Dukla Pumpherston is a charity

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

team based in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, and is captained by Scottish football

pundit A pundit is a person who offers mass media opinion or commentary on a particular subject area (most typically politics, the social sciences, technology or sport). Origins The term originates from the Sanskrit term ('' '' ), meaning "knowledg ...

Chick Young Charles "Chick" Young (born 4 May 1951) is a professional association football pundit who regularly appears for BBC Scotland on ''Sportscene'' and ''Sportsound''. He is known for his trademark laugh and speech patterns, which have made him a po ...

. The name was based on the fictional team "Dukla Pumpherston Sawmill and Tannery" created by Tony Roper in 1980s comedy programme '' Naked Radio''; the name is a comic juxtaposition of the sophisticated European-sounding name of Czech team

Dukla Prague Dukla Prague ( cz, Dukla Praha) was a Czech football club from the city of Prague. Established in 1948 as ATK Praha, the club won a total of 11 Czechoslovak league titles and eight Czechoslovak Cups, and in the 1966–67 season, reached the semi ...

with that of tiny Scottish village

Pumpherston Pumpherston is a village in West Lothian, Scotland. Originally a small industrial village housing works for the nearby shale mine and works, it now forms the eastern part of the new town of Livingston, which was constructed to the west of Pumphe ...

. Roper himself has also played for the team. The players have been described as a motley crew of former professional players and television personalities who tour the country - indeed the world - enjoying themselves while raising cash for worthy causes. They have been described as "a drinking team with a football problem". The ''ad hoc'' roster (or that of similarly informal opposing charity teams) has, at various times, included football broadcaster

Chic Charnley James Callaghan "Chic" Charnley (born 11 June 1963 in Glasgow) is a Scottish former football player and coach. Charnley's playing career lasted nearly 20 years, with spells at Hamilton Academical, St Mirren, Hibernian and Dundee, however he ...

, politician

Tommy Sheridan Tommy Sheridan (born 7 March 1966) is a Scottish politician who served as convenor of Solidarity from 2019 to 2021. He previously served as convenor of the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) from 1998 to 2004 and as co-convenor of Solidarity from 2 ...

, boxer

Willie Limond Willie Limond (born 2 February 1979) is a Scottish professional boxer. He held the EBU European Union super featherweight title in 2004, the Commonwealth lightweight title from 2006 to 2007, the Commonwealth super lightweight title from 2013 ...

, airport worker

John Smeaton John Smeaton (8 June 1724 – 28 October 1792) was a British civil engineer responsible for the design of bridges, canals, harbours and lighthouses. He was also a capable mechanical engineer and an eminent physicist. Smeaton was the fir ...

, and footballers

Ally McCoist Alistair Murdoch McCoist, (; born 24 September 1962) is a Scottish former footballer who has since worked as a manager and TV pundit. McCoist began his playing career with Scottish club St Johnstone before moving to English side Sunderland i ...

Neil Lennon Neil Francis Lennon (born 25 June 1971) is a Northern Irish football coach and former player. During his playing career he represented English clubs Manchester City, Crewe Alexandra and Leicester City. Lennon moved to Celtic in 2000, where he ...

, Jose Quitongo,

Frank McAvennie Francis McAvennie (born 22 November 1959) is a Scottish former footballer, who played as a striker for St Mirren, West Ham United and Celtic, having had two spells with each of these clubs. With Celtic he won the Scottish Premier Division in ...

Gordon Smith Gordon Smith may refer to: In politics *Gordon H. Smith (born 1952), former U.S. Senator from Oregon, and current Area Authority for the LDS Church * Gordon Elsworth Smith (1918–2005), Canadian politician * Gordon Smith (academic) (1927–2009), ...

Gerry McCabe Gerry McCabe (born 26 September 1956, in Hamilton) is a Scottish football player and coach. Playing career McCabe had a lengthy playing career that lasted almost two decades. He made over 200 league appearances for a Clydebank side that steam ...

, Jim Duffy,

Billy Dodds William Dodds (born 5 February 1969) is a Scottish association football, football coach and former Football player, player who is the manager (association football), manager of Inverness Caledonian Thistle F.C., Inverness Caledonian Thistle. H ...

, Gerry Britton,

Jim Chapman Jim Chapman may refer to: * Jim Chapman (congressman) (born 1945), American businessman and politician ** Jim Chapman Lake, a lake in Texas named after the politician * Jim Chapman (footballer) (born 1965), Scottish footballer * Jim Chapman (Intern ...

Brian McPhee Brian McPhee (born 23 October 1970 in Glasgow, Scotland) is a Scottish retired footballer who last played for Wishaw Juniors. He had a long career as a striker in the Scottish Football League with several clubs. Career McPhee joined Queen's ...

Davie Irons David John Irons (born 18 July 1961 in Glasgow) is a Scottish former football player and coach. Irons' playing career spanned 26 years as a central defender or midfielder for a host of clubs, most notably for Ayr United, Clydebank, Dunfermli ...

, and Brian Martin. Dukla is not a regular member of the Scottish amateur league system; the team only plays occasional exhibition matches, generally in support of charity. Due to the informal nature of the games and the widely varying ages and footballing histories of the players (and those of their opponents) Dukla matches are usually friendly, light-hearted affairs. One exception was an October 2008 match against a team of

MSPs Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP; gd, Ball Pàrlamaid na h-Alba, BPA; sco, Memmer o the Scots Pairliament, MSP) is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament. Electoral system The ad ...

and other politicians; the match was abandoned after three politicians were sent off and players from both sides squared up to each other. Identity Rebrand. In 2021, the club enlisted the help o
Clan United
��a football design agency—t
revitalize the club crest
Paying homage to the fictitious backstory, the new crest adopted inspiration from Sparta Praha, FK Příbram, and Dukla Praha.

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite news , url=http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-news/st-andrews-hospice-benefit-charity-6374241 , title=St Andrew's Hospice benefit from charity football match in Blantyre's Castle Park , newspaper= Daily Record , date=4 September 2015 , author=Leona Greenan {{cite web , url=http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-news/dukla-pumpherston-charity-match-gatehouse-8869692 , title=Dukla Pumpherston charity match in Gatehouse of Fleet raises £600 for two injured players , newspaper= Daily Record , date=19 September 2016 , author=Stuart Gillespie {{cite news , url=https://www.carlukegazette.co.uk/sport/football/tommy-sheridan-among-stars-lined-up-to-play-football-in-carluke-this-sunday-1-4901605 , title=Tommy Sheridan among stars lined up to play football in Carluke this Sunday , newspaper=Carluke Gazette , publisher=

JPIMedia National World is a British multimedia company. The company was founded as JPIMedia Publishing Ltd in November 2018 following the acquisition of Johnston Press assets by its creditors. JPIMedia was purchased by National World PLC for £10.2 mill ...

, date=4 April 2019 , author=Craig Goldthorp "Celebrity charity match at Firhill"
{{webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090228065515/http://www.ptfc.co.uk/news/2008-2009/february_2009/celebrity_charity_match_at_firhill , date=28 February 2009,

Partick Thistle FC Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional football club from Glasgow, Scotland. Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908. The club have been mem ...

official website, 25 February 2009 "Stars set to shine for charity day in Wishaw"
''

Hamilton Advertiser The ''Hamilton Advertiser'' is a Scottish tabloid newspaper that covers the area and the suburbs of Hamilton, a large burgh in South Lanarkshire. It is the longest-running newspaper in the town and is owned by Scottish & Universal Newspapers L ...

'', 30 April 2008 "Stars come out for Wishaw charity match"
''

'', 27 May 2008 "Fans turn out in force to honour Johnstone Burgh"
''

Paisley Daily Express The ''Paisley Daily Express'' is a Scottish newspaper based in Glasgow, covering the Renfrewshire area. The paper, which is currently owned by Reach plc has its main offices in Glasgow. The paper is sold in newsagents and general stores throu ...

, 11 June 2008'' "The Wembley miss that has become a myth"
Phil Shaw, ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', 28 November 1996 (via findarticles.com) "Charity is the winner"

Dumbarton FC Dumbarton Football Club is a semi-professional football club in Dumbarton, Scotland. Founded on 23 December 1872, they are one of the oldest football clubs in Scotland. The club plays home games at the Dumbarton Football Stadium next to Dumba ...

website, 15 September 2008 "Radio Clyde What's On"
{{webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110613143058/http://www.clyde2.com/community/communityCalendar.asp?DATE=20%2F05%2F2006 , date=13 June 2011,

Radio Clyde Radio Clyde is a group of two Independent Local Radio stations serving Glasgow and West Central Scotland. Radio Clyde is owned and operated by Bauer, based at studios in Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire and forms part of Bauer's Hits Radio and Gr ...

community calendar, 20 May 2006 "MSP match abandoned after clash"
''BBC News'', 29 October 2008 "Maradona could learn so much from our foul-minded MSPs"
Brian Morton, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 2 November 2008 "Disgraceful, foul-mouthed thugs – that's our footballing MSPs, according to Chick Young"
David Maddox, ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its par ...

'', 29 October 2008.

External links

Amateur footage
of Dukla Pumpherston in November 2006; the DP team includes Tommy Sheridan, Ally McCoist, and former footballer * Andy Walker. Football clubs in Scotland