1985–86 Dumbarton F.C. season

Dumbarton

1985–1986 season
Manager	Davie Wilson/ Alex Wright (caretaker)
Stadium	Boghead Park, Dumbarton
Scottish League Division 1	6th
Scottish Cup	Third Round
Scottish League Cup	Second Round
Top goalscorer	League: Gerry McCoy (13) All: Gerry McCoy (14)
Highest home attendance	1,960
Lowest home attendance	400
Average home league attendance	1,170
← 1984–85 1986–87 →

Season 1985–86 was the 109th football season in which Dumbarton competed at a Scottish national level, entering the Scottish Football League for the 79th 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, accounting for Davie Wilson's resignation at the beginning of February. Alex Wright took over as caretaker manager until the end of the season, leading Dumbarton to a 6th place finish, 13 points behind champions Hamilton.

In the Scottish Cup, Dumbarton lost embarassingly 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.

It is important to reflect that early in the season there was a tragic death in the playing staff - that of popoular defender Eric Schaedler. Eric had been signed up in the close season and had become a firm favourite with the Dumbarton fans.

Results

Win

Draw

Loss

All results are written with Dumbarton's score first.

Scottish League

Main article: 1985–86 Scottish Football League

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance
10 August 1985	Airdrie	A	2-0	McCoy;Ashwood	1,805
17 August 1985	Partick Thistle	H	1-2	McCoy	1,960
24 August 1985	Alloa Athletic	H	4-0	Bourke(2);McCoy(2)	900
31 August 1985	Morton	A	2-1	McCoy;MacIver	1,106
7 September 1985	Hamilton	H	2-2	Moore;McCoy	1,490
14 September 1985	Montrose	A	3-0	MacIver;McGowan,P;Moore	700
21 September 1985	Falkirk	H	2-0	Craig;Bourke	1,400
28 September 1985	Ayr United	A	1-0	Moore	1,502
5 October 1985	East Fife	H	2-1	McNeil;MacIver	1,800
12 October 1985	Clyde	A	0-0		1,334
19 October 1985	Kilmarnock	H	1-0	McCoy	1,500
26 October 1985	Brechin City	A	1-3	McCoy	800
2 November 1985	Forfar Athletic	H	1-1	Bourke	1,200
9 November 1985	Hamilton	A	1-6	McCoy	1,544
16 November 1985	Montrose	H	2-2	McCoy;MacIver	1,150
23 November 1985	Falkirk	A	0-0		2,300
7 December 1985	East Fife	A	0-1		724
14 December 1985	Clyde	H	1-1	MacIver	1,000
21 December 1985	Kilmarnock	A	4-1	Craig;Coyle,T;Bourke(2)	2,042
1 January 1986	Morton	H	1-2	Docherty	1,800
18 January 1986	Brechin City	H	4-1	MacIver(2);Docherty;McCahill	600
1 February 1986	Forfar Athletic	A	0-4		666
4 February 1986	Alloa Athletic	A	4-2	MacIver(2);Bourke(2)	520
19 February 1986	Ayr United	H	1-1	Coyle,O	500
1 March 1986	East Fife	H	2-3	Moore;Craig	800
5 March 1986	Ayr United	H	2-0	McCoy;Coyle,T	720
8 March 1986	Partick Thistle	A	2-1	Craig;Coyle,O	1,848
12 March 1986	Airdrie	H	3-0	Coyle,T;Coyle,O(2)	1,016
15 March 1986	Clyde	H	0-0		800
19 March 1986	Partick Thistle	A	2-2	Coyle,O;McGowan,P	1,713
25 March 1986	Morton	A	0-1		800
29 March 1986	Falkirk	H	2-1	McCoy;Coyle,T	1,410
5 April 1986	Brechin City	A	1-1	McCoy	523
9 April 1986	Forfar Athletic	H	0-2		690
12 April 1986	Airdrie	A	1-2	Craig	1,000
15 April 1986	Alloa Athletic	A	3-1	Coyle,T(2);Craig	400
19 April 1986	Kilmarnock	A	0-3		2,500
26 April 1986	Hamilton	H	1-4	MacIver	1,500
3 May 1986	Montrose	A	0-0		500

Scottish Cup

Main article: 1985–86 Scottish Cup

Date	Rd	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance
25 January 1986	3	Queen's Park	A	0-1		1,733

Scottish League Cup

Main article: 1985–86 Scottish League Cup

Date	Rd	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance
21 August 1985	2	Stirling Albion	A	1-1	McCoy	980

- lost on penalties

Stirlingshire Cup

Date	Rd	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance
4 December 1985	SF	Falkirk	H	0-0*
9 March 1986	F	Clydebank	H	2-1	Kay;Coyle,O

* - won on penalties

Other Matches

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance
1 August 1985	Clydebank	A	0-3
6 August 1985	St Mirren	H	1-1	Ashwood

Appearances

Dumbarton used 28 players for the 41 League, Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup matches, as detailed below. Gordon Arthur was best by appearing in all but one of these matches.

Player	Position	Appearances	Goals
Gordon Arthur	GK	40
Kenny Ashwood	FW	2	1
John Bourke	FW	26(2)	8
Mark Clougherty	MF	38
Joe Coyle	FW	2
Owen Coyle	MF	11(5)	5
Tommy Coyle	MF	26(5)	6
Albert Craig	MF	31(3)	6
Gerry Crawley	FW	20(1)
Harry Curran	MF	5(1)
Danny Docherty	MF	16(3)	2
Alan Kay	MF	20(2)
Stuart MacIver	FW	13(17)	10
Steve McCahill	MF	21	1
Gerry McCoy	FW	30(3)	14
Martin McGowan	DF	20
Pat McGowan	FW	27(4)	2
Donald McNeil	MF	17	1
Ray Montgomerie	DF	24(2)
Allan Moore	FW	27(7)	4
Jackie Rafferty	MF	6
Eric Schaedler	DF	15
Mark Shanks	DF	3(2)
Jim Simpson	MF	3(4)
Hugh Stevenson	GK	1
Paul Taylor	FW	1(1)
Ken Thomson	MF	4(1)
Mark Williams	FW	1(1)

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.

See also

• 1985–86 in Scottish football

External links

• Scottish Football Historical Archive