Queen of the South legend Stephen Dobbie has announced his retirement from football.
The striker scored 166 goals in nearly 300 appearances across two spells with the Doonhamers before leaving Palmerston in 2021.
And after playing for AFC Fylde last season, he has decided the time has come to hang up his boots. He will continue in a coaching capacity with the Lancashire club.
The striker said: “At the ripe old age of 39, and after 23 years of professional football, the time has finally come for me to hang up my boots and pursue a career in coaching.
“Football is deep-rooted in my heart and my passion for the beautiful game will never fade.”
Dobbie’s first spell with Queens began in January 2007 when he arrived at Palmerston after leaving St Johnstone. He helped the club survive in what was then called the First Division and the following season was part of the club’s run to the 2008 Scottish Cup final, where they narrowly lost to Rangers.
He played against Nordsjælland in the UEFA Cup the following season but it was his domestic form that caught the eye as he scored an incredible 40 goals, including four in one game against Clyde.
That earned him a move to Swansea City but he finished the season on loan at Blackpool, helping Ian Holloway’s side win promotion to the English Premier League through the play-offs.
He then returned to Wales and repeated the achievement, scoring at Wembley as Swansea beat Reading 4-2. The following season it was back to Blackpool and another Wembley play-off, although this time the Seasiders lost to West Ham.
And in 2012/13 he helped Crystal Palace win promotion to the Premier League. Stints at other English clubs followed before the striker made a popular return to Queens in 2016.
And he showed fantastic form at his old stomping ground, making the PFA Scotland Championship team of the year three seasons running.
After comfortably passing the 20-goal mark in both 2016/17 and 2017/18, he stepped up a level in 2018/19 and scored an incredible 43 goals – a Queens record.
His tally also saw him named the Championship player of the year.
He continued to score over the following two seasons, becoming the club’s second all-time top goalscorer and being part of a statue unveiled outside Palmerston in 2019. He opted to leave the Doonhamers last year, fans giving him an incredible send off ahead of his final game against Dundee in April 2021.
Dobbie said: “Looking back over my career there are so many highlights – playing at Wembley in Championship play-off finals in four consecutive seasons and winning three of them with Blackpool, Swansea and Crystal Palace was truly unbelievable.
“Reaching cup finals and playing in Europe with Queen of the South and Hibs also stand out but captaining Queen of the South, breaking their all time record for most goals scored in a season and entering the club’s hall of fame is particularly special to
me.”
