Manager Alex Wright Scottish Cup Fourth Round | Scottish League Division 1 10th Scottish League Cup Second Round | |
Stadium Boghead Park, Dumbarton Top goalscorer League: Brian Heron (8)
All: Brian Heron (9) | ||
Season 1973–74 was the 97th football season in which Dumbarton competed at a Scottish national level, entering the Scottish Football League for the 67th time, the Scottish Cup for the 79th time and the Scottish League Cup for the 27th time.
Contents
Overview
This was Dumbarton's second successive season competing in Division 1, the objective being to build on the previous season's results, and in particular to avoid any relegation worries. This was certainly achieved, and indeed by mid November there were hopes of European qualification by reaching 6th in the table. However the wins began to dry up which resulted in a slide down the league - but the final position of 10th was the best the club had achieved for over 70 years - and qualification for the Anglo-Scottish sponsored competition, the Texaco Cup the following season - although, as it turned out, this was not to be the case, as there would be a reorganisation of the qualification requirements.
In the Scottish Cup, Dumbarton's interest was short-lived as they lost out to Arbroath in the third round.
In the League Cup, with two wins and a draw from the six sectional games, Dumbarton qualified for the next stage in the competition, where Rangers awaited. A 6-0 thumping in the first leg made the return fixture a formality, although losing by the odd goal in three was something of an achievement.
Locally, in the Stirlingshire Cup, Dumbarton tried hard to retain the trophy they had won in the previous season, but were to lose out to Stirling Albion in the final on penalties, after a drawn game.
Interestingly at the beginning of the season, Dumbarton embarked on a mini overseas tour - the first since 1922 - where they beat Spanish regional side CF Lloret.
Results
All results are written with Dumbarton's score first.
Stirlingshire Cup
* - won on penalties
- lost on penalties
Appearances
Dumbarton used 26 players for the 43 League, Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup matches, as detailed below. Willie Wallace was the only player to feature in every one of these matches.
Reserve Team
Dumbarton competed in the Scottish Reserve League, and with 12 wins and 6 draws from 34 matches, finished 12th of 18 for the second successive season.
Dumbarton again entered the Scottish Second XI Cup, and again reached the third round where Celtic were to prove too good on the day by four goals to none.
For the first time, Dumbarton entered the Scottish Reserve League Cup, and after qualifying from their section with 4 wins and a draw from 6 games, they eventually lost out to Partick Thistle in a two-legged semi final.