1883–84 Dumbarton F.C. season

The 1883–84 season was the 11th Scottish football season in which Dumbarton competed at a national level.

Dumbarton

1883–84 season
Stadium	Boghead Park, Dumbarton
Scottish Cup	First Round
Home colours

Scottish Cup

After the success of the previous season, Dumbarton fell at the 'first hurdle' in the Scottish Cup by losing to local rivals Renton.[1]

8 September 1883 Cup R1	Renton	2-1[2][3]	Dumbarton	Tontine Park
			Keir	Attendance: 3,000

Glasgow Charity Cup

Dumbarton's fortunes were no better in the Glasgow Charity Cup where they lost at the semi final stage to 3rd LRV. A protest was lodged by Dumbarton after the game that their opponents had played several players from other teams - against SFA rules. However the basis of the objection was doomed to failure, due in part to the fact that the game had been refereed by the president of the SFA, and if the protest had been successful, Queen's Park's victory over Rangers would have had to be replayed, as the QP team was similarly sprinkled with 'guest' players - indeed it seemed that very few decisions went against Queens Park in those days!

19 April 1884 SemiFinal	Dumbarton	0-1	3rd LRV	Hampden Park
			Crawford  1'	Attendance: 7,000

Friendlies/other matches

Notwithstanding the early cup exit, Dumbarton's fixture card was a busy one.

The season began with a charity match against Rangers in aid of the Daphne Disaster Fund. This was followed in Scotland with home and away fixtures against Queen's Park, Vale of Leven, Rangers, St Mirren (the Renfrewshire Cup holders) and St Bernards - all 10 of which were won, in addition to a 7-0 thumping of Ayrshire Cup holders Kilmarnock Athletic.

There were also 12 'friendly' matches played against English opposition, including home and away fixtures against Aston Villa, Walsall Swifts, Nottingham Forest, Blackburn Rovers and Blackburn Olympic, the 1882-83 FA Cup winners. The 6-1 win at Boghead against 'Olympic' was at the time recognised as the unofficial Championship of Great Britain.

In all, 23 matches were won, 1 drawn and 7 lost, scoring 95 goals and conceding 38.

31 July 1883 Benefit	Rangers	4-2	Dumbarton	Kinning Park
	scrimmage Christie McHardy scrimmage		Brown(P) Brown(S)	Attendance: 2,500

4 August 1883 Friendly	Vale of Leven	1-2	Dumbarton	Alexandria
			Brown(P) Lindsay

25 August 1883 Friendly	Hearts	3-3	Dumbarton	Tynecastle Stadium
	Waugh Wood Douglas		Brown(P) Lindsay Anderson

1 September 1883 Friendly	Dumbarton	6-1	Blackburn Olympic	Boghead Park
	McArthur Brown(P) Brown(S) Miller,J			Attendance: 3,000

17 September 1883 Friendly	Walsall Swifts	0-2	Dumbarton	The Chuckery
			Kennedy  44' Miller,P  70'	Attendance: 3,500

22 September 1883 Friendly	Dumbarton	3-2	Queen's Park	Boghead Park
	Miller  20', 46' McKinnon  45'		Miller  15'

29 September 1883 Friendly	Dumbarton	2-1	Blackburn Rovers	Boghead Park
	McKinnon Brown			Attendance: 3,000 Referee: T Lawrie

6 October 1883 Friendly	Dumbarton	3-0	Vale of Leven	Boghead Park
	Lindsay Brown(S)			Attendance: 3,000

13 October 1883 Friendly	3rd LRV	4-0	Dumbarton	Cathkin Park
				Attendance: 1,200

27 October 1883 Friendly	Dumbarton	2-0	Rangers	Boghead Park
	Lindsay McKinnon			Attendance: 5,000

3 November 1883 Friendly	Queen's Park	1-3	Dumbarton	Titwood Park, Strathbungo
	Christie		McKinnon Colville Brown	Attendance: 6,000

10 November 1883 Friendly	Dumbarton	4-2	St Mirren	Boghead Park
	Brown(S) Brown(P) McKinnon			Referee: W McIntosh

17 November 1883 Friendly	Rangers	2-4	Dumbarton	Kinning Park
	McHardy McGregor		McKinnon Brown Colville	Attendance: 5,000

24 November 1883 Friendly	Notts Forest	2-3	Dumbarton	Park Side, Nottingham
	Widowsen		Keir Hutton Colville	Attendance: 4,000

1 December 1883 Friendly	Northern	1-5	Dumbarton	Hyde Park (Glasgow)
			Lindsay Brown(S) Colville

8 December 1883 Friendly	Dumbarton	7-0	Kilmarnock Athletic	Boghead Park
	McKinnon Kennedy

15 December 1883 Friendly	Dumbarton	4-0	Walsall Swifts	Boghead Park
	Brown McKinnon Higgins  (OG)

22 December 1883 Friendly	Dumbarton	2-1	Cowlairs	Boghead Park

29 December 1883 Friendly	Old Carthusian	1-2	Dumbarton	Kennington Oval
	Wilson		McKinnon Brown	Attendance: 1,000 Referee: C Alcock

31 December 1883 Friendly	Aston Villa	1-0	Dumbarton	Wellington Road (Perry Barr)
	Whateley			Attendance: 8,000

1 January 1884 Friendly	Blackburn Rovers	2-1	Dumbarton	Leamington Road
	Douglas  15', 85'		Brown	Attendance: 10,000

2 January 1884 Friendly	Accrington	0-4	Dumbarton	Thorneyholme Road
			Brown(S)  35'	Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Mr Lewis

12 January 1884 Friendly	Dumbarton	1-2	Thornliebank	Boghead Park
	Lindsay		Law Bonar	Attendance: 2,000

26 January 1884 Friendly	St Bernard's	0-1	Dumbarton	Powderhall

12 February 1884 Friendly	Dumbarton	3-1	Notts Forest	Boghead Park
	Colville  15' Lindsay  40', 55'		Miller,P  50' (OG)	Attendance: 2,000 Referee: W Young

9 February 1884 Friendly	St Mirren	0-6	Dumbarton	Westmarch, Paisley
				Attendance: 6,000

16 February 1884 Friendly	Dumbarton	8-0	St Bernard's	Boghead Park
	McKinnon Lindsay Brown{P} Brown(S) McAulay

23 February 1884 Friendly	Blackburn Olympic	4-3	Dumbarton	Hole-i'-th'-Wall, Blackburn
	Dewhurst Parker Matthews		Miller	Attendance: 4,000 Referee: Mr Critchley

15 March 1884 Friendly	Dumbarton	3-0	Thistle	Boghead Park

22 March 1884 Friendly	Partick Thistle	2-1	Dumbarton	Inchview, Glasgow
			Lindsay	Attendance: 4,000

12 April 1884 Friendly	Dumbarton	5-0	Aston Villa	Boghead Park
	McKinnon Lindsay Miller  (OG)			Attendance: 5,000

Player statistics

Of note amongst those donning the club's colours for the first time was Robert 'Plumber' Brown.

Only includes appearances and goals in competitive Scottish Cup matches.

Player	Position	Appearances	Goals
James McAulay	GK	1	0
Jock Hutcheson	DF	1	0
Willie Lang[4]	DF	1	0
Leitch Keir	MF	1	1
Peter Miller	MF	1	0
R Anderson[5]	FW	1	0
Robert 'Plumber' Brown	FW	1	0
Robert 'Sparrow' Brown	FW	1	0
James Liddell	FW	1	0
Joe Lindsay	FW	1	0
James Miller[6]	FW	1	0

Source:[7]

International caps

An international trial match was played on 8 March 1884 to consider selection of teams to represent Scotland against Ireland, England and Wales in the inaugural British Home Championship. Joe Lindsay, James McAulay, William McKinnon and Peter Miller were all selected to play for the 'Probables' against an 'Improbable' XI which included 'Sparrow' Brown and Jock Hutcheson. The game ended in a 2-2 draw with McKinnon scoring one of the 'Probables' goals.

Subsequently, the following Dumbarton players were selected:

- Robert 'Sparrow' Brown[8] earned his first and second caps against Ireland and Wales respectively.

- Joe Lindsay[9] earned his fourth and fifth caps against England and Wales respectively, scoring a goal in the 4-1 win over the Welsh.

- William McKinnon[10] earned his third and fourth caps against England and Wales respectively.

- James McAulay[11] earned his fourth cap against England and Michael Paton[12] earned his second cap against Wales.

Reserve team

Dumbarton reached the final of the Scottish Second XI Cup for the second time in three seasons before losing out to the holders, Kilmarnock Athletic.

On the same day as the international trial, a Dumbartonshire XI played against a Glasgow XI to raise funds for the Second Eleven Association. Ralph Aitken, James Liddell, James Miller and W Watt played, with Miller scoring twice and Watt once in the 4-1 win.

References

1. Smailes, Gordon (1995). The Breedon Book of Scottish Football Records. Derby: Breedon Books. ISBN 1-85983-020-X.
2. "Renton 2 - 1 Dumbarton, Scottish Cup (08/09/1883)". Fitbastats.com. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
3. "Renton 2 - 1 Dumbarton, Saturday, September 8th, 1883". The Sons Archive. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
4. "Willie Lang - Player Statistics". The Sons Archive. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
5. "Anderson - Player Statistics". The Sons Archive. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
6. "James Miller - Player Statistics". The Sons Archive. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
7. McAllister, Jim (2002). The Sons of the Rock - The Official History of Dumbarton Football Club. Dumbarton: J&J Robertson Printers.
8. "Robert Brown". Scottishfa.co.uk. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
9. "Joseph Lindsay". Scottishfa.co.uk. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
10. "William McKinnon". Scottishfa.co.uk. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
11. "James McAulay". Scottishfa.co.uk. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
12. "Michael Paton". Scottishfa.co.uk. Retrieved 14 June 2019.