Queen of the South F.C.


Queen of the South Football Club are a Scottish professional football club formed in March 1919 and located in Dumfries. The club plays in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of Scottish football. They are officially nicknamed The Doonhamers but are usually referred to as Queens or QoS. Their home ground since their formation has been Palmerston Park.
The club's national honours include winning the Division B Championship in season 1950–51, the Second Division Championship in season 2001–02 and in season 2012–13, and also the Scottish Challenge Cup in seasons 2002–03 and 2012–13. Queens led Scotland's top division until New Year during the 1953–54 season and the club's highest finish in Scotland's top division was fourth in the 1933–34 season. The club reached their first major cup final in 2008 when they reached the final of the Scottish Cup, where they were runners-up to Rangers. The club's current manager is Allan Johnston, in his second spell in charge on a two-year contract alongside assistant manager Sandy Clark.

History

Stadium

Club culture

, 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 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."
In the 2008 UEFA Cup qualifying trip to 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 Nordsjaelland. 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."

Club mascot

The club mascot is 'Dougie the Doonhamer', a human-sized border collie dog. The character has been played for many years by supermarket worker Brian Harkness.
On 25 August 2017, Dougie the Doonhamer won the Ladbrokes SPFL mascot race at Hamilton Park, having been runner-up the previous year.
On 31 August 2018, Dougie the 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. In 2005 the issue was investigated by The Guardian website in their series "The Knowledge", which also found full references to Arsenal, Bury and Reading as well as partial references to "hearts", "wolves", "forest", "hammer", "spurs" and "man's field".

Honours

National League Competitions
Highest Finish in Top Division – 4th; Division 1; 1933–34
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; Semi-finalists 1991–92
Scottish Qualifying Cup – Winners 1923–24
Scottish Cup – Runners-up 2007–08; Semi-finalists 1949–50
Scottish League Cup – Semi-finalists 1950–51, 1960–61
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 – Runners-up 1939–40
Western League – Champions 1922–23
Southern Counties League – Winners 1996–97
Regional Cup Competitions
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 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 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 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

Club records

Record victory: 11–1 versus Stranraer; Scottish Cup; 16 January 1932
Record defeat: 10-2 versus Dundee at Dens Park; Scottish First Division; 1 December 1962. Queens played for 78 minutes with 10 men after goalkeeper George Farm was injured in the 12th minute and was carried off. Dundee's Alan Gilzean scored 7 of the goals. Dundee were the reigning Division One Champions and would make the European Cup semi-finals that season where they lost to the eventual winners AC Milan.
Record home attendance: 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 : 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 : 55; Scottish Division 2; 1985–86
Most league points : 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

Longest serving player: Iain McChesney – 1960 to 1981
Record league scorer in a season: Alexander "Jimmy" Gray – 37 goals in the 1927-28 season
Record scorer in a season: Stephen Dobbie - 43 goals in the 2018-19 season
Most capped player: Billy Houliston, 3–1 v England at Wembley and 2–0 v France at Hampden.
First Queens players to earn four senior Scottish football medals while playing for the club: Jim Thomson and Andy Aitken.
Most decorated Queens player with four winners medals: Derek Lyle
Record transfer fee received: Andy Thomson; £250,000; Southend United; 1994
Fastest hat-trick: Tommy Bryce; 1 minute 46 seconds in the 6–0 win versus Arbroath 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 – 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 when he played in the 2002–03 Scottish Challenge Cup Final 2–0 win for Queens versus Brechin City, to add to his medals haul gathered elsewhere.
Oldest player to play for the club: Ally MacLeod 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/Europa League:
SeasonCompetitionRoundOpponentHomeAwayAggregate
2008–09UEFA CupSecond Qualifying Round FC Nordsjælland1–21–22–4

Players

Current squad

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 will be 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

Club staff

Board of directors