Monday 4th June 2018
WHILE his new team-mates are sweating it out at pre-season training, Bobby Barr will be doing the same.
There will just be nearly 5,000 miles, including the width of the Atlantic Ocean, between them.
Today the forward became Dumbarton’s second new signing of the close season. Tomorrow he’s swapping the C&G Systems Stadium for Cancun.
But today at the stadium wasn’t the only important signature for him this week, as the trip to Mexico is his honeymoon after tying the knot with his new wife Laura this week.
There will only be so much time, though, for sipping champagne as the sun goes down. Pre-season training is just around the corner and the first friendly is only 26 days away, at East Kilbride.
However, Bobby is adamant he’ll be ready to hit the ground running as soon as his plane home hits the Tarmac.
Speaking to www.dumbartonfootballclub.com, Bobby said: “I don’t dread pre-season. I don’t think you ever like it either, but it’ll be good to get back training.
“It actually starts while I’m away, but I’ll only miss a couple of sessions and there’s a gym at the hotel, so when I come back I’ll be raring to go.
“I’m delighted to be coming into Dumbarton. When the manager said he was interested, I was looking to go part-time and I thought it was a really good move for me. I’m looking forward to getting started and if we can add a few more players, we can have a really successful season.
“Once I get back from my honeymoon, I’ll think about what I’m going to do outside the game. I wanted to get my football sorted out before I went.
“I had a few offers but the manager and I had a chat and a coffee and spoke about football and I was really interested.
“I’m friends with Mark Stewart and he said they’re a really good club to play for, and I also spoke to Craig Barr, who had nothing but good things to say. I’ve done my homework as far as the move goes.
“I’ve a good feeling about playing for Dumbarton and the manager wants to be positive and win a lot of games. I hope I can contribute.”
Bobby, who competed at the top end of last season’s League One with Raith Rovers, is now hopeful of a similar challenge with Dumbarton.
And he’s certainly got a tough test to get him started, with Sons lining up against Premiership outfits Kilmarnock and St Mirren on consecutive Saturdays in the Betfred Cup.
He added: “My goal for the team is just to be as successful as we can and challenge at the top end of the table. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t do that.
“Personally I want to go out and enjoy playing football and get the best out of my time here, working with the manager and Ian Durrant.
“I hope I can excite the crowd a bit and help create goals as well as score them.
“It’s good that the games are starting early and we’ve got two Premiership teams to test ourselves against.
“They are big teams and those games will be a very good marker of where we are before we head into the league season.
“Hopefully we can do enough to get ourselves out of the group. It’ll be tough and Kilmarnock and St Mirren will be expected to be the top two, but we’re looking forward to it.
Andy Galloway