Manager Alex Wright Scottish Cup Semi Final | Scottish League Division 1 4th Scottish League Cup Prelims | |
Stadium Boghead Park, Dumbarton Top goalscorer League: John Bourke (18)
All: John Bourke (26) | ||
Season 1975–76 was the 99th football season in which Dumbarton competed at a Scottish national level, entering the Scottish Football League for the 69th time, the Scottish Cup for the 81st time and the Scottish League Cup for the 29th time.
Contents
Overview
Following league reconstruction, Dumbarton started off in the new Division 1 (second tier) of Scottish league football with a real expectation that promotion to the Premier League could be achieved. However a poor start which saw only one win taken from the first 6 games was to handicap Dumbarton's ambitions, and it was only an unbeaten run of 6 games at the end of the season which saw a climb up to a respectable 4th place.
It was however in the Scottish Cup were Dumbarton were to shine and after a third round win over Highland League opposition, Dumbarton were to dispose of both the clubs who were to finish in the promotion places in Division 1 on their way to their first semi final in almost 80 years. Hearts were the opposition and after a hard fought draw, they were to find the Premier League side too good in the replay.
In the League Cup, Dumbarton were handed the toughest of qualifying groups, being up against 3 of the top Premier League sides, and it was no real surprise that there would be no further interest in this competition although a home win over Hearts was well received.
Due to the reduction in the number of league games, a new competition was instituted for Division 1 and 2 clubs, named the Spring Cup. Dumbarton qualified from their group with 4 wins from 6 games, and saw off Raith Rovers and Falkirk on their way to another cup semi final. It was however to be their local rivals Clydebank who would go on to the final following a 3-1 defeat.
Locally, in the Stirlingshire Cup, Dumbarton beat Clydebank on penalties in the first round before surprisingly losing out to Stenhousemuir in the semi final.
Finally, Dumbarton broke both the goals for and goals against 'centuries' during the season. By scoring 106 goals in all games, this was the 14th time that the 'century - for' had been broken, and by conceding 103, this was the 20th time that the 'century - against' had been broken.
Results
All results are written with Dumbarton's score first.
Stirlingshire Cup
* - won on penalties
Appearances
Dumbarton used 26 players for the 49 League, Scottish Cup, Scottish League Cup and Spring Cup matches, as detailed below. Don Watt was best by being the only player to start in every one of these matches, but one.
Reserve Team
Dumbarton competed in the Combined Reserve League and in the Combined Reserve League Cup. Reports of these games are sparse although it is known that Partick Thistle were league champions.
In the Scottish Second XI Cup, Dumbarton lost to Partick Thistle in the third round.
In the Scottish Reserve League Cup, Dumbarton failed to qualifying from their section.