1893–94 Dumbarton F.C. season

The 1893–94 season was the 21st Scottish football season in which Dumbarton competed at national level, entering the Scottish Football League and the Scottish Cup. In addition Dumbarton played in the Dumbartonshire Cup.

Dumbarton

1893–94 season
Stadium	Boghead Park, Dumbarton
Scottish League Division One	5th
Scottish Cup	Second Round
Top goalscorer	League: Robert Johnstone (11) All: Robert Johnstone (11)
Home colours
← 1892–93 1894–95 →

Scottish League

Main article: 1893-94 Scottish Football League

The demand for league football nationally resulted in the creation of a new second division. Meanwhile, Dumbarton competed in their first season as a professional outfit. From now on it would be a 'big ask' for the club to compete with the larger outfits as they could not generate the required funds to attract the best talent. Nevertheless, a creditable 5th place in the First Division was achieved with 19 points, 10 behind champions Celtic.^[1]

Celtic v Dumbarton

26 August 1893 Scottish League	Celtic	0-0[2][3]	Dumbarton	Celtic Park
				Attendance: 10,000 Referee: A McKenzie

Dumbarton v St Bernard's

2 September 1893 Scottish League	Dumbarton	1-5[4][5]	St Bernard's	Boghead Park
	Ferrier		Oswald 75' McNab Crossan 86'	Referee: J Marshall

Third Lanark v Dumbarton

9 September 1893 Scottish League	Third Lanark	1-3[6][7]	Dumbarton	Cathkin Park
	McInnes 35'		Johnstone OG' McLeod,D 88'	Attendance: 4,000

Dumbarton v Dundee

16 September 1893 Scottish League	Dumbarton	1-1[8][9]	Dundee	Boghead Park
	Taylor		Dundas	Attendance: 2,000 Referee: Mr McLaughlin

Rangers v Dumbarton

23 September 1893 Scottish League	Rangers	4-0[10][11]	Dumbarton	Ibrox Park
	McCreadie Marshall Smith OG' Steel			Attendance: 4,000

Dumbarton v Hearts

30 September 1893 Scottish League	Dumbarton	2-2[12][13]	Hearts	Boghead Park
	Taylor Johnstone		Russell Chambers	Attendance: 1,000

Renton v Dumbarton

7 October 1893 Scottish League	Renton	1-1[14][15]	Dumbarton	Tontine Park
	scrimmage 65'		Johnstone 30'

Dumbarton v St Mirren

21 October 1893 Scottish League	Dumbarton	3-3[16][17]	St Mirren	Boghead Park
	Mirk OG' Hendry Saunderson 89'		Bell McLean 45'	Referee: Mr Richardson

Leith Athletic v Dumbarton

28 October 1893 Scottish League	Leith Athletic	2-4[18][19]	Dumbarton	Beechwood Park (Leith)
	Lee Henderson		Ferrier Campbell OG'	Attendance: 2,000 Referee: J Marshall

St Bernard's v Dumbarton

4 November 1893 Scottish League	St Bernard's	2-1[20][21]	Dumbarton	New Logie Green
	Laing Crossan		Johnstone

St Mirren v Dumbarton

11 November 1893 Scottish League	St Mirren	1-2[22][23]	Dumbarton	Westmarch (stadium)
	McLean		Johnstone Taylor 90'	Referee: J Marshall

Dumbarton v Renton

18 November 1893 Scottish League	Dumbarton	2-0[24][25]	Renton	Boghead Park
	Johnstone 20' Ferrier

Dundee v Dumbarton

9 December 1893 Scottish League	Dundee	4-0[26][27]	Dumbarton	West Craigie Park
	Thomson 25' Dundas Keiler			Attendance: 2,500

Dumbarton v Celtic

23 December 1893 Scottish League	Dumbarton	4-5[28][29]	Celtic	Boghead Park
	Johnstone Bell,L		Cassidy McMahon Blessington McMillan OG'	Attendance: 6,000

Dumbarton v Rangers

20 January 1894 Scottish League	Dumbarton	2-0[30][31]	Rangers	Boghead Park
	Saunderson Bell,L			Referee: Mr Allison

Dumbarton v Leith Athletic

3 February 1894 Scottish League	Dumbarton	3-1[32][33]	Leith Athletic	Boghead Park
	Ferrier 15' Taylor Johnstone		McFarlane 20'	Referee: J Marshall

Dumbarton v Third Lanark

17 March 1894 Scottish League	Dumbarton	2-1[34][35]	Third Lanark	Boghead Park
	Ferrier Bell,L		Stewart 15'	Referee: J Baillie

Hearts v Dumbarton

28 April 1894 Scottish League	Hearts	2-1[36][37]	Dumbarton	Tynecastle Stadium
	Taylor		Johnstone 15'	Attendance: 4,000 Referee: Mr McLaughlin

Scottish Cup

Main article: 1893-94 Scottish Cup

After a first round win over local rivals Vale of Leven, Dumbarton were defeated in the second round by St Bernards.

Vale of Leven v Dumbarton

25 November 1893 Cup R1	Vale of Leven	1–2[38][39]	Dumbarton	Millburn Park
	McColl 65'		Bell,L 25' Saunderson 80'

Dumbarton v St Bernard's

16 December 1893 Cup R2	Dumbarton	1–3[40][41]	St Bernard's	Boghead Park
	Taylor		Scott 10' Wilson

Dumbartonshire Cup

Dumbarton retained the Dumbartonshire Cup, defeating Duntocher Harp in the final.

Vale of Leven v Dumbarton

30 December 1893 Semi Final	Vale of Leven	1–3	Dumbarton	Boghead Park
	Gallacher 86'		Taylor 35' Wilson 38' (OG) Saunderson 49'	Referee: Mr Allison

Dumbarton v Duntocher Harp

21 April 1894 Final	Dumbarton	4–1	Duntocher Harp	Castle Grounds, Dalmuir
	Campbell Bell,L OG'			Attendance: 1,000 Referee: A McLean

Friendlies

During the season 17 'friendly' matches were played, including a 'mini' north of England tour during the New Year holidays. In all, 6 were won, 5 drawn and 6 lost, scoring 41 goals and conceding 39.

5th KRV v Dumbarton

5 August 1893 Friendly	5th KRV	2–4	Dumbarton	Palmerston Park
	Henderson Morley		McCalley (OG) Bell Campbell	Attendance: 1,000

Ayr v Dumbarton

12 August 1893 Friendly	Ayr	2–3	Dumbarton	Somerset Park

King's Park v Dumbarton

19 August 1893 Friendly	King's Park	5–2	Dumbarton	Forthbank Park
	McInnes Gray		Taylor Johnstone

Dundee Harp v Dumbarton

19 October 1893 Friendly	Dundee Harp	3–2	Dumbarton	East Dock Street
	Brady Brannan		Taylor	Referee: Mr Campbell

Blackburn Rovers v Dumbarton

1 January 1894 Friendly	Blackburn Rovers	4–2	Dumbarton	Ewood Park
	Whitehead Hall Southworth 80'		Johnstone Bell	Attendance: 3,000

Darwen v Dumbarton

1 January 1894 Friendly	Darwen	2–1	Dumbarton	Darwen
	Orr Maxwell		Bell	Attendance: 3,000

Wishaw Thistle v Dumbarton

13 January 1894 Friendly	Wishaw Thistle	4–4	Dumbarton	Recreation Park, Wishaw
			Bell Taylor	Attendance: 1,000

Motherwell v Dumbarton

10 February 1894 Friendly	Motherwell	2–3	Dumbarton	Dalziel Park (stadium)
	Allan 1' Lightbody 25'		Johnstone Andrews

Queen's Park v Dumbarton

24 February 1894 Friendly	Queen's Park	3–3	Dumbarton	Hampden Park
	Muir Waddell Lambie		Johnstone Andrews 85'

Morton v Dumbarton

3 March 1894 Friendly	Morton	2–2	Dumbarton	Cappielow Park
	scrimmage McIntyre 75'		Campbell 46' Seaton 51'

Dumbarton v Battlefield

10 March 1894 Friendly	Dumbarton	5–0	Battlefield	Boghead Park
	Saunderson Taylor Andrews

Renton v Dumbarton

24 March 1894 Friendly	Renton	1–2	Dumbarton	Tontine Park
	Bell 20'		Campbell 12' Boyle 80'

Leith Athletic v Dumbarton

31 March 1894 Friendly	Leith Athletic	4–1	Dumbarton	Beechwood Park (Leith)
	Walker Scott		Bell

St Bernard's v Dumbarton

14 April 1894 Friendly	St Bernard's	1–1	Dumbarton	New Logie Green
	Crossan		Campbell	Attendance: 2,000

E Stirling v Dumbarton

12 May 1894 Friendly	E Stirling	2–1	Dumbarton	Merchiston Park
	McDonald Steel		Boyle	Attendance: 2,000

Partick Thistle v Dumbarton

19 May 1894 Friendly	Partick Thistle	0–3	Dumbarton	Meadowside
			10' St Clair Campbell	Attendance: 1,000

Third Lanark v Dumbarton

26 May 1894 Friendly	Third Lanark	2–2	Dumbarton	Cathkin Park (1872–1903)
			Ferrier	Attendance: 1,000

Player statistics

Despite the switch to professionalism, Dumbarton struggled to hold on to their 'star' players and during the season lost, amongst others, internationalist John Taylor who moved to St Mirren.

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		First Division		Scottish Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
	GK	SCO	John Barr[42]	4	0	3	0	1	0
	GK	SCO	John McLeod	16	0	15	0	1	0
	DF	SCO	James McGregor[43]	3	0	3	0	0	0
	DF	SCO	Tom McMillan	17	0	15	0	2	0
	DF	SCO	Alf Smith	19	0	17	0	2	0
	MF	SCO	Alex Lang[44]	2	0	2	0	0	0
	MF	SCO	Alex Miller	14	0	12	0	2	0
	MF	SCO	Billy Nash[45]	13	0	12	0	1	0
	MF	SCO	Albert Saunderson[46]	15	3	13	2	2	1
	MF	SCO	Daniel Thomson[47]	19	0	17	0	2	0
	MF	SCO	Wilson[48]	1	0	1	0	0	0
	FW	SCO	Billy Andrews[49]	12	0	10	0	2	0
	FW	SCO	Lawrence Bell	20	4	18	3	2	1
	FW	SCO	William Campbell[50]	11	1	11	1	0	0
	FW	SCO	Bob Ferrier	17	6	15	6	2	0
	FW	SCO	Robert Hendry[51]	2	1	2	1	0	0
	FW	SCO	Robert Johnstone[52]	17	11	15	11	2	0
	FW	SCO	David McLeod[53]	5	1	5	1	0	0
	FW	SCO	John Taylor	14	5	13	4	1	1

Source:^[54]

International caps

John Taylor^[55] earned his third and fourth 'League' caps in Scottish League XI's against the Irish and English Leagues respectively - scoring a goal in the 6-2 win over the Irish.

Tom McMillan^[56] also earned his first 'League' cap in the match against the Irish League.

Reserve team

Dumbarton were defeated in the second round of the Scottish Second XI Cup by Celtic.