# 2005–06 Dumbarton F.C. season

Season 2005–06 was the 122nd football season in which Dumbarton competed at a Scottish national level, entering the Scottish Football League for the 100th time, the Scottish Cup for the 111th time, the Scottish League Cup for the 59th time and the Scottish Challenge Cup for the 15th time.

## Overview

Paul Martin's first full season in charge was not to be a happy one. The league campaign did not start well with only 1 win recorded from the first 9 matches. There was a temporary improvement in results from mid October to mid November, but thereafter success was hard to come by, and from February onwards just 2 draws were salvaged from 13 league encounters, meaning that Dumbarton would be anchored at the bottom of the table and relegation was assured long before the season's end. It also meant the end of Paul Martin's tenure in the manager's seat.
In the Scottish Cup, a first round win over Highland League opponents Forres Mechanics was followed by an embarrassing defeat to Third Division Arbroath.
In the League Cup, it was another first round exit, this time to Hamilton.
Finally, in the Scottish Challenge Cup, Dumbarton's dismal record in this competition was extended by a further year with a second round defeat to Raith Rovers.
Locally, in the Stirlingshire Cup, Dumbarton lost both of their opening group ties, and failed to score too.
Despite the disappointing end, the season had in fact started brightly with an invite to the pre-season Keyline Tournament run by Oban Saints. This was duly won, with 3 wins and 2 draws from 5 matches, against strong opposition including Hearts, Dundee United and St Johnstone.

## Results & fixtures

Win  Draw  Loss

### Pre-season friendlies
## League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
| 6 | Ayr United | 36 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 56 | 61 | −5 | 42 | |
| 7 | Raith Rovers | 36 | 11 | 9 | 16 | 44 | 54 | −10 | 42 | |
| 8 | Forfar Athletic | 36 | 12 | 4 | 20 | 44 | 55 | −11 | 40 | |
| 9 | Alloa Athletic | 36 | 8 | 8 | 20 | 36 | 77 | −41 | 32 | Qualification for the Second Division Play-offs |
| 10 | Dumbarton (R) | 36 | 7 | 5 | 24 | 40 | 63 | −23 | 26 | Relegation to the 2006–07 Third Division |
* ↑ The 9th placed team were entered into a play-off with the Third Division's 2nd, 3rd and 4th placed teams. The winning team were awarded a place in the 2006–07 Second Division, Alloa Athletic won the play-off to stay in the division.

## Player statistics
### Squad

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Second Division | Second 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 | Stephen Grindlay | 39 | 0 | 36+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 |
| | GK | SCO | John Wight | 1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Craig Brittain | 12 | 0 | 7+3 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Mark Dempsie | 26 | 0 | 25+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Ian Dobbins | 1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Kevin Gaughan | 28 | 1 | 25+1 | 1 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Gary McDevitt | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Jamie Smith | 36 | 2 | 33+0 | 2 | 1+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Robert Walker | 26 | 1 | 22+0 | 1 | 1+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Paul Young | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | James Allan | 6 | 0 | 3+1 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Scott Bannerman | 25 | 0 | 16+7 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Chris Boyle | 28 | 2 | 26+0 | 2 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Graham Connell | 29 | 1 | 16+11 | 1 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | John Dillon | 25 | 2 | 11+12 | 2 | 1+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Steve Ferguson | 11 | 0 | 11+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Danny Ferry | 18 | 0 | 10+7 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Chris Gentile | 26 | 1 | 19+3 | 1 | 0+1 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Kevin MacDonald | 16 | 0 | 7+5 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Craig Winter | 12 | 0 | 12+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| | FW | SCO | Ryan Borris | 34 | 1 | 30+0 | 1 | 1+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 |
| | FW | SCO | John Gemmell | 27 | 5 | 14+12 | 5 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| | FW | SCO | David McNaught | 3 | 0 | 0+3 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| | FW | SCO | Paul McQuilken | 38 | 4 | 24+10 | 3 | 1+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 1 |
| | FW | SCO | Andy Rodgers | 37 | 16 | 27+6 | 12 | 1+0 | 1 | 0+1 | 1 | 2+0 | 2 |
| | FW | SCO | Paul Ronald | 6 | 0 | 2+3 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| | FW | SCO | Iain Russell | 34 | 9 | 20+10 | 8 | 0+1 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 1+1 | 1 |

### Transfers
## Trivia

* The League match against Peterhead on 29 October marked Iain Russell's 100th appearance for Dumbarton in all national competitions - the 128th Dumbarton player to reach this milestone.