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)

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, the 1939–40 season was the first Scottish football season in which Dumbarton competed in the 'emergency' competitions which were arranged by the clubs themselves.

Scottish Second Division

Main article: 1939–40 in Scottish football

Four games into the season, Britain was at war with Nazi Germany and all official Scottish football competition was suspended for its duration.

Leith Athletic v Dumbarton

12 August 1939 League	Leith Athletic	1-2 VOID	Dumbarton	Old Meadowbank
	O'Rawe 80'		Nichol 60' Getty 85'	Referee: J Rennie

Dumbarton v East Fife

19 August 1939 League	Dumbarton	3-3 VOID	East Fife	Boghead Park
	Cowan 32' McBride 37' Nichol 50'		McKerrel 19' Adams 58' Wilkie 84'	Attendance: 5,500 Referee: J Mackay

Dundee v Dumbarton

26 August 1939 League	Dundee	3-1 VOID	Dumbarton	Dens Park
	Warnock 23' Coats 36' Adam		McBride 51'	Referee: J Smillie

Dumbarton v Edinburgh City

2 September 1939 League	Dumbarton	3-2 VOID	Edinburgh City	Boghead Park
	Cowan 63', 70', 82'		Brown 30', 57'	Attendance: 3,000 Referee: W Hendry

Scottish Western Division

In October 1939, in the absence of official competition, 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. Most of the First Division players were already contracted to play for their league opponents and it was no surprise that in this first season of the 'wartime' league, Dumbarton finished bottom (16th out of 16) with 18 points – 30 behind champions Rangers.

Dumbarton v Queen's Park

21 October 1939 League	Dumbarton	1-3	Queen's Park	Boghead Park
	Cowan (pen)		Kyle	Attendance: 4,000 Referee: R Carruthers

Kilmarnock v Dumbarton

28 October 1939 League	Kilmarnock	5-0	Dumbarton	Rugby Park
	Collins 21', 38', 47' Thomson 71'			Attendance: 3,000

Dumbarton v Albion Rovers

4 November 1939 League	Dumbarton	4-1	Albion Rovers	Boghead Park
	Browning 3' Speedie 27' Murray 63' Mills 70'		Sharp 85'	Attendance: 5,000 Referee: J Mackay

Clyde v Dumbarton

11 November 1939 League	Clyde	3-3	Dumbarton	Rugby Park
	Wallace 40', 58' Mills 63'		Mills 1' Murray 5', 50'	Attendance: 3,000

Dumbarton v Hamilton

18 November 1939 League	Dumbarton	2-1	Hamilton	Boghead Park
	McCulloch Harrison		Lang	Attendance: 6,000 Referee: R Scott

Rangers v Dumbarton

25 November 1939 League	Rangers	2-1	Dumbarton	Ibrox Park
	Thornton 70' Venters 75'		Murray 19'	Attendance: 7,000 Referee: W Webb

Airdrie v Dumbarton

2 December 1939 League	Airdrie	3-2	Dumbarton	Broomfield Park
	Mooney 2', 52', 88'		Dunn 31' Mills 71' (pen)	Referee: R Scott

Dumbarton v Ayr United

9 December 1939 League	Dumbarton	2-1	Ayr United	Boghead Park
	Mills 4' Dunn 51'		Clark	Attendance: 1,500 Referee: J Thomson

Motherwell v Dumbarton

16 December 1939 League	Motherwell	5-1	Dumbarton	Fir Park
	Ogilvie 30', 41', 56' Wood 63' Wales 65'		Mathers 88' (pen)	Attendance: 2,500 Referee: J Mackay

Dumbarton v Celtic

23 December 1939 League	Dumbarton	1-5	Celtic	Boghead Park
	Mathers 15' (pen)		Divers 16', 80' Gould 44', 82' McDonald 55'	Attendance: 7.000

Partick Thistle v Dumbarton

30 December 1939 League	Partick Thistle	0-4	Dumbarton	Firhill Park
			Collins 27', 83' Nichol Dunn 60'	Attendance: 4,000 Referee: R Carruthers

Dumbarton v Morton

1 January 1940 League	Dumbarton	3-2	Morton	Boghead Park
	Milne Speedie		Milne Calder

Queen of the South v Dumbarton

2 January 1940 League	Queen of the South	3-1	Dumbarton	Palmerston Park
	Lang Fitzsimmons Connor		Milne

Dumbarton v St Mirren

6 January 1940 League	Dumbarton	3-2	St Mirren	Boghead Park
	Milne Speedie Mathers		Brady	Attendance: 3,500

Dumbarton v Clyde

10 February 1940 League	Dumbarton	1-2	Clyde	Boghead Park
	Browning		McLaren Agnew	Attendance: 3,000 Referee: W Webb

Hamilton v Dumbarton

17 February 1940 League	Hamilton	4-2	Dumbarton	Douglas Park
	Wilson McAloon McIntyre McKerracher		Collins Milne

Dumbarton v Motherwell

16 March 1940 League	Dumbarton	0-1	Motherwell	Boghead Park
			Ogilvie 44'	Attendance: 2,000 Referee: R Carruthers

Celtic v Dumbarton

23 March 1940 League	Celtic	4-0	Dumbarton	Celtic Park
	McDonald Geatons Divers Kelly

Third Lanark v Dumbarton

27 March 1940 League	Third Lanark	3-2	Dumbarton	Cathkin Park
	Jones Stephenson Watters		Lang Speedie

Dumbarton v Partick Thistle

30 March 1940 League	Dumbarton	0-0	Partick Thistle	Boghead Park
				Attendance: 2,000

Queen's Park v Dumbarton

2 April 1940 League	Queen's Park	4-1	Dumbarton	Hampden Park
	Aitken Wright		McLean	Attendance: 4,000 Referee: H Watson

Morton v Dumbarton

6 April 1940 League	Morton	5-0	Dumbarton	Cappielow Park
	Turnbull Calder Steel

Dumbarton v Kilmarnock

10 April 1940 League	Dumbarton	2-2	Kilmarnock	Boghead Park
	Mathers 30' (pen) Dunn 44'		Newman 15' Gallacher

Dumbarton v Queen of the South

13 April 1940 League	Dumbarton	1-3	Queen of the South	Boghead Park
	Stewart,A		Connor Dawson	Attendance: 2,000

Albion Rovers v Dumbarton

17 April 1940 League	Albion Rovers	3-1	Dumbarton	Cliftonhill
	Dempsey Burke		Stewart,A	Referee: R Benzie

St Mirren v Dumbarton

20 April 1940 League	St Mirren	1-2	Dumbarton	Love Street (stadium)
	Deakin		Shields Casey	Referee: H Watson

Dumbarton v Rangers

24 April 1940 League	Dumbarton	2-3	Rangers	Boghead Park
	Stewart,A		McPherson McPhail	Attendance: 2,500

Dumbarton v Third Lanark

27 April 1940 League	Dumbarton	3-2	Third Lanark	Boghead Park
	Shields Stewart,A		Jones	Attendance: 2,000

Dumbarton v Airdrie

4 May 1940 League	Dumbarton	0-1	Airdrie	Boghead Park
			Soutar (OG)	Attendance: 1,800

Ayr United v Dumbarton

11 May 1940 League	Ayr United	4-4	Dumbarton	Somerset Park
	Roger Clark		Shields Stewart,A	Attendance: 7,000

Scottish War Emergency Cup

In place of the Scottish Cup, a Scottish 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.

Dumbarton v Arbroath

24 February 1940 Cup R1(1)	Dumbarton	4–3	Arbroath	Boghead Park
	Dunn 24' Milne Lang 70'		Miller 61' Mudie	Attendance: 4,500 Referee: C Faultless

Arbroath v Dumbarton

2 March 1940 Cup R1(2)	Arbroath	0–2 (3-6 agg.)	Dumbarton	Gayfield Park
			Dunn	Attendance: 2,150

Dumbarton v Airdrie

9 March 1940 Cup R2	Dumbarton	0–2	Airdrie	Boghead Park
			Reid Flavell	Attendance: 5,500

Dumbartonshire Cup

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

Dumbarton v Vale of Leven

30 September 1939 Final	Dumbarton	4-2	Vale of Leven	Boghead Park
	McBride Nichol (OG)

Stirlingshire Cup

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.

Dumbarton v Falkirk Amateurs

16 August 1939 First Round	Dumbarton	9-1	Falkirk Amateurs	Boghead Park
	Cowan Nichol Getty Nesbit			Attendance: 2,000

Falkirk v Dumbarton

7 October 1939 Semi-final	Falkirk	3-2	Dumbarton	Brockville Park
	Dawson 10' McPhee 15' (pen) Stewart 78'		Nichol 40' mcLean	Attendance: 4,000 Referee: W McCulloch

Friendly

Dumbarton v Rangers 'A'

14 October 1935 Friendly	Dumbarton	4–3	Rangers 'A'	Boghead Park
	Nichol Lang Speedie			Attendance: 3,000

Player statistics

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'.

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

Source:

Transfers

Players in

Player	From	Date
David Cowan	Arbroath	1 May 1939
William Nichol	Stenhousemuir	17 May 1939
James Brown	Motherwell	3 Jun 1939
David McLean	Third Lanark	3 Jun 1939
John Getty	Nottingham Forest	4 Jul 1939
Johnny Soutar	Montrose (guest)	21 Oct 1939
Duncan Yuill	Millwall (guest)	21 Oct 1939
Stephen Murray	Dunfermline Athletic (guest)	26 Oct 1939
Willie Mills	Huddersfield Town (guest)	1 Nov 1939
Jackie Milne	Middlesbrough (guest)	3 Nov 1939
Robert Fraser	Hibernian (guest)	6 Nov 1939
Willie Steel	Derby County (guest)	15 Nov 1939
Willie Dunn	Raith Rovers (guest)	30 Nov 1939
David Collins	Morton (guest)	7 Dec 1939
Kenneth Stewart	Cowdenbeath (guest)	17 Feb 1940
Fulton Wilson	St Mirren (guest)	29 Feb 1940
Alex Stewart	Falkirk (guest)	23 Mar 1940
John Hill	Cowdenbeath (guest)	15 Apr 1940
James Shields	Celtic (guest)	22 Apr 1940
John Lang	Barnsley (guest)
John Mathers	St Johnstone (guest)
John Browning	Gillingham (guest)

Players out

Player	To	Date
Robert Speedie	Stenhousemuir	9 Aug 1939
William Morrison	Released	17 Nov 1939
Thomas Bilsland	Third Lanark
Jimmy Smith	Manager Dumbarton F.C.

In addition Walter Bulloch, William Cameron, John Craig, Andrew Cumming, Alistair MacKillop, James McAllister, Patrick McArdle, William Monaghan, John Smith and John Yuill all played their last games in Dumbarton 'colours'.

Source: