2003–04 Dumbarton F.C. season

Dumbarton
2003-04 season
Manager	Brian Fairlie
Stadium	Strathclyde Homes Stadium, Dumbarton
Scottish League Division 2	3rd
Scottish Cup	First Round
Scottish League Cup	Second Round
Bell's Challenge Cup	Second Round
Top goalscorer	League: Iain Russell (10); All: Iain Russell (10)
Highest home attendance	1,861
Lowest home attendance	552
Average home league attendance	1,036
	← 2002–03 2004–05 →

Season 2003–04 was the 120th football season in which Dumbarton competed at a Scottish national level, entering the Scottish Football League for the 98th time, the Scottish Cup for the 109th time, the Scottish League Cup for the 57th time and the Scottish Challenge Cup for the 13th time.

Overview[]

Notwithstanding the improvement in performances towards the end of the previous season, manager David Winnie set about a considerable change in playing staff. Unfortunately, despite an initial burst, it would take longer than expected for the new players to settle in, and by the end of October, only one league win had been recorded. However, from then until the end of the season, the league campaign saw a vast improvement in results and in the end a 3rd-place finish was achieved - missing promotion by just 2 points.

In the Scottish Cup, it would be a first round exit for the third season in a row, with a heavy defeat to Gretna.

In the League Cup, following a win over Ayr United in the first round, it would be Premier Division Aberdeen that would bring Dumbarton's interest in the competition to an end.

Finally, in the Scottish Challenge Cup, it was back to old habits, with Ross County handing out a first round thumping.

Locally, in the Stirlingshire Cup, Dumbarton lost both of their opening group ties - however each tie was lost on a penalty shoot out.

Results & fixtures[]

^[1] Win Draw Loss

Scottish Second Division[]

9 August 2003 Scottish Second Division	Alloa Athletic	1–2	Dumbarton	Recreation Park, Alloa
	Smith 3'	BBC Report	Bradley 8' Flannery 46'	Attendance: 446 Referee: G Mitchell

16 August 2003 Scottish Second Division	Dumbarton	1–1	Arbroath	Dumbarton Football Stadium
	Flannery 57'	Report	Cargill 84'	Attendance: 1,050 Referee: I Brines

23 August 2003 Scottish Second Division	Morton	2–2	Dumbarton	Cappielow
	Williams 31' (pen) Weatherston 83'	BBC Report	Flannery 57' Boyle 58'	Attendance: 3,402 Referee: C Conroy

30 August 2003 Scottish Second Division	Airdrie United	2–0	Dumbarton	Excelsior Stadium
	Dunn 6' Glancy	BBC Report		Attendance: 1,468 Referee: C Allan

13 September 2003 Scottish Second Division	Dumbarton	1–1	Berwick Rangers	Dumbarton Football Stadium
	Dillon 17'	BBC Report	Hutchison	Attendance: 722 Referee: C Melville

20 September 2003 Scottish Second Division	Forfar Athletic	3–1	Dumbarton	Station Park, Forfar
	Tosh 4' Henderson 56' Shields 83'	BBC Report	Collins 66'	Attendance: 449 Referee: A Freeland

27 September 2003 Scottish Second Division	Dumbarton	0–1	Stenhousemuir	Dumbarton Football Stadium
		BBC Report	Harty 89'	Attendance: 747 Referee: C Murray

4 October 2003 Scottish Second Division	East Fife	1–0	Dumbarton	Bayview Stadium
	Lynes 81'	BBC Report		Attendance: 518 Referee: T Brown

18 October 2003 Scottish Second Division	Dumbarton	0–3	Hamilton	Dumbarton Football Stadium
		BBC Report	Corcoran 26' Quitongo 46' Thomson 69'	Attendance: 890 Referee: C Boyle

25 October 2003 Scottish Second Division	Arbroath	2–1	Dumbarton	Gayfield Park
	Cargill 42' McGlashan 69'	BBC Report	McEwan 57'	Attendance: 506 Referee: J Rowbotham

1 November 2003 Scottish Second Division	Dumbarton	1–0	Alloa Athletic	Dumbarton Football Stadium
	McEwan (pen)	BBC Report		Attendance: 742 Referee: E Smith

8 November 2003 Scottish Second Division	Berwick Rangers	1–4	Dumbarton	Shielfield Park
	McCutcheon 36'	BBC Report	Bonar 5' English 18' Dillon 21', 23'	Attendance: 722 Referee: E Mack

16 November 2003 Scottish Second Division	Dumbarton	2–0	Airdrie United	Dumbarton Football Stadium
	Dillon	BBC Report		Attendance: 1,361 Referee: M Sproule

6 December 2003 Scottish Second Division	Stenhousemuir	1–1	Dumbarton	Ochilview
	Brown 10'	BBC Report	Bradley 31'	Attendance: 588 Referee: M Ritchie

13 December 2003 Scottish Second Division	Dumbarton	3–1	East Fife	Dumbarton Football Stadium
	Dillon 18' Bonar 47' Russell 78'	BBC Report	McDonald 67'	Attendance: 653 Referee: C Boyle

3 January 2004 Scottish Second Division	Dumbarton	1–0	Morton	Dumbarton Football Stadium
	Russell 5'	BBC Report		Attendance: 1,861 Referee: C Hardie

10 January 2004 Scottish Second Division	Dumbarton	2–1	Forfar Athletic	Dumbarton Football Stadium
	Dillon 43' Rodgers	BBC Report	Tosh 17' (pen)	Attendance: 803 Referee: J Downie

17 January 2004 Scottish Second Division	Alloa Athletic	3–0	Dumbarton	Recreation Park, Alloa
	Hamilton 7' Daly 82' Callaghan 90'	BBC Report		Attendance: 423 Referee: C Allan

24 January 2004 Scottish Second Division	Forfar Athletic	1–0	Dumbarton	Station Park, Forfar
	Tosh 24'	BBC Report		Attendance: 540 Referee: S MacDonald

7 February 2004 Scottish Second Division	Dumbarton	4–1	Berwick Rangers	Dumbarton Football Stadium
	McEwan (pen) Herd 6' Brittain Russell	BBC Report	Cowan	Attendance: 722 Referee: J Flemming

14 February 2004 Scottish Second Division	Airdrie United	1–1	Dumbarton	Excelsior Stadium
	Vareille 10'	BBC Report	Rodgers 88'	Attendance: 1,379 Referee: K Toner

21 February 2004 Scottish Second Division	Dumbarton	2–0	Hamilton	Dumbarton Football Stadium
	Bonar 45' Russell 85'	BBC Report		Attendance: 1,046 Referee: C Conroy

6 March 2004 Scottish Second Division	Dumbarton	1–0	Arbroath	Dumbarton Football Stadium
	Rodgers 22'	BBC Report		Attendance: 828 Referee: E Smith

9 March 2004 Scottish Second Division	Hamilton	2–0	Dumbarton	New Douglas Park
	McPhee Gribben	BBC Report		Attendance: 949 Referee: J Gilmour

13 March 2004 Scottish Second Division	Morton	3–2	Dumbarton	Cappielow
	Greacen Miller Williams	BBC Report	McEwan (pen) Bonar	Attendance: 2,705 Referee: C Richmond

16 March 2004 Scottish Second Division	East Fife	1–3	Dumbarton	Bayview Stadium
	Fairbairn 31'	BBC Report	Russell 9' Herd 85' Boyle 81'	Attendance: 439 Referee: M Tumilty

23 March 2004 Scottish Second Division	Dumbarton	4–0	Stenhousemuir	Dumbarton Football Stadium
	Russell 1', 13' Boyle 17' Bonar 75'	BBC Report		Attendance: 552 Referee: M Sproule

27 March 2004 Scottish Second Division	Dumbarton	1–2	Airdrie United	Dumbarton Football Stadium
	Herd 29'	BBC Report	Glancy 9' McLaren 62'	Attendance: 1,536 Referee: C Thomson

30 March 2004 Scottish Second Division	Berwick Rangers	1–2	Dumbarton	Shielfield Park
	Bennett 67' (pen)	BBC Report	Russell 23' Boyle 74'	Attendance: 354 Referee: C Boyle

3 April 2004 Scottish Second Division	Stenhousemuir	1–2	Dumbarton	Ochilview
	Brown 87'	BBC Report	Ronald 2' Dillon 71'	Attendance: 412 Referee: K Toner

10 April 2004 Scottish Second Division	Dumbarton	1–1	Forfar Athletic	Dumbarton Football Stadium
	Herd	BBC Report	Maher 23'	Attendance: 1,007 Referee: E Mack

17 April 2004 Scottish Second Division	Hamilton	2–1	Dumbarton	New Douglas Park
	Thomson 55' Gemmell 89'	BBC Report	Collins 7' (pen)	Attendance: 1,343 Referee: C Murray

24 April 2004 Scottish Second Division	Dumbarton	1–0	East Fife	Dumbarton Football Stadium
	Russell	BBC Report		Attendance: 827 Referee: J Gilmour

1 May 2004 Scottish Second Division	Dumbarton	3–0	Morton	Dumbarton Football Stadium
	Ronald Herd 57' Russell 85'	BBC Report		Attendance: 1,861 Referee: J Underhill

8 May 2004 Scottish Second Division	Arbroath	0–3	Dumbarton	Gayfield Park
		BBC Report	Ronald 29' Herd 33'	Attendance: 531 Referee: S Duff

15 May 2004 Scottish Second Division	Dumbarton	3–1	Alloa Athletic	Dumbarton Football Stadium
	Herd 68' Skjelered Dillon	BBC Report	McGowan 44'	Attendance: 1,439 Referee: I Fyfe

Bell's Challenge Cup[]

13 August 2003 Scottish Challenge Cup Round 2	Ross County	5–0	Dumbarton	Victoria Park, Dingwall
	Winters 29', 74' Hamilton 70'	BBC report		Attendance: 861 Referee: I Fyfe

CIS League Cup[]

2 September 2003 Scottish League Cup Round 1	Ayr United	1–2	Dumbarton	Somerset Park
	Smyth	BBC Report	Flannery Bonar 90'	Attendance: 1,048 Referee: E Mack

23 September 2003 Scottish League Cup Round 2	Aberdeen	3–1	Dumbarton	Pittodrie Stadium
	Zdrilic 14', 45' Hinds 46'	BBC Report	Obedile 81'	Attendance: 3,944 Referee: W Young

Scottish Cup[]

22 November 2003 Scottish Cup Round 1	Gretna	4–0	Dumbarton	Raydale Park
	Stevens 6' Skelton 74' Holdsworth 80' Gordan 86'	BBC Report		Attendance: 652 Referee: E Smith

Stirlingshire Cup[]

19 July 2003 Group stage	Falkirk	0–0 (lost p)	Dumbarton	Falkirk Stadium
				Attendance: 748

29 July 2003 Group stage	Dumbarton	1–1 (lost p)	Stirling Albion	Dumbarton Football Stadium
	Herd

Pre-season and mid-season friendlies[]

23 July 2003 Friendly	Stranraer	3–2	Dumbarton	Stair Park

26 July 2003 Friendly	Dumbarton	1–0	Queen of the South	Dumbarton Football Stadium

27 July 2003 Friendly	Sauchie	3–2	Dumbarton	Sauchie

2 August 2003 Friendly	Dumbarton	0–0	Dundee United	Dumbarton Football Stadium
				Attendance: 389

8 September 2003 Friendly	Dumbarton	2–4	Partick Thistle	Dumbarton Football Stadium
				Attendance: 250

9 October 2003 Friendly	Stranraer	0–2	Dumbarton	Stair Park
			Flannery Donald

15 October 2003 Friendly	Dumbarton	5–1	Vale of Leven	Dumbarton Football Stadium
	Flannery Russell English Christie

27 December 2003 Friendly	Queen's Park	0–3	Dumbarton	Hampden Park
			Rodgers Mallan

8 January 2004 Friendly	Stirling Albion	1–2	Dumbarton	Forthbank Stadium
			Mallan

League table[]

Pos	Team v t	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Airdrie United	36	20	10	6	64	36	+28	70	Promoted to First Division 2004–05
2	Hamilton Academical	36	18	8	10	70	47	+23	62	Promoted to First Division 2004–05
3	Dumbarton	36	18	6	12	56	41	+15	60
4	Greenock Morton	36	16	11	9	66	58	+8	59
5	Berwick Rangers	36	14	6	16	61	67	−6	48

Source: "2003-2004 Second Division - SPFL Archive". SPFL. Retrieved 29 April 2021.

Player statistics[]

Squad[]

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Second Division		League Cup		Challenge Cup		Scottish Cup
No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
	GK	SCO	Stephen Grindlay	38	0	34+0	0	2+0	0	1+0	0	1+0	0
	GK	SCO	Kris Robertson	2	0	2+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
	GK	SCO	John Wight	2	0	0+1	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+1	0
	DF	SCO	Craig Brittain	36	1	32+0	1	2+0	0	1+0	0	1+0	0
	DF	SCO	Neil Collins	34	2	29+1	2	2+0	0	1+0	0	1+0	0
	DF	SCO	Ian Dobbins	20	0	12+5	0	2+0	0	0+0	0	0+1	0
	DF	SCO	Neil Duffy	11	0	8+1	0	1+0	0	1+0	0	0+0	0
	DF	SCO	Craig McEwan	25	4	19+4	4	1+0	0	0+0	0	1+0	0
	DF	SCO	James McKinstry	40	0	36+0	0	2+0	0	1+0	0	1+0	0
	DF	NGA	James Okoli	2	0	2+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
	DF	SCO	Steve Renicks	18	0	7+11	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
	MF	SCO	Steven Bonar	39	6	35+0	5	1+1	1	1+0	0	1+0	0
	MF	SCO	Chris Boyle	32	4	17+11	4	2+0	0	0+1	0	1+0	0
	MF	SCO	Mark Bradley	28	2	18+6	2	2+0	0	1+0	0	1+0	0
	MF	SCO	John Dillon	39	8	31+5	8	0+1	0	1+0	0	1+0	0
	MF	SCO	Barry Donald	28	0	24+2	0	1+1	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
	MF	SCO	Steve Laidler	6	0	0+6	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
	MF	NGA	Emeka Obidile	13	1	8+2	0	2+0	1	0+0	0	1+0	0
	MF	SCO	Danny Smith	7	0	4+1	0	1+0	0	1+0	0	0+0	0
	FW	SCO	Isaac English	11	1	8+1	1	0+0	0	0+1	0	1+0	0
	FW	SCO	Paddy Flannery	13	4	8+2	3	1+1	1	1+0	0	0+0	0
	FW	SCO	Gordon Herd	21	8	11+9	8	0+0	0	0+1	0	0+0	0
	FW	SCO	Stevie Mallan	5	0	3+2	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
	FW	SCO	Andy Rodgers	11	4	7+4	4	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
	FW	SCO	Paul Ronald	14	3	13+1	3	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
	FW	SCO	Iain Russell	36	10	26+7	10	0+1	0	1+0	0	0+1	0
	FW	NOR	Bjorn Skjelbred	8	1	2+6	1	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0

^[1]

Transfers[]

^[2]

Players in[]

Player	From	Date
Mark Bradley	Berwick Rangers	6 Jun 2003
Steve Renicks	Queen of the South	6 Jun 2003
Chris Boyle	Kilmarnock	11 Jun 2003
Gordon Herd	Bo'ness United	7 Jul 2003
James McKinstry	Partick Thistle	7 Jul 2003
Danny Smith	Linlithgow Rose	7 Jul 2003
Isaac English	Bo'ness United	19 Jul 2003
James Okoli	York City	9 Aug 2003
Ian Dobbins	Hamilton	29 Aug 2003
Kris Robertson	St Mirren	27 Sep 2003
Stevie Mallan	Stenhousemuir	5 Dec 2003
Andy Rodgers	Falkirk	19 Dec 2003
Paul Ronald	Airdrie United	31 Jan 2004
Steve Laidler	Reading	11 Mar 2004
Bjorn Skjelbred	FK Tønsberg	31 Mar 2004

Players out[]

Player	To	Date
Andy Brown	Stenhousemuir	6 Jun 2003
Dave Stewart	Forfar Athletic	2 Jul 2003
Craig Lynes	East Fife	3 Jul 2003
Neil Scally	Falkirk	8 Jul 2003
Kevin McCann	East Stirling	15 Jul 2003
John McKeown	Cowdenbeath	19 Jul 2003
Gary McCutcheon	Berwick Rangers	16 Aug 2003
Kris Robertson	Queen of the South	3 Dec 2003
Paddy Flannery	Stenhousemuir	4 Dec 2003
Tom Brown	Bellshill Athletic
Michael Dickie	Maryhill
Neil Duffy	Sauchie
Stevie Mallan	Glenafton Athletic
Emeka Obidile	Buckingham Town
James Okoli	FC Ismaning
Danny Smith	Linlithgow Rose
Isaac English

Trivia[]

The League match against Forfar Athletic on 20 September marked Craig Brittain's 200th appearance for Dumbarton in all national competitions - the 28th Dumbarton player to break the 'double century'.

References[]

^ ^a ^b Scottish Football Review 2004/05. Burford: CRE8. 2004. ISBN 0-9548556-0-4.
^ Litster, John. Record of Post-War Scottish League Players. Norwich: PM Publications.

External links[]

[review-1] Scottish Football Review 2004/05. Burford: CRE8. 2004. ISBN 0-9548556-0-4.

[2] Litster, John. Record of Post-War Scottish League Players. Norwich: PM Publications.

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