1985–86 Dumbarton F.C. season

January 2015 January 2015 Dumbarton 1985–1986 Davie Wilson/ Alex Wright (caretaker) Boghead Park, Dumbarton Scottish League Division 1 6th Scottish Cup Third Round Scottish League Cup Second Round Gerry McCoy (13) Gerry McCoy (14) 1,960 400 1,170 1984–85 1986–87 Season 1985–86 was the 102nd football season in which Dumbarton competed at a Scottish national level, entering the Scottish Football League for the 80th time, the Scottish Cup for the 91st time and the Scottish League Cup for the 39th time. Overview Dumbarton returned to the First Division as favourites for the title, and in mid October the team was sitting atop the league. However results took an inexplicable nosedive with 2 wins in 11 games, accounting for Davie Wilson's resignation at the beginning of February. Alex Wright took over as caretaker manager until the end of the season, and an initial run of only 2 defeats in 11 matches placed the club well clear in 2nd place with only 6 games remaining. However, 4 nervy defeats in those closing fixtures dropped Dumbarton to 6th place, 13 points behind champions Hamilton but only 2 points shy of 2nd placed Falkirk, and one of four clubs just missing out on a promotion spot. In the Scottish Cup, Dumbarton lost embarrassingly to Second Division Queen's Park in the third round. The League Cup was no better with another disappointing exit in the second round to Second Division Stirling Albion. Locally, however, in the Stirlingshire Cup, there was something to smile about with the trophy returning to Boghead after a final win over Clydebank. Finally, despite losing Premier Division status, Dumbarton were invited to participate in the annual televised indoor Tennent's Sixes tournament, as both Rangers and Celtic had declined to enter. After winning three of four qualifying matches, 1-0 vs St Mirren, 0-0 (4–3 on penalties) vs Dundee and 4-0 vs Manchester City and a 0–3 defeat to Hearts, Dumbarton suffered a narrow 1–0 defeat in the semi-final to the eventual tournament winners Aberdeen. Results & fixtures Scottish Football League Review 1986-87 The Scottish Football League 1987#ccffcc Win 1px solid #AAAAAA #ffffcc Draw 1px solid #AAAAAA #ffcccc Loss 1px solid #AAAAAA Scottish First Division 1985-86 Scottish First Division W 1 10 August 1985 First Division 0–2 Airdrie Dumbarton McCoy 8Ashwood 71 Broomfield Park 1,805 A Ferguson L 1 17 August 1985 First Division 1–2 Dumbarton Partick Thistle McCoy 64 Logan 12Law 66 Boghead Park 1,906 J McCluskey W 1 24 August 1985 First Division 4–0 Dumbarton Alloa Athletic Bourke 50 65McCoy 76 81 Boghead Park 900 R O'Donnell W 1 31 August 1985 First Division 1–2 Morton Dumbarton Doak 55 McCoy 67MacIver 88 Cappielow Park 1,106 T Muirhead D 1 7 September 1985 First Division 2–2 Dumbarton Hamilton Moore 4McCoy 74 Clarke 17Brogan 65 Boghead Park 1,490 H Alexander W 1 14 September 1985 First Division 0–3 Montrose Dumbarton MacIver 26McGowan 55Moore 85 Links Park 700 W Crombie W 1 21 September 1985 First Division 2–0 Dumbarton Falkirk Craig 62Bourke 78 Boghead Park 1,400 D Syme W 1 28 September 1985 First Division 0–1 Ayr United Dumbarton Moore 1 Somerset Park 1,502 G Evans W 1 5 October 1985 First Division 2–1 Dumbarton East Fife McNeil 54MacIver 77 Porter 34 Boghead Park 1,800 G Cumming D 1 12 October 1985 First Division 0–0 Clyde Dumbarton Shawfield Stadium 1,334 D Hope W 1 19 October 1985 First Division 1–0 Dumbarton Kilmarnock McCoy 18 Boghead Park 1,500 J Duncan L 1 26 October 1985 First Division 3–1 Brechin City Dumbarton Perry 35 pen 75Powell 81 McCoy 80 Glebe Park, Brechin 800 J Renton D 1 2 November 1985 First Division 1–1 Dumbarton Forfar Athletic Bourke 67 Scott 56 Boghead Park 1,200 R McLeish L 1 9 November 1985 First Division 6–1 Hamilton Dumbarton Clarke 3 85Mitchell 28Watters 38 60 79 McCoy 26 Douglas Park 1,544 A Waddell D 1 16 November 1985 First Division 2–2 Dumbarton Montrose McCoy 83MacIver 84 Wright 23Allan 35 Boghead Park 1,150 J McGillvray D 1 23 November 1985 First Division 0–0 Falkirk Dumbarton Brockville Park 2,300 C Sinclair L 1 7 December 1985 First Division 1–0 East Fife Dumbarton Murray 16 Bayview Park, Methil 724 T Muirhead D 1 14 December 1985 First Division 1–1 Dumbarton Clyde MacIver 43 Ahern 63 pen Boghead Park 1,000 D McVicar W 1 21 December 1985 First Division 1–4 Kilmarnock Dumbarton Bryson 15 Bourke 6 73Coyle, T 9Craig 83 Rugby Park 2,042 M Delaney L 1 1 January 1986 First Division 1–2 Dumbarton Morton Docherty pen Turner O'Hara Boghead Park 1,800 A Ferguson W 1 18 January 1986 First Division 4–1 Dumbarton Brechin City MacIver 23 47Docherty 61 penMcCahill 68 Eadie 60 Boghead Park 600 D Yeats L 1 1 February 1986 First Division 4–0 Forfar Athletic Dumbarton Clarke 24 80Brewster 48Scott 69 Station Park, Forfar 666 K Hope W 1 4 February 1986 First Division 2–4 Alloa Athletic Dumbarton Murray 25Thomson 73 MacIver 9 64Bourke 19 24 Recreation Park, Alloa 520 B McGinley D 1 19 February 1986 First Division 1–1 Dumbarton Ayr United Coyle, O 82 pen Sludden 35 Boghead Park 500 D Syme L 1 1 March 1986 First Division 2–3 Dumbarton East Fife Moore 17Craig 89 McCafferty 1Kirk 9Murray 85 Boghead Park 800 A Ferguson W 1 5 March 1986 First Division 2–0 Dumbarton Ayr United McCoy Coyle, T 89 Boghead Park 720 R Valentine W 1 8 March 1986 First Division 1–2 Partick Thistle Dumbarton Smith 6 Craig 27Coyle, O 64 Firhill Park 1,848 T Muirhead W 1 12 March 1986 First Division 3–0 Dumbarton Airdrie Coyle, T 12Coyle, O pen Boghead Park 1,016 W Knowles D 1 15 March 1986 First Division 0–0 Dumbarton Clyde Boghead Park 800 G Sinclair D 1 19 March 1986 First Division 2–2 Partick Thistle Dumbarton Watson 65 74 Colye, O 18McGowan, P 26 Firhill Park 1,713 L 1 25 March 1986 First Division 1–0 Morton Dumbarton Robertson 22 Cappielow Park 800 G Cumming W 1 29 March 1986 First Division 2–1 Dumbarton Falkirk McCoy 38Coyle, T 65 Martin 12 Boghead Park 1,410 D McVicar D 1 5 April 1986 First Division 1–1 Brechin City Dumbarton Perry 43 McCoy 28 Glebe Park, Brechin 523 J Duncan L 1 9 April 1986 First Division 0–2 Dumbarton Forfar Athletic McKillop 17Farningham 62 Boghead Park 690 J Thow L 1 12 April 1986 First Division 2–1 Airdrie Dumbarton Flood 44Fairlie 85 Craig 43 Broomfield Park 1,000 I Cathcart W 1 15 April 1986 First Division 1–3 Alloa Athletic Dumbarton Smith 56 Coyle, T 40 73Craig 77 Recreation Park, Alloa 400 J McCluskey L 1 19 April 1986 First Division 3–0 Kilmarnock Dumbarton Bryson 20Clarke 84McGuire 89 Rugby Park 2,500 D Hope L 1 26 April 1986 First Division 1–4 Dumbarton Hamilton MacIver 23 Phillips 13Brogan 33 40Clarke 89 Boghead Park 1,500 H Alexander D 1 3 May 1986 First Division 0–0 Montrose Dumbarton Links Park 500 R Valentine Skol Cup 1985-86 Scottish League Cup L 1 21 August 1985 League Cup round 2 1–1 yes 4-2 Stirling Albion Dumbarton Hoggan 52 McCoy 43 Annfield Stadium 980 K Hope Scottish Cup 1985–86 Scottish Cup L 1 25 January 1986 Cup round 3 1–0 Queen's Park Dumbarton Caven 65 Hampden Park 1,733 I Cathcart Stirlingshire Cup W 1 4 December 1985 Semi-final 0–0 5-4 Dumbarton Falkirk Boghead Park W 1 9 March 1986 Final 2–1 Dumbarton Clydebank Kay Coyle, O 90 Moore 53 Boghead Park B McGinlay Pre-season matches L 1 1 August 1985 3–0 Friendly Clydebank Dumbarton Larnach 27Moore 69McGhie 75 Kilbowie Park D Hope L 1 5 August 1985 2–1 Friendly Vale of Leven Dumbarton Millburn Park D 1 6 August 1985 1–1 Friendly Dumbarton St Mirren Ashwood 90 Clark Boghead Park League table DUM Player statistics Squad Scottish Football League Review 1986-87 The Scottish Football League 1987 First Division League Cup Scottish Cup Gordon Arthur GK SCO 38+0 0 1+0 0 1+0 0 Hugh Stevenson GK SCO 1+0 0 0+0 0 0+0 0 Martin McGowan DF SCO 19+0 0 0+0 0 1+0 0 Ray Montgomerie DF SCO 22+2 0 1+0 0 1+0 0 Eric Schaedler DF SCO 14+0 0 1+0 0 0+0 0 Mark Shanks DF SCO 3+2 0 0+0 0 0+0 0 Mark Clougherty MF SCO 37+0 0 0+0 0 1+0 0 Owen Coyle MF SCO 11+5 5 0+0 0 0+0 0 Tommy Coyle MF SCO 24+5 6 1+0 0 1+0 0 Albert Craig MF SCO 29+3 6 1+0 0 1+0 0 Harry Curran MF SCO 5+1 0 0+0 0 0+0 0 Danny Docherty MF SCO 15+3 2 0+0 0 1+0 0 Alan Kay MF SCO 19+2 0 1+0 0 0+0 0 Steve McCahill MF SCO 19+0 1 1+0 0 1+0 0 Donald McNeil MF SCO 16+0 1 1+0 0 0+0 0 Jackie Rafferty MF SCO 6+0 0 0+0 0 0+0 0 Jim Simpson MF SCO 3+4 0 0+0 0 0+0 0 Ken Thomson MF SCO 4+1 0 0+0 0 0+0 0 Kenny Ashwood FW SCO 2+0 1 0+0 0 0+0 0 John Bourke FW SCO 25+2 8 0+0 0 1+0 0 Joe Coyle FW SCO 2+0 0 0+0 0 0+0 0 Gerry Crawley FW SCO 20+0 0 0+1 0 0+0 0 Stuart MacIver FW SCO 13+16 10 0+1 0 1+0 0 Gerry McCoy FW SCO 29+3 13 1+0 1 0+1 0 Pat McGowan FW SCO 25+4 2 1+0 0 1+0 0 Allan Moore FW SCO 26+7 4 1+0 0 0+0 0 Paul Taylor FW SCO 1+1 0 0+0 0 0+0 0 Mark Williams FW SCO 1+1 0 0+0 0 0+0 0 |} Transfers Litster John Record of Post-War Scottish League Players PM Publications Norwich Players in PlayerFromDate SCO Eric Schaedler SCO Hibernian 6 Jul 1985 SCO Jackie Rafferty SCO Shamrock BC 12 Jul 1985 SCO Gerry McCoy SCO Falkirk 13 Jul 1985 SCO Hugh Stevenson SCO Clackmannan 20 Jul 1985 SCO Ken Thomson SCO Campsie Black Watch 20 Jul 1985 SCO Mark Williams SCO East Fife 5 Oct 1985 SCO Paul Taylor ENG Mansfield Town 24 Oct 1985 SCO Danny Docherty SCO Morton 26 Oct 1985 SCO Mark Shanks SCO Ayr United 9 Nov 1985 Players out PlayerToDateSCO David McCaigSCO East Fife 23 Jul 1985SCO Stuart RobertsonSCO Falkirk 7 Aug 1985SCO Kenny AshwoodSCO Ayr United7 Sep 1985SCO Joe CoyleSCO Morton26 Oct 1985SCO Jim SimpsonSCO Morton26 Oct 1985SCO Mark WilliamsENG Bognor Regis Town Reserve team Dumbarton competed in the Scottish Reserve League (West), winning 10 and drawing 5 of 18 matches finishing runners up to Airdrie. In the Reserve League Cup Dumbarton lost in the second round to Celtic. Trivia The League match against Partick Thistle on 17 August marked Ray Montgomerie's 100th appearance for Dumbarton in all national competitions - the 91st Dumbarton player to reach this milestone. The League match against Clyde on 15 March marked Mark Clougherty's 200th appearance for Dumbarton in all national competitions - the 19th Dumbarton player to break the 'double century'. Early in the season there was a tragic death in the playing staff - that of popular defender Eric Schaedler. Eric had been signed up in the close season and had become a firm favourite with the Dumbarton fans. See also 1985–86 in Scottish football References External links Ken Thomson (Dumbarton Football Club Historical Archive) Mark Williams (Dumbarton Football Club Historical Archive) Scottish Football Historical Archive Category:Dumbarton F.C. seasons Category:Scottish football clubs 1985–86 season