CSN Dumbarton Team History
It all started in January '00 with a challenge made via a Scottish Football Messageboard. Berwick Rangers were coming to town,and their fans wanted a game of 5-a-side before watching the clash between the big teams. Paul Karlsen took up the challenge and, via the Sonsteam mailing list, put together a team to take on the boys from south of the border. On that very first day the squad of 5 was: Sandy McGregor, Stephen Thorburn (never to be seen play football again afterwards), Big Si Marment, David Allan and Paul Karlsen. Tension was high as the teams met in Dumbarton's Meadow Centre,but the result was almost a foregone conclusion, with Sons triumphing by a faintly ridiculous 54-4. The seed was planted and when, later that year, word went out of atournament in Edinburgh featuring Messageboard and Mailing List teams from across Scotland, Dumbarton wanted to be part of it. A squad of around 14 travelled through to the capital, unsure of what they would face. The Sons, in fact, put on a great show and managed to reach the final, losing only to the legendary Willie Dunn's Erin Hibs - then the top team in the Scottish IFA. This tournament was also notable for the debuts made - Gio Marron (later to become CSN manager), the Drummonds (who would go on to sponsor the team - giving rise to the name Cruyff Says No) and Stevie Armitage (theginger right back from Leith) to name but a few. Through season '00-'01 Sons played and won numerous IFA games, including an IFA cup run which would take in victories at Celtic (Billy Rankin's Debut) and Crewe, before coming to a grinding but spectacular halt, in Luton. The team continued to grow and would make their first appearance at Worldnet in the summer of '01. The boys from the Rock exceeded all expectations and reached the final, where they lost to a strong Middlesborough side. The success at Wordlnet should have led CSN upwards and onwards but it wasn't to be. The Sons entered the wilderness years, with only 3 successive victories at the Albert Morton Sevens tournament (they got to keep the trophy - well, actually, Paul Karlsen just forgot to give it back) to show for their efforts, along with several something-teen to nil defeats at the hands of up-and-coming IFA sides. Season '02-'03 looked to be final one for CSN. A trip down to picturesque York, where the Dumbarton lads suffered an IFA cup loss to a side who had never before won a match and, a few weeks later, heavy back to back home and away defeats to Partick, brought matters to a miserable conclusion. When CSN founder, Paul Karlsen, moved down South, it seemed to be the final nail in the team's coffin. But this was not the way it was meant to end. One year on, Billy Rankin along with Simon Marment and Simon Eeles dragged the team out of the gutter by the scruff of the neck. New recruits were brought in and the side was strengthened for another bash at the Worldnet tournament. The rest, as they say, is history...
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