1955–56 Dumbarton F.C. season
| 1955–1956 season | |
|---|---|
| Manager | Peter McGown |
| Stadium | Boghead Park, Dumbarton |
| Scottish League B Division | 4th |
| Scottish Cup | Fourth Round |
| Scottish League Cup | Quarter Final |
| Top goalscorer | League: Hugh Gallacher (36) All: Hugh Gallacher (46) |
Season 1955–56 was the 79th Scottish football season in which Dumbarton competed at national level, entering the Scottish Football League for the 49th time, the Scottish Cup for the 61st time and the Scottish League Cup for the 9th time.
Overview
While the return to the 'top' divisions in Scottish League football did not, in the end, produce the hoped for promotion, nevertheless there were many positives to be taken from a successful season. Dumbarton were always challenging the top places in Division B throughout the campaign and eventually finished up 4th of 19, only 7 points behind champions Queen's Park (and just 4 short of a promotion place).
In the Scottish Cup, Dumbarton negotiated a tricky tie against Highland League opposition, before losing out to Dundee United.
For the first time, Dumbarton qualified from their League Cup section, winning 3 and drawing the other of their 4 matches. In a play off, Morton were seen off - before Division A St Mirren were to prove to be too much for them in the quarter final.
The Stirlingshire Cup semi final tie was a thriller, where Dumbarton lost by the odd goal in an 11 goal feast against A Division opponents Falkirk.
Another feature of the season was the continuing goal scoring exploits of Hugh Gallacher. Arriving from Arbroath at the beginning of the previous season - where he scored 32 goals in 34 games, albeit on the whole against 'reserve' sides - he was to top that performance by scoring 46 goals in 46 games - a goal a game!
Note that Dumbarton had scored 121 goals in all matches during the season, the eighth time that the 'century' had been broken, and the first time in fifty years.
Results
| Win |
| Draw |
| Loss |
All results are written with Dumbarton's score first.
Scottish League
| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Scorers | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 August 1955 | Alloa Athletic | A | 3-3 | Gallacher,H(2);Whalen | |
| 10 September 1955 | Cowdenbeath | H | 3-1 | Gallacher,H(2);McCall | |
| 21 September 1955 | Berwick Rangers | H | 3-2 | Gallacher,H(2);Glover | |
| 24 September 1955 | East Stirling | H | 5-1 | Gallacher,H(2);Brooks;Brown;Heaney | 3,000 |
| 28 September 1955 | Hamilton | A | 2-0 | Gallacher,H;Brown | |
| 15 October 1955 | Queen's Park | H | 0-2 | 7,000 | |
| 29 October 1955 | Arbroath | A | 1-0 | McDonald | |
| 5 November 1955 | Albion Rovers | H | 3-2 | Gallacher,H;Whalen;Cairns | |
| 12 November 1955 | Ayr United | A | 1-5 | Glover | |
| 19 November 1955 | Stranraer | H | 5-2 | Whalen(3);Gallacher,H;Glover | 2,600 |
| 26 November 1955 | Morton | H | 2-0 | Gallacher,H;OG | 5,000 |
| 3 December 1955 | Third Lanark | A | 0-1 | ||
| 10 December 1955 | Montrose | H | 4-1 | McDonald(2);Gallacher,H;OG | |
| 17 December 1955 | Stenhousemuir | A | 3-2 | Gallacher,H(3) | |
| 24 December 1955 | Forfar Athletic | A | 5-1 | Gallacher,H(3);Whalen;Brooks | |
| 31 December 1955 | Dundee United | H | 2-0 | Gallacher,H(2) | 5,500 |
| 2 January 1956 | East Stirling | A | 1-3 | McDonald | |
| 3 January 1956 | Hamilton | H | 2-1 | Gallacher,H(2) | 5,000 |
| 7 January 1956 | St Johnstone | H | 0-2 | ||
| 14 January 1956 | Cowdenbeath | A | 6-2 | Gallacher,H(2);McKeown(2);McDonald;Whalen | |
| 28 January 1956 | Brechin City | A | 2-0 | McKeown(2) | |
| 11 February 1956 | Queen's Park | A | 0-7 | 17,240 | |
| 18 February 1956 | Forfar Athletic | H | 5-1 | McKeown(3);Gallacher,H;Brown | |
| 25 February 1956 | Berwick Rangers | A | 2-2 | Whalen;Gallagher | |
| 3 March 1956 | Arbroath | H | 1-1 | Gallacher,H | |
| 10 March 1956 | Albion Rovers | A | 1-0 | McKeown | |
| 17 March 1956 | Ayr United | H | 3-3 | Heaney(2);Gallacher,H | 7,000 |
| 24 March 1956 | Stranraer | A | 1-2 | Gallacher,H | |
| 31 March 1956 | Morton | A | 2-1 | Gallacher,H(2) | |
| 2 April 1956 | St Johnstone | A | 1-2 | Bradley | 9,000 |
| 7 April 1956 | Third Lanark | H | 2-3 | Cornock;McCall | 5,000 |
| 13 April 1956 | Brechin City | H | 1-4 | Bell | |
| 18 April 1956 | Montrose | A | 4-1 | Gallacher,H(2);Bryceland;Glover | |
| 21 April 1956 | Stenhousemuir | H | 2-1 | Gallacher,H;Glover | |
| 25 April 1956 | Dundee United | A | 1-1 | Gallacher,H | 3,000 |
| 28 April 1956 | Alloa Athletic | H | 4-2 | Gallacher,H;Whalen;Bryceland;Heaney |
Scottish Cup
| Date | Rd | Opponent | Venue | Result | Scorers | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 October 1955 | 3 | Inverness Caledonian | H | 5-3 | Gallacher,H(2);Brown(2);Brooks | 5,000 |
| 22 October 1955 | 4 | Dundee United | A | 1-4 | Gallacher,H | 12,000 |
Scottish League Cup
| Date | Rd | Opponent | Venue | Result | Scorers | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 August 1955 | P | Berwick Rangers | H | 2-0 | Gallacher,H;Whalen | 5,000 |
| 20 August 1955 | P | Montrose | A | 2-0 | Gallacher,H;Whalen | |
| 27 August 1955 | P | Stranraer | A | 3-3 | Gallacher,H(2);Heaney | |
| 3 September 1955 | P | East Stirling | H | 6-1 | Whalen(4);Gallacher,H;Glover | 6,000 |
| 6 September 1955 | PO1 | Morton | H | 2-1 | Gallacher,H;Whalen | 7,000 |
| 8 September 1955 | PO2 | Morton | A | 1-0 | Gallacher,H | |
| 14 September 1955 | QF1 | St Mirren | A | 1-5 | Whalen | 15,000 |
| 17 September 1955 | QF2 | St Mirren | H | 1-1 | Glover | 6,000 |
Stirlingshire Cup
| Date | Rd | Opponent | Venue | Result | Scorers | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 March 1956 | SF | Falkirk | A | 5-6 | Gallacher,H(3);Whalen;McKeown |
Other Matches
| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Scorers | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 October 1955 | Queens Park XI | H | 1-2 | Trialist | |
| 21 January 1956 | Carluke Rovers | H | 6-1 | Brooks(3);McKay;Whalen;McDonald | 1,000 |
| 6 May 1956 | Renfrew Juniors | A | 2-1 | Gallacher,H(2) | 2,500 |
Appearances
Dumbarton used 28 players for the 46 League, Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup matches, as detailed below. Hugh Gallacher was best as being the only player to feature in all of these matches.[1]
| Player | Position[2] | Appearances | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
 John Adams
|
FW | 1 | |
| A Aitken
|
DF | 1 | |
| Tommy Bell
|
FW | 1 | 1 |
| Willie Box
|
MF | 2 | |
| Jimmy Bradley
|
FW | 2 | 1 |
| John Brooks
|
FW | 15 | 3 |
| Les Brown
|
FW | 26 | 5 |
| Sam Bryceland
|
FW | 4 | 2 |
| Benny Cairns
|
MF | 31 | 1 |
| John Callan
|
FW | 4 | |
| Don Cornock
|
MF | 36 | 1 |
| Tommy Craig
|
MF | 1 | |
| Hugh Gallacher
|
FW | 46 | 46 |
| Joe Gallacher
|
DF | 35 | |
| John Gallagher
|
FW | 8 | 1 |
| John Glover
|
FW | 28 | 7 |
| Jim Gray
|
DF | 7 | |
| Joe Harvey
|
MF | 35 | |
| John Heaney
|
FW | 27 | 5 |
| Tommy Irwin
|
MF | 6 | |
| Gerry McCaffrey
|
FW | 2 | |
| John McCall
|
MF | 41 | 2 |
| Jimmy McDonald
|
FW | 16 | 5 |
| John McKay
|
DF | 43 | |
| Billy McKeown
|
FW | 12 | 8 |
| Des McLean
|
GK | 3 | |
| Eddie O'Donnell
|
GK | 11 | |
| Jimmy Ritchie
|
GK | 32 | |
| Tom Whalen
|
FW | 30 | 17 |
Reserve Team
Dumbarton only played one official 'reserve' match in the Second XI Cup, losing in the first round to Partick Thistle.