Thursday 10th June 2021
DAVID HOPKIRK has all sorts of reasons why he’s glad to see the back of season 2020/21.
Covid, not only with its impact on the Scottish football calendar, but on him personally as well. Throw in an injury and you can see why it didn’t live up to its predecessor for the striker.
Which is why he can’t wait for the next one to start, in a Dumbarton shirt.
The 28-year-old became one of Sons’ latest signings today, arriving at the club after leaving Stenhousemuir.
It’s a case of second time lucky for the club’s new management team of Stevie Farrell and Frank McKeown, who tried to take him to Stranraer last year.
And as a proven goalscorer, it’s something he wants to keep proving in a Sons shirt.
Speaking to www.dumbartonfootballclub.com, David said: “I’m buzzing. Stevie and Franco tried to sign me for Stranraer last year, so I know they like me as a player.
“As soon as I knew Dumbarton were interested, I was very keen to come to the club. I’m from Clydebank and I know there’s a rivalry between them and Dumbarton, but I’ve moved house to East Kilbride.
“I was at Dunfermline with Andy Geggan and Conner Duthie, and I was at Stenhousemuir with Callum Erskine.
“I also know Joe McKee from the Scotland youth setup, and Stuart Carswell as well, so I’m in familiar company at Dumbarton.
“The season before last was a better one for me, finishing as Stenhousemuir’s top scorer, and I then signed a two-year deal.
“I came back in, got Covid and then an injury, and then the league stopped. It just wasn’t a great season for anybody.
“It was one of those where everybody was just stop/start and I think everybody was wanting it just to finish.
“Hopefully when we’re back playing, we’ll have the fans back in stadiums and everything else that we’re familiar with.”
It is now on to pre-season training on Saturday, just 23 days after Dumbarton won the playoff final on aggregate against Edinburgh City.
With only three members of last season’s squad currently signed to stay on, the squad will look very different.
David will be one of many new faces, and he’s looking forward to getting started.
He added: “It seems like we’ve hardly been off, but I’ve been so busy with things away from football. I’m looking forward to training starting on Saturday and getting in with the boys.
“The way the gaffer and Franco built their squad at Stranraer, it looks like they are going to do it the same here.
“They deserved the move to Dumbarton and hopefully we can be up there challenging. That’s certainly what I’m coming to do – I don’t want to be sitting at the bottom end of the table.
“We want to be challenging.”
Andy Galloway