# 1988–89 Dumbarton F.C. season

Season 1988–89 was the 105th football season in which Dumbarton competed at a Scottish national level, entering the Scottish Football League for the 83rd time, the Scottish Cup for the 94th time and the Scottish League Cup for the 42nd time.

## Overview

Dumbarton's descent into the lower reaches of league football continued with a 12th-place finish—just two away from the bottom—their worst performance for over 50 years. The loss of Owen Coyle was a huge blow and with a change in manager and a sizeable turnover in playing staff, conditions were never going to be the best.
In the Scottish Cup, for the first time in many years, Dumbarton would start their campaign in the first round, and it would be two struggles to see off Highland League opposition, before Celtic were to prove too much in the third round.
In the League Cup, Premier Division St Mirren were to be the victors in the second round.
Locally, Dumbarton's grip on the Stirlingshire Cup was fairly easily released with a disappointing first round defeat by East Stirlingshire.
Finally, the friendly arranged with West Bromwich Albion was in celebration of the 'world championship' match between WBA and Renton in 1888, with Dumabrton winning the Renton Centenary Trophy after the 2–1 victory.

## Results and fixtures

Win  Draw  Loss

### Pre-season and other matches
## League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 10 | Arbroath | 39 | 11 | 15 | 13 | 56 | 63 | −7 | 37 |
| 11 | Stranraer | 39 | 12 | 12 | 15 | 58 | 63 | −5 | 36 |
| 12 | Dumbarton | 39 | 12 | 10 | 17 | 45 | 55 | −10 | 34 |
| 13 | Berwick Rangers | 39 | 10 | 13 | 16 | 50 | 59 | −9 | 33 |
| 14 | Stenhousemuir | 39 | 9 | 11 | 19 | 44 | 59 | −15 | 29 |

## Player statistics
### Squad

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Second Division | Second Division | League Cup | League Cup | Scottish Cup | Scottish Cup |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| | GK | SCO | Hugh Stevenson | 18 | 0 | 16+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |
| | GK | SCO | Boyd Strachan | 27 | 0 | 23+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 4+0 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Willie Cairns | 14 | 0 | 9+2 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Dom Callan | 6 | 0 | 4+1 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Craig Cranmer | 8 | 0 | 7+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Gerry Doyle | 26 | 0 | 16+6 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 3+0 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Stevie Gow | 24 | 0 | 16+4 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 4+0 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Peter Wharton | 22 | 1 | 19+0 | 1 | 0+0 | 0 | 3+0 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Pat Cairney | 33 | 3 | 28+0 | 1 | 0+0 | 0 | 5+0 | 2 |
| | MF | SCO | Owen Coyle | 4 | 0 | 3+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Gary Dickie | 11 | 0 | 11+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Robert Docherty | 37 | 7 | 31+0 | 7 | 1+0 | 0 | 2+3 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Craig Douglas | 11 | 1 | 0+11 | 1 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Gerry Doyle | 17 | 1 | 11+3 | 1 | 0+0 | 0 | 3+0 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Derek English | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Dave Fulton | 8 | 0 | 7+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Dave Martin | 9 | 0 | 8+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Steve McCahill | 27 | 1 | 21+0 | 1 | 1+0 | 0 | 5+0 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Ian McDougall | 6 | 0 | 4+1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Iain McKinley | 1 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Andy McQuade | 19 | 1 | 18+0 | 1 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Colin Spence | 22 | 3 | 19+0 | 3 | 0+0 | 0 | 3+0 | 0 |
| | FW | SCO | Billy Blackie | 9 | 0 | 5+4 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| | FW | SCO | Graham Duncan | 21 | 2 | 14+4 | 2 | 1+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 |
| | FW | SCO | George Elliot | 15 | 0 | 8+4 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 |
| | FW | SCO | Stuart MacIver | 32 | 16 | 27+0 | 13 | 0+0 | 0 | 5+0 | 3 |
| | FW | SCO | Pat McGowan | 39 | 2 | 34+0 | 1 | 0+0 | 0 | 5+0 | 1 |
| | FW | SCO | John McQuade | 40 | 8 | 26+8 | 5 | 0+1 | 1 | 5+0 | 2 |
| | FW | SCO | Paul Quinn | 15 | 4 | 15+0 | 4 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| | FW | SCO | Stuart Robertson | 30 | 2 | 24+3 | 2 | 0+0 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 |
| | FW | SCO | Benny Rooney | 4 | 2 | 4+0 | 2 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
Sources:

### Transfers

Source:

## Reserve team

Dumbarton competed in the Scottish Reserve League (West), but withdrew after 18 games due to financial constraints.

## Trivia

* The League match against East Fife on 19 November marked Stuart MacIver's 100th appearance for Dumbarton in all national competitions—the 97th Dumbarton player to reach this milestone.
* Despite the previous season's relegation, manager Bertie Auld retained his position. However a poor start saw Auld replaced by Jim George seven games into the new season.