association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is t ...
club based in the town of
Dumbarton
Dumbarton (; also sco, Dumbairton; ) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,990.
Dumbarton was the ca ...
, in
West Dunbartonshire
West Dunbartonshire ( sco, Wast Dunbairtonshire; gd, Siorrachd Dhùn Breatann an Iar, ) is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland. The area lies to the west of the City of Glasgow and contains many of Glasgow's commuter to ...
.
History
The club was founded in 1880 with its official name as simply Albion. It was sometimes referred by the media as Dumbarton Albion to avoid confusion with other Albions. As
Archibald Denny
Sir Archibald Denny, 1st Baronet FRSE LLD (1860–1935), was a Scottish naval architect who was owner of the huge Clyde shipbuilding company of William Denny and Brothers and was granted a baronetcy in 1913, thereby giving birth to the Denny baro ...
agreed to patronize the club, and the Albion shipping company commissioned ships from Denny's company, the club may have been in origin a works side for the Albion company.
Given the strength of the three main Dumbartonshire sides ( Renton,
Vale of Leven
The Vale of Leven (Scottish Gaelic: ''Magh Leamhna'') is an area of West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, in the valley of the River Leven. Historically, it was part of The Lennox, the name of which derives from the Gaelic term ''Leamhnach'', meaning '' ...
, and
Dumbarton
Dumbarton (; also sco, Dumbairton; ) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,990.
Dumbarton was the ca ...
), as well as other well-established clubs in the area such as Jamestown and the Vale of Leven Wanderers, it was difficult for Albion to establish itself. It spent four years playing minor football before joining the
Scottish Football Association
The Scottish Football Association (also known as the SFA and the Scottish FA; sco, Scots Fitba Association; Scottish Gaelic: ''Comann Ball-coise na h-Alba'') is the governing body of football in Scotland and has the ultimate responsibility fo ...
in August 1884 and entered the
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1884–85, losing 2–0 to Dumbarton in its first tie. The club also entered the
Dumbartonshire Cup
The Dumbartonshire Cup was the championship trophy of the Dumbartonshire FA from its inception in 1884 until the organization disbanded in 1938. There was however an 'extra' playing of the competition in 1939, immediately after the outbreak of the ...
for the first time, being knocked out in the second round by Dumbarton Athletic in a tie which needed three attempts to complete. Athletic won the first, but Albion put in a protest, and won the second tie 2–1. However, Athletic put in a counter-protest on two grounds - namely the Albion protest had been out of time, and the ball was undersized - and the Dumbarton FA ordered a further replay, which was held at
Boghead
Boghead is a small village in South Lanarkshire, west central Scotland. It is about southeast of Glasgow and sits nearby to the River Nethan and Avon Water. Boghead is a residential area, with working residents commuting to nearby villages a ...
, and which Athletic won 3–0.
The club's best run in the Scottish Cup was in its second and final entry, in 1885–86. The club drew 4–4 at home with Jamestown in the first round, despite having to rely on four second XI men, perhaps indicating difficulties in raising a team with more attractive clubs for the players to join. Albion won the replay with a goal ten minutes from time, and walked over
Dumbarton Rock
Dumbarton (; also sco, Dumbairton; ) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven, Dunbartonshire, River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 1 ...
in the second. Nobody gave the club a chance in the third round against Cup-holders Renton, especially after the club was hammered 8–1 by Vale of Leven the previous week in the Dumbarton Cup. However, the club played above itself, and, in a hard-fought game, only went down 1–0.
The club had 52 members in its final season, a not insubstantial number, but making it one of the smaller clubs in the county. With such strong competition on its doorstep, the club has no reported matches after February 1886, and was removed from the Scottish FA register five months later. The "Dumbarton Albion" name was used in 1888 by an unrelated club.
Colours
The club's colours were 1" blue and white hooped jerseys and stockings, with white knickers.
Ground
The club played at Victoria Park on Castle Road, a 2-minute walk from the pier. The ground was later used by Newtown Thistle.
Notable players
*
John Madden
John Earl Madden (April 10, 1936 – December 28, 2021) was an American football coach and sports commentator in the National Football League (NFL). He served as the head coach of the Oakland Raiders from 1969 to 1978, who he led to eight pla ...
, who played for Albion in 1885
* James Galbraith, a player for Albion in 1884–85 and 1885–86