1979–80 Dumbarton F.C. season

Dumbarton

1979–1980 season
Manager	Davie Wilson
Stadium	Boghead Park, Dumbarton
Scottish League Division 1	4th
Scottish Cup	Third Round
Scottish League Cup	First Round
Top goalscorer	League: Graeme Sharp (16) All: Graeme Sharp (16)
Highest home attendance	4,500
Lowest home attendance	500
Average home league attendance	1,560
← 1978–79 1980–81 →

Season 1979–80 was the 103rd football season in which Dumbarton competed at a Scottish national level, entering the Scottish Football League for the 73rd time, the Scottish Cup for the 85th time and the Scottish League Cup for the 33rd time.

Overview

For the fifth year running, Dumbarton played league football in Division 1, and after a promising start to the campaign, there was a real feeling that promotion could be achielved, particularly with the club topping the division at Christmas. However, a run of 7 games where only one win was registered, damped spirits, and following a 1-4 defeat to Arbroath, manager Davie Wilson was sacked. Nevertheless, with 3 wins in the last 3 matches, a managerless Dumbarton were to secure 4th place.

In the Scottish Cup, Dumbarton lost out to fellow Division 1 opponents Ayr United.

Similarly in the League Cup, Dumbarton were to fall at the first hurdle to St Johnstone.

Locally, in the Stirlingshire Cup, Dumbarton had to give second-best to local rivals Clydebank in the semi-final in a penalty shoot out after a drawn match.

Note that at the start of the season, Dumbarton embarked on a tour of Eire which took in 3 matches, all of which were won.

Results

Win

Draw

Loss

All results are written with Dumbarton's score first.

Scottish League

Main article: 1979–80 Scottish Football League

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance
11 August 1979	Ayr United	A	2-1	Sharp(2)	2,647
18 August 1979	Hamilton	H	3-2	Blair;Gallacher,B;Sharp	1,000
25 August 1979	Clydebank	A	1-2	Whiteford,D	2,000
1 September 1979	Berwick Rangers	H	4-1	Gallacher,B;Blair;Sharp(2)	1,000
5 September 1979	Clyde	A	2-0	Gallacher,B;OG	1,000
8 September 1979	Stirling Albion	H	1-2	Gallacher,B	1,200
15 September 1979	Airdrie	A	0-1		2,000
19 September 1979	Dunfermline Athletic	A	3-1	Whiteford,D;Sharp(2)	2,456
22 September 1979	Arbroath	H	1-0	Coyle,J	900
29 September 1979	Motherwell	A	0-3		3,501
6 October 1979	Hearts	H	1-1	McCluskey	3,500
13 October 1979	Raith Rovers	H	4-2	McCluskey(3);Blair	2,000
20 October 1979	St Johnstone	A	4-2	Gallacher,B;Sharp;Blair;Coyle,J	2,056
27 October 1979	Hamilton	A	0-1		3,000
3 November 1979	Clydebank	H	1-0	Sharp	1,200
10 November 1979	Stirling Albion	A	3-2	McCluskey(2);Sharpe	1,000
17 November 1979	Airdrie	A	0-0		3,500
24 November 1979	Dunfermline Athletic	H	2-1	Gallacher,B;Sharp	1,200
1 December 1979	Motherwell	H	1-1	Gallacher,B	2,000
8 December 1979	Hearts	H	0-1		5,600
15 December 1979	Raith Rovers	A	1-0	Sharp	1,100
22 December 1979	Hamilton	H	4-0	McNeil;Blair;Sharp;Coyle,J	2,500
5 January 1980	Stirling Albion	H	0-1		2,500
12 January 1980	Airdrie	H	0-0		2,500
2 February 1980	Berwick Rangers	A	2-0	Sharp(2)	962
9 February 1980	Hearts	H	1-1	McGrain	4,500
16 February 1980	St Johnstone	H	0-1		1,500
23 February 1980	Raith Rovers	A	0-4		1,899
1 March 1980	Ayr United	H	0-3		2,000
8 March 1980	Clyde	H	3-1	McNeil(2);Coyle,J	1,000
12 March 1980	Dunfermline Athletic	A	2-0	Gallacher,B(2)	2,319
15 March 1980	Berwick Rangers	A	0-3		922
25 March 1980	Arbroath	H	2-3	McCluskey;Sharp	500
29 March 1980	Ayr United	A	0-1		1,912
2 April 1980	Clydebank	A	2-2	McNeil;Blair	1,170
5 April 1980	Arbroath	A	1-4	Gallacher,B	750
12 April 1980	Motherwell	H	1-0	Rankin	800
19 April 1980	St Johnstone	H	5-2	McCluskey;McGrain;Martin;Brown;Gallacher,B	500
26 April 1980	Clyde	A	2-1	Blair(2)	1,500

Scottish Cup

Main article: 1979–80 Scottish Cup

Date	Rd	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance
26 January 1980	3	Ayr United	H	1-2	Gallacher,B	2,480

Scottish League Cup

Main article: 1979–80 Scottish League Cup

Date	Rd	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance
15 August 1979	1(1)	St Johnstone	H	1-1	Brown	1,200
22 August 1979	1(2)	St Johnstone	A	2-3	Whiteford,D;Blair	2,634

Stirlingshire Cup

Date	Rd	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance
30 October 1979	1	Alloa Athletic	H	2-0	Gallacher,J;OG
26 November 1979	SF	Clydebank	H	0-0*		400

* - lost on penalties

Other Matches

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance
31 July 1979	Coleraine	A	3-2	Gallacher,B;Blair;Sinclair
2 August 1979	Finn Harps	A	1-0	Sharp
7 August 1979	Sligo Rovers	A	5-0	Gallacher,B(3)Blair;Sharp

Appearances

Club

Dumbarton used 23 players for the 42 League, Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup matches, as detailed below. Brian Gallacher and Graeme Sinclair were best by starting in every one of these matches.

Player	Position	Appearances	Goals
Raymond Blair	FW	33(3)	9
Ally Brown	FW	35(3)	2
Rob Campbell	DF	8(1)
Tom Carson	GK	3
Joe Coyle	FW	40(1)	4
Tommy Coyle	MF	8(14)
Gerry Findlay	FW	1(10)
Brian Gallacher	FW	42	12
John Gallacher	MF	41
Donald Hunter	GK	6
Joe Kennedy	FW	0(1)
Jim Martin	MF	1(4)	1
Pat McCluskey	MF	39	8
Tommy McGrain	FW	20(4)	2
Ally MacLeod	MF	35(1)
Donald McNeil	MF	25(1)	4
Joe O'Donnell	DF	0(2)
Mike Rankin	FW	2	1
Joe Rowan	MF	0(1)
Graeme Sharp	FW	36	16
Graeme Sinclair	MF	42
Derek Whiteford	MF	12	3
Laurie Williams	GK	33

International

Graeme Sinclair was selected to play for the Scottish League team in a friendly match against the League of Ireland on 17 March 1980 played in Dublin (won by the Irish 2-1).

Reserve Team

Dumbarton competed in the Scottish Reserve League First Division (West).

In the Scottish Second XI Cup, Dumbarton lost to Dundee United in the third round, and in the Reserve League Cup, Dumbarton lost to Ayr United, on aggregate, in the first round.

See also

• 1979–80 in Scottish football

External links

• Scottish Football Historical Archive