1973–74 Dumbarton F.C. season

Dumbarton
1973–1974 season
Manager Alex Wright
Stadium Boghead Park, Dumbarton
Scottish League Division 1 10th
Scottish Cup Fourth Round
Scottish League Cup Second Round
Top goalscorer League: Brian Heron (8)
All: Brian Heron (9)

Season 1973–74 was the 97th football season in which Dumbarton competed at a Scottish national level, entering the Scottish Football League for the 67th time, the Scottish Cup for the 79th time and the Scottish League Cup for the 27th time.

Overview

This was Dumbarton's second successive season competing in Division 1, the objective being to build on the previous season's results, and in particular to avoid any relegation worries. This was certainly achieved, and indeed by mid November there were hopes of European qualification by reaching 6th in the table. However the wins began to dry up which resulted in a slide down the league - but the final position of 10th was the best the club had achieved for over 70 years - and qualification for the Anglo-Scottish sponsored competition, the Texaco Cup the following season - although, as it turned out, this was not to be the case, as there would be a reorganisation of the qualification requirements.

In the Scottish Cup, Dumbarton's interest was short-lived as they lost out to Arbroath in the third round.

In the League Cup, with two wins and a draw from the six sectional games, Dumbarton qualified for the next stage in the competition, where Rangers awaited. A 6-0 thumping in the first leg made the return fixture a formality, although losing by the odd goal in three was something of an achievement.

Locally, in the Stirlingshire Cup, Dumbarton tried hard to retain the trophy they had won in the previous season, but were to lose out to Stirling Albion in the final on penalties, after a drawn game.

Interestingly at the beginning of the season, Dumbarton embarked on a mini overseas tour - the first since 1922 - where they beat Spanish regional side CF Lloret.

Results

Win
Draw
Loss

All results are written with Dumbarton's score first.

Scottish League

DateOpponentVenueResultScorersAttendance
1 September 1973Dundee UnitedH1-2Borland4,500
8 September 1973FalkirkA3-2McAdam,T;McCormack(2)3,000
15 September 1973Ayr UnitedH0-23,500
22 September 1973ArbroathA1-2Wallace2,623
29 September 1973Partick ThistleH2-0Paterson;McAdam,T4,000
6 October 1973East FifeA1-0Paterson2,622
13 October 1973AberdeenH0-14,000
20 October 1973HeartsA0-010,500
27 October 1973ClydeA3-0McCormack;Heron;Coleman2,000
3 November 1973MotherwellH3-0Heron;Bourke;McCormack6,000
10 November 1973DundeeA1-2McAdam,C4,465
17 November 1973St JohnstoneH2-1Heron(2)3,500
24 November 1973CelticH0-29,000
15 December 1973MortonA1-3Heron1,000
22 December 1973RangersH0-27,500
29 December 1973Dundee UnitedA0-63,000
2 January 1974FalkirkH1-5Mathie3,000
5 January 1974Ayr UnitedA1-0Mathie3,500
12 January 1974ArbroathH5-2McAdam,C;Wallace;Mathie(3)2,000
19 January 1974Partick ThistleA0-04,000
9 February 1974AberdeenA0-34,000
16 February 1974East FifeH1-1Mathie3,500
23 February 1974HeartsH0-15,000
9 March 1974ClydeH1-1Wallace2,500
23 March 1974St JohnstoneA3-3Bourke;Heron;McAdam,C2,052
30 March 1974CelticA3-3McAdam,T;McAdam,C;Coleman19,000
6 April 1974HibernianH3-3McAdam,T;McAdam,C;Bourke4,500
9 April 1974MotherwellA0-2
13 April 1974Dunfermline AthleticA2-3McAdam,T;Bourke4,000
17 April 1974HibernianA0-37,859
20 April 1974MortonH1-0Bourke4,500
24 April 1974Dunfermline AthleticH1-0Bourke4,500
27 April 1974RangersA1-3Heron10,000
10 May 1974DundeeH2-0Heron;Bourke

Scottish Cup

DateRdOpponentVenueResultScorersAttendance
26 January 19743ArbroathA0-12,796

Scottish League Cup

DateRdOpponentVenueResultScorersAttendance
11 August 1973PAyr UnitedA0-27,500
15 August 1973PMortonH1-1Heron3,000
18 August 1973PHibernianA0-111,318
22 August 1973PMortonA0-1
25 August 1973PHibernianH4-1Wallace;McAdam,T;Coleman;McCormack4,500
29 August 1973PAyr UnitedH1-0McCormack5,000
12 September 19732(1)RangersA0-625,000
10 October 19732(2)RangersH1-2McCormack

Stirlingshire Cup

DateRdOpponentVenueResultScorersAttendance
1 August 19731ClydebankH3-0Coleman;Mathie(2)
26 March 1974SFEast StirlingA2-2*McAdam,C;Mathie
29 April 1974FStirling AlbionH2-2daggerWallace;McAdam,T

* - won on penalties
dagger - lost on penalties

Other Matches

DateOpponentVenueResultScorersAttendance
7 August 1973SpainCF LloretA5-1Graham;Mathie(2);Bourke;McAdam,T

Appearances

Dumbarton used 26 players for the 43 League, Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup matches, as detailed below. Willie Wallace was the only player to feature in every one of these matches.[1]

Player Position Appearances[2] Goals
Scotland Alan Black DF 10
Scotland Willie Borland FW 4(2)1
Scotland John Bourke FW 14(7)7
Scotland Peter Coleman FW 29(2)2
Scotland John Cushley MF 37(1)
Scotland Johnny Graham MF 21(6)
Scotland Brian Heron FW 30(3)9
Scotland Kenny Jenkins FW 6(6)1
Scotland Ross Mathie FW 12(5)6
Scotland Colin McAdam DF 18(3)5
Scotland Tom McAdam FW 23(6)6
Scotland Roy McCormack FW 327
Scotland Jim McIntyre FW 0(1)
Scotland Allan McKay DF 16(2)
Scotland Peter McQuade DF 11
Scotland Gordon Menzies MF 30
Scotland Terry Mullen DF 8(1)
Scotland John Paterson FW 18(2)2
Scotland Denis Ruddy MF 30(2)
Scotland John Taylor GK 16
Scotland Willie Wallace FW 414
Scotland Don Watt DF 18(1)
Scotland Billy Wilkinson DF 22
Scotland Laurie Williams GK 27

Reserve Team

Dumbarton competed in the Scottish Reserve League, and with 12 wins and 6 draws from 34 matches, finished 12th of 18 for the second successive season.

Dumbarton again entered the Scottish Second XI Cup, and again reached the third round where Celtic were to prove too good on the day by four goals to none.

For the first time, Dumbarton entered the Scottish Reserve League Cup, and after qualifying from their section with 4 wins and a draw from 6 games, they eventually lost out to Partick Thistle in a two-legged semi final.

See also

References

  1. McAllister, Jim (2002). The Sons of the Rock - The Official History of Dumbarton Football Club. Dumbarton: J&J Robertson Printers.
  2. Substitute appearances in brackets.

External links

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