| Club: | Dumbarton |
| Season: | 1938–1939 |
| Stadium: | Boghead Park, Dumbarton |
| League: | Scottish League Division Two |
| League Result: | 11th |
| Cup1: | Scottish Cup |
| Cup1 Result: | First Round |
| League Topscorer: | J McBride (19) |
| Season Topscorer: | J McBride (20) |
| Prevseason: | 1937–38 |
| Nextseason: | 1939–40 |
The 1938–39 season was the 62nd Scottish football season in which Dumbarton competed at national level, entering the Scottish Football League and the Scottish Cup.
See main article: 1938–39 Scottish Football League. Dumbarton went into their 16th successive season in the Second Division encouraged by the positive performance from the previous campaign, and indeed with 6 wins and 3 draws from their first 10 games, it seemed that at last a challenge on the title could be mounted, but as before, the good results couldn't be maintained, and with only one win from the next 12 games the chance was gone. In the end, Dumbarton finished a disappointing 11th out of 18, with 30 points - half of that gathered by champions Cowdenbeath.[1]
See main article: 1938–39 Scottish Cup. Dumbarton fell at the 'first hurdle' in a shock defeat to non-league minnows Blairgowrie.
|}
Source:[2]
| Player | From | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| John Craig | Third Lanark | 27 May 1938 | |
| Thomas Bilsland | Manchester City | 30 May 1938 | |
| Jmaes Fraser | Tranmere Rovers | 10 Jun 1938 | |
| John Newton | Aberdeen | 11 Jun 1938 | |
| John Yuill | Duntocher Hibs | 13 Jun 1938 | |
| Walter Bulloch | East Stirling | 7 Jul 1938 | |
| William Cameron | Albion Rovers | 9 Aug 1938 | |
| Patrick McArdle | 1 Sep 1938 | ||
| John McBride | 19 Oct 1938 | ||
| Frank Campbell | Southampton | 29 Oct 1938 | |
| John Smith | Queen of the South | 10 Nov 1938 | |
| Alistair MacKillop | 18 Nov 1938 | ||
| William Monaghan | Duntocher Hibs | 24 Nov 1938 | |
| Andrew Cumming | 3 Dec 1938 | ||
| John Forsyth | 11 Apr 1939 |
| Player | To | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abram Robertson | Morton | 15 Sep 1938 | |
| Jmaes Fraser | Tranmere Rovers | 14 Oct 1938 | |
| Frank Campbell | Released | 10 Nov 1938 | |
| Gavin Smith | Barnsley | 25 Feb 1939 | |
| Stephen Murray | Released | 30 Mar 1939 | |
| John Newton | Released | 30 Mar 1939 | |
| Daniel Clancy | Ayr United | ||
| John Clay | King's Park | ||
| Alexander Cochrane | Rothwell |
In addition John Curly, Archibald Duffy, William Kemp, James McKain and Willie White all played their last games in Dumbarton 'colours'.
Source:[3]