In the first playing of the final, Queen's Park defeated Dumbarton by the odd goal in three, but after a successful protest due to 'crowd encroachment', a replay was ordered.

[1] Dumbarton were again invited to take part in the Glasgow Charity Cup but were heavily defeated in the semi-final by Rangers.

Dumbarton's fixture list for the season included home and away ties against the Ayrshire Cup holders, Beith and the first club 'tour' of the north of England was undertaken during the New Year holidays with a further match being played against Blackburn Rovers during the Easter break.

Source:[27] International trial matches were played on 26 February and 5 March 1881 to consider selection of teams to represent Scotland in the upcoming games against England and Wales.

As a result Dumbarton's Joe Lindsay[28] picked up his second and third caps playing for Scotland against England and Wales respectively.