May 20 2012 is a date etched into the memory of every Dumbarton fan.
A 4-1 triumph against Airdrie United in Lanarkshire at New Broomfield secured a 6-2 aggregate victory, and with it the Sons’ return to the second tier of Scottish football for the first time since 1995/96, and the man who led them there admits it remains the proudest moment of his career.
Having started the season as relegation favourites, boss Alan Adamson guided the Sons to glory - only to be sacked five months later, and told by the club’s chief executive he’d been the victim of his own success.
Speaking exclusively to the Lennox, Adamson admits his sacking was hard to take - but that he holds only fond memories from his time in G82.
He said: “I knew we had the beating of Airdrie that day.
“I was more confident about the second leg than I was about the home game.
“We were very confident, despite being about 4/1 with some of the bookies.
“It was a great feeling. Right from the start, I knew we were not going to lose that game.
“The playoff final was the highlight of my time at Dumbarton. To beat Airdrie 4-1 at their own ground meant we went into the Championship on a high.
“In our first games in the Championship we got some good results. We drew with Hamilton having been 3-1 up with two minutes to go.
“That would’ve been a springboard. We drew with Raith Rovers too and I thought that would be us up and running.
“Then we lost to Falkirk who had a great season. I spoke to Steven Pressley after the game in my office, he said it was a great match that could’ve gone either way. I remember him saying ‘those boys are playing for you Alan’.
“Unfortunately after that I was called in by the board. They said I wasn’t doing too well and that it was time to part company.
“I was very disappointed. I thought we’d done really well, we were fighting for our lives, and I felt they could’ve given me a bit longer. I was angry at the time.
“Credit where it’s due though, they brought in Ian Murray who achieved great things.
“I was a bit bitter at that moment. But time heals things.
“I will always remember the chief executive saying to me ‘Alan, it sounds terrible. But you’ve been a victim of your own success’.”
Adamson’s route to the hot seat at the Rock was an unconventional one, as he combined a career in the police with playing junior football.
After managing both the Scottish and British police sides, Adamson then became assistant manager to Jim Chapman at Albion Rovers in 2005.
When Chapman was sacked, Adamson was offered his first job in management - but turned it down, paving the path for his move to the Rock in 2007.
He said: “When Jim got the sack Albion Rovers offered me the job, but I turned it down. I wanted to stay faithful to Jim.
“Sure enough he got the job at Dumbarton and asked me to come with him as his assistant. We had a good few years there and then Jim moved upstairs and the club offered me the job on an interim basis. That time I said yes.
“My remit that season was to keep us in the league. We were at the bottom of the league at the time.
“We achieved that by using young players and the older players bucked their ideas up a bit.
“After that the board offered me the job full-time, and I was loving it, so took it on.”
In his first full season as a manager the Sons secured an unlikely playoff success.
However promotion to the second tier came ahead of the club board’s expectations, as Adamson explained.
He continued: “Mid-table in League One was our target that year. But we got to the playoffs and obviously won them, which took us into the Championship.
“I was chuffed to bits.
“But I said to the board that it was a different kettle of fish, it was a far harder league and we needed more money.
“They had a meeting and called me in afterwards to tell me that there was no more money. I had the same budget as the season previous.
“That was a blow.
“The players I kept from winning promotion were looking for more money now they were in the Championship. I spent the budget on the players we had and I had almost nothing else, although we managed to get one or two additions in.
“I’m an optimist. I told the board we’d have a crack but not to expect too much. They said they trusted me to have a go.”
One canny addition was 31-year-old forward Jim Lister, a journeyman who had enjoyed a successful career in junior football, punctuated by unremarkable stints in the senior game with Berwick Rangers, Alloa Athletic and Brechin City.
Lister would prove an inspired signing, hitting the form of his career as he scored 18 times in 40 games.
His arrival at the Rock raised a few eyebrows however - most notably amongst the Sons board, who attempted to block his signing.
Adamson explained: “Big Jim was a gentleman, and he didn’t think he was good enough to come to us.
“I’d seen him a few years before and I saw something in him. He was raw, but he was strong and he could score goals.
“But the board said no and that he would be no use to us.
“I said I wanted the player and told them he’d be a star for us. I really had to convince them.
“He was outstanding. Bryan (Prunty) and Jim worked together as a great partnership. Jim did the rough stuff and Bryan took the rebounds.”
Lister was one of a number of players Adamson brought to the Sons who would become firm favourites with the club’s faithful, none more so than talismanic forward Bryan Prunty and creative midfielder Scott Agnew.
“Some of the players we got were not on a lot of money, but their hearts were in it. They did very, very well for me. That’s why we got promoted,” he said.
“A lot of teams in that league were on bigger budgets and, presumably, had better players. But we had a great team spirit.
“Bryan Prunty was a fantastic player for us. Not only on the park, but off it as well.
“He was a model professional and he helped the young players so much. He showed them so much in the dressing room around how to conduct themselves.
“Bryan is a born finisher. I’d known him since he was at Celtic and to bring him in was a great thing for the club.
“I met Bryan last year and he said it was the best time of his career.
“Scott Agnew was a great wee player too and what a striker of the ball he is with his left foot.
“Some of the players were excellent for Dumbarton and great long after I left the club.”
And it wasn’t just on the park that Adamson added quality, with Jack Ross given his first role in coaching by the then Sons boss.
He said: “I tried to do it all myself and it was too much. I knew I needed to get someone in.
“I trawled the internet and I found Jack.
“I wasn’t getting any younger. If I’d started out about 10 years before I did then it might’ve been different.
“But when you’re a bit older and you try and show players things on a training park it can become difficult. That was why I brought Jack in.
“He was young and I said to him to put things across on the training pitch and that I’d be the manager.
“They can be two separate roles.
“Fair play to Jack. He was an excellent trainer and he’s gone on to great things since. As has Ian Murray.”
Whilst Ross went on to enjoy spells at Hibernian, Sunderland and St Mirren, Dumbarton remain the only club Adamson has managed and, despite his success, he admits he felt no desire to get back in the game.
He concluded: “It took me a few weeks after my sacking, probably longer, to think about football again.
“I was retired from the police and had my pension. I didn’t need the money.
“One or two teams showed a bit of interest, but I didn’t think I’d do any better than I did at Dumbarton, so I said no. That’ll do, I’ll call it a day.
“I don’t look back with any bitterness whatsoever.
“I really enjoyed my time at Dumbarton, but I think I could’ve been given longer. I felt I’d earned that.
“I still watch out for Dumbarton with interest though. It’s a real shame to see them back in League Two.”
