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 (15); All: Graeme Sharp (15)
Highest home attendance	4,500
Lowest home attendance	500
Average home league attendance	1,560

Season 1979–80 was the 96th football season in which Dumbarton competed at a Scottish national level, entering the Scottish Football League for the 74th 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 achieved, 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 Ireland 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

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

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

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
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

Player statistics

Squad^[1]

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		First Division		Scottish Cup		League Cup
No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
	GK		Tom Carson	3	0	3	0	0	0	0	0
	GK		Donald Hunter	6	0	6	0	0	0	0	0
	GK		Laurie Williams	33	0	30	0	1	0	2	0
	DF		Rob Campbell	9	0	8+1	0	0	0	0	0
	DF		Joe O'Donnell	2	0	0+2	0	0	0	0	0
	MF		Tommy Coyle	22	0	7+13	0	1+1	0	0	0
	MF		John Gallacher	41	0	38	0	1	0	2	0
	MF		Jim Martin	5	1	1+4	1	0	0	0	0
	MF		Pat McCluskey	38	8	36	8	0	0	2	0
	MF		Ally MacLeod	36	0	32+1	0	1	0	2	0
	MF		Donald McNeil	25	4	24+1	4	0	0	0	0
	MF		Joe Rowan	1	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0
	MF		Graeme Sinclair	42	0	39	0	1	0	2	0
	MF		Derek Whiteford	13	3	11	2	0	0	2	1
	FW		Raymond Blair	36	9	30+3	8	1	0	2	1
	FW		Ally Brown	38	2	32+3	1	1	0	2	1
	FW		Joe Coyle	41	4	37+1	4	1	0	2	0
	FW		Gerry Findlay	11	0	1+10	0	0	0	0	0
	FW		Brian Gallacher	42	13	39	12	1	1	2	0
	FW		Joe Kennedy	1	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0
	FW		Tommy McGrain	24	2	20+4	2	0	0	0	0
	FW		Mike Rankin	2	1	2	1	0	0	0	0
	FW		Graeme Sharp	36	15	33	15	1	0	2	0

International Cap

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).

Transfers

Amongst those players joining and leaving the club were the following:^[2]

Players in

Player	From	Date
Tommy McGrain	Sligo Rovers	5 Sep 1979
Tom Carson	Vale of Leven	25 Sep 1979
Owen Coyle	Renfrew YM	29 Oct 1979

Players out

Player	To	Date
Don Watt	East Stirling	18 May 1979
Jocky Whiteford	Rutherglen Glencairn	6 Aug 1979
Derek Whiteford	Falkirk	15 Dec 1979
Graeme Sharp	Everton	4 Apr 1980
Graham Fyfe	Pittsburgh Spirit
Hugh McLean	Retired

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.

Factfile

* The League match against Motherwell on 29 September marked Ally Brown's 200th appearance for Dumbarton in all national competitions - the 14th Dumbarton player to break the 'double century'.
* The League match against Hearts on 6 October marked Pat McCluskey's 100th appearance for Dumbarton in all national competitions - the 79th Dumbarton player to reach this milestone.
* The League match against Hamilton on 27 October marked Raymond Blair's 100th appearance for Dumbarton in all national competitions - the 80th Dumbarton player to reach this milestone.
* The League match against Motherwell on 1 December marked Brian Gallacher's 100th appearance for Dumbarton in all national competitions - the 81st Dumbarton player to reach this milestone.
* The fee received of £125,000 for Graeme Sharp's transfer to Everton at the end of the season broke the record set by Murdo MacLeod's departure the previous season.
* Manager Davie Wilson resigned on 4 April and Sean Fallon took over as caretaker until the end of the season - at which time he was confirmed as the manager for the next season.

References

↑ McAllister, Jim (2002). The Sons of the Rock - The Official History of Dumbarton Football Club. Dumbarton: J&J Robertson Printers.
↑ Litster, John. Record of Post-War Scottish League Players. Norwich: PM Publications.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[1] McAllister, Jim (2002). The Sons of the Rock - The Official History of Dumbarton Football Club. Dumbarton: J&J Robertson Printers.

[2] Litster, John. Record of Post-War Scottish League Players. Norwich: PM Publications.

1979–80 in Scottish football
« 1978–79 1980–81 »
Domestic leagues	Football League Premier Division First Division Second Division Highland League
Domestic cups	Scottish Cup (Final) League Cup (Final) Junior Cup
European competitions	European Cup European Cup Winners' Cup UEFA Cup Anglo-Scottish Cup
Related to national team	Results UEFA Euro 1980 qualifying Group 2 British Home Championship
Club seasons
Premier Division	Aberdeen Celtic Dundee Dundee United Hibernian Kilmarnock Morton Partick Thistle Rangers St. Mirren
First Division	Airdrieonians Arbroath Ayr United Berwick Rangers Clyde Clydebank Dunfermline Athletic Dumbarton Hamilton Academical Heart of Midlothian Motherwell Raith Rovers St. Johnstone Stirling Albion
Second Division	Albion Rovers Alloa Athletic Brechin City Cowdenbeath East Fife East Stirlingshire Falkirk Forfar Athletic Meadowbank Thistle Montrose Queen of the South Queen's Park Stenhousemuir Stranraer