Queen of the South Football Club is a Scottish professional

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 ...

club formed in 1919 in

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; sco, Dumfries; from gd, Dùn Phris ) is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is located near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth about by road from the ...

. The club plays in

Scottish League One The Scottish League One, known as cinch League One for sponsorship reasons, is the third tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish League One was e ...

, the third tier of

Scottish football Association football ( sco, fitbaa, gd, ball-coise) is one of the national sports of Scotland and the most popular sport in the country. There is a long tradition of "football" games in Orkney, Lewis and southern Scotland, especially the Sc ...

. They are traditionally nicknamed the '' Doonhamers'' but are more usually referred to as ''Queens'' or ''QOS''. Their home ground is

Palmerston Park Palmerston Park is a football stadium on Terregles Street in Dumfries, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is the home ground of Scottish League One club Queen of the South, who have played there since 1919. South of Scotland League club He ...

. The club won the Division B Championship in 1950–51, the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

Championship in 2001–02 and 2012–13, and the

Scottish Challenge Cup The Scottish Professional Football League Challenge Cup,2002–03 and 2012–13. Queens led Scotland's top division until New Year in the 1953–54 season: their highest finish in Scotland's top division was fourth in 1933–34. The club reached their first major cup final in 2008 when they reached the final of the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Rangers. The club's manager is Marvin Bartley.

History

Stadium

is located on Terregles Street in

. The club has played there since 1919. South of Scotland League club Heston Rovers have shared Palmerston since 2013. The stadium has a capacity of of which 3,377 are seats.

Supporters and culture

Robbie Neilson Robbie Neilson (born 19 June 1980) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player who is currently the manager of Scottish Premiership club Heart of Midlothian. Neilson, who played as a right-back, started his senior career with ...

, the current manager of Hearts, said about Queens from his loan period at the club in 2002: "It's a well-run club and a real family club with a good spirit about the place." Marc Horne wrote in ''

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 ...

'' following Queens appearance in the 2008 Scottish Cup Final: "In the Palmerston Park club's songbook, it is clear there is no room for songs which feature religion, violent vendettas or centuries-old battles that took place in other lands." QueenOfTheSouthFC_League Performance

In the 2008 UEFA Cup qualifying trip to

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

Queen of the South fans were hailed as "a great credit both to their club and to Scotland" by Danish police. About 850 supporters of the Dumfries club travelled to Denmark to watch the UEFA Cup clash with

FC Nordsjælland Football Club Nordsjælland, commonly known as FC Nordsjælland, Nordsjælland () or FCN, is a professional Danish football team from the North Zealand town of Farum. Founded as ''Farum Boldklub'' from the merger of the town's two football club ...

. Even though their team was eliminated, local police said their behaviour was impressive. Insp. Rune Hamann said: "It was a pleasure hosting such a visit by Queen of the South whose supporters were extremely well behaved and a great credit both to their club and to Scotland. Copenhagen was particularly busy in the build up to and after the match with a carnival, party atmosphere being evident. I look forward to welcoming Queen of the South and their terrific supporters back in Denmark in the future." Ch Insp Mickey Collins from Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary said the fans were a "pleasure to work along with". He added: "Despite the huge numbers of supporters who travelled to Denmark there were no arrests, incidents or issues of any concern. Great praise should be passed on to those fortunate enough to be at the match." A notable Queen of the South supporter is the DJ and producer

Calvin Harris Adam Richard Wiles (born 17 January 1984), known professionally as Calvin Harris, is a Scottish DJ, record producer, singer, and songwriter who has released six studio albums. His debut studio album, ''I Created Disco'', was released in June ...

, who grew up in Dumfries. He considered writing a song to celebrate the team reaching the 2008 Scottish Cup Final, but the idea was scrapped due to the time constraints of recording his 2009 album '' Ready for the Weekend''.

Bill Drummond William Ernest Drummond (born 29 April 1953) is a Scottish artist, musician, writer, and record producer. He was a co-founder of the late-1980s avant-garde pop group the KLF and its 1990s media-manipulating successor, the K Foundation, with wh ...

, musician, producer, and former member of

The KLF The KLF (also known as the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu, the JAMs, the Timelords and other names) are a British electronic band formed in London in 1987. Bill Drummond (alias King Boy D) and Jimmy Cauty (alias Rockman Rock) began by releasing ...

, is a supporter as well due to their proximity to his hometown of

Newton Stewart Newton Stewart ( Gd: ''Baile Ùr nan Stiùbhartach'') is a former burgh town in the historical county of Wigtownshire in Dumfries and Galloway, southwest Scotland. The town is on the River Cree with most of the town to the west of the river, and ...

Mascot

The club mascot is 'Dougie Doonhamer', a human-sized

border collie The Border Collie is a Scottish breed of herding dog of medium size. Widely considered to be the most intelligent dog breed, they are descended from landrace sheepdogs once found all over the British Isles, but became standardised in the Angl ...

dog. The character has been played for many years by local supermarket worker Brian Harkness. On 25 August 2017, Dougie Doonhamer won the Ladbrokes SPFL mascot race at Hamilton Park, having been runner-up the previous year. On 31 August 2018, Dougie Doonhamer won the Ladbrokes SPFL mascot race at Hamilton Park for the second consecutive year.

Biblical references

Queen of the South are often humorously cited as the only league club in the United Kingdom to be mentioned in the Bible. Luke 11:31 states "The Queen of the South shall rise up at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them..." Queen of the South is similarly quoted under Matthew 12:42. In the biblical quote the "Queen of the South" is considered to be the

Queen of Sheba The Queen of Sheba ( he, מַלְכַּת שְׁבָא‎, Malkaṯ Šəḇāʾ; ar, ملكة سبأ, Malikat Sabaʾ; gez, ንግሥተ ሳባ, Nəgśətä Saba) is a figure first mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. In the original story, she bring ...

. In 2005, the issue was investigated by ''

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 ...

'' website in their series "The Knowledge", which also found full references to

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

and

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

, as well as partial references to " hearts", "

wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; plural, : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been reco ...

", "

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

", "

hammer A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nails into wood, to shape metal (as w ...

", " spurs" and " man's field".

Anthem

"The Only Team in the Bible" by Neil Grant is always played at

before the teams appear from the tunnel. During August 2019, in an edition of the BBC's popular

Off the Ball Off the ball (or OTB) is a term used in football (soccer), football in the United Kingdom, usually associated with a player's action when not in possession of the ball, such as a fight or a late challenge. If a referee does not see an OTB incide ...

, Stuart Cosgrove and

Tam Cowan Thomas Cowan (born 21 April 1969) is a Scottish football journalist and radio presenter who was previously also a television presenter. Early life He was educated at Braidhurst High School in Motherwell where he was one of the school captains ...

challenged the songwriter to recreate the song and it has since become a hit with the club's supporters.

Honours

National League Competitions Division 2 – Champions 1950–51, 2001–02, 2012–13; Runners-up 1932–33, 1961–62, 1974–75, 1980–81, 1985–86 Division 3 – Runners-up 1924–25 National Cup Competitions Scottish League Challenge Cup – Winners 2002–03, 2012–13; Runners-up 1997–98, 2010–11 Scottish Qualifying Cup – Winners 1923–24 Scottish Cup – Runners-up 2007–08 B.P. Youth Cup – Runners-up 1985–86 Invitational Tournaments 1936 Algiers Invitational Tournament – Winners Border Cup – Winners 1991–92, 1992–93 Scottish Brewers Cup – Winners 2000–01, 2001–02, 2006–07 Regional League Competitions Scottish League South and West (Wartime League) – Runners-up 1939–40 Western League – Champions 1922–23 Southern Counties League – Winners 1996–97 Regional Cup Competitions (Competed for and won by the reserve team) Southern Counties Charity Cup – Winners 1920–24, 1926, 1930–32, 1934, 1937 Southern Counties Cup – Winners 1921, 1924, 1935, 1936, 1962, 1966, 1972, 1976, 1982, 1983, 1987, 1988, 1991, 1997, 2003, 2004 Southern Counties League Cup – Winners 1996–97 Southern Counties Consolation Cup – Winners 1922 Potts Cup – Winners 1921, 1960, 1961 Individual Awards PFA Scotland Manager of the Year Award –

Allan Johnston Allan Johnston (born 14 December 1973) is a Scottish football player and coach, who was most recently the manager of Queen of the South. Johnston started his professional playing career with Heart of Midlothian and then followed on to Frenc ...

2012–13 PFA Second Division Player of the Year Award – Jimmy Robertson 1980–81, Andy Thomson 1991–92, 1993–94, John O'Neill 2001–02,

Nicky Clark Nicholas Alexander McCormack Clark (born 3 June 1991) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a striker for St Johnstone. Clark is the son of the former Airdrieonians, Hearts, Rangers and West Ham striker Sandy Clark. Career Ear ...

2012–13 Bell's SFL Fan of the Season Award – Ian Black 2003–04 SFL Phenomenal Achievement Awards Recognition of Queens' remarkable Scottish Cup run –

Gordon Chisholm Gordon William Chisholm (born 8 April 1960 in Glasgow) is a Scottish professional football former player and manager. Chisholm played as a central defender for Sunderland, Hibernian, Dundee and Partick Thistle. After retiring as a player, Chis ...

2007–08 Second Division Player of the Year Award – Nicky Clark 2012–13 SFL Goalkeeper of the Season Award – Lee Robinson 2012–13 SFL Second Division Manager of the Year Award – John Connolly 2001–02, Allan Johnston 2012–13 Ginger Boot Award – Nicky Clark 2012–13 Bell's SFL Angels Award – 2003–04 SFL Team of the Season Award – 2012–13

Records

Record victory: 11–1 versus

Stranraer Stranraer ( , in Scotland also ; gd, An t-Sròn Reamhar ), also known as The Toon, is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is located in the historical parish of Inch in the historic county of Wigtownshire. It lies on the shores of L ...

; Scottish Cup; 16 January 1932
A 10–0 win over Bo'ness F.C. in the 1932–33 season was struck from the record books when Bo'ness were expelled from the League. Record defeat: 10-2 versus

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

Dens Park Dens Park, officially known as Kilmac Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Dundee, Scotland, which is the home of club Dundee F.C. and has a capacity of . Tannadice Park, the home of rivals Dundee United, is just 200 yards ...

; Scottish First Division; 1 December 1962. Queens played for 78 minutes with 10 men after goalkeeper

George Farm George Neil Farm (13 July 1924 – 18 July 2004) was a Scottish professional football goalkeeper and manager. Born in Slateford, a suburb of Edinburgh, Farm represented his country on ten occasions, the last three of which occurred after a ga ...

was injured in the 12th minute and was carried off. Dundee's

Alan Gilzean Alan John Gilzean (; 22 October 1938 – 8 July 2018) was a Scottish professional footballer, active from 1955 to 1975. A striker, Gilzean played most prominently for Dundee and Tottenham Hotspur, and also appeared in 22 international games for ...

scored 7 of the goals. Dundee were the reigning Division One Champions and would make the

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

semi-finals that season where they lost to the eventual winners

AC Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 and 1982–83 seaso ...

. Record home

attendance Attendance is the concept of people, individually or as a group, appearing at a location for a previously scheduled event. Measuring attendance is a significant concern for many organizations, which can use such information to gauge the effectiven ...

: 26,552 versus Heart of Midlothian; Scottish Cup 3rd Round; 23 February 1952; Queens 1 Hearts 3 Record home league attendance: 21,142 versus Rangers; 6 October 1962; Queens 0 Rangers 4 Record attendance (any venue): 58,975; 5 April 1950; Hampden Park; 3–0 Scottish Cup semi-final replay defeat to Rangers; 52,924 watched the 1–1 draw with Rangers four days earlier, also at Hampden Park. Most league points (2 points for a win system): 55; Scottish Division 2; 1985–86 Most league points (3 points for a win system): 92; Scottish Division 2; 2012–13 First ever Scottish League Match under floodlights: Rangers versus Queen of the South; Ibrox Park; 7 March 1956; Rangers 8 Queens 0; Rangers player Don Kitchenbrand scored five goals in this match. Highest free standing floodlights in Scottish football: Queens floodlights were first used on 29 October 1958 and at high they are the tallest in Scotland. To mark the occasion Preston North End sent a team north for a friendly match. Highest terrace in Scottish football: Following the trend towards all seater stadia, the height differential between the lowest and highest step on the Portland Drive terrace, records this as the highest remaining terrace in Scottish football.

Individuals

As of 10 January 2023 Longest serving player: Iain McChesney – 1960 to 1981 (615 appearances and scored 79 goals) Record league scorer in a season: Alexander "Jimmy" Gray – 37 goals in the 1927-28 season Record scorer (all competitions) in a season: Stephen Dobbie - 43 goals in the 2018-19 season Most capped player: Billy Houliston (3 caps; 1948–49 season; 3–2 v Northern Ireland at Hampden (scoring two goals on his debut in the 30th & 89th minute), 3–1 v England at Wembley and 2–0 v France at Hampden. 43 Andy Aitken

First Queens players to earn four senior Scottish football medals while playing for the club: Jim Thomson and Andy Aitken (winners of the 2001–02 Second Division and 2002–03 Scottish Challenge Cup; runners up in the 1997–98 Scottish Challenge Cup and 2007–08 Scottish Cup). Most decorated Queens player with four winners medals:

Derek Lyle Derek Lyle (born 13 February 1981) is a Scottish footballer who plays as a striker for Open Goal Broomhill and is also the club's assistant manager. Lyle has previously played for Partick Thistle, Queen of the South ''(two spells)'', Dundee ...

(2001–02 & 2012–13 Second Division; 2002–03 & 2012–13 Scottish Challenge Cup) Record transfer fee received: Andy Thomson; £250,000;

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

; 1994 Fastest

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

Tommy Bryce Tommy Bryce (born 27 January 1960 in Johnstone) is a Scottish former footballer. Bryce had a playing career spanning 21 seasons from 1980–81 with Scottish Football League clubs Kilmarnock, Stranraer, Queen of the South, Clydebank, Ayr Unite ...

; 1 minute 46 seconds ''

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

'' in the 6–0 win versus

Arbroath Arbroath () or Aberbrothock ( gd, Obar Bhrothaig ) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the council area of Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902. It lies on the North Sea coast some ENE of Dundee and SSW of Aberdeen. The ...

on 18 December 1993. Bryce's hat-trick was recorded in the 8th, 9th & 10th minutes by the match referee Louis Thow. Bryce also scored a fourth goal in this match. Longest distance goal by an outfield player:

Ryan McCann Ryan Patrick McCann (born 21 September 1981) is a Scottish professional footballer. He last played with Edusport Academy in the Scottish Lowland Football League. Playing career Celtic, St Johnstone and Hartlepool McCann began his career w ...

– in the Scottish Cup Quarter Final 2–0 win versus Dundee on 8 March 2008. First player to collect the complete set of four senior Scottish football winners medals:

Andy Goram Andrew Lewis Goram (13 April 1964 – 2 July 2022) was a Scottish footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Born in Bury, Lancashire, England, he started his career with Oldham Athletic and Hibernian, but he is best remembered for playing for Ra ...

when he played in the 2002–03 Scottish Challenge Cup Final 2–0 win for Queens versus

Brechin City Brechin City Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the townDespite the name of the football club, Brechin is not an official city. Brechin was historically known as a city because it has a cathedral. of Brechin in Angus. The club ...

, to add to his medals haul gathered elsewhere. Oldest player to play for the club:

Ally MacLeod Alistair Reid "Ally" MacLeod (26 February 1931 – 1 February 2004) was a Scottish professional football player and manager. He is perhaps best known for his time as the Scotland national football team manager, including their appearance at t ...

versus St Mirren in the Reserve League West in April 1992. With Queens short of players the manager named himself as a trialist and played the whole 90 minutes. During the second half Queens were awarded a penalty and the former Scotland manager converted the spot kick. The final score was 7–1 to St Mirren and MacLeod received a standing ovation from the small crowd at the end of the game. MacLeod was 61 years old at the time.

European record

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

Players

Current squad

On loan

*''For recent transfers, see 2022–23 Queen of the South F.C. season.''

Notable players

*''For all former Queen of the South players with a Wikipedia article, see :Queen of the South F.C. players.'' The following players were inducted into Queen of the South's Hall of Fame on 29 October 2011, 19 January 2013 and 24 October 2015 respectively. The following players were inducted into Queen of the South's Hall of Fame on 23 March 2019. The following players are listed on the club's official website as 'Queens Legends':

Managers

''P/C = Player-Coach P/M = Player-Manager'' ² Second Spell

Staff

Board of directors

*Chairman: Billy Hewitson *Vice-Chairman: Craig Paterson *Director: Mark Blount *Honorary Directors: Norman Blount and

Davie Rae David 'Davie' Rae is a former Scottish chair of Queen of the South in Dumfries. Rae was the third of three chairmen to rebuild and revitalise the Dumfries club from the mid-1990s, replacing the previous regime under Harkness, when the club had g ...

Coaching staff

*Manager: Marvin Bartley *Assistant Manager:

Grant Murray Grant Robert Murray (born 29 August 1975 in Edinburgh) is a Scottish former professional Association football, football player. Murray is currently the assistant manager at Queen of the South F.C., Queen of the South. His versatility saw him ...

*First Team Goalkeeping Coach: Gordon Marshall *Consultant Sport Scientist and Head of Fitness: Robert Kielty *Physiotherapists: Jim Law, Scott Walker *Club Doctor: Dr Guy Beaumont *Groundsman: Kevin McCormick *Kitmen: Graeme Dalgleish, Kevin McCormick *Community Development and Commercial Manager: Daniel Armstrong *Head of Youth: Andy Irving *Youth Goalkeeping Coach: David Byers *Youth Coaches: Stuart Douglas, Darren Malin,

David Mathieson David Mathieson (born 18 January 1978 in Dumfries, Scotland) is a retired Scottish professional association footballer. A goalkeeper. Mathieson played for Queen of the South and Gretna and made three appearances for Scotland under-21s. Que ...

, Neil Murray, Ross Newlands

References

External links

*
National Library of Scotland: SCOTTISH SCREEN ARCHIVE
(archive films of Queen of the South F.C.) {{DEFAULTSORT:Queen Of The South F.C. Football clubs in Scotland Association football clubs established in 1919 Football clubs in Dumfries and Galloway 1919 establishments in Scotland Scottish Football League teams Scottish Challenge Cup winners South of Scotland Football League teams Scottish Professional Football League teams Sport in Dumfries