Friday 4th August 2017
HE is the third man to have the honour in the current Championship era.
First Andy Graham, then Darren Barr. Now Andy Dowie.
But nobody needs to tell Dumbarton’s new captain about the effect that the fans can have.
He’s played at the YOUR Radio 103FM Stadium in opposition with Queen of the South and Dunfermline Athletic – and well remembers the role played by Sons’ supporters.
Now he’s hopeful he can reward their backing with a seventh consecutive season in the Championship, the crusade for which starts at home to Morton tomorrow.
He told www.dumbartonfootballclub.com: “I’m very pleased to be captain. It won’t change how I play on the pitch, but it’s nice to have the added responsibility.
“Hopefully I can do a good job for Dumbarton and for the manager, and show that he has made the right decision in appointing me.
“We’re pleased that we’re at home for the first game. Morton had an outstanding season last year and they’ve made a few good signings this time around.
“I’m sure they’ll be up there challenging again and we know it’s going to be difficult – but you don’t get any easy games. We’ll be aiming for our first league win.
“The Sons support has been great during my short time here so far, and also when I’ve played in opposition.
“The home Betfred Cup ties were on Tuesday nights, which are not really ideal for supporters, but they turned out.
“For a small club, we’ve had a great backing, and they always make noise, especially at home. I’ve never had an easy game there with another team.
“Hopefully now I’m a Dumbarton player, they can let other teams know they’re in a game, and make sure those teams don’t want to come back too soon.”
Andy conceded that the Betfred Cup campaign hadn’t gone the way Sons had hoped for – but highlighted the lack of breaks enjoyed during the group.
Now he’s targeting some good fortune over the coming league campaign – and some positive displays and results.
He added: “The cup section never went as planned. There were spells in all the games where we played well, but never for long enough.
“And Lady Luck certainly was against us. When you look back on the games, we’ve scored four goals which have been disallowed. When you see the footage back, they should have stood.
“They say these things even themselves out, so hopefully we’re due a bit of good luck.
“As the manager said, it was unfortunate we couldn’t play trialists in the competition. We’ve had players training with us and he’s only been able to see them on Thursday nights as we’ve had games Tuesday and Saturday.
“That’s meant that some boys have had to play the full 90 minutes of every game.
“We went through a spell where injuries were pretty bad, but Dougie Hill and Tom Walsh are now fit and Stuart Carswell might be back soon. Unfortunately Grant Gallagher will be long-term.
“The injuries are healing up, and we’re confident we’ll be good to go come Saturday.”
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Andy Galloway