Scottish League Division 1 16th Scottish League Cup Second Round | Scottish Cup Fourth Round | |
Manager Jackie Stewart/ Alex Wright Stadium Boghead Park, Dumbarton Top goalscorer League: Roy McCormack (11)
All: Roy McCormack (12) | ||
Season 1972–73 was the 96th football season in which Dumbarton competed at a Scottish national level, entering the Scottish Football League for the 66th time, the Scottish Cup for the 78th time and the Scottish League Cup for the 26th time.
Contents
Overview
The first season back in the top flight of Scottish football was always going to be a challenge, and the only real measure of success would be survival - and this is exactly what Dumbarton achieved. However it took until the final league game of the season to guarantee first division football next season. Lying in 17th place, Dumbarton had to better any result that Kilmarnock managed to leap-frog them out of the relegation places, and Dumbarton did this with some style, beating Dundee United 4-1, while Kilmarnock could only manage a 2-2 draw with Falkirk.
In the Scottish Cup, Dumbarton lost out to Partick Thistle in the fourth round, after a draw.
In the League Cup, two wins and two draws from the six sectional games were enough to qualify for the next stage in the competition, but it was a bitter disappointment to lose to Dundee in the two-legged second round tie - as a 3-0 lead from the home fixture was followed by a 4-0 defeat at Dens Park.
For the second season running Dumbarton had qualified for the Drybrough Cup. Again Celtic were the opponents in the first round and after a tough struggle they were to lose by only the odd goal in three.
Locally, in the Stirlingshire Cup, Dumbarton were to regain the trophy by thrashing East Stirling 6-0 in the final.
Note that just after the New Year, Jackie Stewart would resign as manager, to take up the reins at St Johnstone, and was replaced by Alex Wright.
Results
All results are written with Dumbarton's score first.
Appearances
Dumbarton used 26 players for the 46 League, Scottish Cup, Scottish League Cup and Drybrough Cup matches, as detailed below. Davie Wilson was the only player to feature in every one of these matches.
Reserve Team
Dumbarton competed in the Scottish Reserve League, and with 9 wins and 10 draws from 34 matches, finished 12th of 18.
For the first time in a decade, Dumbarton also entered the Scottish Second XI Cup, and reached the third round before losing out to Dundee by the only goal.