC if years ago they had hired local football legends Murdo Macleod and Walter Smith and been bank-rolled by one of the big whisky companies in the town.
Could they, would they have become the Third Force in Scottish football, which a former chairman, the late Bob Robertson, said was his ambition for Dumbarton?
We’ll never know now. That’s all in the past. That’s where we have been. Perhaps Mario can tell us where Dumbarton’s future lies?
The club have announced that Lapointe will meet sponsors and supporters at three venues in Dumbarton on Wednesday, as well as attending Saturday’s home friendly against St Mirren.
Lots of good work was done by fans and well wishers to keep Dumbarton FC’s head above water until the administrators clinched the deal with Mario.
Let’s hope the Sons survive under this new management. That would be a tremendous boost for the football club and the town, which is much in need of one.