Stephen Dobbie

Early career

Dobbie was with Hearts at age group level before moving to Rangers when he was twelve years old. At Rangers, he did not break into the first-team squad, despite being a prolific goalscorer in the reserves. In 2002, he was sent out on loan to Australian National Soccer League club Northern Spirit, scoring three goals in three league matches in the 2002–03 season. He was then transferred to Hibernian in 2003, having made no league appearances for the Ibrox club.

Hibernian

Dobbie debuted for the Hibees on 9 August 2003 as an 85th-minute substitute in a 2–1 win over Dundee United at Tannadice. After five substitute appearances, he had his first start on 23 September 2003, scoring a hat-trick in a 9–0 win over Montrose in the second round of the 2003–04 Scottish League Cup. His league debut arrived four days later in a 2–1 defeat to Celtic at Easter Road and scored his first league goal on 7 December 2003 in a 3–1 defeat to Aberdeen at Pittodrie Stadium. On 5 February 2004, in the semi-final of that season's Scottish League Cup at Hampden Park against Rangers, Dobbie scored the equalising goal in the 79th minute. The match ended 1–1 after extra time, and Hibs won 4–3 on penalties. Despite this, Dobbie failed to win a regular place in the Hibernian first team as Garry O'Connor and Derek Riordan were preferred to him. He was a 70th-minute substitute in the 2004 Scottish League Cup Final defeat by Livingston; Hibs lost 2–0. Dobbie made a total of 33…

In the 2021—22 season, in addition to his playing role for the first team, Dobbie was the manager for AFC Fylde's Under-18 team. During the season he won three trophies and was named as the North-West Youth Alliance Manager of the Season. On 27 July 2022, Dobbie was appointed Senior Professional Development Phase coach at his former club Blackpool. Following the departure of Mick McCarthy on 8 April 2023 by mutual consent, it was announced that Dobbie would take charge of the first-team until the end of the season. Despite three wins in six games, he could not keep them in the division; Blackpool were relegated to League One after a home defeat to Millwall on 28 April 2023. The appointment of Neil Critchley in May 2023 saw Dobbie return to his previous role with the club's development squad. On 3 September 2024, incoming head coach Steve Bruce named Dobbie and Richard Keogh as his first-team coaches. After Bruce's sacking, thirteen months later, Dobbie was installed as interim head coach, alongside Steve Banks.

As of 23 May 2022

Dobbie was born in Glasgow, growing up in Barlanark. When Dobbie moved from Swansea to Blackpool in February 2010, his wife Susanne was nine months pregnant and already overdue. When Dobbie played in his debut for the Seasiders on 3 February 2010, his wife was five days overdue. Dobbie said: "My wife is in a hotel on the promenade. I've got a house organised which we are about to move into and everything has been a bit rushed. It was a case of a quick pack in Swansea, so the baby will be born in England now, instead of in Wales." A baby boy was born the following weekend. After Dobbie returned to Queen of the South in 2016, his family remained living in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, where they had settled while Dobbie played for Blackpool and Fleetwood Town. He then started commuting 133 miles (214 km) to Dumfries several times each week to train and play for Queen of the South.