Dumbarton Football Club is a

semi-professional Semi-professional sports are sports in which athletes are not participating on a full-time basis, but still receive some payment. Semi-professionals are not amateur because they receive regular payment from their team, but generally at a cons ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club in

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; , or ; or , meaning 'fort of the Britons (historical), Britons') 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. ...

, Scotland. Founded on 23 December 1872, they are one of the oldest football clubs in Scotland. They currently play in . The club plays home games at the

Dumbarton Football Stadium The Dumbarton Football Stadium, known as the Marbill Coaches Stadium and commonly known as The Rock, is a stadium in Dumbarton, Scotland, used mostly for football matches; it is the home ground of Dumbarton Football Club. The stadium has a ca ...

next to

Dumbarton Castle Dumbarton Castle (, ; ) has the longest recorded history of any stronghold in Scotland. It sits on a volcanic plug of basalt known as Dumbarton Rock which is high and overlooks the Scottish town of Dumbarton. History Dumbarton Rock was forme ...

. They were one of the most successful of the nineteenth century,

winning Winning may refer to: * Victory Film * Winning (film), ''Winning'' (film), a 1969 movie starring Paul Newman * ''Winning: The Racing Life of Paul Newman'', a 2015 documentary by Adam Carolla and Nate Adams Music * ''Winning'', an album by Ten Fo ...

the

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) is a defunct league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4&nbs ...

in the first two seasons of the competition (the first jointly with

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

). The club ceased playing in 1901 and did not return to action until 1905. Although at the time it was emphasised that this was a new club, subsequent directives by the SFA and Scottish Combination appear to countermand this, possibly to fast-track the re-formed club into their competitions. Since then, the club have spent the majority of their history outside the top flight, with their last appearance at the top level coming in 1984–85. The club were the first team (and one of only two) to win at least one league title in each of the top four tiers in the

Scottish football league system The Scottish football league system is a series of generally connected leagues for Scottish football clubs. The Scottish system is more complicated than many other national league systems, consisting of several completely separate systems or 'gr ...

. Stephen Farrell is the club's manager, having been appointed in May 2021. In May 2021, it was announced that Dumbarton were to change ownership, with previous owners Brabco selling their majority share to Cognitive Capital. In November 2024 the club was placed into

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal: the process of dealing with or controlling things or people. ** Administrative assistant, traditionally known as a se ...

. On 12 June 2025 it was reported that Dumbarton would be taken over by a new company wholly owned by Canadian businessman Mario Lapointe, with the original company entering liquidation, similar to the of

Administration and liquidation of the Rangers Football Club plc Rangers is a professional football club in Scotland founded in 1872. The club entered financial difficulties during the late 2000s, and the club (trading as ''The Rangers Football Club plc)'' entered administration in February 2012. It owed subs ...

in 2012, and that Dumbarton would remain in League Two with the remaining 5 point deduction as already planned.

Colours and badge

For 2024–25, the side will wear strips from the Macron brand for the third season. The home strip is mainly white with a black and gold band. The away kit is gold and black. The club's badge features an elephant with a castle on its back, this represents

Dumbarton Rock Dumbarton (; , or ; or , meaning 'fort of the Britons') 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 19,99 ...

with

upon it, based on the historic town crest. Dumbarton Rock, a

volcanic plug A volcanic plug, also called a volcanic neck or lava neck, is a volcano, volcanic object created when magma hardens within a Volcanic vent, vent on an active volcano. When present, a plug can cause an extreme build-up of high gas pressure if risi ...

, is said to resemble an elephant. The team's nickname 'The Sons' is derived from the phrase 'Sons of The Rock', a term used for those born in the town of Dumbarton.

Stadium

Dumbarton play their home games at Dumbarton Football Stadium (commonly referred to as "The Rock" by supporters). The all seated stadium has been used since 2 December 2000. The only stand is overshadowed by

& sits aside the banks of the River Leven. The stadium has been named for sponsorship purposes for most of its existence: * Strathclyde Homes Stadium (Dec 2000 – Sep 2011) until the receivership of Strathclyde Homes * Dumbarton Football Stadium (Sep 2011 – Feb 2012) * Dumbarton Football Stadium Sponsored by DL Cameron (Feb 2012 – Jul 2012) * The BetButler Stadium (Jul 2012 – Sep 2014) until the liquidation of BetButler * Dumbarton Football Stadium (Sep 2014 – Jun 2015) * The Cheaper Insurance Direct Stadium (Jul 2015 – May 2017) * The YOUR Radio 103FM Stadium (July 2017 – May 2018) * C&G Systems Stadium (May 2018 – May 2021) *Dumbarton Football Stadium (May 2021 – September 2021) *Moreroom.com Stadium (September 2021 – March 2022) *Marbill Coaches Stadium (July 2024 – ''Present'') Prior to December 2000, the team played at

Boghead Park Boghead Park was a football ground in the town of Dumbarton, Scotland. It was owned by Dumbarton F.C., who played there for 121 years between 1879 and 2000. By the time the ground closed in 2000, it was the oldest stadium in Scotland that had ...

from 1879 until the end of the 1999–00 season; at that time their tenure of 121 years was the longest a senior Scottish club had stayed at the same ground. Between May and November 2000, Dumbarton shared

Cliftonhill Cliftonhill Stadium, commonly known as Cliftonhill and currently 'The Reigart Stadium' for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium in Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is the home ground of former Scottish Professional Football Le ...

in Coatbridge with Albion Rovers. In November 2014 the club's owners, Brabco, formally announced their intention to move to a new ground after only 15 years at their home, situated in what is Young's Farm to the North of Dumbarton between Dalreoch and Renton. The proposed development would have doubled the existing capacity to 4,000, with the existing site being used to build 180 houses and a walkway along the River Clyde connecting the town centre with

. The plans were rejected by

West Dunbartonshire Council West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...

in March 2018.

Attendances

Supporters and culture

Dumbarton were the first league club in Scotland to have a

supporters' trust In British sports, a supporters' trust is a formal, democratic and not-for-profit organisation of Fan (person), fans who attempt to strengthen the influence of supporters over the running of the club they support. There are over 140 supporters' tru ...

, which works to strengthen the links between the club and the fans. The trust own a significant number of shares in the club and are the fourth largest shareholder. Following a £25,000 direct investment, the trust also has a representative on the club board of directors. The supporters' trust works with the club to produce the match programme & run the club website. As well as those important functions, the trust's main role at the club is that of overseeing commercial activity.

Players

Squad

Hall of Fame

Recently, the club and its fans named their "best player of all time" and a "Hall of Fame" including: * Lawrie Williams – 372 apps (1970–1980) * Ray Montgomerie – 180 apps (1981–1988) * Murdo MacLeod – 87 apps (1975–1978) and 66 apps (1993–1995) as Player/Manager * Donald McNeil – 320 apps (1975–1988) * Colin McAdam – 70 apps (1969–1975) * Albert Craig – 138 apps (1981–1986) * Tom McAdam – 76 apps (1970–1975) * Johnny Graham – 385 apps (1967–1977) *

William Wallace Sir William Wallace (, ; Norman French: ; 23 August 1305) was a Scottish knight who became one of the main leaders during the First War of Scottish Independence. Along with Andrew Moray, Wallace defeated an English army at the Battle of St ...

– 84 apps (1972–1975) * Kenny Wilson – 74 apps (1970–1972) *

Charlie Gibson Charles deWolf Gibson (born March 9, 1943) is an American broadcast television anchor, journalist, and podcaster. Gibson was a host of ''Good Morning America'' from 1987 to 1998 and again from 1999 to 2006, and the anchor of '' World News with Ch ...

– 257 apps (1989–1996)

Internationals

18 Dumbarton players were chosen to represent

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

between 1880 and 1898. The club's international players were as follows: * Ralph Aitken * Jack Bell * Robert 'Sparrow' Brown * Robert 'Plumber' Brown * Geordie Dewar * Leitch Keir * Archie Lang * Joseph Lindsay * James McAulay * William McKinnon * John McLeod * Thomas McMillan * Peter Miller * William Robertson * Duncan Stewart * Jack Taylor * William Thomson * Hugh Wilson In 2018 midfielder Dimitris Froxylias received a call-up to the

Cyprus national football team The Cyprus national football team (, ) represents Cyprus in men's international Association football, football and is controlled by the Cyprus Football Association. The team's home ground is the AEK Arena – Georgios Karapatakis, AEK Arena in L ...

, making his debut against

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

in March 2018. It was the first of two caps he would earn whilst a Sons player, becoming the club's first international since Irishman

Harry Chatton James Harry Chatton (23 April 1899 – 1983), was an Irish footballer who played for several clubs in the Scottish League, the American Soccer League and the League of Ireland. Chatton was a dual internationalist and played for both Ireland ...

in 1932.

Coaching staff

Recent league history

*Deducted 15 points for entering administration.

Managerial history

''Manager records for all league, league play-offs, League Cup, Scottish Cup & Challenge Cup games (i.e. not including friendlies & Stirlingshire Cup games)'' * Permanent managers only. Stats include permanent managers who had initial caretaker spells. As of match played 26 April 2025:

Honours

League

: Winners 1890–91,Shared with

after both clubs ended the season on 29 points. A play-off game at Cathkin Park on 21 May 1891 finished 2–2, so the clubs were declared joint champions 1891–92 *

Scottish First Division The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. It was replaced by the Scottish Championship. History The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 in Scottish footb ...

:Known as Division Two prior to 1975 Winners 1910–11, 1971–72 **Runners-up 1907–08, 1983–84 *

Scottish Second Division The Scottish Football League Second Division was the third tier of the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. History The Second Division was created in 1975, as part of a wider reconstruction of the Scottish Football League (SF ...

: Winners 1991–92 ** Runners-up 1994–95 ** Play-Off Winners 2011–12 *

Scottish Third Division The Scottish Football League Third Division was the fourth tier of the Scottish football league system between 1994 and 2013. History The Scottish football league system had operated with three divisions in the Scottish Football League (SFL) fro ...

: Winners 2008–09 **Runners-up 2001–02,

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

**Play-Off Winners 2023–24 * Scottish Combination League: Winners 1905–06

Cup

National

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1882–83 ** Runners-up 1880–81, 1881–82, 1886–87, 1890–91, 1896–97 *

Scottish Challenge Cup The Scottish Professional Football League Challenge Cup,2017–18 *

Scottish Qualifying Cup The Scottish Qualifying Cup was a football competition played in Scotland between 1895 and 2007. During that time, apart from a brief spell in the 1950s, it was the only way for non-league teams to qualify for the Scottish Cup. The Qualifying Cu ...

: Runners-up 1911–12 * Scottish Consolation Cup: Runners-up 1907–08, 1910–11 * Scottish Supplementary Cup: Runners-up 1945–46 *

Festival of Britain The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition and fair that reached millions of visitors throughout the United Kingdom in the summer of 1951. Labour Party cabinet member Herbert Morrison was the prime mover; in 1947 he started with the ...

St. Mungo Quaich: Winners 1951–52

Other

Stirlingshire Cup The Stirlingshire Cup is an association football cup competition for clubs in the counties of Stirlingshire, Clackmannanshire & Dunbartonshire, Scotland. The competition was founded in 1883 and was contested annually by senior member clubs of the ...

: Winners (16) 1952–53, 1956–57, 1964–65,

1972–73 Year 197 ( CXCVII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Magius and Rufinus (or, less frequently, year 950 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 197 for this y ...

, 1974–75, 1980–81, 1982–83, 1985–86, 1987–88, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1993–94, 1995–96, 2009–10,

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

**Runners-up 6 times *

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 ...

: Winners (20) 1884–85 1888–89, 1889–90, 1890–91, 1891–92, 1892–93, 1893–94, 1894–95, 1897–98, 1898–99, 1914–15, 1921–22, 1922–23, 1929–30, 1930–31, 1931–32, 1932–33, 1935–36, 1936–37, 1939–40 ** Runners-up 17 times * Dumbartonshire Association Tournament: Winners 1885–86 * Stirlingshire Consolation Cup: Runners-up 1950–51 * League Charity Cup: Winners 1890–91 * Glasgow Charity Cup: Runners-up 1881–82, 1884–85 * Greenock Charity Cup: Winners 1889–90, 1890–91 ** Runners-up 1888–89, 1891–92 * Dumbartonshire Charity Cup: ** Winners 1916–17, 1917–18, 1919–20, 1921–22, 1922–23 ** Runners-up 1918–19, 1924–25, 1925–26 * Clydebank Charity Cup: Runners-up 1918–19 * United Abstainers F.C. Gold Cup: Runners-up 1889–90 * Oban Saints Keyline Trophy: Winners 2005–06

Reserves

* Scottish Second XI Cup: Winners 1881–82 ** Runners-up 1883–84, 1886–87, 1889–90 * Glasgow & District Reserve League: Runners-up 1942–43 (First Series), 1943–44 (First Series) * Scottish Alliance Reserve League: Winners 1956–57 (First Series) ** Runners-up: 1956–57 (Second Series) * Combined Reserve League: Winners 1958–59 (Second Series) ** Runners-up: 1958–59 (First Series) * Scottish Reserve League (West): Runners-up 1985–86 * Glasgow & District Reserve League Cup: Runners-up 1942–43 * Dumbartonshire Second XI Cup: Winners 1888–89, 1889–90, 1890–91, 1891–92, 1892–93

Youths

* Scottish Under 19s League: Runners-up 2010–11 * West Region Under 18s Cup: Runners-up 2022–23 * West Region Under 17s Cup: Runners-up 2022–23

Club records

*Biggest win: **

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) is a defunct league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4&nbs ...

: 1–11 v Albion Rovers (30 January 1926) **

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League cup in ...

: 1–11 v Ayr United (13 August 1952) *Biggest home

attendance Attendance is the concept of people, individually or as a group, appearing at a location for a previously scheduled event. Measuring attendance is a significant concern for many organizations, which can use such information to gauge the effective ...

: **

: 18,001 v

Raith Rovers Raith Rovers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the town of Kirkcaldy, Fife. The club was founded in 1883 and currently competes in the as a member of the Scottish Professional Football League. The club has won f ...

, (2 March 1957) **

: 2,020 v

, (20 January 2024) *Most goals in a season: Kenny Wilson (38), 1971–72

References

External links

*
Supporters Trust Website
{{Original Scottish Football League clubs Dumbarton Football clubs in Scotland Football in West Dunbartonshire Association football clubs established in 1872 Scottish Football League teams Scottish Football League founder members 1872 establishments in Scotland Scottish Cup winners Scottish Professional Football League teams