Four years ago, James Dale had the best day of his life as he converted the penalty that sent little-fancied Brechin City into the Championship.
However, as Brechin now teeter on the brink of a pyramid play-off, Dale admits promotion to Scotland’s second tier was possibly the worst thing to ever happen to the Glebe Park club.
City will be confirmed as the SPFL’s bottom side – known as ‘club 42’ – if they fail to beat Cowdenbeath on Tuesday night.
Only a boardroom battle with the SPFL will then save them from a play-off game with either Brora Rangers or Kelty Hearts to retain their league status.
🏆 Scottish League 2 table pic.twitter.com/KaUXqUr52e
— SPFL (@spfl) April 24, 2021
On the park Brechin have struggled desperately since Dale netted that penalty.
They have won just 14 times in 117 league games since the play-off win in May 2017.
They also became the first Scottish club in 126 years to go through an entire season without a single victory in an entire league season during a one-year stint the Championship in 2017-18.
What remains a personal high for Dale, is something has been the catalyst for an almighty low for his former club.
“I 100 percent believe that if we hadn’t been promoted to the Championship then the club wouldn’t be in this position now,” said Dale.
“Going up ended up being very damaging for the club. It created a losing mentality that carried on to the next few seasons in League One and League Two.
“I’d like to sincerely apologise to everyone because in the end, perhaps scoring that penalty wasn’t the best thing for Brechin.”
“How did it happen? The club didn’t invest enough when it got promoted.
“We didn’t have money to sign players and kept the same squad full of young players, hoping it would work.
“In many ways we scraped through to promotion. We finished fourth on the final day and upset the odds to beat Raith and Alloa to go up.
“I’d like to sincerely apologise to everyone because in the end, perhaps scoring that penalty wasn’t the best thing for Brechin.”
Midfielder Dale now plays football in Iceland as captain of Vikingur and is still remembered fondly by City fans for the role he played in the play-off win as one of over 100 appearances for the Angus side.
His 25-yard strike in the 4-3 defeat in the Championship play-off second leg remains his only professional strike and he has bitter-sweet memories of that fateful day.
“Would I take it back?” Dale added. “No. It was probably the biggest game of my life and the only time I’ve ever scored a goal.
“I netted from 25 yards and it was the first time I’d ever done that. I’d never even scored a goal in training before that and haven’t scored one since.
“When I went to take the penalty I always remember my team-mate Dougie Hill’s face. He couldn’t bear to look at me because he expected me to slide tackle my penalty into the top of the stand.
“But I scored and to this day people still tag me in on their social media posts. It was a historic day for Brechin and one that I hope drives them on to pull off a great escape.”
Dale’s first club Forfar could also go down if they lose at Dumbarton tomorrow night and his former manager Dick Campbell’s side Arbroath face a nervy 90 minutes against Morton to confirm their place in the Championship.
“Forfar and Brechin are both well-established clubs so it’s sad to see them struggling,” added Dale. “I love Angus and it has played a massive part in my career. I also owe the world to Dick Campbell.
“He signed me when I was playing Scottish University football. He gave me the smallest contract in the world but I still felt like I was signing for Barcelona!
“If he could keep Arbroath up in the Championship for a third successive season then it would be a remarkable feat.
“I hope all three clubs in Angus stay up.”
