WHEN Dumbarton were drawn to play Rangers at The Rock in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup back in November, Stevie Farrell could not help but feel a slight twinge of disappointment.
Farrell, who has been manager of the part-time League Two outfit for the past two-and-a-half years, was certainly excited about the prospect of squaring up to one of the biggest clubs in the country in a match which will be shown live on television by Viaplay.
However, he was also a tad frustrated that a club which is facing an uncertain future would not be travelling to Govan this weekend to take on the Glasgow giants at Ibrox.
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“If I am being absolutely selfish, I would rather it was an away tie,” he said as he spoke to the media at the Dumbarton Football Stadium yesterday ahead of the game on Saturday evening. “Then the boost to the coffers would be even greater.”
But the historic club – they were, like their opponents this weekend, formed way back in 1872 and were one of the 11 founding members of the Scottish Football League in 1890 - have been bedevilled by a long-running off-field saga in recent years.
Plans by their enigmatic owners Cognitive Capital Ltd to build houses and flats on sites in the close vicinity to their ground concern their fans and have been opposed by both the Sons’ Supporters’ Trust and Dumbarton Community Stadium Company in the past.
Local MSP Jackie Baillie was scathing about a fresh proposal to develop the car park into apartments back in August and lodged an official objection. “This will reduce the revenue the club is able to bring in and restrict their ambitions,” she said.
Farrell admits that working against that backdrop presents its challenges for him. He is hopeful the glamour encounter with Rangers will be a timely reminder that Dumbarton, despite their current position in the fourth tier, are a venerable institution who deserve to be respected.
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“Listen, that’s what we live with here,” he said. “The local press who I deal with every week create that narrative on a weekly basis - the potential for the owners to sell the club and do something with the land.
“But ultimately we have to remember what a football club is. It’s exactly what it says on the name above the door. We have to make sure that we continue to focus on the football. All the other factors will take care of themselves.
“They are commercial concerns which happen at every football club, regardless of size, and we are no different. But I always bring it back to the football and I am only concerned with the match on Saturday. That’s what our fans are looking forward to and what our players are looking forward to.
“We know we are one of the founding fathers of Scottish football and have a proud place in the game here. Jim, the club historian, doesn’t let us forget that. There isn’t a stat that he doesn’t know about anything here.
“We have a proud place in the history of the Scottish Cup as well (Dumbarton were winners in 1883) and that’s not forgotten. In weeks like this that comes to the fore again.
“That’s good because it reminds the people who come every week how important the club is and what the club has represented in Scottish football for so long.”
The revenue which the Rangers game will generate will not be insignificant for Dumbarton either.
“So to get an Old Firm tie like this will of course help with the months and years ahead. In terms of the morale for the football club, it just gives everyone a lift. This place from Friday onwards will be buzzing.”
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If Dumbarton can knock Rangers out of the Scottish Cup it will be one of the biggest upsets in the 151 year history of the competition and one of the best results in their 152 year existence.
Farrell appreciates that is highly unlikely. However, the former Stoke City, St Mirren and Stenhousemuir player has been involved in shock results against the 34-time winners in the past. He was the Stranraer assistant manager when the Stair Park club drew 1-1 at Ibrox in a League One match back in 2013.
“You can never say never,” he said. “That result on Boxing Day proved that. Stephen (then Stranraer manager Aitken) and myself took the team there and got a result. That was the first points they had dropped in the league that season.
“Could we potentially on Saturday get the biggest result in Dumbarton’s history? You never say never in football. If there weren’t shocks in football we wouldn’t build it up as much as we do. There are shocks in football. We have just got to hope that potentially on Saturday there is another one.”
Farrell is the general secretary of the Prison Service Union and deals with the issues facing the organisation’s members in Scotland and Northern Ireland when he is not overseeing training or issuing instructions from the dugout.
He is well aware, then, there are more important things in life than the outcome of a football match. Still, he is determined to savour every minute of the Scottish Cup game against Rangers on Saturday and give everyone associated with Dumbarton a day to remember.
“I've got a very good, responsible job outside of football,” he said. "That takes a lot of my time up. We look after prison officers. My staff do the front end stuff and I take all the plaudits!
“Seriously, though, it actually takes me away from thinking about Rangers and the circus that comes along with a game against them. In some ways that's a good thing. It clears your mind so you're not constantly thinking about it.
"When I was in football full-time, it was rightly important. It's a game we all love. But there's other things going on in the world, other news stories that are far more important and are rightly on the front pages.
“Having said that, it is not every day Rangers come to town. You have to enjoy the experience. I am quite level headed that way. There is a game of football in the middle of it and you have to remain focused and take care of that.”
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