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Dan Armstrong’s journey with Queen of the South began when he signed on as a 16-year-old goalkeeper, full of aspirations for a playing career. Now, at 28 years old, he serves as the club’s chief executive, making him one of the youngest individuals to hold such a position at a professional football club in the UK. Originally from Accrington, Dan never envisioned this path when he first moved to Scotland, but his mindset of focusing on solutions rather than problems has shaped his unexpected transition from player to leader at the Dumfries-based club.
Early in his football journey, Dan had a spell with Burnley’s youth academy but admits that he wasn’t quite good enough to make it there. “I played with Burnley as a youngster in their academy, but I wasn’t good enough,” he acknowledged. Following that, he was offered a trial with Queen of the South, a move north that presented an opportunity when other clubs were overlooking him, particularly because of his stature at 5ft 9in for a goalkeeper. Despite his enthusiasm and love for the club, his playing career fizzled out after three years, as he candidly reflects, “I played here for three years but, again, familiar story – I was really rubbish and that brought to an end the football career.”
Rather than departing from football entirely, Dan found a new role within the club after his playing days ended. While recovering from injuries, he became involved in community initiatives supported by the SPFL Trust, such as teaching about hydration in schools. When the club’s manager told him his contract would not be renewed, Dan accepted the reality but remained determined to stay connected to the sport. Club chairman Billy Hewitson then offered him a role as a community coach. Dan dove into this new world with curiosity and determination, “I was just sort of guessing and playing at everything and asking so many questions of so many people… But you got an answer and started shaping an idea and seeing what other clubs were doing and did a lot of research in my own time.” This proactive attitude contributed to the creation of the Queen and South Community Trust, which has since made significant impacts locally.
Under Dan’s leadership, the club has broadened its community outreach through projects including coaching programs, school visits, mental health support, and even running a food bank. His vision and drive led to a promotion to commercial manager, a role augmented by the club funding his Masters in business. Then, when the club’s board signaled their intention to step down a couple of years ago, Dan stepped into the chief executive role. Reflecting on his daily responsibilities, he shared, “It could be we’ve got meetings with the community team, what’s our vision for that, what do we want to achieve, how do we achieve that? And then from that it could be on a call with the Macron kit supplier about maybe what’s the kits looking like next year. So from one minute we’re going on about feeding children in our local area to the next minute being on the phone to Italy and Macron going – now what’s the kits going to look like?”
Fully aware of the expectations from supporters, Dan hopes to elevate Queen of the South as high as possible in Scottish football. The club presently sits in the play-off positions of League One, the third tier of Scottish football. “If you could see Queen of the South in the Premier League, it would be a dream, an absolute dream,” he said. “And I don’t see why you can’t aim for that and strive for that.” Holding a pragmatic view of football’s realities, he noted the competitive nature of the sport: “There are 42 teams in the SPFL that want to win every single week and they come up against another team that wants to win every single weekend – so you can’t win every game.” His focus remains on steady improvement and strengthening every aspect of the club, working tirelessly to reach those goals, even if it no longer involves playing on the pitch himself
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