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)
← 1972–73 1974–75 →

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

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance
1 September 1973	Dundee United	H	1-2	Borland	4,500
8 September 1973	Falkirk	A	3-2	McAdam,T;McCormack(2)	3,000
15 September 1973	Ayr United	H	0-2		3,500
22 September 1973	Arbroath	A	1-2	Wallace	2,623
29 September 1973	Partick Thistle	H	2-0	Paterson;McAdam,T	4,000
6 October 1973	East Fife	A	1-0	Paterson	2,622
13 October 1973	Aberdeen	H	0-1		4,000
20 October 1973	Hearts	A	0-0		10,500
27 October 1973	Clyde	A	3-0	McCormack;Heron;Coleman	2,000
3 November 1973	Motherwell	H	3-0	Heron;Bourke;McCormack	6,000
10 November 1973	Dundee	A	1-2	McAdam,C	4,465
17 November 1973	St Johnstone	H	2-1	Heron(2)	3,500
24 November 1973	Celtic	H	0-2		9,000
15 December 1973	Morton	A	1-3	Heron	1,000
22 December 1973	Rangers	H	0-2		7,500
29 December 1973	Dundee United	A	0-6		3,000
2 January 1974	Falkirk	H	1-5	Mathie	3,000
5 January 1974	Ayr United	A	1-0	Mathie	3,500
12 January 1974	Arbroath	H	5-2	McAdam,C;Wallace;Mathie(3)	2,000
19 January 1974	Partick Thistle	A	0-0		4,000
9 February 1974	Aberdeen	A	0-3		4,000
16 February 1974	East Fife	H	1-1	Mathie	3,500
23 February 1974	Hearts	H	0-1		5,000
9 March 1974	Clyde	H	1-1	Wallace	2,500
23 March 1974	St Johnstone	A	3-3	Bourke;Heron;McAdam,C	2,052
30 March 1974	Celtic	A	3-3	McAdam,T;McAdam,C;Coleman	19,000
6 April 1974	Hibernian	H	3-3	McAdam,T;McAdam,C;Bourke	4,500
9 April 1974	Motherwell	A	0-2
13 April 1974	Dunfermline Athletic	A	2-3	McAdam,T;Bourke	4,000
17 April 1974	Hibernian	A	0-3		7,859
20 April 1974	Morton	H	1-0	Bourke	4,500
24 April 1974	Dunfermline Athletic	H	1-0	Bourke	4,500
27 April 1974	Rangers	A	1-3	Heron	10,000
10 May 1974	Dundee	H	2-0	Heron;Bourke

Scottish Cup

Date	Rd	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance
26 January 1974	3	Arbroath	A	0-1		2,796

Scottish League Cup

Date	Rd	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance
11 August 1973	P	Ayr United	A	0-2		7,500
15 August 1973	P	Morton	H	1-1	Heron	3,000
18 August 1973	P	Hibernian	A	0-1		11,318
22 August 1973	P	Morton	A	0-1
25 August 1973	P	Hibernian	H	4-1	Wallace;McAdam,T;Coleman;McCormack	4,500
29 August 1973	P	Ayr United	H	1-0	McCormack	5,000
12 September 1973	2(1)	Rangers	A	0-6		25,000
10 October 1973	2(2)	Rangers	H	1-2	McCormack

Stirlingshire Cup

Date	Rd	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance
1 August 1973	1	Clydebank	H	3-0	Coleman;Mathie(2)
26 March 1974	SF	East Stirling	A	2-2*	McAdam,C;Mathie
29 April 1974	F	Stirling Albion	H	2-2	Wallace;McAdam,T

* - won on penalties
- lost on penalties

Other Matches

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance
7 August 1973	CF Lloret	A	5-1	Graham;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
Alan Black	DF	10
Willie Borland	FW	4(2)	1
John Bourke	FW	14(7)	7
Peter Coleman	FW	29(2)	2
John Cushley	MF	37(1)
Johnny Graham	MF	21(6)
Brian Heron	FW	30(3)	9
Kenny Jenkins	FW	6(6)	1
Ross Mathie	FW	12(5)	6
Colin McAdam	DF	18(3)	5
Tom McAdam	FW	23(6)	6
Roy McCormack	FW	32	7
Jim McIntyre	FW	0(1)
Allan McKay	DF	16(2)
Peter McQuade	DF	11
Gordon Menzies	MF	30
Terry Mullen	DF	8(1)
John Paterson	FW	18(2)	2
Denis Ruddy	MF	30(2)
John Taylor	GK	16
Willie Wallace	FW	41	4
Don Watt	DF	18(1)
Billy Wilkinson	DF	22
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

• 1973–74 in Scottish football

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

• Scottish Football Historical Archive