The phrases pour out of the partaking and energetic Mario Lapointe as he tells his story of how a millionaire from Montreal has come to purchase Dumbarton Football Membership.
There’s the Cinderella search that concerned taking a look at golf equipment in Spain, Italy, Bulgaria, Portugal. England, Northern Eire and Scotland to see if their soccer footprint fitted his business shoe measurement.
There’s the previous that concerned increase an electronics firm because the son of a cleaner at a rehab centre and a mechanic. ‘My parents do not speak English,’ he says of his Quebecois provenance. His father did say no as soon as. And it value him.
‘When we started the business in 1996 we received a grant of $6000 dollars from the government but my wife and I had to put in $6000 each. I asked my father to put in some money but he said no. A Chinese lady put in $12,000. Ten years later we bought her out for $640,000.
‘When I told my father, he almost fainted.’
However he provides: ‘He should have had belief in his son.’ This nod to the previous is cloaked in a smile of the current. Lapointe is aware of the place he has come from however the place is he going with Dumbarton?
Dumbarton proprietor Mario Lapointe, above proper, entertains followers in Bar72 on the Marbill Coaches Stadium whereas native musician Richie Gallacher listens in
Mario Lapointe describes his guitar as his ‘drugs’ as he poses on Dumbarton’s pitch
The garrulous Canadian is keen to clarify all to press, to followers and even to these he meets within the native pizza store. However, maybe, he says it finest in music.
‘It is my first time singing in front of an audience,’ he says in a small room in Dumbarton’s stadium. ‘My guitar is my medicine.’
However to fight what ills? A timeline of Lapointe’s 57 years could do one thing to fulfill the necessity to perceive the businessman’s wishes and motivations, a minimum of, for novice psychologists. There are distinct eras. Lapointe wrote songs ‘to get girls’ as a scholar. He then married, constructed a enterprise and stopped writing for greater than 30 years. He then went via what was clearly an excruciatingly painful divorce in 2019, with it being finalised in 2021, and began writing songs once more.
This time, one suspects, it was not ‘to get girls’. His songs are brutally frank, achingly trustworthy and deeply revelatory. Earlier than he takes to the stage, Lapointe talks of the necessity for authenticity and for males to speak to one another. ‘I don’t do psychologists,’ he says. He talks of placing his troubles in a jar and placing that on a shelf and shifting on. ‘I know that psychologists tell you that is not the way to do it but it is my way.’
He provides: ‘These are songs with stories. Remove your shoelaces and your belt before coming in to listen.’
He’s accompanied by Richie Gallacher, who runs a youth growth charity, Tullochan. The gig is performed in a refurbished room the place the lights are low. There’s darkness in Lapointe’s work. ‘The divorce, the pain, suffering…’ he displays at one level earlier than happening stage.
But there’s an irrepressible cheeriness inside him that seeks to rise from this mire of despondency and will assist to clarify why he has chosen to see into the cash pit that’s Scottish soccer.
The League Two outfit’s stadium sits snugly within the shadow of Dumbarton Rock
On The Street’s Hugh MacDonald, above left, enjoys a chat with the entertaining Lapointe
‘A lot of clubs are on the edge,’ he says. Dumbarton teetered perilously near extinction however Lapointe has pulled them again. His motives have been questioned. He laughs when he factors out that many of the questions from involved followers have been about building. ‘But I have no interest or experience in any of that,’ he says. The prime spot on the Clyde has attracted actual property suitors however Lapointe is powerful in selling extra edifying ideas. His first go to to Dumbarton was in June.
Rapid impressions have remained with him. ‘Nutrition,’ he says. He was welcomed with doughnuts and tender drinks. He admits, too, his affection for pizza. Nevertheless, he believes that the membership ought to work together with its group by way of offering a sanctuary, a spot to be collectively, a free useful resource for recommendation on find out how to eat healthily. He has additionally moved shortly to enhance the ability.
The author who’s darker than a winter’s night time underneath the Rock can be a personality who promotes the shining gentle of positivity. ‘This is not to push down the Scottish people but a lot of people here are not optimistic,’ he says with the form of understatement that deserves some form of award for supreme diplomacy.
‘I have to create a movement of positivity. If you are negative, you will pull in negativity. People say; ‘’You solely dwell as soon as.’’ However I say: ‘’You reside every single day, you solely die as soon as’’.’
This bullishness is supported by an acceptance of the truth of Scottish soccer. He is aware of he’s taking part in in a recreation that may inflict monetary damage. His love for the game has been long-standing and he even coached one in all his three sons to an affiliation championship again within the day.
It’s off-field issues which he should tackle. He should make enhancements to the stadium, appeal to new supporters and foster a sense of group. He should do all this whereas Dumbarton are within the trapdoor division the place there’s an terrible opening to dismissal from the SPFL.
Nevertheless, he’s frank about his intentions. They resemble the goals of one other traveller from Canada, the Celtic saviour Fergus McCann.
‘I have made an impact but I want to do more. I want the club to have financial stability within three years,’ he says, referring to self-sustainability. He admits he can not merely fund it long-term. He’s within the means of promoting his electronics agency, which is estimated to be value $8m-10m, however is just not ready to spend all his retirement in time or cash on the banks of the Clyde.
‘It will then be all about who picks it up. I want to carry it forward, help it to flourish and pass it on as a club with financial stability. It would be good to identify a Scotsman with money who could take over. I would not squeeze him. It would be great to have fresh blood, fresh ideas, But I would be the guy who carried the burden for a while, a transition time.’
Curious punters collect to listen to their membership proprietor’s repertoire of songs within the stadium’s Bar72
Hugh MacDonald speaks to musician Richie Gallacher as he prepares to affix Lapointe on stage
Dumbarton proprietor Mario Lapointe walks in the direction of the stand with guitar in hand
Nevertheless, he provides: ‘If we don’t get again on a robust monetary footing inside 4 years, then Mario goes to start out wanting slim.’
Mario seems to be robust as he picks up his guitar and heads to face his supporters. He’s the primary act in a weekend that features a disappointing loss to Stranraer then a vibrant competition of music yesterday. Dumbarton rocks on Sunday.
‘You know, one of my first songs was about ships, a river and rock,’ he says of a composition within the early Nineties.
He takes a seat on the stage and friends out into gloom solely illuminated by shards of sunshine. He speaks earlier about how probably the most spectacular issue about Dumbarton is the standard and dedication of the volunteers he has met. He talks too in regards to the religion of the small band of sponsors. He smiles on the reminiscence of encountering a fan in a pizza store and being informed: ‘’Thanks for saving my membership.’’
However now he strums his guitar, takes a breath and introduces the primary music. ‘You learn to live alone,’ he says.
The applause after every music tells him, nonetheless, that he is part of one thing larger. One isn’t alone at a soccer membership. It might not be the one motive to purchase one nevertheless it has introduced Lapointe to a different world. The guitar needn’t be his solely drugs.
