1987–88 Dumbarton F.C. season

Dumbarton
1987–1988 season
Manager	Mark Clougherty
Stadium	Boghead Park, Dumbarton
Scottish League Division 1	12th
Scottish Cup	Third Round
Scottish League Cup	Third Round
Top goalscorer	League: Owen Coyle (14); All: Owen Coyle (14)
Highest home attendance	1,283
Lowest home attendance	700
Average home league attendance	850
	← 1986–87 1988–89 →

Season 1987–88 was the 104th football season in which Dumbarton competed at a Scottish national level, entering the Scottish Football League for the 82nd time, the Scottish Cup for the 93rd time and the Scottish League Cup for the 41st time.

Overview

Following two promotion challenging seasons, Dumbarton inexplicably sank to the bottom of the First Division and were relegated to the third tier of Scottish league football. With the loss of Sir Hugh Fraser, finances at the club were tight, and with this in mind it was decided to appoint Mark Clougherty as player/manager. However results were generally poor and the board sacked Clougherty in January. In his place Bertie Auld was appointed and despite a spirited draw against Hibernian in the Cup, a winless run of 12 games would ensure the club's drop into bottom place in the league - a place they would occupy even though Dumbarton were unbeaten in their last four games.

In the Scottish Cup, another third round exit was Dumbarton's fate, although this would be after a draw against Premier Division opponents Hibernian.

In the League Cup, for the second year in a row Celtic were Dumbarton's third round opponents and it would be the Premier Division side that would ease through to the next round.

Locally, however Dumbarton regained the Stirlingshire Cup, with a final victory over Stirling Albion.

Results

Win
Draw
Loss

All results are written with Dumbarton's score first.

Scottish League

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance
8 August 1987	Clyde	A	0-5		1,000
11 August 1987	Meadowbank Thistle	H	2-3	Martin;MacIver	740
15 August 1987	Kilmarnock	H	1-3	Martin	800
22 August 1987	Airdrie	A	1-0	Coyle,O	1,200
29 August 1987	Clydebank	H	1-1	Rooney,B	1,200
5 September 1987	Hamilton	A	1-2	Houston	1,765
12 September 1987	Forfar Athletic	H	1-1	Rooney,J	700
15 September 1987	Partick Thistle	A	2-1	Rooney,J;Coyle,O	1,140
19 September 1987	East Fife	A	2-1	McGowan;Kay	619
26 September 1987	Queen of the South	H	2-2	Coyle,O;Houston	700
29 September 1987	Raith Rovers	A	1-4	Houston	1,730
3 October 1987	Clyde	H	1-1	McCahill	1,200
7 October 1987	Meadowbank Thistle	A	0-0		650
10 October 1987	Airdrie	H	0-0		1,200
17 October 1987	Forfar Athletic	A	2-0	Coyle,O;McCoy	671
20 October 1987	Partick Thistle	H	4-2	Coyle,O(2);MacIver;McCoy	800
24 October 1987	Kilmarnock	A	0-1		1,571
27 October 1987	Raith Rovers	H	1-3	Coyle,O	700
31 October 1987	Hamilton	H	2-1	Coyle,O;McCoy	900
7 November 1987	Clydebank	A	1-3	McGowan	1,431
14 November 1987	East Fife	H	1-1	MacIver	600
21 November 1987	Queen of the South	A	0-2		1,100
28 November 1987	Clyde	A	4-3	Docherty(2);Coyle,O;MacIver	800
5 December 1987	Meadowbank Thistle	H	0-1		500
12 December 1987	Forfar Athletic	H	0-1		507
19 December 1987	Partick Thistle	A	3-1	McNeil;Docherty;Coyle,O	1,407
26 December 1987	Hamilton	A	0-2		1,250
2 January 1988	Clydebank	H	1-3	OG	1,200
9 January 1988	East Fife	A	4-3	McCoy(2);Coyle.O;McGowan	615
16 January 1988	Queen of the South	H	0-2		800
23 January 1988	Kilmarnock	H	1-0	Rooney,J	950
6 February 1988	Airdrie	A	1-1	McCoy	1,150
13 February 1988	Raith Rovers	A	1-1	OG	1,802
27 February 1988	Clyde	H	0-1		750
5 March 1988	Forfar Athletic	A	0-4		397
19 March 1988	Hamilton	H	1-1	McCoy	1,283
22 March 1988	Partick Thistle	H	1-2	Coyle,O	925
26 March 1988	Clydebank	A	0-1		1,088
2 April 1988	Airdrie	H	0-1		800
9 April 1988	Kilmarnock	A	1-3	McCoy	2,205
16 April 1988	Queen of the South	A	0-0		1,100
23 April 1988	East Fife	H	0-0		700
30 April 1988	Meadowbank Thistle	A	4-2	McCabe;Coyle,O;McGowan,P;Docherty	600
7 May 1988	Raith Rovers	H	3-0	Rooney,J;Coyle,O;Docherty	800

Scottish Cup

Date	Rd	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance
30 January 1988	3	Hibernian	H	0-0		7,000
2 February 1988	3R	Hibernian	A	0-3		8,000

Scottish League Cup

Date	Rd	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance
19 August 1987	2	Ayr United	A	1-0	McNeil	2,428
26 August 1987	3	Celtic	H	1-5	Martin	9,429

Stirlingshire Cup

Date	Rd	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorers
13 October 1987	1	Stenhousemuir	A	3-3*	unknown
26 April 1988	SF	Alloa Athletic	H	2-0	unknown
10 May 1988	F	Stirling Albion	A	2-1	McCahill;Docherty

* - won on penalties

Other Matches

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance
3 August 1987	Southampton	H	1-1	McNeil
5 August 1987	Celtic	H	1-2	Coyle,O

Player Statistics

Squad^[1]^[2]

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		First Division		League Cup		Scottish Cup
No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
	GK	SCO	Gordon Arthur	44	0	40+0	0	2+0	0	2+0	0
	GK	SCO	Hugh Stevenson	4	0	4+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
	DF	SCO	Willie Cairns	18	0	16+0	0	0+0	0	2+0	0
	DF	SCO	Craig Cranmer	22	0	18+2	0	0+0	0	2+0	0
	DF	SCO	Gerry Doyle	6	0	4+2	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
	DF	SCO	Stevie Gow	4	0	1+1	0	0+2	0	0+0	0
	DF	SCO	Ray Montgomerie	35	0	31+0	0	2+0	0	2+0	0
	MF	SCO	Joe Carson	3	0	2+1	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
	MF	SCO	Mark Clougherty	4	0	4+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
	MF	SCO	Owen Coyle	45	14	38+3	14	2+0	0	2+0	0
	MF	SCO	Tommy Coyle	1	0	0+1	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
	MF	SCO	Jim Creaney	4	0	2+2	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
	MF	SCO	Robert Docherty	23	5	19+2	5	0+0	0	2+0	0
	MF	SCO	Alan Kay	21	1	18+3	1	0+0	0	0+0	0
	MF	SCO	Dave Martin	46	3	42+0	2	2+0	1	2+0	0
	MF	SCO	Gerry McCabe	6	1	5+1	1	0+0	0	0+0	0
	MF	SCO	Steve McCahill	46	1	41+1	1	2+0	0	2+0	0
	MF	SCO	Donald McNeil	26	2	24+0	1	2+0	1	0+0	0
	MF	SCO	Jim McNeil	16	0	4+10	0	2+0	0	0+0	0
	MF	SCO	Jim Rooney	46	4	42+0	4	2+0	0	2+0	0
	FW	SCO	Jimmy Bell	1	0	0+1	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
	FW	SCO	Billy Blackie	4	0	4+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
	FW	SCO	Peter Houston	46	3	37+5	3	2+0	0	2+0	0
	FW	SCO	Stuart MacIver	26	4	12+12	4	1+0	0	0+1	0
	FW	SCO	Gerry McCoy	32	8	30+0	8	0+0	0	2+0	0
	FW	SCO	Pat McGowan	45	4	39+2	4	2+0	0	0+2	0
	FW	SCO	Dougie McGuire	3	0	3+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
	FW	SCO	Benny Rooney	15	1	4+9	1	1+1	0	0+0	0

Transfers^[3]

Players in

Player	From	Date
Craig Cranmer	Belhaven Athletic	27 Jun 1987
Benny Rooney	Petershill	27 Jun 1987
Jimmy Bell	Kilbowie Union	23 Jul 1987
Stevie Gow	Dumbarton United	23 Jul 1987
Iain McKinley	Duntocher BC	23 Jul 1987
Robert Docherty	Hamilton	1 Nov 1987
Jim Creaney	Stranraer (loan)	14 Nov 1987
Willie Cairns	Partick Thistle	9 Jan 1988
Dougie McGuire	Celtic (loan)	13 Feb 1988
Gerry Doyle	Stranraer	26 Feb 1988
Joe Carson	Stranraer	12 Mar 1988
Billy Blackie	Forfar Athletic	9 Apr 1988
Gerry McCabe	Hamilton (loan)	9 Apr 1988

Players out

Player	To	Date
Jackie Rafferty	Partick Thistle	13 Jun 1987
Danny Docherty	Queen of the South	1 Aug 1987
Tommy Coyle	St Johnstone	22 Aug 1987
Arthur Grant	East Stirling	28 Nov 1987
Joe Carson	Vale of Leven
Alan Kay
Jimmy Bell
Jim McNeil
Billy Traynor

Reserve Team

Dumbarton competed in the Scottish Reserve League (West), winning 11 and drawing 11 of 33 games.

Factfile

* The League match against Clydebank on 29 August marked Owen Coyle's 100th appearance for Dumbarton in all national competitions - the 93rd Dumbarton player to reach this milestone.
* The League match against Forfar Athletic on 12 September marked Donald McNeil's 300th appearance for Dumbarton in all national competitions - the 6th Dumbarton player to achieve this accolade.
* The League match against Forfar Athletic on 12 September also marked Steve McCahill's 100th appearance for Dumbarton in all national competitions - the 94th Dumbarton player to reach this milestone.
* The League match against Queen of the South on 26 September marked Pat McGowan's 200th appearance for Dumbarton in all national competitions - the 20th Dumbarton player to break the 'double century'.
* The League match against East Fife on 14 November marked Alan Kay's 100th appearance for Dumbarton in all national competitions - the 95th Dumbarton player to reach this milestone.
* The League match against Raith Rovers on 13 February marked Gerry McCoy's 100th appearance for Dumbarton in all national competitions - the 96th Dumbarton player to reach this milestone.

References

^ Scottish Football League Review 1988-89. The Scottish Football League. 1989.
^ McAllister, Jim (2002). The Sons of the Rock - The Official History of Dumbarton Football Club. Dumbarton: J&J Robertson Printers.
^ Litster, John. Record of Post-War Scottish League Players. Norwich: PM Publications.

External links

[1] Scottish Football League Review 1988-89. The Scottish Football League. 1989.

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

[3] Litster, John. Record of Post-War Scottish League Players. Norwich: PM Publications.

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v t e 1987–88 in Scottish football
« 1986–87 1988–89 »
Domestic leagues	Football League Premier Division First Division Second Division Highland League
Domestic cups	Scottish Cup Final League Cup Final Junior Cup Tennent's Sixes
European competitions	European Cup European Cup Winners' Cup UEFA Cup
Related to national team	Results Euro 1988 qualifying (Group 7) Rous Cup
Club seasons
Premier Division	Aberdeen Celtic Dundee Dundee United Dunfermline Athletic Falkirk Heart of Midlothian Hibernian Morton Motherwell Rangers St. Mirren
First Division	Airdrieonians Clyde Clydebank Dumbarton East Fife Forfar Athletic Hamilton Academical Kilmarnock Meadowbank Thistle Partick Thistle Queen of the South Raith Rovers
Second Division	Albion Rovers Alloa Athletic Arbroath Ayr United Brechin City Berwick Rangers Cowdenbeath East Stirlingshire Montrose Queen's Park St. Johnstone Stenhousemuir Stirling Albion Stranraer