For the fourth year in a row, Dumbarton played league football in Division 1, and after the previous season's performances, confidence was high.
However, as it took 7 games to register the first league win early hopes were dashed and a disappointing 7th-place finish was achieved.
In the League Cup, in the straight knock-out format, Dumbarton were to draw Premier Division St Mirren in the first round, and were to fall to a two-goal defeat at Love Street after a home no-scoring draw.
Finally, Laurie Williams was given a testimonial for his 10 years of service to the club, and he captained Dumbarton against a Scottish League Select - the result being a 1-1 draw with Williams himself scoring the equalising penalty for Dumbarton.
Win Draw Loss [3] Murdo MacLeod was selected to play for the Scottish Under 21 team in a friendly match against USA on 17 September 1978 played at Pittodrie Park (won by Scotland 3-1 and in which he scored one of the goals) and in a qualifying match for the European Under 21 Championships against Norway on 24 October 1978 played at Easter Road Stadium (won by Scotland 5-1).