Dumbarton FC - A Brief History

by Jim McAllister

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In 1884 the Dunbartonshire Football Association was formed and the Dunbartonshire Cup was contested annually thereafter. In its 50 year existence, Dumbarton were the dominant force, winning the trophy on no fewer than 23 times, including the first and last contests.

The Scottish League was formed in 1890 and the very first championship was shared between Dumbarton and Rangers who tied with 29 points from 18 fixtures. Had either of the subsequent methods of separating tying teams been in force (Goal Average and Goal Difference) Dumbarton would have been the outright Champions. But the following year, they made no mistake and won the championship outright with 37 points. At that time, the League consisted of 10 teams and the first President of the Scottish League was Alex Lawrence, the Dumbarton President.

From their inception to the turn of the century, Dumbarton were one of the premier clubs in the country. During that period, 18 players earned between them 60 international caps, the record being held by James McAulay with 9 to his credit. McAulay became the first goalkeeper to be tagged 'The Prince of Goalkeepers'. He earned the first of his international caps as a forward and the rest as a goalkeeper. He only tried his hand between the sticks when the regular 'keeper John (Diver) Kennedy lost form. McAulay had the astonishing record of NEVER being on a losing international team. These were the halcyon days when Scotland's international team revolved around Dumbarton players.

But just as empires rise and fall, so do football clubs, and the dark days were just ahead for Dumbarton. By the turn of the century, they were all but out of existence and only began to emerge from the shadows around 1905. The major contributory factor towards their decline was their reluctance to embrace professionalism, which led to the local talent heading elsewhere.

By 1911, Dumbarton had won the 2nd Division championship, but there was no automatic promotion and they remained in that division. Then war broke out and football took a back seat. By the early twenties, football had returned to normality and in 1921 it was decided to introduce automatic promotion and relegation between the first and second divisions. Unfortunately this worked against Dumbarton as they, along with Queens Park and Clydebank were relegated in the first season. It was to take Dumbarton 50 years to return to the top division.

Their was a brief spark of hope, when in 1951 Dumbarton won the St. Mungo Quaich, a trophy contested to celebrate the Festival of Britain. That apart, Dumbarton largely languished in the doldrums. Again, the club reached a low ebb in 1954 when the formation of a new board of directors was required to save the club from extinction. Although the extensive fund raising activities kept the club alive, it did not produce tangible on the field success.

By the mid 1960's, the club was again in trouble, and at the invitation of the board, the chairman of the Hutchison Engineering Group of Companies, Robert Robertson joined the board and brought to the club the drive and knowledge of modern planning and financing. Hutchisons acquired the controlling interest in the football club which began to go from strength to strength. In 1968, John Hosie, who had been club secretary since 1954 became full time club secretary. In December of the same year, Jackie Stewart, who had made a success of being Albion Rovers manager, came to manage Dumbarton. And so the scene was set, with the combination of finance and a proven manager.

It was obvious to everyone that a new look and spirit had arrived in Dumbarton. The dreams of nearly half a century of returning to the 1st Division became a possibility. Working towards this end, Dumbarton started to buy players who could bring the necessary experience and steadiness.

June 1970 saw ex-Celt Charlie Gallagher come to Boghead to be followed three months later by Jack Bolton from Raith Rovers. Added to talent such as Lawrie Williams, Johnny Graham, Kenny Wilson and Roy McCormack, the squad began to take shape. In October of that year, Dumbarton succumbed 4-3 after extra time to Celtic in the semi-final of the League Cup, after a 0-0 draw, also after extra time. This was against a Celtic side which only months earlier had lost the European Cup final to Feyenoord.

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