# 2008–09 Dumbarton F.C. season

Season 2008–09 was the 125th football season in which Dumbarton competed at a Scottish national level, entering the Scottish Football League for the 103rd time, the Scottish Cup for the 114th time, the Scottish League Cup for the 62nd time and the Scottish Challenge Cup for the 18th time.

## Overview

Jim Chapman's first full season in charge began with a large intake of new playing staff. A slow start however was to be replaced by an unbeaten run of 8 games which saw Dumbarton rise to 2nd place by the beginning of November. Mixed results in December through February meant that Dumbarton fell to 4th place, but still in with a playoff chance. However it was to be a final surge which saw 7 wins taken from the last 8 games which pushed Dumbarton to the Third Division title. Indeed that run brought about Dumbarton's record number of consecutive 'shut-outs' - 7 in all.
In the Scottish Cup, a second round victory over Highland League opponents Fraserburgh was followed by a close encounter with First Division Ross County, which was only decided by the odd goal in three and that after a draw.
In the League Cup, Dumbarton defeated Annan Athletic on penalties, but were to be overwhelmed by Premier Division St Mirren in the second round.
Finally, it was yet another League Challenge Cup first round exit, to Airdrie United.
Locally, the Stirlingshire Cup was not competed for.

## Results & fixtures

Win  Draw  Loss

### Pre-season
## League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or qualification |
| 1 | Dumbarton (C, P) | 36 | 19 | 10 | 7 | 65 | 36 | +29 | 67 | Promotion to the Second Division |
| 2 | Cowdenbeath (P) | 36 | 18 | 9 | 9 | 48 | 34 | +14 | 63 | Qualification for the Second Division Play-offs |
| 3 | East Stirlingshire | 36 | 19 | 4 | 13 | 57 | 50 | +7 | 61 | Qualification for the Second Division Play-offs |
| 4 | Stenhousemuir (O, P) | 36 | 16 | 8 | 12 | 55 | 46 | +9 | 56 | Qualification for the Second Division Play-offs |
| 5 | Montrose | 36 | 16 | 6 | 14 | 47 | 48 | −1 | 54 | |
* ↑ Cowdenbeath were promoted due to Livingston's demotion from the First Division to the Third.
* ↑ The 2nd, 3rd and 4th placed teams will be entered into a play-off with the Second Division's 9th placed team. The winning team will be awarded a place in the 2009–10 Second Division.

## Player statistics
### Squad

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Third Division | Third Division | League Cup | League Cup | Challenge Cup | Challenge Cup | Scottish Cup | Scottish Cup |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| | GK | SCO | Dave McEwan | 27 | 0 | 22+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 |
| | GK | SCO | Mark McGeown | 16 | 0 | 14+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |
| | GK | SCO | Michael White | 1 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Pat Boyle | 20 | 3 | 20+0 | 3 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Craig Brittain | 4 | 0 | 3+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Iain Chisholm | 32 | 3 | 15+12 | 2 | 1+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 2+1 | 1 |
| | DF | SCO | Mick Dunlop | 23 | 0 | 21+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Ben Gordon | 42 | 4 | 36+0 | 3 | 2+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 3+0 | 1 |
| | DF | SCO | Gordon Lennon | 39 | 1 | 32+2 | 1 | 1+1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Richie McKillen | 2 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Michael O'Byrne | 19 | 0 | 13+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 3+0 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Gary Wilson | 11 | 0 | 8+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Kieran Brannan | 7 | 1 | 0+6 | 1 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Mark Canning | 24 | 0 | 10+10 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Ross Clark | 37 | 15 | 30+1 | 14 | 2+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 1 | 3+0 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Ross Forbes | 18 | 1 | 15+3 | 1 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Andy Geggan | 30 | 0 | 23+2 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 3+0 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Alan Gourlay | 5 | 0 | 0+3 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | David Gray | 9 | 0 | 2+5 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Raymond Logan | 9 | 1 | 4+2 | 1 | 2+0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Kieran McAnespie | 4 | 0 | 2+2 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Martin McNiff | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Ryan McStay | 12 | 0 | 10+2 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Stevie Murray | 41 | 4 | 34+1 | 4 | 2+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 3+0 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Fergus Tiernan | 7 | 1 | 2+2 | 1 | 0+2 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| | FW | SCO | Derek Carcary | 37 | 14 | 25+8 | 11 | 1+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 1 | 1+1 | 2 |
| | FW | SCO | Paul Craig | 3 | 1 | 3+0 | 1 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| | FW | SCO | Liam Cusack | 11 | 1 | 1+8 | 1 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 |
| | FW | SCO | Paul Keegan | 27 | 3 | 12+9 | 3 | 2+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 1+2 | 0 |
| | FW | SCO | Denis McLaughlin | 16 | 6 | 16+0 | 6 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| | FW | SCO | Paul McLeod | 27 | 6 | 19+5 | 6 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 |
| | FW | SCO | Michael Moore | 8 | 1 | 0+6 | 1 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 |
| | FW | SCO | Nathan Taylor | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| | FW | SCO | Steven Weir | 1 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |

### Transfers
## Trivia

* The League match against Annan Athletic on 9 May marked Andy Geggan's 100th appearance for Dumbarton in all national competitions - the 130th Dumbarton player to reach this milestone.