Stadium meeting

“THE board of Dumbarton FC will have the final decision on any stadium move.”

Chairman Allan Jardine’s words to the best part of 100 Dumbarton fans on Wednesday night as they gathered to hear more about the club’s proposed stadium move.

Those gathered at the Sons Supporters Trust’s general meeting also heard from the club supremo over the reasons for the plans to move to a 4,000 capacity stadium at Young’s Farm.

And Mr Jardine revealed that if all the right boxes are ticked by the potential move, a cash windfall could be the result.

Speaking to the fans as part of a five-strong panel at the meeting, the chairman outlined the reasons for the club’s consideration for the move.

Also present at the top table were chief executive Gilbert Lawrie, trust chairman Brian Payne, trust communications officer Simon Barrow and planning consultant Roddy MacLeod.

Mr Jardine was completely clear that a decision on whether the stadium move will go ahead will be taken by the club board – and not by owners Brabco 736.

He said: “This is the first stage of a long journey and there is a long way to go.

“The board have met several times to discuss whether this is for the good of Dumbarton FC. We believe it is, as Brabco get a return on their investment, which they are due, and Dumbarton get a new stadium.

“And they will have a significant amount of money in the bank, certainly for the first time in my memory.

“To turn the key in our current stadium, and keep it running, is costing £75,000 to £100,000 a year, and it will get worse before it gets better.

“People ask why get bigger when the ground is only half full. Alloa and Cowdenbeath will make £180,000 more than Dumbarton will this season because of the games they have.

“It’s not about the size of the stadium – it’s about the facilities. We need more than season ticket money and gate money and right now we don’t have more than that.

“The board are all local, all Dumbarton fans, and want to do what is right for the club.

“I want to be able to leave the club, when the time comes, saying that we have a new stadium and a full-time team holding its own in the Championship. But right now, we are looking backwards instead of forwards.”

As well as the stadium, the plans for the site also include football pitches for community use, and other outlets to be used for retail or office space, or similar developments.

Concerns had been expressed among fans about how these proposals could be afforded, but Mr Lawrie insisted that it comes at no financial risk to Sons.

He said: “We will not be able to gauge the value of the site until will move from the current site. The last thing the board wanted to do was leave the town for two years while the stadium was being built.

“There is no risk whatsoever to Dumbarton FC – it will not be spending a penny. Phase one will only take place on the back of everything being put in place. We have a signed agreement in place on the price with Chivas, who own the land.”

Mr Jardine also gave the supporters some background into how the club came into its current ownership.

He said: “I was concerned about what Neil (Rankine, former Sons chairman) was going to do. I knew he was going to sell the club and it was important, from my and the board’s point of view, that he was to sell it to the right people.

“They weren’t queuing up to buy the club, but I knew he was courting some people from the Republic of Ireland who were ‘property developers’ with no link to Dumbarton.

“My view was that if they took over, they would fire the board, run the club themselves and run it into the ground. We would stay in the Third Division until we didn’t pay tax and couldn’t afford to pay a fine.

“At the time, Calum Hosie was also on the board and I asked him if he knew any people who would be interested in getting involved. Calum is from Knoxland Square and I knew getting him on board would be better than people we didn’t know.

“Calum spent the next six months courting people and Brabco 736 was instated as a company that could buy Neil Rankine’s shares.

“We would ask people to understand that Brabco are not bogeymen. They were the deal at the time and they are still the deal.

“I have met four of the six people involved in Brabco. Prior to the 2008 financial collapse, they felt that they saw and opportunity to put their money up and buy Neil’s shares, and let us run the club.”

Mr MacLeod showed the crowd that the next stage of the proposals will come in January, when an LDP examination will take place and a planning application will be lodged.

Planning consent and detailed designs are pencilled in for August 2015, while late next year will see the costing and valuation, and the development appraisal.

Site marketing is scheduled for 2016, with the new development starting in 2017 and relocation taking place in 2018.