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)
← 1938–39 1940–41 →

Due to the outbreak of WW2, there was no 'official' senior football competition in Scotland, with the Scottish Football League and the Scottish Cup both suspended for the duration. Therefore season 1939–40 was the first Scottish football season in which Dumbarton competed in the 'emergency' competitions which were 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 league and cup football should be suspended, the clubs themselves 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 never completed.

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;Shields
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

Scottish 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

Player Statistics

Squad[1]

No. Pos Nat Player TotalWestern Division Emergency Cup
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK Scotland John Hill 6 0 6 0 0 0
GK Scotland William Morrison 1 0 1 0 0 0
GK Scotland Duncan Yuill 26 0 23 0 3 0
DF Scotland James Brown 4 0 4 0 0 0
DF Scotland John Casey 19 1 16 1 3 0
DF Scotland Johnny Soutar 33 0 30 0 3 0
DF Scotland Willie Steel 19 0 19 0 0 0
DF Scotland Kenneth Stewart 2 0 2 0 0 0
MF Scotland John Browning 28 2 25 2 3 0
MF Scotland Robert Fraser 6 0 6 0 0 0
MF Scotland John Mathers 26 4 24 4 2 0
MF Scotland David McLean 18 2 17 2 1 0
MF Scotland Stephen Murray 9 4 9 4 0 0
MF Scotland Fulton Wilson 15 0 13 0 2 0
FW Scotland Bowden 1 0 1 0 0 0
FW Scotland David Collins 24 3 22 3 2 0
FW Scotland David Cowan 2 1 2 1 0 0
FW Scotland Willie Dunn 18 7 15 4 3 3
FW Scotland John Getty 5 0 5 0 0 0
FW Scotland John Lang 14 4 11 2 3 2
FW Scotland John McBride 1 0 1 0 0 0
FW Scotland Willie Mills 7 4 7 4 0 0
FW Scotland Jackie Milne 15 6 14 5 1 1
FW Scotland William Nichol 27 2 24 2 3 0
FW Scotland James Shields 6 5 6 5 0 0
FW Scotland Smith 1 0 1 0 0 0
FW Scotland Bobby Speedie 19 4 17 4 2 0
FW Scotland Alex Stewart 11 7 11 7 0 0

Factfile

* Jimmy Smith gave up the manager's position in May 1940 to join the club board.
* The number of goals conceded in all games during the season was 101, the seventh time the unwanted 'century' had been broken.

See also

References

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

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