Since 1895, the smaller clubs required to enter the Scottish Qualifying Cup in order to gain access to the Scottish Cup proper. This season, for the first time, Dumbarton were required to pre-qualify for the Scottish Cup and did so by reaching the fourth round of the Qualifying Cup before losing out to Renton.
Dumbarton continued to dominate the local scene by retaining the Dumbartonshire Cup, beating Vale of Leven in a two-legged semi final then Renton in the final.
For a second season Dumbarton were without league fixtures, and the task of building a fixture list with attractive opponents was becoming more difficult.
During the season, 15 'friendly' matches were played, including close defeats home and away against Celtic, and fixtures against Ayrshire Cup holders, Kilmarnock, Lanarkshire Cup holders, Airdrie and Perthshire Cup holders, Fair City Athletic, in the latter case to open Fair City's new ground. In all, 6 were won and 9 lost, scoring 45 goals and conceding 45.
The lack of league participation continued to take a toll on the players willing to serve the club and, amongst others, John Docherty, James Richmond and internationalist William Thomson left the club to join Celtic, Partick Thistle and Clyde respectively.