1983–84 Dumbarton F.C. season

Dumbarton
1983–1984 season
Manager	Billy Lamont/ Davie Wilson
Stadium	Boghead Park, Dumbarton
Scottish League Division 1	2nd
Scottish Cup	Fourth Round
Scottish League Cup	First Round
Top goalscorer	League: Joe Coyle (14); All: Joe Coyle (15)
Highest home attendance	3,000
Lowest home attendance	400
Average home league attendance	1,200
	← 1982–83 1984–85 →

Season 1983–84 was the 100th football season in which Dumbarton competed at a Scottish national level, entering the Scottish Football League for the 78th time, the Scottish Cup for the 89th time and the Scottish League Cup for the 37th time.

Overview

At the ninth time of asking, and in what was the club's 100th year of competitive football, Dumbarton managed to achieve that elusive promotion and a place in next season's Premier Division, although it was not to prove to be all 'plain sailing'. Indeed, after 6 games, with 3 wins it was looking like another average 'middle of the table' campaign. However an unbeaten run of 12 games was to follow changing the club's fortunes and Dumbarton were suddenly right up there with the 'front runners' - and then disaster struck! Billy Lamont resigned his managerial post to take up the reins at fellow Division 1 club Falkirk. Credit to Dumbarton that they had a new manager in Davie Wilson in place within two weeks, and the club guaranteed promotion with 2 games to play, although they were unable to catch champions Morton, who finished 3 points ahead.

In the Scottish Cup, after a fine win over Raith Rovers, Dumbarton lost to Division 1 'champions in waiting', Morton in the fourth round.

The League Cup format was again reorganised, with a first round being played before sectional games were introduced. However the first tie against Premier Division Hibernian was to prove too much of a hurdle to get over.

Locally, in the Stirlingshire Cup, Dumbarton released their grip on the trophy with a loss in the first round to Alloa.

Results & fixtures

^[1] Win Draw Loss

Scottish First Division

20 August 1983 First Division	Dumbarton	2–0	Clydebank	Boghead Park
	Coyle,T 35'			Attendance: 1,789 Referee: A McMonigle

3 September 1983 First Division	Ayr United	1–2	Dumbarton	Somerset Park
	McNaughton		Bourke 1' Coyle,J 33' (pen.)	Attendance: 1,015 Referee: W McLeish

10 September 1983 First Division	Dumbarton	0–1	Partick Thistle	Boghead Park
			Doyle 44'	Attendance: 2,000 Referee: M Delaney

14 September 1983 First Division	Dumbarton	1–2	Brechin City	Boghead Park
	McGowan,P		Fleming Eadie	Attendance: 450

17 September 1983 First Division	Meadowbank Thistle	0–2	Dumbarton	Meadowbank Stadium
			Bourke Coyle,J	Attendance: 450

24 September 1983 First Division	Falkirk	4–1	Dumbarton	Brockville Park
	Grant 16' Irvine 44' Houston		Coyle,J	Attendance: 1,200 Referee: B McGinlay

28 September 1983 First Division	Dumbarton	2–0	Hamilton	Boghead Park
	Coyle,J 46' (pen.) Ashwood 77'			Attendance: 400

1 October 1983 First Division	Dumbarton	2–1	Raith Rovers	Boghead Park
	McNeil 11' Ashwood 52'		Kerr 4'	Attendance: 550 Referee: A McGunnigle

8 October 1983 First Division	Morton	2–2	Dumbarton	Cappielow Park
	Robertson 3' Clinging 7'		Bourke 29', 33'	Attendance: 1,500 Referee: A Huett

15 October 1983 First Division	Dumbarton	1–0	Clyde	Boghead Park
	Ashwood 32'			Attendance: 500 Referee: J Renton

22 October 1983 First Division	Kilmarnock	2–2	Dumbarton	Rugby Park
	McDicken Bryson		Ashwood McNeil	Attendance: 1,500 Referee: H Williamson

29 October 1983 First Division	Dumbarton	1–1	Alloa Athletic	Boghead Park
	Ashwood		Purdie 44'	Attendance: 700 Referee: W Crombie

5 November 1983 First Division	Airdrie	1–1	Dumbarton	Broomfield Park
	Sinclair		Bourke 1'	Attendance: 1,100 Referee: D Downie

12 November 1983 First Division	Brechin City	2–3	Dumbarton	Glebe Park, Brechin
	Elvin 14' Hyslop		Coyle,J 26' (pen.) Coyle,T 33'	Attendance: 700 Referee: D Galloway

19 November 1983 First Division	Dumbarton	0–0	Meadowbank Thistle	Boghead Park
				Attendance: 600 Referee: B Robertson

26 November 1983 First Division	Dumbarton	1–1	Morton	Boghead Park
	Ashwood		Robertson 5'	Attendance: 1,500 Referee: H Young

3 December 1983 First Division	Raith Rovers	1–3	Dumbarton	Starks Park
	Smith		Ashwood 32' Bourke Coyle,J	Attendance: 750

10 December 1983 First Division	Dumbarton	3–0	Falkirk	Boghead Park
	McGowan,M Coyle,J			Attendance: 1,500

17 December 1983 First Division	Hamilton	4–1	Dumbarton	Douglas Park
	Forsyth Hutchenson (pen.) McNaught Kean		Ashwood	Attendance: 940

26 December 1983 First Division	Partick Thistle	1–0	Dumbarton	Firhill Park
	Buckley			Attendance: 3,821

31 December 1983 First Division	Dumbarton	2–1	Ayr United	Boghead Park
	Bourke 40' Montgomerie		Connor	Attendance: 1,250 Referee: R Cathcart

2 January 1984 First Division	Clydebank	0–2	Dumbarton	Kilbowie Park
			Coyle,J (pen.) Robertson	Attendance: 1,040

7 January 1984 First Division	Dumbarton	4–3	Kilmarnock	Boghead Park
	Coyle,T 21' Ashwood 26' Bourke 28' Coyle,J		McClurg 32', 46' McGivern	Attendance: 1,000 Referee: D Syme

4 February 1984 First Division	Dumbarton	4–2	Airdrie	Boghead Park
	Robertson Crawley Coyle,J (OG)		Flood 30' Yule 33'	Attendance: 1,000 Referee: W Crombie

11 February 1984 First Division	Hamilton	3–3	Dumbarton	Douglas Park
	Phillips Forsyth 40'		Bourke 2' McNeil 47' Robertson	Attendance: 1,015 Referee: T Muirhead

21 February 1984 First Division	Alloa Athletic	1–0	Dumbarton	Recreation Park, Alloa
	Paterson 18'			Attendance: 459

25 February 1984 First Division	Dumbarton	3–1	Raith Rovers	Boghead Park
	Bourke 8' Craig 42'		Marshall 15'	Attendance: 750 Referee: G Smith

29 February 1984 First Division	Clyde	0–0	Dumbarton	Shawfield Stadium
				Attendance: 970

3 March 1984 First Division	Dumbarton	2–0	Falkirk	Boghead Park
	Ashwood 57' Coyle,J 59'			Attendance: 1,050 Referee: B Robertson

10 March 1984 First Division	Kilmarnock	0–0	Dumbarton	Rugby Park
				Attendance: 1,140 Referee: D Yeats

17 March 1984 First Division	Dumbarton	3–0	Meadowbank Thistle	Boghead Park
	Bourke 16', 33' Robertson 35'			Attendance: 1,200 Referee: K Hope

24 March 1984 First Division	Partick Thistle	0–0	Dumbarton	Firhill Park
				Attendance: 4,156 Referee: H Alexander

31 March 1984 First Division	Dumbarton	2–0	Alloa Athletic	Boghead Park
	Ashwood 13' McCaig			Attendance: 1,000 Referee: A Ferguson

7 April 1984 First Division	Dumbarton	2–1	Clydebank	Boghead Park
	McCaig 8' Coyle,T		Given 40' (pen.)	Attendance: 978 Referee: T Muirhead

14 April 1984 First Division	Morton	2–0	Dumbarton	Cappielow Park
	Rooney 25' Doak			Attendance: 3,850 Referee: J Duncan

21 April 1984 First Division	Brechin City	0–3	Dumbarton	Glebe Park, Brechin
			Coyle,T 34' Coyle,J McCaig	Attendance: 700 Referee: A Waddell

28 April 1984 First Division	Dumbarton	2–2	Clyde	Boghead Park
	Craig Coyle,T		Docherty 30' Deans	Attendance: 2,900 Referee: L Thow

5 May 1984 First Division	Airdrie	1–4	Dumbarton	Broomfield Park
	Fairlie 10'		Craig 15' Walsh 17' Ashwood	Attendance: 2,000 Referee: D Galloway

12 May 1984 First Division	Dumbarton	0–3	Ayr United	Boghead Park
			Connor 39', 45' McNally	Attendance: 3,000 Referee: D Downie

Scottish League Cup

24 August 1983 League Cup R1(1)	Hibernian	5–0	Dumbarton	Easter Road
	Irvine Clougherty (OG) Thomson			Attendance: 2,193

27 August 1983 League Cup R1(2)	Dumbarton	1–2 (1–7 agg.)	Hibernian	Boghead Park
	McGrogan		Irvine 9' Conroy	Attendance: 760 Referee: B Robertson

Scottish Cup

6 February 1984 Cup R3	Raith Rovers	1–4	Dumbarton	Starks Park
	Smith		Ashwood Bourke Coyle,J	Attendance: 1,950

18 February 1984 Cup R4	Morton	2–1	Dumbarton	Cappielow Park
	Pettigrew 43'		Craig 41'	Attendance: 3,383 Referee: L Thow

Stirlingshire Cup

10 August 1983 First Round	Alloa Athletic	3–2	Dumbarton	Recreation Park, Alloa
	Paterson Cole Thompson		McCaig McGrogan

Pre-season matches

8 August 1983 Friendly	Dumbarton	1–3	Hartlepool United	Boghead Park

17 August 1983 Friendly	Dumbarton	1–0	Celtic XI	Boghead Park
	McGowan,P

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Morton (C, P)	39	21	12	6	75	46	+29	54	Promotion to the Premier Division
2	Dumbarton (P)	39	20	11	8	66	44	+22	51	Promotion to the Premier Division
3	Partick Thistle	39	19	8	12	67	50	+17	46
4	Clydebank	39	16	13	10	62	50	+12	45
5	Brechin City	39	14	14	11	56	58	−2	42

Source: RSSSF^{[dead link‍]} and statto^[2]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted

Player statistics

Squad

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		First Division		Scottish Cup		League Cup
No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
	GK	SCO	Tom Carson	40	0	37	0	1	0	2	0
	GK	SCO	Jim Stewart	3	0	2	0	1	0	0	0
	DF	SCO	Martin McGowan	35	1	34	1	1	0	0	0
	DF	SCO	Ray Montgomerie	43	1	39	1	2	0	2	0
	MF	SCO	Albert Burnett	14	0	8+4	0	1	0	1	0
	MF	SCO	Joe Carson	5	0	5	0	0	0	0	0
	MF	SCO	Mark Clougherty	41	0	38	0	2	0	1	0
	MF	SCO	Tommy Coyle	43	7	38+1	7	2	0	2	0
	MF	SCO	Albert Craig	30	5	21+5	4	0+2	1	2	0
	MF	SCO	Jim Hughes	2	0	0+1	0	0	0	0+1	0
	MF	SCO	Dave McCaig	32	3	10+19	3	0+1	0	1+1	0
	MF	SCO	Donald McNeil	36	3	31+1	3	2	0	2	0
	MF	SCO	Stuart Robertson	28	4	23+3	4	2	0	0	0
	MF	SCO	David Stevenson	5	0	1+2	0	0	0	2	0
	FW	SCO	Kenny Ashwood	33	15	31	13	2	2	0	0
	FW	SCO	John Bourke	38	14	34	13	2	1	1+1	0
	FW	SCO	Joe Coyle	41	15	39	14	2	1	0	0
	FW	SCO	Gerry Crawley	29	1	19+6	1	2	0	2	0
	FW	SCO	Pat McGowan	23	1	14+7	1	0	0	2	0
	FW	SCO	Joe McGrogan	9	1	2+6	0	0	0	1	1
	FW	SCO	Allan Moore	5	0	2+2	0	0	0	0+1	0
	FW	SCO	Martin Walsh	2	1	1+1	1	0	0	0	0

^[3]

Transfers

Amongst those players joining and leaving the club were the following:^[4]

Players in

Player	From	Date
Gerry Crawley	Queen's Park	26 Jul 1983
Allan Moore	Possilpark YMCA	6 Aug 1983
Joe Coyle	Airdrie	17 Aug 1983
Stuart Robertson	Doncaster Rovers	16 Sep 1983
Kenny Ashwood	Falkirk	27 Sep 1983
Joe Carson	Motherwell	24 Mar 1984

Players out

Player	To	Date
Ally Brown	Stirling Albion	23 Jul 1983
Mick Dunlop	Queen of the South	9 Aug 1983
David Stevenson	Falkirk	8 Oct 1983
Mike Rankin	Amateur	2 Dec 1983

Reserve team

Dumbarton competed in the Scottish Reserve League First Division (West), which was split into winter and spring series.

In the first series, of 12 fixtures, 6 were won and 3 drawn - and Dumbarton finished 5th of 13. In the second series, 4 games were won and 2 drawn of 10 ties - but the league was never completed.

Trivia

Between the league game against Raith Rovers on 25 February and the league game against Clydebank on 7 April, Tom Carson did not concede a single goal - a record of 655 minutes.
The League match against Hamilton on 11 February marked Pat McGowan's 100th appearance for Dumbarton in all national competitions - the 88th Dumbarton player to reach this milestone.
The League match against Raith Rovers on 25 February marked Donald McNeil's 200th appearance for Dumbarton in all national competitions - the 17th Dumbarton player to break the 'double century'.

References

^ McAllister, Jim (2002). The Sons of the Rock - The Official History of Dumbarton Football Club. Dumbarton: J&J Robertson Printers.
^ "Scottish Division One 1983-1984 Season Summary". statto.com. Archived from the original on 19 December 2014. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
^ 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

Scottish Football Historical Archive

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

[2] "Scottish Division One 1983-1984 Season Summary". statto.com. Archived from the original on 19 December 2014. Retrieved 10 April 2012.

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

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

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v t e 1983–84 in Scottish football
« 1982–83 1984–85 »
Domestic leagues	Football League Premier Division First Division Second Division Highland League
Domestic cups	Scottish Cup Final League Cup Final Junior Cup Tennent's Sixes
European competitions	European Cup European Cup Winners' Cup UEFA Cup European Super Cup
Related to national team	Results Euro 1984 qualifying (Group 1) British Home Championship
Club seasons
Premier Division	Aberdeen Celtic Dundee Dundee United Heart of Midlothian Hibernian Motherwell Rangers St. Johnstone St. Mirren
First Division	Airdrieonians Alloa Athletic Ayr United Brechin City Clyde Clydebank Dumbarton Falkirk Hamilton Academical Kilmarnock Meadowbank Thistle Morton Partick Thistle Raith Rovers
Second Division	Albion Rovers Arbroath Berwick Rangers Cowdenbeath Dunfermline Athletic East Fife East Stirlingshire Forfar Athletic Montrose Queen's Park Queen of the South Stenhousemuir Stirling Albion Stranraer