Roy McCormack may not be the first name that springs to mind when discussing Scottish football’s great strikers, but for those who followed Dumbarton through the 1970s, his name is etched into the annals of the club’s history with an air of reverence. More than just a goal-scorer, he embodied the grit, determination, and spirit that defined the Boghead Park men during a period of both struggle and occasional glory.
PART ONE
Dumbarton Football Club had been founded on the 23rd of December 1872, when the industrial town on the banks of the River Leven gave birth to one of the nation’s most storied clubs. And even though Dumbarton were no longer at the pinnacle of Scottish football, they were still very much alive and well.
As for Roy McCormack, the precociously talented striker started out his goal scoring career with Dumbarton in 1966, at the age of 17. He found the back of the net with alarming regularity, accumulating 113 Scottish League goals in 246 games over a nine-year spell. However, while the statistics alone paint a picture of an accomplished forward, it was his role in one of the club’s most famous matches that cemented his legacy.
On the 12th of October 1970, Dumbarton, then a modest second-tier side, found themselves in the semi-finals of the Scottish League Cup—a rare and tantalising opportunity for the underdogs to make history. Their opponents were none other than Celtic, a team still reeling from their European Cup Final heartbreak against Feyenoord just months earlier. It was a daunting task, yet McCormack and his teammates were not overawed.
What’s more, The Sons of the Rock made the mighty Hoops sweat, holding them to a goalless draw in the first encounter before pushing them to extra time in the replay. For 240 minutes, Dumbarton defied the overwhelming odds, matching their illustrious opponents before ultimately succumbing to a narrow 4-3 defeat at Hampden Park. Consequently, though they fell at the penultimate hurdle, their performance against The Bhoys that day was enough to etch that campaign into club folklore, with McCormack playing a central role.
PART TWO
Nevertheless, Dumbarton’s tenure in Scotland’s top division was anything but smooth sailing. Between 1972 and 1975, the side finished 16th, 10th, and 14th in the 18-team League before the inevitable restructuring saw the top-flight reduced to just ten teams. Despite the club’s struggles, McCormack remained a beacon of consistency, delivering goals and leading the line with a steadfast commitment that endeared him to the fans.
However, fate was not always kind. In 1975, he suffered a broken leg, an injury that curtailed his time at Boghead Park and saw him miss out on even more opportunities to etch his name further into club history. Even so, his contributions up to that point had already secured his place as one of the club’s all-time greats.
He later had spells with Dundee, Airdrie, and East Stirling, though it was his years at Dumbarton that defined his career. His eventual departure to Australia came at the behest of an old friend, and while his time in football may not have concluded in the most glamorous of circumstances, his influence was undeniable.
However, Roy McCormack´s impact extended beyond the pitch, as he seamlessly transitioned from striker to scribe, swapping boots for the newsroom and taking up a role as a sub-editor at the Evening Times in 1988, where his meticulous nature and knowledge of the round ball game proved invaluable. His deep-rooted passion for Scottish football also saw him entrusted with compiling the revered Wee Red Book from 1991 onwards, a responsibility he carried with diligence and an encyclopaedic grasp of the sport’s facts.