Outgoing Dumbarton chairman John Steele has said the time was right for him to step down, as supporters prepare for a crunch meeting with the Sons new owners this week.
Steele announced his departure last Wednesday after three-and-a-half years in charge at Castle Road, with current director – and lifelong Sons fan – Dr Neil MacKay his successor.
Reflecting on his tenure at the Rock, Steele – who has been made an honorary president of the club – said: “I’ll look back on my time as chairman with a lot of warmth and a lot of satisfaction. I enjoyed it, perversely.
“It was certainly full on. But I like a challenge and the stimulus of sometimes having a fight. So I was quite satisfied with the results.
“Surviving last year was a high spot. We were right on the edge.
“Getting the club through the pandemic was a real challenge. But the support we got from the rest of the board and the fans – as demonstrated by the £25,000 raised – these are the things that encourage you and keep you going at a difficult
time.
“I am really appreciative of the support from the fans. That was a real pleasure for me, and it sustained me during my time in office that I had that warmth from the fans.”
Steele has also backed his replacement, former local GP Dr Neil MacKay, to bring a fresh energy to the role.
He continued: “The club is definitely in good hands with Neil.
“He’s a very deep thinker, he doesn’t rush to decisions, he spends a lot of time thinking them through.
“He’s quietly efficient. He’s not got the same profile character as me, but he’s very effective and
hardworking.
Being made an honorary president will see Steele follow a family tradition.
He added: “That pleases me, especially following in the footsteps of my uncle (Douglas Dalgleish). It really is a massive honour.”
Steele’s resignation comes with representatives of the Sons Supporters Trust (Sonstrust) set to meet new owner Henning Kristoffersen to quiz him on his plans for the future on Thursday (November 4).
Kristoffersen’s Cognitive Capital group, who purchased the Sons in spring, are keen on reviving unpopular plans to move the club to Young’s Farm – near Dalmoak – which have been in the offing for almost a decade.
After a lengthy planning battle – and vocal opposition from supporters – West Dunbartonshire Council refused the proposals in March 2018.
A Sonstrust statement said: “It is not yet clear how the original objections are to be overcome, or how a relocation is to be
financed.
“When it was put to Mr Kristoffersen that, after almost ten years of this project dominating the affairs of Dumbarton FC, there was very little residual enthusiasm either in the club’s support base or the wider local community for this project, he appeared unmoved.”
The Young’s Farm site was left off last year’s Local Development Plan for West Dunbartonshire, with a report saying “this use is currently an unrealistic aspiration on the site.”
The report also outlined concerns about the impact on landscape, flooding, the increased use of cars to access the site and considered that the land had a significant greenbelt function.
