1887–88 Dumbarton F.C. season

The 1887–88 season was the 15th Scottish football season in which Dumbarton competed at a national level.

Dumbarton

1887–88 season
Stadium	Boghead Park, Dumbarton
Scottish Cup	Second Round
Home colours

Scottish Cup

Following an easy first round victory, Dumbarton were knocked out of the Scottish Cup at the second round stage by their old rivals Vale of Leven.[1]

Dumbarton v Dunbritton

1 September 1887 Cup Round 1	Dumbarton	10–0[2][3]	Dunbritton	Boghead Park

Dumbarton v Vale of Leven

24 September 1887 Cup Round 1	Dumbarton	1–5[4][5]	Vale of Leven	Boghead Park
	Aitken  42'		10' Cowan  45' scrimmage  70'	Attendance: 3,000 Referee: T Park

Dumbartonshire Cup

Following an easy win in the second round, Dumbarton lost to Renton in the third round.

Dumbarton v Methlan Park

19 November 1887 Round 2	Dumbarton	9-0	Methlan Park	Boghead Park

Renton v Dumbarton

10 December 1887 Round 3	Renton	1-0	Dumbarton	Tontine Park
	McCall

Glasgow Charity Cup

A good win was achieved in the first round against 3rd LRV, but Cambuslang were to prove too strong in the semi final replay, after a 1-1 draw.

Dumbarton v 3rd LRV

25 April 1888 First Round	Dumbarton	5-0	3rd LRV	Cathkin Park
	scrimmage Madden Lapsley			Attendance: 2,000

Cambuslang v Dumbarton

4 May 1888 Semi Final	Cambuslang	1-1	Dumbarton	Cathkin Park
	scrimmage			Attendance: 2,000

Cambuslang v Dumbarton

9 May 1888 Semi Final replay	Cambuslang	3-0	Dumbarton	Cathkin Park
	Buchanan Smith Tate  (OG)			Attendance: 1,000

Friendlies

Dumbarton's fixture list during the season grew to its largest so far with 43 'friendly' matches being played. This included home and away ties against Rangers, Hibernian, Vale of Leven, Partick Thistle, Morton, Port Glasgow and 3rd LRV, a match against Renfrewshire Cup holders Abercorn, and a 4 match tour of the north of Scotland during the New Year holidays. In addition 6 matches were played against English opposition with mixed results. In all, 23 were won, 4 drawn and 16 lost, scoring 134 goals and conceding 98.

Dundee Wanderers v Dumbarton

13 August 1887 Friendly	Dundee Wanderers	1-5	Dumbarton	Morgan Park, Dundee

St Bernard's v Dumbarton

20 August 1887 Friendly	St Bernard's	5-4	Dumbarton	Powderhall
	Boyd  5' Heggie scrimmmage Campbell		Gibson  (OG) Robertson Jamieson	Referee: J Muirhead

Shettleston v Dumbarton

23 August 1887 Friendly	Shettleston	1-2	Dumbarton	Carntyne Park, Glasgow
			Keir

Dumbarton v Northern

25 August 1887 Friendly	Dumbarton	5-1	Northern	Boghead Park
	Bell Low Lapsley Jamieson

Queen's Park v Dumbarton

27 August 1887 Friendly	Queen's Park	5-3	Dumbarton	Hampden Park
	scrimmage  35' Hamilton  40', 65' Berry Harvie		Aitken  15' Jamieson  20' Bell	Attendance: 4,000 Referee: Mr McCulloch

Dumbarton v Mauchline

3 September 1887 Friendly	Dumbarton	8-1	Mauchline	Boghead Park
	Bell Mair Lapsley Jamieson

Dumbarton v Hibernian

10 September 1887 Friendly	Dumbarton	4-2	Hibernian	Boghead Park
	Jamieson  1' Bell  2' Lowe Aitken		McGhee Groves	Referee: Mr Boag

Rangers v Dumbarton

17 September 1887 Friendly	Rangers	2-3	Dumbarton	Ibrox Park
	scrimmage  18' Lawrie  85'		Jamieson  10' Aitken Lapsley	Attendance: 1,000

Dumbarton v Albion Rovers

1 October 1887 Friendly	Dumbarton	7-2	Albion Rovers	Boghead Park
	Aitken Bell Low Lindsay		Tate	Attendance: 1,000

Dumbarton v Blackburn Rovers

8 October 1887 Friendly	Dumbarton	2-2	Blackburn Rovers	Boghead Park
	Aitken  85', 90'		Chadwick  15', 86'	Attendance: 2,000

Partick Thistle v Dumbarton

15 October 1887 Friendly	Partick Thistle	4-3	Dumbarton	Whiteinch, Glasgow
	Buchanan  20' Paul  44' Stewart Marshall  80'		Jamieson  30', 82' Aitken  50'	Attendance: 2,000

Motherwell v Dumbarton

22 October 1887 Friendly	Motherwell	1-1	Dumbarton	Roman Road, Motherwell
	McPherson  42'

Dumbarton v Athenians

29 October 1887 Friendly	Dumbarton	8-1	Athenians	Boghead Park
	Mair  15' scrimmage Jamieson Bell Aitken Lapsley		Chadwick

Clyde v Dumbarton

5 November 1887 Friendly	Clyde	1-1	Dumbarton	Barrowfield Park
	Finlay  70'		Jamieson	Attendance: 2,000

Dumbarton v Vale of Leven

12 November 1887 Friendly	Dumbarton	2-2	Vale of Leven	Boghead Park
	Dewar  70'  90'		8' McLaren  60'	Attendance: 2,000

Dumbarton v Morton

3 December 1887 Friendly	Dumbarton	0-4	Morton	Boghead Park
			5'  10'  60'

Morton v Dumbarton

17 December 1887 Friendly	Morton	0-5	Dumbarton	Cappielow Park
			Aitken  20' Bell Dewar  50'

Dumbarton v Port Glasgow

24 December 1887 Friendly	Dumbarton	4-0	Port Glasgow	Boghead Park
	10'  50'  55'

Dundee Wanderers v Dumbarton

31 December 1887 Friendly	Dundee Wanderers	4-5	Dumbarton	Morgan Park, Dundee
	Cooper Hendry		Dewar Lapsley Tosh  (OG)

Arbroath v Dumbarton

2 January 1888 Friendly	Arbroath	2-3	Dumbarton	Gayfield Park
	Crawford		Lapsley Low

Montrose v Dumbarton

3 January 1888 Friendly	Montrose	1-5	Dumbarton	Links Park
			Liddell McIntosh  (OG)

Aberdeen v Dumbarton

4 January 1888 Friendly	Aberdeen	3-12	Dumbarton	Recreation Grounds, Aberdeen
	(OG) Lumsden Clark		Bell  15' Aitken  18' Barr scrimmage Lowe Dewar

Hibernian v Dumbarton

7 January 1888 Friendly	Hibernian	5-1	Dumbarton	Easter Road
	Coleman Gorevin Groves		Bell  80'

Clyde v Dumbarton

14 January 1888 Friendly	Clyde	3-1	Dumbarton	Barrowfield Park
	Cherry Cochrane		Dewar

St Mirren v Dumbarton

21 January 1888 Friendly	St Mirren	1-0	Dumbarton	Westmarch (stadium)
	Morton

Dumbarton v Cowlairs

4 February 1888 Friendly	Dumbarton	5-0	Cowlairs	Boghead Park
	Bell  20' Madden Aitken  49' Dewar			Attendance: 1,500

3rd LRV v Dumbarton

11 February 1888 Friendly	3rd LRV	2-1	Dumbarton	Cathkin Park (1872–1903)
	McIntyre Stark  45'		Lapsley

Dumbarton v 3rd LRV

18 February 1888 Friendly	Dumbarton	3-1	3rd LRV	Boghead Park
	Galbraith McMillan  46' Lapsley  51'		Mailey  20'

Kings Park v Dumbarton

25 February 1888 Friendly	Kings Park	2-4	Dumbarton	Stirling
	Ferguson		Lapsley  65', 75' McMillan Dewar

Vale of Leven v Dumbarton

3 March 1888 Friendly	Vale of Leven	1-3	Dumbarton	Alexandria
	Forbes  7'		Bell  55', 60'	Attendance: 4,000

Dumbarton v Rangers

10 March 1888 Friendly	Dumbarton	4-5	Rangers	Boghead Park
	Bell  1' Dewar  12' Aitken  56', 80'		18' scrimmage  30'  71'	Attendance: 3,000

Montrose v Dumbarton

22 March 1888 Friendly	Montrose	3-4	Dumbarton	Links Park
				Attendance: 2,500

Grangemouth v Dumbarton

24 March 1888 Friendly	Grangemouth	1-3	Dumbarton	Muirhead Park, Grangemouth
	scrimmage

Preston North End v Dumbarton

30 March 1888 Friendly	Preston North End	7-0	Dumbarton	Deepdale
	Gordon  10', 15', 80' Dewhurst Ross  55' Drummond  83'			Attendance: 7,000 Referee: Mr Brownlow

Burnley v Dumbarton

31 March 1888 Friendly	Burnley	1-2	Dumbarton	Turf Moor
	McCrae  55'		Lowe  2'  30'	Attendance: 5,000

Blackburn Rovers v Dumbarton

2 April 1888 Friendly	Blackburn Rovers	2-1	Dumbarton	Leamington Road
	Chadwick  4' Rushton		Lapsley	Attendance: 6,000

Queen's Park v Dumbarton

7 April 1888 Friendly	Queen's Park	6-2	Dumbarton	Hampden Park
	Hamilton,J  15' Auld Allan  45' Berry Gray Hamilton,A		scrimmage Madden	Attendance: 2,000

Cowlairs v Dumbarton

14 April 1888 Friendly	Cowlairs	2-0	Dumbarton	Gourlay Park, Cowlairs
	Binks  44'  89'			Attendance: 1,000

Dumbarton v Partick Thistle

21 April 1888 Friendly	Dumbarton	1-2	Partick Thistle	Boghead Park
	Low  45'

Dumbarton v Union (Dumbarton)

24 April 1888 Friendly	Dumbarton	3-0	Union (Dumbarton)	Boghead Park

Dumbarton v Preston North End

27 April 1888 Friendly	Dumbarton	0-1	Preston North End	Boghead Park
			Goodall	Attendance: 4,000

Hearts v Dumbarton

28 April 1888 Friendly	Hearts	1-2	Dumbarton	Tynecastle Stadium
	Sneddon		Dewar	Referee: J Boag

Abercorn v Dumbarton

5 May 1888 Friendly	Abercorn	3-2	Dumbarton	Receation Grounds, Paisley
	Allison scrimmage		Low  50'

Port Glasgow v Dumbarton

19 May 1888 Friendly	Port Glasgow	5-2	Dumbarton	Clune Park, Port Glasgow
	Brown  5' Neill

Player statistics

Of note amongst those donning the club's colours for the first time were Duncan Stewart and John Bell.
At the same time the club's squad was depleted by the loss four internationalists:
- Robert 'Plumber' Brown and Joe Lindsay moved to local rivals Dumbarton Athletic. James McAulay emigrated to Burma and Billy Robertson also heading for 'pastures new'.
In addition after returning from a short spell with Bolton Wanderers, Jock Hutcheson left the club for the final time.

Only includes appearances and goals in competitive Scottish Cup matches.

Player	Position	Appearances	Goals
McLuskie[6]	GK	2	0
R D Hunter[7]	DF	2	0
Duncan Stewart	DF	2	0
J Dennett[8]	MF	1	0
Leitch Keir	MF	2	0
McNee[9]	MF	1	0
Peter Miller	MF	2	0
Ralph Aitken	FW	1	1
John Bell	FW	2	0
R Jamieson[10]	FW	2	0
William Lapsley[11]	FW	2	0
J Low[12]	FW	2	0
Hugh Mair[13]	FW	1	0

Source:[14]

International caps

Main article: Scotland national football team 1872–1914 results

An international trial match was played on 18 February 1888 to consider selection of teams to represent Scotland in the upcoming games in the 1888 British Home Championship. Leitch Keir was selected to take part.

Subsequently, four Dumbarton players were selected to play for Scotland as follows:

- Geordie Dewar[15] and Duncan Stewart[16] earned their first caps and Ralph Aitken[17] earned his second cap against Ireland. Both Dewar and Aitken scored in the 10-2 win over the Irish.

- Leitch Keir[18] earned his fifth cap against England.

Representative matches

Dumbarton players were selected to play in Dumbartonshire county XI's as follows:

Date	Opponent	Result	Players(Goals)
22 October 1887	Lancashire	4-1	Jamieson(1);Keir;Stewart
28 January 1888	Edinburgh	4-1	Aitken(1);Bell(2);Dewar;Hunter
28 January 1888	Renfrewshire	2-1	Lapsley;McMillan
25 March 1888	Lanarkshire	1-4	Low

In addition:

- Leitch Keir was selected to play in a Scots Anglo XI against a Scots Welsh XI on 26 May 1888. The 'English' XI won 4-3.

- Geordie Dewar was selected to play in a Scottish Internationalists XI against Perthshire and Aberdeenshire on 20 and 21 April respectively.

Reserve team

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

In the Dumbartonshire Second XI Cup competition, Dumbarton lost out in the semi final to Renton.

References

1. Smailes, Gordon (1995). The Breedon Book of Scottish Football Records. Derby: Breedon Books. ISBN 1-85983-020-X.
2. "Dumbarton 10 - 0 Dunbritton, Scottish Cup (01/09/1887)". Fitbastats.com. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
3. "Dumbarton 10 - 0 Dunbritton, Thursday, September 1st, 1887". The Sons Archive. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
4. "Dumbarton 1 - 5 Vale of Leven, Scottish Cup (24/09/1887)". Fitbastats.com. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
5. "Dumbarton 1 - 5 Vale of Leven, Saturday, September 24th, 1887". The Sons Archive. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
6. "McLuskie - Player Statistics". The Sons Archive. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
7. "R D Hunter - Player Statistics". The Sons Archive. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
8. "J Dennett - Player Statistics". The Sons Archive. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
9. "McNee - Player Statistics". The Sons Archive. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
10. "R Jamieson - Player Statistics". The Sons Archive. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
11. "William Lapsley - Player Statistics". The Sons Archive. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
12. "J Low - Player Statistics". The Sons Archive. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
13. "Hugh Mair - Player Statistics". The Sons Archive. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
14. McAllister, Jim (2002). The Sons of the Rock - The Official History of Dumbarton Football Club. Dumbarton: J&J Robertson Printers.
15. "George Dewar". Scottishfa.co.uk. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
16. "Duncan Stewart". Scottishfa.co.uk. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
17. "Ralph Aitken". Scottishfa.co.uk. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
18. "Leitch Keir". Scottishfa.co.uk. Retrieved 18 June 2019.