2008–09 Dumbarton F.C. season

Dumbarton
2008-09 season
Manager	Jim Chapman
Stadium	Strathclyde Homes Stadium, Dumbarton
Scottish League Division 3	1st
Scottish Cup	Third Round
Scottish League Cup	Second Round
League Challenge Cup	First Round
Top goalscorer	League: Ross Clark (14); All: Ross Clark (15)
Highest home attendance	1396
Lowest home attendance	462
Average home league attendance	712
	← 2007–08 2009–10 →

Season 2008–09 was the 125th football season in which Dumbarton competed at a Scottish national level, entering the Scottish Football League for the 103rd time, the Scottish Cup for the 114th time, the Scottish League Cup for the 62nd time and the Scottish Challenge Cup for the 18th time.

Overview[]

Jim Chapman's first full season in charge began with a large intake of new playing staff. A slow start however was to be replaced by an unbeaten run of 8 games which saw Dumbarton rise to 2nd place by the beginning of November. Mixed results in December through February meant that Dumbarton fell to 4th place, but still in with a playoff chance. However it was to be a final surge which saw 7 wins taken from the last 8 games which pushed Dumbarton to the Third Division title. Indeed that run brought about Dumbarton's record number of consecutive 'shut-outs' - 7 in all.

In the Scottish Cup, a second round victory over Highland League opponents Fraserburgh was followed by a close encounter with First Division Ross County, which was only decided by the odd goal in three and that after a draw.

In the League Cup, Dumbarton defeated Annan Athletic on penalties, but were to be overwhelmed by Premier Division St Mirren in the second round.

Finally, it was yet another League Challenge Cup first round exit, to Airdrie United.

Locally, the Stirlingshire Cup was not competed for.

Results & fixtures[]

^[1] Win Draw Loss

Scottish Third Division[]

2 August 2008 Scottish Third Division	Dumbarton	1–1	Montrose	Dumbarton Football Stadium
	Clark 83' (pen)		Stewart 26'	Attendance: 580 Referee: S Nicholls

9 August 2008 Scottish Third Division	Elgin City	1–1	Dumbarton	Borough Briggs
	McKay 24'		Logan 75'	Attendance: 462 Referee: C Boyle

16 August 2008 Scottish Third Division	Berwick Rangers	1–2	Dumbarton	Shielfield Park
	Gribben 40'		Lennon 55' Tiernan 61'	Attendance: 516 Referee: G Hilland

23 August 2008 Scottish Third Division	Dumbarton	1–2	Stenhousemuir	Dumbarton Football Stadium
	Keegan 71'		Motion 23' Shirra 90'	Attendance: 660 Referee: B Colvin

30 August 2008 Scottish Third Division	Dumbarton	1–1	East Stirlingshire	Dumbarton Football Stadium
	Murray 25'		McKenzie 69'	Attendance: 592

13 September 2008 Scottish Third Division	Albion Rovers	1–3	Dumbarton	Cliftonhill
	Walker,P 61' (pen)		Clark 8' McLeod 18' Gordon 60' (pen)	Attendance: 327 Referee: B Winter

20 September 2008 Scottish Third Division	Dumbarton	2–1	Cowdenbeath	Dumbarton Football Stadium
	Carcary 36' Gordon 90'		McQuade 90'	Attendance: 801 Referee: S O'Reilly

27 September 2008 Scottish Third Division	Forfar Athletic	2–2	Dumbarton	Station Park, Forfar
	Russell 57' Gibson,G 79'		Tulloch 7' (OG) McLeod 52'	Attendance: 431 Referee: F McDermott

4 October 2008 Scottish Third Division	Dumbarton	4–1	Annan Athletic	Dumbarton Football Stadium
	Watson 6' (OG) Keegan 30' Clark 34' (pen) Hill 45' (OG)		Inglis 59'	Attendance: 539 Referee: S Finnie

18 October 2008 Scottish Third Division	Montrose	1–2	Dumbarton	Borough Briggs
	Black 90'		Clark 32' McLeod 51'	Attendance: 673 Referee: A Law

1 November 2008 Scottish Third Division	Dumbarton	5–2	Berwick Rangers	Dumbarton Football Stadium
	McLeod 9' Clark 19', 62' Murray 34' Cusack 75'		Anderson Craig 32' Ewart 83'	Attendance: 673 Referee: C Brown

8 November 2008 Scottish Third Division	Stenhousemuir	1–1	Dumbarton	Ochilview
	Brand 61'		Murray 62'	Attendance: 723 Referee: A Law

15 November 2008 Scottish Third Division	East Stirlingshire	5–2	Dumbarton	Firs Park
	Graham 22', 60' Rodgers 44' (pen) Donaldson 46' Dunn 64'		Carcary 87' Moore 90'	Attendance: 516 Referee: S McLean

22 November 2008 Scottish Third Division	Dumbarton	1–1	Albion Rovers	Dumbarton Football Stadium
	Clark 42'		Donnelly 37'	Attendance: 646 Referee: Mat Northcroft

13 December 2008 Scottish Third Division	Dumbarton	3–0	Forfar Athletic	Dumbarton Football Stadium
	Chisholm 24' McLeod 67' Keegan 88'			Attendance: 539 Referee: S Finnie

20 December 2008 Scottish Third Division	Annan Athletic	2–1	Dumbarton	Galabank
	Neilson 42', 90'		Clark 45' (pen)	Attendance: 634 Referee: C Allan

10 January 2009 Scottish Third Division	Cowdenbeath	2–0	Dumbarton	Central Park, Cowdenbeath
	Adamson 18' McQuade 80'			Attendance: 416 Referee: G Salmond

17 January 2009 Scottish Third Division	Dumbarton	1–0	Stenhousemuir	Dumbarton Football Stadium
	Chisholm 42'			Attendance: 425 Referee: B Madden

24 January 2009 Scottish Third Division	Berwick Rangers	1–2	Dumbarton	Shielfield Park
	Callaghan 28'		McLeod 21' Carcary 43'	Attendance: 425 Referee: T Robertson

31 January 2009 Scottish Third Division	Dumbarton	1–1	Montrose	Dumbarton Football Stadium
	Carcary 5'		Hunter 54'	Attendance: 652 Referee: S Nicholls

21 February 2009 Scottish Third Division	Dumbarton	1–1	Cowdenbeath	Dumbarton Football Stadium
	Boyle 33'		Dempster 57'	Attendance: 692 Referee: E Norris

28 February 2009 Scottish Third Division	East Stirlingshire	3–1	Dumbarton	Firs Park
	Stevenson 5' Cramb 67' (pen) Rodgers 87'		Clark 39'	Attendance: 526 Referee: C Brown

3 March 2009 Scottish Third Division	Dumbarton	2–0	East Stirlingshire	Dumbarton Football Stadium
	McLaughlin 22' Craig 32'			Attendance: 462

7 March 2009 Scottish Third Division	Dumbarton	1–0	Albion Rovers	Dumbarton Football Stadium
	Boyle 68'			Attendance: 692 Referee: J McKendrick

10 March 2009 Scottish Third Division	Dumbarton	2–0	Elgin City	Dumbarton Football Stadium
	McLaughlin 35' Carcary 67'			Attendance: 471 Referee: N Watters

14 March 2009 Scottish Third Division	Montrose	1–0	Dumbarton	Links Park
	McKenzie 65'			Attendance: 343 Referee: Mat Northcroft

17 March 2009 Scottish Third Division	Albion Rovers	1–1	Dumbarton	Cliftonhill
	Barr 71'		Clark 90'	Attendance: 535 Referee: G Hilland

21 March 2009 Scottish Third Division	Dumbarton	0–2	Annan Athletic	Dumbarton Football Stadium
			Neilson 20' Jack 39'	Attendance: 815 Referee: S McLean

31 March 2009 Scottish Third Division	Elgin City	0–2	Dumbarton	Borough Briggs
			Edwards 39' (OG) McLaughlin 67'	Attendance: 271 Referee: G Hilland

4 April 2009 Scottish Third Division	Stenhousemuir	0–2	Dumbarton	Ochilview
			Lennon 44' Clark 76'	Attendance: 588 Referee: G Salmond

7 April 2009 Scottish Third Division	Forfar Athletic	0–2	Dumbarton	Station Park, Forfar
			Clark 55', 73'	Attendance: 513 Referee: N Watters

11 April 2009 Scottish Third Division	Dumbarton	2–0	Berwick Rangers	Dumbarton Football Stadium
	Forbes 15' Boyle 64'			Attendance: 702 Referee: B Colvin

18 April 2009 Scottish Third Division	Cowdenbeath	0–0	Dumbarton	Central Park, Cowdenbeath
				Attendance: 1,181 Referee: S Finnie

25 April 2009 Scottish Third Division	Dumbarton	4–0	Forfar Athletic	Dumbarton Football Stadium
	Smith 4' (OG) McLaughlin 25' Carcary 33' Brannan 80'			Attendance: 539 Referee: S Finnie

2 May 2009 Scottish Third Division	Dumbarton	6–0	Elgin City	Dumbarton Football Stadium
	Carcary 13', 34', 43', 66' McLaughlin 28' Murray 84'			Attendance: 1,396 Referee: E Smith

9 May 2009 Scottish Third Division	Annan Athletic	1–3	Dumbarton	Galabank
	Watson 66'		Clark 23' McLaughlin 28' Carcary 88'	Attendance: 1,343 Referee: G Salmond

Alba Challenge Cup[]

26 July 2008 Scottish Challenge Cup Round 1	Airdrie United	3–2	Dumbarton	Excelsior Stadium
	Noble 53' Cardle 58' Di Giacomo 75'		Clark 25' Carcary 43'	Attendance: 808

Co-operative Insurance League Cup[]

5 August 2009 Scottish League Cup Round 1	Dumbarton	1–1 (a.e.t.) (5-4 p)	Annan Athletic	Dumbarton Football Stadium
	Logan 115'		Jack 103' (pen)	Attendance: 464

26 August 2009 Scottish League Cup Round 1	St Mirren	7–0	Dumbarton	Love Street (stadium)
	Robb 18' Mehmet 33', 50', 52' Dorman 39' Dargo 75' Mason 77'			Attendance: 1,747

Homecoming Scottish Cup[]

25 October 2008 Scottish Cup Round 2	Fraserburgh	0–1	Dumbarton	Bellslea Park
			Chisholm	Attendance: 517 Referee: B Colvin

29 November 2008 Scottish Cup Round 3	Ross County	2–2	Dumbarton	Victoria Park, Dingwall
	Higgins 23', 57'		Carcary 50', 83'	Attendance: 1,200

15 December 2008 Scottish Cup Round 3	Dumbarton	1–2	Ross County	Dumbarton Football Stadium
	Gordon 46'		Brittain 24' (pen) Hart 37'	Attendance: 557

Pre-season[]

10 July 2008 Friendly	Queen's Park	2–3	Dumbarton	Hampden Park
			Geggan Keegan Gourlay

12 July 2008 Friendly	Rangers XI	2–2	Dumbarton	Ibrox Park
			Keegan Gray

15 July 2008 Friendly	Stenhousemuir	0–2	Dumbarton	Ochilview
			O'Byrne Chisholm

18 July 2008 Friendly	Dumbarton	0–1	Morton	Dumbarton Football Stadium
				Attendance: 562

22 July 2008 Friendly	Dumbarton	2–2	St Mirren	Dumbarton Football Stadium
	O'Byrne Murray		Brady Molloy	Attendance: 683

23 July 2008 Friendly	Dumbarton	1–3	Hamilton	Dumbarton Football Stadium
	Carcary		Stevenson McCarthy Akins	Attendance: 312

30 July 2008 Friendly	Rangers XI	1–2	Dumbarton	Ibrox Park
			Logan Tiernan

14 August 2008 Friendly	Vale of Leven	1–2	Dumbarton	Millburn Park
			Weir McCuiag

League table[]

Pos	Team v t	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or qualification
1	Dumbarton (C, P)	36	19	10	7	65	36	+29	67	Promotion to the Second Division
2	Cowdenbeath (P)	36	18	9	9	48	34	+14	63^[a]	Qualification for the Second Division Play-offs^[b]
3	East Stirlingshire	36	19	4	13	57	50	+7	61
4	Stenhousemuir (O, P)	36	16	8	12	55	46	+9	56
5	Montrose	36	16	6	14	47	48	−1	54

Source: BBC Sport
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champion; (O) Play-off winner; (P) Promoted
Notes:

^ Cowdenbeath were promoted due to Livingston's demotion from the First Division to the Third.
^ The 2nd, 3rd and 4th placed teams will be entered into a play-off with the Second Division's 4th placed team. The winning team will be awarded a place in the 2009–10 Second Division.

Player statistics[]

Squad[]

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Third Division		League Cup		Challenge Cup		Scottish Cup
No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
	GK	SCO	Dave McEwan	27	0	22+0	0	2+0	0	1+0	0	2+0	0
	GK	SCO	Mark McGeown	16	0	14+1	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	1+0	0
	GK	SCO	Michael White	1	0	1+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
	DF	SCO	Pat Boyle	20	3	20+0	3	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
	DF	SCO	Craig Brittain	4	0	3+0	0	1+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
	DF	SCO	Iain Chisholm	32	3	15+12	2	1+1	0	0+0	0	2+1	1
	DF	SCO	Mick Dunlop	23	0	21+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	2+0	0
	DF	SCO	Ben Gordon	42	4	36+0	3	2+0	0	1+0	0	3+0	1
	DF	SCO	Gordon Lennon	39	1	32+2	1	1+1	0	0+1	0	2+0	0
	DF	SCO	Richie McKillen	2	0	2+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
	DF	SCO	Michael O'Byrne	19	0	13+0	0	2+0	0	1+0	0	3+0	0
	DF	SCO	Gary Wilson	11	0	8+0	0	1+0	0	1+0	0	1+0	0
	MF	SCO	Kieran Brannan	7	1	0+6	1	0+1	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
	MF	SCO	Mark Canning	24	0	10+10	0	0+0	0	1+0	0	2+1	0
	MF	SCO	Ross Clark	37	15	30+1	14	2+0	0	1+0	1	3+0	0
	MF	SCO	Ross Forbes	18	1	15+3	1	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
	MF	SCO	Andy Geggan	30	0	23+2	0	1+0	0	1+0	0	3+0	0
	MF	SCO	Alan Gourlay	5	0	0+3	0	2+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
	MF	SCO	David Gray	9	0	2+5	0	0+1	0	1+0	0	0+0	0
	MF	SCO	Raymond Logan	9	1	4+2	1	2+0	0	0+1	0	0+0	0
	MF	SCO	Kieran McAnespie	4	0	2+2	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
	MF	SCO	Martin McNiff	1	0	0+1	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
	MF	SCO	Ryan McStay	12	0	10+2	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
	MF	SCO	Stevie Murray	41	4	34+1	4	2+0	0	1+0	0	3+0	0
	MF	SCO	Fergus Tiernan	7	1	2+2	1	0+2	0	0+1	0	0+0	0
	FW	SCO	Derek Carcary	37	14	25+8	11	1+0	0	1+0	1	1+1	2
	FW	SCO	Paul Craig	3	1	3+0	1	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
	FW	SCO	Liam Cusack	11	1	1+8	1	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+2	0
	FW	SCO	Paul Keegan	27	3	12+9	3	2+0	0	1+0	0	1+2	0
	FW	SCO	Denis McLaughlin	16	6	16+0	6	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
	FW	SCO	Paul McLeod	27	6	19+5	6	0+0	0	0+0	0	2+1	0
	FW	SCO	Michael Moore	8	1	0+6	1	0+0	0	0+0	0	2+0	0
	FW	SCO	Nathan Taylor	1	0	0+1	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
	FW	SCO	Steven Weir	1	0	1+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0

^[1]

Transfers[]

^[2]

Players in[]

Player	From	Date
Mick Dunlop	Queen's Park	25 May 2008
Paul Keegan	Partick Thistle	25 May 2008
Dave McEwan	Derry City	28 May 2008
Iain Chisholm	Albion Rovers	13 Jun 2008
Mark McGeown	Ayr United	13 Jun 2008
Alan Gourlay	Vale of Leven	19 Jun 2008
Ross Clark	Alloa Athletic	27 Jun 2008
Stevie Murray	Partick Thistle	1 Jul 2008
Derek Carcary	Raith Rovers	7 Jul 2008
David Gray	Kilbirnie Ladeside	7 Jul 2008
Gary Wilson	Pollok	7 Jul 2008
Martin McNiff	Leven Valley Am	9 Jul 2008
Ben Gordon	Strathclyde Univ	22 Jul 2008
Michael White	Alloa Athletic	25 Jul 2008
Steven Weir	Livingston	9 Aug 2008
Raymond Logan	Pollok	26 Aug 2008
Paul McLeod	Hamilton	1 Sep 2008
Alan Cook	St Mirren Youth	8 Oct 2008
Nathan Taylor	Gretna	17 Jan 2009
Ross Forbes	Motherwell (loan)	23 Jan 2009
Kieran McAnespie	Morton (loan)	30 Jan 2009
Pat Boyle	Everton	31 Jan 2009
Ryan McStay	Partick Thistle	3 Feb 2009
Denis McLaughlin	Hearts (loan)	21 Feb 2009
Paul Craig	Benburb	3 Mar 2009

Players out[]

Player	To	Date
David Crawford	Queen's Park	12 Jun 2008
Tommy Coyne	Albion Rovers	15 Jul 2008
Greg Cavanagh	St Anthonys	1 Aug 2008
Kenny Haswell	Kirkintilloch Rob Roy	1 Aug 2008
Steven Weir	Arbroath	21 Aug 2008
Chris Hamilton	Stirling Albion	22 Aug 2008
Alan Gourlay	Vale of Leven	10 Oct 2008
Craig Brittain		2 Jan 2009
David Gray		31 Jan 2009
Jason McLaughlin		31 Jan 2009
Liam Cusack	Annan Athletic	2 Feb 2009
Michael Moore	Stranraer	27 Feb 2009
Axel Orrström	AC Oulu
David Craig	Arthurlie
Peter Shaw	Arthurlie
Brian McPhee	Bathgate Thistle
Jonathan Yule	Benburb
Craig Potter	Cumnock
Chris Gentile	Kirkintilloch Rob Roy
Paul McQuilken	Kirkintilloch Rob Roy
Anton Nugent	Kirkintilloch Rob Roy
David McNaught	Vale of Leven
Ryan Russell	Vale of Leven
Richie McKillen	Glenafton Athletic
Raymond Logan
Michael Stokes

Trivia[]

The League match against Annan Athletic on 9 May marked Andy Geggan's 100th appearance for Dumbarton in all national competitions - the 130th Dumbarton player to reach this milestone.

References[]

^ ^a ^b Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2009/10. London: Headline Publishing Group. 2009. ISBN 978-0-7553-1948-0.
^ Litster, John. Record of Post-War Scottish League Players. Norwich: PM Publications.

External links[]

[table_hth_COW0.92200023537595-2] Cowdenbeath were promoted due to Livingston's demotion from the First Division to the Third.

[table_note_res_PP0.92200023537595-3] The 2nd, 3rd and 4th placed teams will be entered into a play-off with the Second Division's 4th placed team. The winning team will be awarded a place in the 2009–10 Second Division.

[review-1] Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2009/10. London: Headline Publishing Group. 2009. ISBN 978-0-7553-1948-0.

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

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