1965–66 Dumbarton F.C. season

Dumbarton

1965–1966 season
Manager	Willie Toner
Stadium	Boghead Park, Dumbarton
Scottish League Division 2	12th
Scottish Cup	Third Round
Scottish League Cup	Prelims
Top goalscorer	League: Jimmy Veitch (11) All: Jim Lynas/ Jimmy Veitch (14)
← 1964–65 1966–67 →

Season 1965–66 was the 89th football season in which Dumbarton competed at a Scottish national level, entering the Scottish Football League for the 59th time, the Scottish Cup for the 71st time and the Scottish League Cup for the 19th time.

Overview

An uncharactaristic successful start to the league season, with only one defeat in the first ten games, saw Dumbarton at the top of the league at the end of October, and even with a winless 'blip' in November, another string of five wins on the trot followed, meaning that hopes were still high in February for that illusive promotion place. However, only 3 wins were taken from the final 16 games, and Dumbarton finished in a disappointing 12th place, with 35 points, 18 behind champions Ayr United.

In the Scottish Cup, Dumbarton required to fight through two preliminary rounds, before disposing of Montrose and then Queen of the South. Aberdeen however were too tough a 'nut to crack' in the third round.

In the League Cup, Dumbarton maintained a 100% record at home in their sectional ties, but the three away defeats ensured no further progress to the knock out stages.

Locally, Dumbarton were unlucky in their attempt to retain the Stirlingshire Cup. A first round replay win over Division 1 opponents Falkirk was followed by a draw in the semi final against Alloa Athletic. However the tie was decided by the toss of a coin - which Dumbarton lost.

Notable was the vastly reduced playing staff - with the number of players utilised being reduced from 42 the season before, to just 21!

Results

Win

Draw

Loss

All results are written with Dumbarton's score first.

Scottish League

Main article: 1965–66 Scottish Football League

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance
25 August 1965	Airdrie	H	1-3	Veitch	1,912
8 September 1965	Berwick Rangers	H	1-1	Veitch
11 September 1965	Third Lanark	A	2-0	McBeth;Veitch
15 September 1965	Berwick Rangers	A	1-0	Nelson
22 September 1965	Stranraer	H	2-0	McBeth;Veitch
25 September 1965	Brechin City	A	5-1	Donnelly(2);Veitch(2);McBeth	800
29 September 1965	Stranraer	A	1-1	Veitch	950
2 October 1965	East Fife	H	1-0	McBeth	2,000
9 October 1965	Stenhousemuir	A	1-1	Veitch
16 October 1965	East Stirling	H	3-1	Harra;Nelson;OG	1,500
30 October 1965	Arbroath	H	1-2	Johnstone
6 November 1965	Ayr United	A	0-2
13 November 1965	Montrose	H	0-0		2,500
27 November 1965	Raith Rovers	A	0-4		1,000
11 December 1965	Queen of the South	A	3-3	Johnstone(2);Veitch	2,000
18 December 1965	Alloa Athletic	H	3-0	Reynolds;Harra;Miller	500
25 December 1965	Cowdenbeath	A	2-1	Reynolds;Lynas	750
3 January 1966	Third Lanark	H	3-1	Harra;Lynas;Veitch
15 January 1966	Brechin City	H	7-1	Lynas(3);Reynolds(2);Miller;McBeth
29 January 1966	Stenhousemuir	H	5-2	Lynas(3);Miller;OG	1,000
12 February 1966	East Stirling	A	1-3	McCall	500
26 February 1966	Arbroath	A	0-2		1,581
9 March 1966	Queens Park	H	2-3	Nelson;McMahon
12 March 1966	Montrose	A	1-2	Nelson	500
19 March 1966	Albion Rovers	H	2-0	Nelson(2)	500
23 March 1966	Airdrie	A	1-3	McBeth
26 March 1966	Raith Rovers	H	0-2		700
30 March 1966	Ayr United	H	1-3	Muir
5 April 1966	Queens Park	A	3-2	Lynas;Nelson;Veitch
9 April 1966	Forfar Athletic	A	2-2	Miller;OG	485
16 April 1966	Queen of the South	H	4-1	Nelson(2);McLeary;McBeth	800
20 April 1966	East Fife	A	1-6	McBeth
23 April 1966	Alloa Athletic	A	0-1		300
25 April 1966	Forfar Athletic	H	1-3	McCall
27 April 1966	Albion Rovers	A	0-0
30 April 1966	Cowdenbeath	H	2-4	Lynas;Muir

Scottish Cup

Main article: 1965–66 Scottish Cup

Date	Rd	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance
8 January 1966	P1	Peebles Rovers	H	2-2	Lynas(2)	2,000
12 January 1966	P1R	Peebles Rovers	A	3-2	Reynolds;Lynas;McBeth	300
22 January 1966	P2	Glasgow University	A	2-1	Reynolds;Lynas	2,187
9 February 1966	1	Montrose	H	2-1	Johnstone;Harra	3,050
23 February 1966	2	Queen of the South	H	1-0	McCall	5,000
5 March 1966	3	Aberdeen	H	0-3		9,800

Scottish League Cup

Main article: 1965–66 Scottish League Cup

Date	Rd	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance
14 August 1965	P	East Stirling	H	2-1	Harra;Muir	1,500
18 August 1965	P	East Fife	A	2-3	Curran(2)	3,000
21 August 1965	P	Alloa Athletic	A	1-2	Nelson	700
28 August 1965	P	East Stirling	A	0-1		250
1 September 1965	P	East Fife	H	6-1	Veitch(2);Johnstone;McCall;McBeth;OG	1,300
4 September 1965	P	Alloa Athletic	H	4-1	McBeth(2);McCall;Nelson	1,000

Stirlingshire Cup

Date	Rd	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance
26 October 1965	1	Falkirk	H	0-0
11 April 1966	1R	Falkirk	A	4-2	Nelson;Harra;Muir;Veitch	350
18 April 1966	SF	Alloa Athletic	A	0-0 *

* - lost on toss of coin

Other Matches

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance
18 September 1965	Partick Thistle	H	1-3	McLeary
22 December 1965	Renton	H	3-1	unknown

Appearances

Dumbarton used 21 players for the 48 League, Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup matches, as detailed below. Drew Nelson was best by featuring in 45 of these matches.

Player	Position	Appearances	Goals
Joe Byers	DF	1
Andy Crawford	GK	30
Ronnie Curran	MF	42	2
Eddie Donnelly	FW	9	2
Maurice Dunne	GK	18
Alec Frew	FW	3
Tommy Govan	DF	34
Hugh Harra	MF	36	5
Andy Jardine	DF	35
Bobby Johnstone	MF	44	5
John Kelly	FW	30
Jim Lynas	FW	26	14
Andy McBeth	FW	28	12
John McCall	FW	28	5
Robert McLeary	FW	11	1
Hugh McMahon	FW	4	1
Ally Miller	FW	26	4
Billy Muir	FW	26	3
Drew Nelson	FW	45	12
Tommy Reynolds	FW	16	5
Jimmy Veitch	MF	36	13

See also

• 1965–66 in Scottish football

External links

• Scottish Football Historical Archive