1980–81 Dumbarton F.C. season

Dumbarton
1980–1981 season
Manager Sean Fallon
Stadium Boghead Park, Dumbarton
Scottish League Division 1 8th
Scottish Cup Fourth Round
Scottish League Cup First Round
Top goalscorer League: Brian Gallacher (13)
All: Brian Gallacher (14)
← 1979–80 1981–82 →

Season 1980–81 was the 104th 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 86th time and the Scottish League Cup for the 34th time.

Overview

For the sixth year running, Dumbarton played league football in Division 1, and with Sean Fallon taking over the manager's post, there was some confidence that this season could see a top two finish. However, despite a promising start, results were mixed, and it was clear by the beginning of the year that any hopes of promotion had gone. Indeed, things may have been worse had there not been an unbeaten run in the final 6 games, and in the end Dumbarton finished in 8th place with 37 points, 20 behind champions Hibernian.

In the Scottish Cup, Dumbarton beat Premier Division opponents St Mirren in the third round before losing a close encounter in the next round to fellow Division 1 team Motherwell.

It was the same old story however in the League Cup, where Dumbarton lost in the first round, this time to Raith Rovers.

Locally, however, in the Stirlingshire Cup, there was something to cheer, with the silverware returning to Boghead after a final win over Stirling Albion.

Of note during the season was the amazing attempt to sign Johan Cruyff on a match-to-match basis. The £1,500 per match offer was eventually declined in favour of a £1.5 million contract from the USA.

The disappointing season was in the end to result in Sean Fallon's resignation as manager.

Results

Win
Draw
Loss

All results are written with Dumbarton's score first.

Scottish League

DateOpponentVenueResultScorersAttendance
9 August 1980FalkirkA5-0Brown;MacLeod;Rankin;Blair(2)
16 August 1980St JohnstoneH0-31,000
23 August 1980ClydebankA4-1Gallacher,B;Blair(2);Coyle,J2,000
6 September 1980HamiltonA1-1Rankin2,000
9 September 1980Dunfermline AthleticA1-1Brown2,400
13 September 1980East StirlingH2-2Gallacher,B;MacLeod
17 September 1980Berwick RangersH2-0MacLeod;Coyle,J
20 September 1980Raith RoversA1-4Coyle,J1,600
27 September 1980MotherwellH1-2Gallacher,B1,000
1 October 1980HibernianH2-0Gallacher,B;Rankin2,500
4 October 1980DundeeA1-3OG3,553
11 October 1980Stirling AlbionA1-0Donnelly700
18 October 1980Ayr UnitedH0-11,000
25 October 1980East StirlingA1-2Gallacher,B550
1 November 1980HamiltonH2-1Gallacher,B(2)550
8 November 1980Berwick RangersA2-2Donnelly;Brown759
15 November 1980Raith RoversH2-2Donnelly;McGowan,P750
22 November 1980MotherwellA2-4Jackson;OG2,223
29 November 1980DundeeH1-2Gallacher,B800
6 December 1980Stirling AlbionH2-0Clougherty;Gallacher,B250
13 December 1980Ayr UnitedA0-01,875
20 December 1980Dunfermline AthleticH1-0Gallacher,B400
27 December 1980St JohnstoneA0-2
1 January 1981ClydebankH1-1Brown
3 January 1981HibernianA0-15,546
10 January 1981FalkirkH0-1400
31 January 1981East StirlingH1-0MacLeod
7 February 1981Raith RoversA0-1
21 February 1981Berwick RangersH1-1Donnelly400
11 March 1981DundeeA1-2Gallacher,J2,812
14 March 1981Stirling AlbionA0-0500
21 March 1981HibernianH1-4Rankin913
28 March 1981St JohnstoneA1-2Gallacher,B2,476
4 April 1981HamiltonH2-1Gallacher,B;Brown400
8 April 1981MotherwellH0-01,000
11 April 1981FalkirkA3-1Brown;Blair(2)
18 April 1981Dunfermline AthleticH2-1Brown;Gallacher,B450
25 April 1981Ayr UnitedA2-1Blair(2)998
2 May 1981ClydebankA0-0300

Scottish Cup

DateRdOpponentVenueResultScorersAttendance
24 January 19813St MirrenA2-0Donnelly;Coyle,J6,209
14 February 19814MotherwellA1-2Coyle,J

Scottish League Cup

DateRdOpponentVenueResultScorersAttendance
27 August 19801(1)Raith RoversH0-1600
30 August 19801(2)Raith RoversA1-1Gallacher,B1,750

Stirlingshire Cup

DateRdOpponentVenueResultScorersAttendance
13 October 19801FalkirkA2-1Kennedy;McGowan,P
14 April 1981SFStenhousemuirH3-0Brown;unknown(2)
29 April 1981FStirling AlbionH3-0unknown

Other Matches

DateOpponentVenueResultScorersAttendance
5 August 1980EnglandCoventry CityH0-6800
6 March 1981CelticH0-2

Appearances

Dumbarton used 29 players for the 43 League, Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup matches, as detailed below. Alistair MacLeod was best by starting in every one of these matches.[1]

Player Position Appearances[2] Goals
Scotland Steve Armstrong FW 0(2)
Scotland Raymond Blair FW 24(8)8
Scotland George Brannigan MF 1
Scotland Ally Brown FW 257
Scotland Rob Campbell DF 11(5)
Scotland Tom Carson GK 37
Scotland Mark Clougherty MF 341
Scotland Joe Coyle FW 305
Scotland Tommy Coyle MF 32(1)
Scotland John Donnelly FW 16(2)5
Scotland Brian Gallacher FW 3714
Scotland John Gallacher MF 271
Scotland Ian Gibson FW 0(3)
Scotland Donald Hunter GK 6
Scotland Billy Hutchinson MF 3
Scotland Dave Jackson MF 7(1)1
Scotland Joe Kennedy FW 4(3)
Scotland John Mailer FW 11
Scotland Gerry Marshall FW 1(2)
Scotland Jim Martin MF 6(9)
Scotland Martin McGowan DF 0(1)
Scotland Pat McGowan FW 23(4)2
Scotland Tommy McGrain FW 26(2)
Scotland Ally MacLeod MF 434
Scotland Donald McNeil MF 2
Scotland Joe O'Donnell DF 1
Scotland Mike Rankin FW 26(6)4
Scotland Graeme Sinclair MF 40
Scotland Sean Sweeney FW 0(1)

Reserve Team

Dumbarton competed in the Scottish Reserve League First Division (West), winning 6 and drawing 6 of 26 games - finishing 11th of 14.

In the Scottish Second XI Cup, Dumbarton again lost to Dundee United in the fourth round, and in the Reserve League Cup, Dumbarton lost to Partick Thistle in the first round.

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

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/8/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.