Get to know your favourite Dumbarton players a little better with Chaplains Corner where club chaplain Grant Hamilton catches up with members of the DFC locker room to offer a glimpse into their lives away from football, touching on a number of important topics.
In what is a regular, and popular, feature in our match day programme, we are excited to bring these to our website for the season ahead, and who better to kick things off than club captain Mark Durnan.
Here’s a bit of an icebreaker to start with Mark. If you were building a defence from current and former team mates, who would you have playing alongside you?
I would start with Lee Robinson from my first year at Queen of the South (2012-13) in goals. I’ll go with Chris Mitchell, who is sadly not with us anymore, at right back from that same team. For a couple of years, Mitch was unbelievable at right back and we all got a lot of goals from his deliveries and set plays. I’ll put myself in the team as a right centre back and on the left I’m going to pick Chris Higgins, from that same Queen of the South team. Queens won league 1 that’s season but we also beat Hibs, Falkirk and St Mirren that year and did really well. At left back I am going to pick ‘Holty’, (Kevin Holt) for what he did for Queens and for what he has done in his career and the way he has kicked on. I’ve basically picked the whole back 5 from the same team but it really was an enjoyable time in my career.
How would you review your first season as captain of Dumbarton FC?
For me it was pretty mixed. The season ended on a high and I was able to be involved at the finish. The team finished strongly and we had a good run of clean sheets. To finish in the play offs and get promoted was amazing. Mid season, I injured my ankle and was getting injections in my knee and eventually found out I had cartilage loss that needed a surgical tidy up. Personally during that time it was frustrating watching the team and not being able to be involved, especially as they are such a great group of boys. In the end though, promotion was the most important thing so it was a very positive finish.
You mentioned that some aspects of last season were difficult mentally. What kind of things keep you going during those difficult times?
Football wise, the group is important. I’ve been at other clubs where being injured means you aren’t involved anymore and you spend most of your time with the physio. Being part-time is different as you are always in the dressing room and at the same training sessions, enjoying the craic. Having a good family background also really helps. I have my wife beside me and my wee boy and they keep you going. When you are injured you need to try and keep a positive attitude and be ready to help the team when you can.
Your last answer segwayed into my next question and that is what are some of the pros and cons of full-time and part-time football?
The benefits of full-time football are that you can do all your training during the day and still have plenty of time with your family or to do other things. The cons are that you sacrifice a lot. When you are full-time you miss out on a lot of things. I’ve missed family weddings, family birthdays and I’ve had to make sacrifices during that period of my career when I was full-time. Being part-time I feel like I have more balance. I get to work and have a career but I have more time with my family and with my friends away from football. I also get more time to myself. On the flip side of that you have to graft for your wage as well as fulfilling the football commitments but if you can get the balance right it is very positive. I’m at a stage in life where I want to provide for my family longer-term and I can do that by being part-time in football and full-time in my job.
For people who don’t know, what is your other job outside of football?
I’m in the Fire Service. It was a decision I made when I was full-time at Falkirk. I had become a dad and we were still experiencing the effects of Covid and I made a decision that I would look for a job and go part-time. When you are full-time and you get released at the end of May you don’t get paid until you find another club so where is the money coming from to pay your bills and meet your family responsibilities? Thankfully I passed all the exams for the fire service and I’m now 2 years into 5 years of basic training on the job.
What does your weekly training regime look like?
Being older, I know my body well by now and there are times when I need to adjust the amount of training I do. If you play on a really heavy pitch on a Saturday you can do your recovery gently and get ready for training on Tuesday evening. Having a full day of rest definitely benefits me but there might still be times when I feel like I need an extra gym visit or a double session on top of the Tuesday / Thursday schedule.
We both knew Chris Mitchell from our QOS days. How has player welfare changed since Chris’s death in 2016?
Mental Health is spoken about a lot more than it was then. People definitely used to bottle things up more but now there are many charities that you can contact anonymously if you want. The Chris Mitchell Foundation helped fund Mental Health First Aid training to help Chaplains, coaches and players spot indicators that someone is struggling. The PFA also give out information so I would be confident of where to go if I needed help. I’m also available for other players to talk to.
This is my last question. What are your hopes for the season ahead?
To try and be as positive as we can. We are stepping up a league and the quality will be a step up but with the group we have I don’t think we should be focussed on purely trying to stay in the league. We need to try and start positively and build from there and I can’t see why we can’t be finishing in the top half. It’s up to us from the very first game to be ready and be positive. We won’t get every game our way but if we have a bad result we will stick together and try to bounce back like we did last season.
Thanks a lot for your time Mark. I really appreciate it.