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 Soccer Membership.
There’s the Cinderella search that concerned 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 dad and mom don’t converse English,’ he says of his Quebecois provenance. His father did say no as soon as. And it price him.
‘Once we began the enterprise in 1996 we obtained a grant of $6000 {dollars} from the federal government however my spouse and I needed to put in $6000 every. I requested my father to place in some cash however he stated no. A Chinese language woman put in $12,000. Ten years later we purchased her out for $640,000.
‘Once I advised my father, he virtually fainted.’
However he provides: ‘He ought to have had perception 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 ‘medication’ as he poses on Dumbarton’s pitch
The garrulous Canadian is keen to elucidate 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’s my first time singing in entrance of an viewers,’ he says in a small room in Dumbarton’s stadium. ‘My guitar is my medication.’
However to fight what ills? A timeline of Lapointe’s 57 years might do one thing to fulfill the necessity to perceive the businessman’s needs and motivations, a minimum of, for novice psychologists. There are distinct eras. Lapointe wrote songs ‘to get women’ as a scholar. He then married, constructed a enterprise and stopped writing for greater than 30 years. He then went by way of 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 women’. His songs are brutally frank, achingly sincere 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 transferring on. ‘I do know that psychologists let you know that’s not the way in which to do it however it’s my manner.’
He provides: ‘These are songs with tales. Take away your shoelaces and your belt earlier than coming in to hear.’
He’s accompanied by Richie Gallacher, who runs a youth improvement 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 ache, struggling…’ he displays at one level earlier than happening stage.
But there may be an irrepressible cheeriness inside him that seeks to rise from this mire of despondency and will assist to elucidate why he has chosen to look into the cash pit that’s Scottish soccer.
The League Two outfit’s stadium sits snugly within the shadow of Dumbarton Rock
On The Highway’s Hugh MacDonald, above left, enjoys a chat with the entertaining Lapointe
‘Loads of golf equipment are on the sting,’ 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 a lot of the questions from involved followers have been about building. ‘However I’ve no curiosity or expertise 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.
Fast impressions have remained with him. ‘Diet,’ he says. He was welcomed with doughnuts and mushy drinks. He admits, too, his affection for pizza. Nevertheless, he believes that the membership ought to work together with its neighborhood when it comes to offering a sanctuary, a spot to be collectively, a free useful resource for recommendation on tips on how to eat healthily. He has additionally moved shortly to enhance the power.
The author who’s darker than a winter’s evening underneath the Rock can also be a personality who promotes the shining gentle of positivity. ‘This isn’t to push down the Scottish individuals however lots of people right here will not be optimistic,’ he says with the type of understatement that deserves some type of award for supreme diplomacy.
‘I’ve to create a motion of positivity. If you’re destructive, you’ll pull in negativity. Folks say; ‘’You solely reside as soon as.’’ However I say: ‘’You reside day-after-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 among 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, entice new supporters and foster a sense of neighborhood. He should do all this whereas Dumbarton are within the trapdoor division the place there may be 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’ve made an affect however I wish to do extra. I need the membership to have monetary stability inside three years,’ he says, referring to self-sustainability. He admits he can not merely fund it long-term. He’s within the technique of promoting his electronics agency, which is estimated to be value $8m-10m, however isn’t ready to spend all his retirement in time or cash on the banks of the Clyde.
‘It would then be all about who picks it up. I wish to carry it ahead, assist it to flourish and cross it on as a membership with monetary stability. It could be good to establish a Scotsman with cash who may take over. I might not squeeze him. It could be nice to have recent blood, recent concepts, However I might be the man who carried the burden for some time, 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 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 begin wanting slim.’
Mario appears sturdy 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 pageant of music yesterday. Dumbarton rocks on Sunday.
‘You already know, one among my first songs was about ships, a river and rock,’ he says of a composition within the early Nineteen Nineties.
He takes a seat on the stage and friends out into gloom solely illuminated by shards of sunshine. He speaks earlier about how essentially the most spectacular issue about Dumbarton is the standard and dedication of the volunteers he has met. He talks too concerning the religion of the small band of sponsors. He smiles on the reminiscence of encountering a fan in a pizza store and being advised: ‘’Thanks for saving my membership.’’
However now he strums his guitar, takes a breath and introduces the primary music. ‘You be taught to reside alone,’ he says.
The applause after every music tells him, nonetheless, that he is part of one thing larger. One is rarely alone at a soccer membership. It will not be the one motive to purchase one nevertheless it has introduced Lapointe to a different world. The guitar needn’t be his solely medication.
