For Stephen Dobbie, there is only one conclusion. After making his summer move from Queen of the South to Swansea, Scottish First Division to English Championship, he knows that in football terms at least, the Coca-Cola league is far tastier.
The 26-year-old’s dream move didn’t get many column inches over the summer, but was just reward for finally finding his best form after early promise had threatened to be wasted.
Dobbie started his career at Rangers and after spells at Austrailian side Northern Spirit, Hibernian, St Johnstone and Dumbarton, finally found his feet at Queens where he became one of the best strikers in the SFL. He scored 47 times in 83 appearances, but as his contract ticked towards its expiration date, the offers weren’t exactly flooding in. Swansea’s late offer was a bolt from the blue for the striker, and signalled the chance for him to test himself in one of the richest leagues in the world.
“I am really enjoying it,” he said. “Obviously it’s a change from up the road but I’m settled and the family is settled and I’m enjoying my football,” Dobbie told The Herald. “The Championship is really, really good. You have got so many international players in the league.
“I have been unfortunate, I was playing nearly every game but then I broke my ribs. Saturday [a 2-0 win over Queens Park Rangers] was the first game that I came back and I really enjoyed it. The standard is really good and I am happy.
“For myself, it was just about going down there and trying to prove to myself that I can get in the team and play every week. I went down and worked hard and luckily enough I am in the team. I was playing non-stop until I got injured so it’s just about getting back to that.
“We are only three or four points off the play-off places just now, but there are still 38-odd games to go in the league, it’s incredible. It’s going to be a long season, but if I am playing I’ll be happy.”
Dobbie has yet to find the net in the league this season but scored his first goals for his new side in a Carling Cup triumph over Brighton in August and followed it up with his third in two games against Scunthorpe. The step up in standard on the park is not the only thing that he has been forced to adapt to however. Trips to Newcastle and Middlesbrough are a far cry from away days at Morton and Airdrie for Dobbie.
He said: “It’s a long season down here. You don’t really realise it until you are involved in it, especially the travelling. It is long days and long nights but it is really enjoyable. We have got a big squad and obviously if you are doing well, you stay in the team. We played Saturday and then midweek for the first four weeks of the season.
“Coming from Wales, the away games are quite far. You are four, five, six hours on the bus. It’s something I knew I was going to have to do and so far I am enjoying it, going to all the big grounds and playing against some big teams with big supports, it’s excellent.
“We played Middlesbrough at home and they brought down a good crowd and Newcastle is at the end of next month so we will be looking forward to going to St James’ Park. Hopefully I will be playing and I can grab a goal. It’s a total change from playing at Palmerston.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article