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

Main article: 1980–81 Scottish Football League

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance
9 August 1980	Falkirk	A	5-0	Brown;MacLeod;Rankin;Blair(2)
16 August 1980	St Johnstone	H	0-3		1,000
23 August 1980	Clydebank	A	4-1	Gallacher,B;Blair(2);Coyle,J	2,000
6 September 1980	Hamilton	A	1-1	Rankin	2,000
9 September 1980	Dunfermline Athletic	A	1-1	Brown	2,400
13 September 1980	East Stirling	H	2-2	Gallacher,B;MacLeod
17 September 1980	Berwick Rangers	H	2-0	MacLeod;Coyle,J
20 September 1980	Raith Rovers	A	1-4	Coyle,J	1,600
27 September 1980	Motherwell	H	1-2	Gallacher,B	1,000
1 October 1980	Hibernian	H	2-0	Gallacher,B;Rankin	2,500
4 October 1980	Dundee	A	1-3	OG	3,553
11 October 1980	Stirling Albion	A	1-0	Donnelly	700
18 October 1980	Ayr United	H	0-1		1,000
25 October 1980	East Stirling	A	1-2	Gallacher,B	550
1 November 1980	Hamilton	H	2-1	Gallacher,B(2)	550
8 November 1980	Berwick Rangers	A	2-2	Donnelly;Brown	759
15 November 1980	Raith Rovers	H	2-2	Donnelly;McGowan,P	750
22 November 1980	Motherwell	A	2-4	Jackson;OG	2,223
29 November 1980	Dundee	H	1-2	Gallacher,B	800
6 December 1980	Stirling Albion	H	2-0	Clougherty;Gallacher,B	250
13 December 1980	Ayr United	A	0-0		1,875
20 December 1980	Dunfermline Athletic	H	1-0	Gallacher,B	400
27 December 1980	St Johnstone	A	0-2
1 January 1981	Clydebank	H	1-1	Brown
3 January 1981	Hibernian	A	0-1		5,546
10 January 1981	Falkirk	H	0-1		400
31 January 1981	East Stirling	H	1-0	MacLeod
7 February 1981	Raith Rovers	A	0-1
21 February 1981	Berwick Rangers	H	1-1	Donnelly	400
11 March 1981	Dundee	A	1-2	Gallacher,J	2,812
14 March 1981	Stirling Albion	A	0-0		500
21 March 1981	Hibernian	H	1-4	Rankin	913
28 March 1981	St Johnstone	A	1-2	Gallacher,B	2,476
4 April 1981	Hamilton	H	2-1	Gallacher,B;Brown	400
8 April 1981	Motherwell	H	0-0		1,000
11 April 1981	Falkirk	A	3-1	Brown;Blair(2)
18 April 1981	Dunfermline Athletic	H	2-1	Brown;Gallacher,B	450
25 April 1981	Ayr United	A	2-1	Blair(2)	998
2 May 1981	Clydebank	A	0-0		300

Scottish Cup

Main article: 1980–81 Scottish Cup

Date	Rd	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance
24 January 1981	3	St Mirren	A	2-0	Donnelly;Coyle,J	6,209
14 February 1981	4	Motherwell	A	1-2	Coyle,J

Scottish League Cup

Main article: 1980–81 Scottish League Cup

Date	Rd	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance
27 August 1980	1(1)	Raith Rovers	H	0-1		600
30 August 1980	1(2)	Raith Rovers	A	1-1	Gallacher,B	1,750

Stirlingshire Cup

Date	Rd	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance
13 October 1980	1	Falkirk	A	2-1	Kennedy;McGowan,P
14 April 1981	SF	Stenhousemuir	H	3-0	Brown;unknown(2)
29 April 1981	F	Stirling Albion	H	3-0	unknown

Other Matches

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance
5 August 1980	Coventry City	H	0-6		800
6 March 1981	Celtic	H	0-2

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.

Player	Position	Appearances	Goals
Steve Armstrong	FW	0(2)
Raymond Blair	FW	24(8)	8
George Brannigan	MF	1
Ally Brown	FW	25	7
Rob Campbell	DF	11(5)
Tom Carson	GK	37
Mark Clougherty	MF	34	1
Joe Coyle	FW	30	5
Tommy Coyle	MF	32(1)
John Donnelly	FW	16(2)	5
Brian Gallacher	FW	37	14
John Gallacher	MF	27	1
Ian Gibson	FW	0(3)
Donald Hunter	GK	6
Billy Hutchinson	MF	3
Dave Jackson	MF	7(1)	1
Joe Kennedy	FW	4(3)
John Mailer	FW	11
Gerry Marshall	FW	1(2)
Jim Martin	MF	6(9)
Martin McGowan	DF	0(1)
Pat McGowan	FW	23(4)	2
Tommy McGrain	FW	26(2)
Ally MacLeod	MF	43	4
Donald McNeil	MF	2
Joe O'Donnell	DF	1
Mike Rankin	FW	26(6)	4
Graeme Sinclair	MF	40
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

• 1980–81 in Scottish football

External links

• Scottish Football Historical Archive