THE MARK McMINN INTERVIEW

MAY 25th 2025:

As another season comes to a close, the work at Islecroft is never ending and already things are ongoing as we prepare for season 2025/26 both on and off the pitch. There will be many ins and outs on the playing front in the coming weeks and we also await with bated breath, official confirmation of who will be the new manager. However there will be one definite change in the dug out as assistant manager Mark McMinn has announced he will be stepping down from his role. So we caught up with Mark to look back at his two years as Star number two and to see what the future holds for him.

Well Mark you've decided to step down as assistant manager - what was your thinking behind this decision? 

It was a very tough decision, as it’s been such an honour to have held the role for the past two years, but anyone who has been involved in football at this level knows that balancing home life, work life and football can be very difficult. You have to give the role 100%, and I was beginning to find it increasingly difficult, and I can’t commit to anything unless I can give it my all. I talked to my wife and decided it was time to take a step back from the touchline for the good of the club.

However you are not cutting all ties with the club as you and your wife Jen, will be looking to join the committee come this summers AGM. The club is always looking for new people, with new and fresh ideas, to join the committee - what do you feel the two of you can bring to the club especially considering you will have a unique insight into the running of the club having experienced what life is like from the playing point of view?

Yes, when the club gets its claws into you, it doesn’t let go!!!  Jen loves her football and the club as much as I do, so we felt it was a good way for us to continue our involvement with the club. The club lost several stalwarts in the committee at the end of the season, so we want to come in and do what we can to help in any way we can. We worked in the social club at the recent cup final held at Islecroft and thoroughly enjoyed it, so that may be an area we can help the club out in.

What I have always realised is what an important role the club plays within the community of Dalbeattie - it’s vital to retain a football club within the town. That can’t happen without the support of the local community, be it through businesses providing sponsorship or supporters coming through the gate. We’ll be doing all we can to ensure that such support is forthcoming, and would encourage anyone to get involved and fully appreciate just how rewarding it can be to be a part of this great club!!

Looking back on your time as assistant manager, there were many highs and a few lows. What were the ones that really stood out for you?

There have been many highs and lows throughout my two years on the touchline. Winning the league last season is the most obvious high - my grandfather won the league in season 1933/34 so to win it 90 years after he did meant so much to me and my Mum. Winning at Carluke last season in the Scottish Cup was something I was desperate to do, and was a real highlight. Obviously we didn’t fair so well in the cups over the past two seasons, and losing three finals to Lochar Thistle were obvious lows, but      it was nice to end on a high by retaining the Cree Lodge Cup against the same opponents on Wednesday night to provide everyone              with some small reward for their hard work this season.

But the real lows have sadly come off the field. We almost lost Dean Watson last season following his accident and that really brings things home to you. More so, the situation with young Charlie Watson has affected everyone and these things really bring football into perspective. I wish both boys and their families the very best.

You will also have come across many characters on and off the pitch in this time - who are the ones that instantly come to mind and are there any stories you can tell us about them?

  I’ve always tried to make connections with the players and have worked with some great lads over the past two seasons, and they are all great characters in their own ways. I hope these connections will continue in whatever paths we all take in future years. I could talk about them all, but I’m not sure I should reveal too many stories about them 🤣. Most importantly though, I want to thank them all for their effort, dedication and commitment shown throughout their time with the club, and hopefully that they remain part of the squad for many years to come. It’s unfair to single out anyone, but I have to mention Ross Hunter. I first coached Ross as a 12 year old at Queen of the South and couldn’t guess a figure of how many games we have been involved with together at Queens, Birchtree and Dalbeattie Star as he now approaches 30. He is a great leader, and losing him and Dale for the final months of the season was a huge blow to our title chances. I hope both recover and get back into the side fully fit, and end their career’s at their home town club.

Finally football is all about looking forward, so what what are your hopes for the club, on and off the pitch for the upcoming season?

  A club with the history and tradition of Dalbeattie Star should always be challenging for silverware and I see no reason why that shouldn’t be the case next season. More importantly though, I would encourage the people of Dalbeattie to continue the amazing support they have shown the club to ensure that they continue to thrive.

THE DAVID TAYLOR INTERVIEW

JULY 22nd 2024:

At the start of last season expectations were not that high - what were your own thoughts back then?

Unfortunately going into a new season on the back of a relegation perhaps led to the expectations of some not being too high, and whilst I can understand that to an extent my own personal thoughts back then after speaking to the manager prior to preseason starting, I was very comfortable with where we were in terms of the rebuild. Although we both agreed at the time that we were probably three or four bodies short, there was a lot of quality already within the new squad, and yes some young players, but even within those younger lads there were some who had been over the course in the South League previously. From an experience point of view half a dozen or so players had played in league winning sides so I was quietly confident turning up on day one of preseason, that once we got to work, in my own mind we wouldn’t be miles off it if we could get the players to gel quickly and trust the process. So, in truth my own expectations were already quite high at that time in terms of the squad and with what I felt I could personally bring to the table working alongside the manager and the rest of the coaching team. 

Was there a particular moment or a match, when you thought we could be onto something good here?

First game of the new season against Abbey Vale, who were reigning champions and very difficult to beat on their own patch. We got the result and more importantly coupled with their ability, we learned a fair bit about the character of our lads that day for moving forward into a long hard season. I remember having a conversation with the manager after that game and told him we now have to believe we should be competing to win this league title.

The end of last season was hectic to say the least with league deciders and cup finals - how was that period for you?

The end of the season was quite ridiculous at times in terms of the scheduling with games every two or three days over the last few months, and travelling two hours to games, playing the games and travelling two hours back up the road. It was quite demanding at times (particularly for my car) however it came with being successful during the season, and it’s what I signed up for and every mile and every minute took us closer to our targets. So like every single person involved, you get on with it and do what has to be done for the cause. 

The management team at the Star seems to be a strong unit - what are your thoughts on that and what is it like working with the other guys?

Yes we are a strong unit but that doesn't happen by luck, you got to work hard at that too and believe me if you had to work with Mark McMinn and Mikey Devlin you'd know exactly what I'm talking about 🤣🤣

No, in all seriousness, the management team do have a very strong bond, things are always discussed, obviously led by the manager, but I think the key to it working as it does is because Dalbeattie Star Football Club is always at the forefront for everyone.

Mark McMinn being a Dalbeattie man has a huge passion for the club and involving the local community in all things Dalbeattie Star and he proved instrumental in bringing fans back through the gates to support the team.

Mikey Devlin, one of the nicest guys I've ever met in football and also deserves so much praise and credit for the work he does for the club.

The Manager, eats, sleeps and breaths Dalbeattie and never took his eye off the ball last season and I was absolutely over the moon for him when we managed to clinch the the league title on the last day over at Creetown.

The management/coaching team also grew towards the end of last season with Cammy Sinclair joining us, and already this pre-season we've added our goalkeeping coach in Alex "The Cat" Clark, AKA Bunty.

The connection between Motherwell and Dalbeattie isn't the most obvious so how did you end up coaching at Islecroft?

Yeah Motherwell and Dalbeattie are a few miles apart to say the least however football circumstances brought us together and sometimes things are just meant to be.

Your son of course is one of the mainstays of the side, picking up two player of the year awards last season.

How does this father and son dynamic work for you in a player and coach capacity?

Father and son dynamics in football aren't as rare as you may think, but yeah for some the emotional attachment can prove challenging but this one works pretty well in my opinion, David does his job and I do my mine. We both, along with the rest of the group want to achieve success on the pitch for Dalbeattie Star so I'm hoping the coming season works out similar to the one we've just had and I'm sure we will all be happy with that.

Of course on a personal level, I was absolutely delighted for David winning the players and management POTY awards and for his mum and brother to be there when he collected his awards was extra special because there are many family sacrifices made around football, so to have that time together was very important. David though won't need me to tell him, those awards although well deserved, were achieved last season and he's got to be ready to raise the bar further and go again for another tough demanding campaign. 

Finally 2024/25 begins this weekend - what are your thoughts and hopes for the new campaign?

Having retained the majority of last seasons squad and adding a few new players, I am hoping as a group we can continue to grow and develop and push on to achieve another positive season. With being successful last season, I do firmly believe things will be a whole lot tougher this time round, because you now have that target on your back, but again all we ask the boys to do is, stay calm, continue to be professional, maintain the standards and trust the process.

THE MARK McMINN INTERVIEW

JANUARY 18th 2024:

You joined Star last summer Mark, after a very successful spell in charge at Birchtree AFC. How did the move to the Star come about?

It was a bit out of the blue really. We had a very good group of lads at Birchtree and were very successful, so when the Gaffer phoned me I assumed it was to get permission to approach some of those players, to invite them to sign for him and make the move to Dalbeattie Star. It was a shock when he said he was contacting me to become his assistant manager, but after some consideration, I felt it was something I had to do and was too good an opportunity to miss.

You seem to have settled into your new role at the club very well. How is it working with Eddie, Mikey and David and the fact you had worked closely with a number of the players before, did this help?

Until last season all my experience in coaching was at youth level with Greystone Rovers and then Queen of the South, so it has been a new challenge joining a senior club at this level, but it’s been brilliant so far and I’m loving it. Eddie, David and Mikey have a wealth of experience that I can tap into and learn from, and I think as a group we all work well together. I knew some of the boys from youth level but it’s been Eddie who had the knowledge of most of the boys and identified the players he wanted to bring to the club, and it has been a considerable job to build a squad almost from scratch to where we are now.

Also going from being manager to assistant manager, how difficult was that? What have you found are the main differences between the two roles?

I can’t lie, it did take a bit of getting used to. I wasn’t sure when to speak up and when to shut up!!! Add to that the gaffer losing his voice for several weeks as we were still finding our feet working together, it did bring some challenges as I adjusted to the transition. But we talk every day and I feel we share the same ideas on how we like the game to be played. Hopefully this is coming to the fore now as the boys are playing some very good stuff in the style I would enjoy watching, so I hope the support are also liking what they see from the squad.

Since coming to the Star, has there been anything that has surprised you on or off the field, or has the experience been what you probably expected? 

I think I have been surprised by the level of professionalism that the players have shown towards the game. We train twice a week and it is almost always 100% attendance. Even over the festive season when I assumed everything would stop for a few weeks, we were training throughout and it’s to the credit of the players that numbers remained high with very few call-offs. It wasn’t like that when I was younger!!! 🤣

We are roughly half way through the season - what would your mid-term report say?

Initial targets met, but we still want more. We wanted to get to Christmas in a position to challenge for the title so to that point, we achieved that. We dropped five points which is disappointing, but it’s a long hard season so we hope to still be challenging come the end of the season.

We have currently got a young and exciting squad and the fans are certainly enjoying the football they are watching - the buzz seems to be back at Islecroft. What are your hopes for the team and club between now and the end of the season?

To win games of football - it’s still the best feeling in the world. We were tasked with giving the support a successful team with a local element to that. We’ve managed the latter part of that, but we all know we’ve achieved nothing yet in terms of success. We’re all committed to bringing silverware to Islecroft come the end of the season. Hopefully the crowds can continue to increase and we can continue to build on the buzz that the players are creating and we can achieve our aims.