Brothers Michael and Ross Dunlop have been forming an impressive defensive barrier this season for Albion Rovers after younger sibling Ross stepped up from junior football to join his experienced big brother in Coatbridge.
However their games at the heart of the Cliftonhill rear-guard is not the first time they have played together as they once had a 4 minute plus injury time stint in the same team at the National Stadium at Hampden.
Ross said: “The two of us were together at Queen’s Park, well I was in the Youth Team and Michael was in the First team. We managed to play together briefly over 6 years ago in the last home game of the season against Elgin City.”
“Queen’s were going into the promotion Play-Offs after the game and I was a substitute and got on for the last few minutes for my debut. It was great not only to play with my brother but the Queen’s Park team at that time included Paul Paton, Paul Cairney, Stuart Kettlewell and David Weatherston.”
Dunlop added: “They went on to win promotion and Michael stayed with them for another year before going on to Dumbarton, who he won the Third Division with. He then moved on to Alloa, Brechin City and Stranraer before joining Rovers in the summer as well.”
Football runs in the DNA of the family with the 25-year-old saying: “My dad was a player as well and he played for Clyde when he was younger as well as having spells at Dumbarton, Stenhousemuir and Queen of the South. There only is Michael and I so you could say that we are a real footballing family.”
The youngest Dunlop brother remained at Hampden longer than his now 31-year-old sibling and he said: “I stayed at Queen’s Park for the next three seasons – the first of them I was still in the Youth team and even though I made the first team squad a few times I never played in it that season.”
“I was promoted to the first team at the end of that season and made a few appearances. That was the same in the second season but I never really had a settled role there and probably in every game I played in I started and finished in different roles.”
“In fact I played every position there apart from goalkeeper as once at East Fife I was the lone striker.”
Looking back Dunlop reckons that adaptability worked against him as he explained: “That versatility probably got me more appearances short term but cost me in the long run as it was difficult for me to pin down a position. I was a full back in the Youth team until they changed their formation to a 3-5-2 and that saw me move into a central midfield role.”
“I scored a few goals and that helped me get into the first team early but it proved to be hurtful in the long run as I was not totally recognised as a defender or a midfielder.”
After being released Dunlop rebuilt his career in a defensive role only as he said: “I went junior with Kirkintilloch Rob Roy and decided to stick at right back. It was a clean slate for me and I then moved on to Beith Juniors who were a decent side who had won the league only a couple of years before.”
“After a spell there I went to Pollok who are a big club and after a season at Newlandsfield Albion Rovers got in touch about stepping back up to the senior ranks.”
Dunlop was clear in what he wanted to do when he stepped back up as explained by saying: “When the manager James Ward called me to sound me out I told him that if I was going to go to his team I wanted to play. I had three seasons of playing every week and I did not want to go back to missing out. I had been used to getting a real run of games.”
“I did however want another crack at a senior level as I felt I had unfinished business after what had happened at Queen’s Park. It was a good chance for me and it was a case of being one Dunlop brother and getting another one for free as Michael had signed for Rovers already.”
“To be honest playing with him again was a big attraction and I knew I had to do it when I was given the chance.”
Dunlop and Dunlop have been on the teamsheet consistently in this campaign with Ross saying: “This season has been great as I have played in every game. The season did not get off to a quiet start as we played Rangers in the Ramsdens Cup live on TV. We lost 4-0 however the experience was amazing. I enjoyed playing at a junior level but this was something very different.”
“We then had a couple of wins in a row to start our league season well but then we stuttered along for a while. The Scottish Cup win over Motherwell sparked us into life again and we had been on a great run until Annan on Saturday.”
The Rovers secured their first ever win over the Fir Park side thanks to Gary Phillips’ late goal at the rented venue of New Douglas Park and Dunlop said: “The Motherwell game was the best day I have had in football. Hopefully not the best day I will ever have but the best day so far.”
As well as enjoying that success Dunlop is enjoying the consistency of selection although he has been adaptable in the roles he has been playing at the back.
“I played at left back and have now settled in at centre back alongside my brother,” said Dunlop before adding, “It is difficult to get a game at right back at the Rovers due to Alan Reid as he is Mr Consistent. I had heard about him and his week in week out performances before I came to the club but now that I am here I am fully aware of the high standard that he hits in every single game.”
“I have played over 20 games already and that is terrific for me in my first season back at this level.”
One of those games was back at Hampden and Dunlop said: “It was quite ironic that my brother and I are both lining up against Queen’s Park and playing at Hampden last autumn was a bit weird. Michael is obviously much better known there and the fans still love him as he was part of the team that was promoted under Billy Stark.”
“He had played there last year for Stranraer in the Scottish Cup and won 4-0 but it was the first time I had been back. I did feel I had a point to prove and thought I played well in a 1-1 draw. The game meant that wee bit more to me.”
A win over Montrose this weekend will keep Albion in the play-off chasing pack and Dunlop is confident that they will be a top four side come the end of the season.
“We can achieve a top 4 place if we repeat the form we had just before the Annan game,” advised Dunlop before he added, “We got 7 points out of the first 9 and then had a bad run when we only won 2 games. Beating Motherwell gave us confidence and we kicked on after that getting 3 wins and 2 draws with the draws being away at Clyde and Peterhead who were the top two in the league at the time.”
“The Clyde game was disappointing as we were two up and had to settle for a 2-2 draw whereas the Peterhead game was just a bizarre game.”
The bizarre nature of the game was due to the howling gale that was blowing at Balmoor and Dunlop added: “I had nothing to do in the first half as Peterhead could not get the ball out of their half. The second half was different as everything was right on top of us.”
“We scored on a rare breakaway but they levelled directly from a corner so we settled for a draw being a fair result on a horrible day.”
As for being in the promotion chase Dunlop said: “We have a decent squad and I do not think we are an easy side to play against and we can make the top 4. We did not play well at Annan last Saturday as we did not create enough in the game. “
“It was our worst performance since Motherwell but we can bounce back this week against Montrose.”
NOTE
If you want to see how Ross, his brother and the rest of the Albion Rovers team get on against Montrose the Cliftonhill club are trialling a new “Pay What You Can” initiative for Saturday’s match.
Club Chairman John Devlin said: “January is always a time where household budgets are stretched and the club recognises that some supporters may struggle to find spare cash to attend games at this time.”
“’Pay What You Can. provides fans with the opportunity to simply pay what they can afford with a minimum £1 entry. We are hoping that with this pricing initiative supporters who would maybe struggle to afford to attend the game will now be able to do so and those who are in a position to pay a bit more to bolster the club finances will choose to do so.”
Devlin added “‘Pay What You Can’ will be open to all fans including away supporters.”
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