1939–40 Dumbarton F.C. season

Dumbarton
1939–1940 season
Manager Jimmy Smith
Stadium Boghead Park, Dumbarton
Scottish Western Division 16th
War Emergency Cup Second Round
Top goalscorer League: Alex Stewart (7)
All: Alex Stewart (7)
← 1937–38 1940–41 →

Season 1939–40 was the 63rd Scottish football season in which Dumbarton competed at national level. Due to the outbreak of WW2, the Scottish Football League and the Scottish Cup were suspended for the duration, with 'emergency' competitions arranged by the clubs themselves.

Overview

Four games into the new season, Britain was at war with Nazi Germany and all official Scottish football competition would be suspended for its duration. However, in October 1939, while the Scottish football authorities had decided that official legaue and cup football should be suspended, the clubs themeselves wanted competitive football to continue in some form and arranged for two regional leagues of 16 teams each to be played, with Dumbarton playing in the Western Division – along with the likes of Celtic, Rangers etc. – teams they had not played since being relegated in 1922. Players registrations were effectively cancelled and wages fixed at £2 per week which meant that players were free to sign for clubs local to their war work as 'guest players'. However, as most of the First Division players were already contracted to play for their opponents it was no surprise that in this first season Dumbarton finished bottom (16th out of 16) with 18 points – 30 behind champions Rangers.

In place of the Scottish Cup, a War Emergency Cup was established, to be played for by all the teams competing in the regional leagues. Dumbarton reached the second round before losing to Airdrie.

Elsewhere, while the Dumbartonshire Cup competition had been discontinued some years earlier, during the weeks between the suspension of the Scottish League and the start of the regional leagues, Dumbarton played Vale of Leven (now a junior football side) for custody of the trophy, and the senior team duly won the day.

In addition, following the demise of the Dumbartonshire Association, Dumbarton had been accepted as members of the Stirlingshire Association, and took part for the first time in the Stirlingshire Cup. Dumbarton were knocked out at the semi final stage by Falkirk, although the competition was not completed.

Note that Jimmy Smith was appointed manager in January 1939, but gave up the position in May 1940 to join the club board.

In addition, the number of goals conceded in all games during the season was 101, the seventh time the 'century' had been broken.

Results

Win
Draw
Loss

All results are written with Dumbarton's score first.

Scottish Western Division

DateOpponentVenueResultScorersAttendance
21 October 1939Queen's ParkH1–3Cowan4,000
28 October 1939KilmarnockA0–53,000
4 November 1939Albion RoversH4–1Browning;Murray;Mills;Speedie5,000
11 November 1939ClydeA3–3Murray(2);Mills4,000
18 November 1939HamiltonH1–2Lang6,000
25 November 1939RangersA1–2Murray
2 December 1939AirdrieA2–3Dunn;Mills
9 December 1939Ayr UnitedH2–1Dunn;Mills1,500
16 December 1939MotherwellA1–5Mathers2,500
23 December 1939CelticH1–5Mathers7,000
30 December 1939Partick ThistleA4–0Collins(2);Nichol;Dunn4,000
1 January 1940MortonH3–2Milne(2);Speedie
2 January 1940Queen of the SouthA1–3Milne
6 January 1940St MirrenH3–2Mathers;Speedie;Milne3,500
10 February 1940ClydeH1–2Browning3,000
17 February 1940HamiltonA2–4Collins;Milne
16 March 1940MotherwellH0–12,000
23 March 1940CelticA0–4
27 March 1940Third LanarkA2–3Lang;Speedie
30 March 1940Partick ThistleH0–02,000
2 April 1940Queen's ParkA1–4McLean4,000
6 April 1940MortonA0–5
10 April 1940KilmarnockH2–2Mathers;Dunn
13 April 1940Queen of the SouthH1–3Stewart,A2,000
17 April 1940Albion RoversA1–3Stewart,A
20 April 1940St MirrenA2–1Casey;Sheilds
24 April 1940RangersH2–3Stewart,A(2)2,500
27 April 1940Third LanarkH3–2Shields(2);Stewart,A2,000
4 May 1940AirdrieH0–11,800
11 May 1940Ayr UnitedA4–4Shields(2);Stewart,A(2)7,000

War Emergency Cup

DateRdOpponentVenueResultScorersAttendance
24 February 19401(1)ArbroathH4–3Lang(2);Dunn;Milne4,500
2 March 19401(2)ArbroathA2–0Dunn(2)2,150
9 March 19402AirdrieH0–25,500

Dumbartonshire Cup

DateRdOpponentVenueResultScorersAttendance
30 September 1939FVale of LevenH4–2McBride(2);Nichol;OG

Stirlingshire Cup

DateRdOpponentVenueResultScorersAttendance
16 August 19391Falkirk AmateursH9–1Cowan(3);Nichol(2);Getty(2);Nesbit;unknown2,000
7 October 1939SFFalkirkA2–3Nichol;McLean4,000

Other Matches

DateOpponentVenueResultScorersAttendance
12 August 1939Leith AthleticA2–1Nichol;Getty
19 August 1939East FifeH3–3Cowan;McBride;Nichol5,500
26 August 1939DundeeA1–3McBride
2 September 1939Edinburgh CityH3–2Cowan(3)3,000
14 October 1939RangersH4–3Nichol(2);Lang;Speedie3,000

Appearances

Dumbarton used 27 players for the 33 League and Emergency Cup matches, as detailed below. Johnny Soutar was the olny player to feature in all of these matches. Note that an unnamed trialist played in one match.[1]

Player Position[2] Appearances Goals
Scotland James Brown DF 4
Scotland John Browning MF 282
Scotland John Casey MF 191
Scotland David Collins FW 243
Scotland David Cowan FW 21
Scotland Willie Dunn FW 187
Scotland Robert Fraser MF 6
Scotland John Getty FW 5
Scotland John Hill GK 6
Scotland John Lang FW 144
Scotland John Mathers MF 264
Scotland John McBride FW 1
Scotland David McLean MF 182
Scotland Willie Mills FW 74
Scotland Jackie Milne FW 156
Scotland William Morrison GK 1
Scotland Stephen Murray[3] MF 94
Scotland William Nichol FW 272
Scotland James Shields FW 65
Scotland Smith FW 1
Scotland Johnny Soutar DF 33
Scotland Bobbie Speedie FW 194
Scotland Willie Steel DF 19
Scotland Alex Stewart FW 117
Scotland Kenneth Stewart DF 2
Scotland T Fulton Wilson MF 15
Scotland Duncan Yuill GK 26

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. ↑ The usual formation would be 2–3–5 (two defenders, three midfielders and five forwards).
  3. ↑ The league match against Clyde on 10 February marked Stephen Murray's 100th appearance for the club in all national competitions.

External links

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