Web Encyclopedia News Blogs Forums

Dundee_F.C.

Dundee Football Club, founded in 1893, are a football team based in the city of Dundee, Scotland. They are nicknamed The Dee or The Dark Blues and play their home matches at Dens Park. Their home shirt colour is dark blue.

Dundee FC currently play in the Scottish First Division, having been relegated from the Scottish Premier League in 2005. The team is currently managed by Alex Rae, who played for the club but recently retired from professional football. Rae was appointed on 24 May 2006, following the sacking of Alan Kernaghan. For the past three seasons they have failed to gain promotion back to the top tier as they finished 7th in 2005-2006, 3rd in 2006-2007 and 2nd in 2007-2008. In the 2005-2006 Dundee managed to reach the Scottish Cup semi-final but were beaten 3-0 by Gretna, then a Scottish Second Division side.

Unusually for a city of its size, Dundee supports two senior professional football teams, Dundee FC and Dundee United. Their grounds are within a few hundred yards of each other and are the two closest professional football grounds in the United Kingdom.Ask the Gaffer | Football trivia | Your questions answered | Sport | Orange UK

Formation and early years

Formed in 1893, Dundee Football Club was formed by an amalgamation of two city teams, Dundee Our Boys and Dundee East End. The club played their first Scottish league match on 12 August 1893 drawing 3-3 with Rangers. Dundee moved to their current stadium, Dens Park, in 1899.

Early 20th century

The club were relatively unsuccessful in their early days until the Scottish Cup win of 1910 after a second replay in the final.

Dave Halliday had played on the left for his previous clubs, his hometown side Queen of the South and St Mirren. Halliday went then to Dundee in 1921 with the celebrated Alec Troup already playing on the left wing. Dundee thus converted Halliday to centre forward with prolific results, finishing as Scottish top scorer in 1923-24 with 38 goals from 36 appearances - a very good return in the era of the 3 man off side rule. With Halliday Dundee reached the Scottish Cup final in 1924-25. Halliday scored 103 goals in just 147 league and cup appearances for the Dees before moving to England's top division to wreak further havoc among opposing defences.1937-1955 Dave Halliday | Aberdeen | Football | Managers | Managers Detail

Mid 20th century

The first decade after the war saw Dundee come close to a league title in 1949, win two League Cups, reach a Scottish Cup final in 1952, and they also paid a Scottish record fee of £15,000 for Billy Steel. At this time Dundee's home attendances averaged more than 20,000.

In 1959 Dundee had a shock 1-0 defeat to Highland League side Fraserburgh in the Scottish Cup. This is widely regarded Dundee's most embarrassing defeat in their history.

Golden age

Dundee won the league title of Scotland's top division, then called the First Division, in the 1961/62 season. Under the guidance of manager Bob Shankly, brother of Bill Shankly, and with players such as Bobby Cox, Alan Gilzean, Alex Hamilton, Bobby Seith, Gordon Smith and Ian Ure they won the league championship in 1962 with a win against St Johnstone, which inturn relegated St Johnstone to the then Scottish Second Division. Gordon Smith at Dundee thus collected the distinction of being the only player to win the Scottish football championship with three different clubs, none of them either half of the Old Firm.

The following season the club reached the semi-final of the European Cup beating 1. FC Köln, Sporting Clube de Portugal and R.S.C. Anderlecht, before losing to AC Milan. The Dees reached the Scottish Cup final again in 1963/64. Shankly moved on from Dundee in February 1965.

Dundee reached the Fairs Cup semi final in 1968, losing to Leeds United.

Late 20th century

Success since their golden era in the early 1960s has been scarce with a League Cup win in 1973-1974. The goal in the 1-0 victory, scored by Gordon Wallace, was against Celtic when Dundee were captained by the former Lisbon Lion Tommy Gemmell. Gemmell shortly after went on to manage Dundee for a brief spell. Although starved of success as far as the winning of trophies as concerned Dundee had some excellent players over the next few years including John Brown, Cammy Fraser, Jim Duffy, Tosh Mackinlay, Eric Sinclair and local boy Bobby Glennie who went on to skipper his home team on many occasions Under the guidance of John McCormack and then Jocky Scott, clinched the Scottish First Division title in 1998 with a 1-1 draw against Raith Rovers, ending a four year spell in the Scottish First Division by gaining promotion to the Premier Division.

21st century

In 2000 the club made perhaps their biggest ever signing when they brought in Argentine international Claudio Caniggia, who later signed for Rangers. Caniggia was only one of many foreign signings in the Dundee side in the early 2000s, which also included former Newcastle player Temuri Ketsbaia. The signing of such high-profile players along with many others led Dundee to a Scottish Cup final and two top-six finishes (although it is worth noting that Jocky Scott, with considerably less money to spend, led the team to their highest placed finish in the Scottish Premier League - namely 5th.)
This was achieved under the managership of Ivano Bonneti, who also made a short but notable contribution on the park linking up well with the great Caniggia. However as the Marrs brothers chased an impossible dream, the attendances at Dundee F.C were still short of their neighbours and Dundee FC's spending significantly out-weighed their income . Dundee FC were soon forced into administration. This is hardly surprising due to their unsustainable spending, however the main factor was the lack of income during the period when the club's plans to sell off players at a profit was doomed when the bottom fell out of the transfer market just at that time.

Before Dundee went into financial trouble they enjoyed a good run in the Scottish Cup. In the third round Dundee knocked out Glasgow side Partick Thistle 2-0 away from home. The fourth round saw Dundee knock out Aberdeen 2-0 at Dens Park. Dundee continued their march towards Hampden Park with a 1-1 draw away and a 4-1 AET victory over Falkirk at Dens booked their place in the semi-finals playing Inverness CT at Hampden Park. The only goal of the game was by Giorgi Nemsadze. This secured a 1-0 victory and a place in the final against Glasgow Rangers. Former Dee Barry Smith hit the post but Lorenzo Amoruso scored to bring Dundee's cup run to an end.

In 2003, due to the clubs failure to sell on players as anticipated, insufficient income was raised to fund the large wage bill, under owners Peter & James Marr, resulting in a £23 m debt, they were forced to go into administration with many players such as Fabian Caballero and Georgian captain Giorgi Nemsadze leaving the club in 2005. Despite this huge debt, Dundee FC survived by selling their stadium in 2003. The club's finances now look much better with the club focusing on its youth policy. In mid-2006, it was announced that financial restructuring would see the club become debt-free.

In early 2007 Peter & James Marr severed all ties with Dundee, stepping down as Chairman, when their company P&J Taverns was forced into administration. Bob Brannan and Dave MacKinnon took the Marrs' place.

Current squad

As of 13 Aug 2008

For recent transfers, see List of Scottish football transfers 2008-09.

International players

A list of former and current players who have played at full international level while with the club are ordered by nationality and year of there debut below.

For a full list of former/current players with articles, see .

; Argentina

2000 Claudio Caniggia

2000 Luis Alberto Carranza

; Australia

2005 Adrian Madaschi

; China

2001 Fan Zhiyi

; Canada

2008 Chris Pozniak

; Denmark

1992 Morten Wieghorst

; Georgia

2000 Giorgi Nemsadze

2001 Zurab Khizanishvili

2001 Temuri Ketsbaia

; Italy

2003 Fabrizio Ravanelli

; Poland

1993 Dariusz Adamczuk

; Scotland

1945 Doug Cowie

1949 Bill Brown

1952 Billy Steel

1957 Alan Gilzean

1957 Alex Hamilton

1958 Ian Ure

1959 Andy Penman

1962 Gordon Smith

1962 Craig Brown, CBE

1971 Gordon Strachan, OBE

1973 Tommy Gemmell

1973 Jimmy Johnstone

1983 Colin Hendry

1989 Billy Dodds

1992 Jim Leighton, MBE

1993 Neil McCann

1996 Gavin Rae

1997 Rab Douglas

1998 Lee Wilkie

2003 Craig Burley

2008 Colin Cameron

; Trinidad and Tobago

2003 Brent Sancho

2004 Kelvin Jack

; Venezuela

2000 José Manuel Rey

2002 Jonay Hernández

Notable players, past and present

For a list of Dundee players with articles, see .

; Argentina

Claudio Caniggia

Luis Alberto Carranza

Fabián Caballero

Julián Speroni

Juan Sara

Lucas Gatti

Beto Naveda

; Australia

Adrian Madaschi

; Brazil

Alexandre Cerdeira

; Czech Republic

Milan Páleník

Jan Žemlík

; China

Fan Zhiyi

; Canada

Chris Pozniak

; Denmark

Morten Wieghorst

; England

Graham Rix

Neil Barrett

Tom Hutchinson

David Cowan

Darren Williams

John Sutton

; France

Ludovic Roy

Frédéric Daquin

Mickaël Antoine-Curier

Patrick Noubissie

; Georgia

Giorgi Nemsadze

Zurab Khizanishvili

Temuri Ketsbaia

; Italy

Fabrizio Ravanelli

Ivano Bonetti

Patrizio Billio

; Jamaica

Noel Blake

; Netherlands

Ivo Den Bieman

Frank van Eijs

; Northern Ireland

Danny Griffin

; Poland

Dariusz Adamczuk

; Scotland

John Arrol

Doug Cowie

Bill Brown

Billy Steel

Alan Gilzean

Alex Hamilton

Ian Ure

Andy Penman

Gordon Smith

Dave Halliday

Craig Brown, CBE

Gordon Strachan, OBE

Tommy Gemmell

Jimmy Johnstone

Colin Hendry

Billy Dodds

Jim Leighton, MBE

Neil McCann

Gavin Rae

Rab Douglas

Lee Wilkie

Craig Burley

Colin Cameron

Tam McManus

Alan Cousin

Bobby Cox

Doug Cowie

Jim Duffy

Tommy Gray

Albert Kidd

Pat Liney

Paul Dixon

Bobby Mann

Bobby Seith

Eric Sinclair

Bert Slater

Barry Smith

Steven Tweed

Bobby Waddell

Billy Williamson

Bobby Wishar

; Spain

Javier Artero

Nacho Novo

; Slovenia

Jani Šturm

; Trinidad and Tobago

Brent Sancho

Kelvin Jack

Clayton Ince

; Uganda

Joel Kitamirike

; Venezuela

José Manuel Rey

Jonay Hernández

Managers

This is a partial list of managers, from 1928 only.

Jimmy Bisset (1928 - 1933)

Billy McCandless (1933 - 1937)

Andy Cunningham (1937 - 1940)

George Anderson (1944 - 1954)

Willie Thornton (1954 - 1959)

Bob Shankly (1959 - 1965)

Sammy Kean (caretaker) (1965 - 1965)

Bobby Ancell (1965 - 1968)

John Prentice (1968 - 1972)

David White (1972 - 1977)

Tommy Gemmell (1977 - 1980)

Don Mackay (1980 - 1984)

Archie Knox (1984 - 1986)

Jocky Scott (1986 - 1988)

Dave Smith (1988 - 1989)

Gordon Wallace (1989 - 1991)

John Blackley (caretaker) (1991-1991)

Iain Munro (1991 - 1992)

Simon Stainrod (1992 - 1993)

Jim Duffy (1993 - 1996)

John McCormack (1997 - 1998)

Jocky Scott (1998 - 2000)

Ivano Bonetti (2000 - 2002)

Jim Duffy (2002 - 2005)

Alan Kernaghan (2005 - 2006)

Alex Rae (2006 - present)

Records

Highest attendance: 136,495 fans attended the 1952 Scottish Cup final between Dundee and Motherwell. This is also a record for a club match in Scotland not featuring either of the Old Firm.

Highest home attendance: 43,024 vs Rangers, February 7, 1953, Scottish Cup 2nd RoundRoss, The Roar of the Crowd, 181

Highest average home attendance: 24,532, 1948-49 (15 games)Ross, The Roar of the Crowd, 94

Biggest league win: 10-2 vs. Queen of the South F.C. 1962. vs. Alloa Athletic F.C. 1947 vs. Dunfermline Athletic F.C. 1947

Biggest league loss: 11-0 vs. Celtic F.C. 1895

Most capped player: Alex Hamilton, 24 Scotland

Most league appearances: Bill Marsh, 386, 1924-1937 & Barry Smith, 400, 1995-2006

Most league goals: Alan Gilzean, 113

Most goals in a season: Alan Gilzean, 52, 1963-64

Highest transfer fee paid: £600,000, Fabián Caballero from Club Sol de América

Highest transfer fee received: £1,200,000, Robert Douglas to Celtic

League

Scottish Football League:

*Winners (1): 1961-62

*Runners-up (4): 1902-03, 1906-07, 1908-09, 1948-49

Scottish League First Division:Known as second division prior to 1975

*Winners (4): 1946-47, 1978-79, 1991-92, 1997-98

*Runners-up (1): 1980-81

Domestic cups

Scottish Cup:

*Winners (1): 1909-10

*Runners-up (4): 1924-25, 1951-52, 1963-64, 2002-03

Scottish League Cup:

*Winners (3): 1951-52, 1952-53, 1973-74

*Runners-up (3): 1967-68, 1980-81, 1995-96

Scottish Challenge Cup:

*Winners (1): 1990-91

*Runners-up (1): 1994-95

European cups

European Cup:
     *Semi-finalists (1): 1962-63
Inter Cities Fairs Cup:
     *Semi-finalists (1): 1967-68

Other

Evening Telegraph Challenge Cup:
     *Winners (1): 2006

External links

Official Site

Satellite Photo of Dens Park and Tannadice

Dundee BBC My Club page

This section is sponsored by:
Laptops
Find a great deal on a Laptop Computer by browsing our Laptop Computer listings.
www.LaptopComputersInfo.com

Top Laptop Computer
Need Top Laptop Computer at Low Price? Compare &Deal Today!
1st-in-Computers.com

laptops
Don't just search for laptops, find results.
www.ask.com

laptops
Search for laptops here.
www.aywoh.com

Laptops
Find articles, advice and resources on laptops.
www.experttopics.com

laptops
Don't just search for laptops, find results.
wwwAsk.com