Long-standing director Douglas Tott today informed us of his decision to resign from the board of Dee4Life.
Douglas began volunteering with Dee4Life in January 2018 and joined the Trust board in September 2020 as a Co-opted director. Douglas was appointed a full director at the Dee4life AGM in February 2022.
During his time with Dee4Life, Douglas’ experience of the banking industry has helped us improve the financial side of our operations. The diligence and tenacity he displayed in tackling seemingly intractable issues with banks is particularly appreciated.
Douglas continually tried to encourage Dee4life members and Dundee supporters to raise funds for Dee4life using Easyfundraising for online purchases and Easysearch as their internet search engine.
Director Kenny Valentine visited the Dundee FC community trust this morning to present a donation of hot water bottles to support the trusts winter support program.
Dee4Life are an active supporter of the great work the DFC Community Trust carry out, the winter support program provides vital service to those most in need in the wider community and we were more than happy to support with providing 168 hot water bottles to help those who may be struggling to heat their homes
Kenny Valentine & Dundee FC Community Trust CEO, Greg Fenton
I am delighted to report that our membership has now passed the 400-mark as it continues to grow. As we approach the end of 2022, I want to thank all of you who have joined the Trust over the past year or who have renewed your membership. The more members we have, the stronger our voice is.
While we have little progress to report in our attempts to secure a meeting with the DFC board the club have reiterate to us their belief that there is no danger of Dundee becoming homeless, for the reasons they outlined back in March.
While that is welcome, we would like to gain a better understanding of the matter through further dialogue and for the club to publicly address the other questions asked by fans around the proposed new stadium development.
We understand that many of you feel frustrated just now but, as we said at last month’s AGM, we will do everything we can to seek answers to the issues that our members are urging us to raise with the club. Please be assured that there is a lot of work taking place in the background that we hope to be able to update you on soon.
Dee4Life ends 2022 in a much stronger position than it began the year in. Our board has expanded and our new directors, including our most recent appointee Kenny Valentine, bring with them significant professional experience. We also have an enlarged pool of expert advisers helping to inform our decisions and a membership that has more than doubled in recent months.
For Dundee supporters, last weekend’s postponed game against Cove Rangers was another source of frustration given the momentum the team has built up recently, though also possibly relief for those hanging after their work Christmas do the night before. The severe weather was also a reminder of the challenges we face with rising food and heating costs.
In these tough times, credit must go to the Dundee FC Community Trust. As well as providing warmth and meals for those struggling with bills, the team are collecting hot water bottles, blankets etc to give out. We have pledged items to this very worthy cause and want to congratulate Greg Fenton and his team for the work they are doing to help vulnerable members of our community.
On a similar theme, Dee4Life director George McIrvine is involved with the Fans Supporting Foodbanks group that hold collections before each game at Dens and Tannadice. We would encourage all those fans who are able to do so to support this initiative. It was heartwarming recently to see how members of the Giorgi Nemsadze supporters club came together to donate items for FSFD – well done lads and lasses.
To turn back to football, we are obviously all desperate for the Dark Blues to give us an early Christmas present when they travel to Ayr tonight. Let’s hope we go top of the league and stay there for the remainder of the season.
On behalf of the Dee4Life board, I would like to wish you and your families a very Merry Christmas and a happy new year.
Dee4Life are delighted to announce the appointment of Kenny Valentine to the Trust board.
Kenny brings with him a wealth of business experience, having worked for major brands in the hospitality and healthcare sectors throughout his career. Specialising in operations and latterly mergers and acquisitions, he held numerous senior and board positions and is currently a non-executive director in both the private and third sectors.
Kenny was born in Dundee in 1968 and has remained a fanatical supporter of the Dark Blues, despite living most of his life outside the city. His first match was an away win at Starks Park (near the family home in Kirkcaldy) in 1978 while his first visit to Dens was for the League Cup semi-final second leg v Ayr United. Both ended as wins (4-2 & 3-2, respectively) for Dundee, perhaps luring Kenny into a false sense of security about the journey ahead.
His determination to ensure that Dundee lived on led to him helping to organise volunteer activities in our second period of administration, and it was Kenny who introduced his good friend and future benefactor/chairman Bill Colvin to the club in 2010/11.
Kenny has lived in Dunblane for the past 15 years and travels to Dundee regularly, with he and his son Callum both being season ticket holders at Dens Park.
Apparently there’s a World Cup on, but anyone who is anyone had their eye fixed firmly on the Scottish Championship this November. With three straight league wins and a potential Scottish Cup banana skin safely navigated, it’s been a good month for Dundee supporters and long may it continue.
I’m delighted to report that this upturn in fortune has been matched by a rise in our Dee4Life membership, with almost 400 now signed up and numbers increasing every day. Our medium-term target is 1000, and with figures doubling over the past month we are making good progress towards that goal. To those newly joined, thank you and welcome – please feel free to get in touch with comments, concerns and ideas. We are accountable to you all and welcome constructive criticism and the chance to engage with our fellow Dees. It has been particularly heartening to see members using social media to encourage others to sign up. We will always seek to represent you and to do what we believe to be in the best interests of Dundee FC and its fans.
The board’s efforts to modernise the Trust’s operations, allied to good, old-fashioned leafleting and other initiatives has helped, but the concern felt by many Dundee fans is likely the main driver behind this rise. Our recent AGM at Dundee Social Club demonstrated the clear concern amongst Dark Blues regarding lack of communication from the club, particularly around the proposed Camperdown development and the implications of leaving Dens Park.
In light of the fears expressed by our members, we once again wrote to the club to seek answers to the fans’ questions and for reassurance on the risks posed to the club. We sincerely hope that the board will choose to engage with supporters to allay these fears and allow us to move forward together.
A week after the AGM, Dee4Life directors George McIrvine and Grant Hill were back at Thistle Street as guests of Dundee FC Supporters’ Association at their latest meeting of member clubs. George and Grant outlined the changes that have taken place at Dee4Life over the past five months and our future plans as well as discussing the club’s current situation. It was clear that the frustrations expressed at our AGM were shared by those present.
The relationship between different Dundee supporters’ groups might previously have been strained but I believe there is now a mutual determination to work together for the betterment of both club and supporters.
Thanks to all who were able to attend yesterday’s AGM and contribute to what was an extremely passionate discussion about the future of Dundee FC.
It is clear that there is significant concern among our members about the lack of communication and transparency on the future of the club, particularly with regards to the new stadium development and the possibility of the club becoming homeless if Dens Park is sold.
We are accountable to you all and, as we said yesterday, we will continue to ask questions of the club board on your behalf and to use every means available to us to ensure the club engages with the fanbase to ensure views of supporters are heard.
To that end, we have once more written to John Nelms and Tim Keyes to seek clarification about their plans for the future and to ask them to publicly reassure fans that adequate protections are in place to avoid any threat to our existence.
We will get behind any proposals which we believe to be in the best interests of Dundee FC but we cannot give our backing to the Camperdown project until the apparent risks to the club’s future are addressed.
Despite growing up 120 miles from Dundee, a strong family connection to the city and its oldest football club meant there was always but one team for Ryan Norrie.
Whereas most Dark Blues are Dundee born and bred, Ryan – who joined the Dee4Life board in June after being a member for several years – was raised in the Ayrshire town of Dreghorn. Surrounded by fans of the Old Firm and Kilmarnock, Ryan was firmly in a minority of one at school. Despite this, the Norrie family was generations deep in their love for the club and did all they could to ensure a young Ryan was as they were.
“My papa got a job in Irvine in 1971 and that prompted the family move to the Ayrshire coast from the Ardler Multis,” explained Ryan. “My dad was only three at the time, so he has a west coast accent like me. The family have been out of Dundee for a long time but my dad loved the club through his dad and started going to games around 1977.”
“It’s all to do with my dad for me as well. He took me to matches, mainly away games closer to home, initially. I got my Dundee strip each year to wear proudly around my Ayrshire hometown. The obsession began when I was at school. It just felt right.”
Ryan can even date the start of his own love affair with the Dee. It was a week before Christmas 2000 and he was a 7-year-old attending his first ever football match just a few miles from his home. In true Dundee style, the clash with Kilmarnock proved to be something of a rollercoaster.
“I was taken along to Rugby Park as it was practically a home game for us. Steven Milne scored twice in three minutes to snatch the win after being 2-0 down. I fell in love with the club after that game.
“It was odd being a Dundee supporter in Ayrshire. I was in secondary school from 2005 to 2010, so we were languishing in the First Division then. Because we rarely played the Old Firm or Killie at the time, the topic rarely came up other than the odd mocking.
“Most of my mates supported one of the Old Firm, mainly Rangers, and there was as a small pocket of Kilmarnock fans who took more interest in winding me up about being a Dundee supporter. I was never tempted by any other team though. My house was Dundee-obsessed, so I always had a strong connection to the club. The only other team I take some interest in is my local non-league team, Irvine Meadow. My Papa would go to watch the Medda on the weekends he couldn’t get to Dens and I’ve carried on that tradition.”
Ryan’s devotion to Dundee has seen him clock up tens of thousands of miles to follow the team across the country. He has been a season ticket holder for most of his adult life, has been involved in the Walking Down the Provie Road and Up Wi The Bonnets podcasts, and racked up the likes for a video of his acoustic cover of ‘Up Wi The Bonnents’ a few years back.
While Ayrshire may not be a Dark Blue stronghold, Ryan and his dad have found affinity with other west coast-based Dundee fans through their nearest supporters club, the Glasgow Dees. It is a fraternity that he feels is important for out-of-towners to help remain connected to the club.
“It was really refreshing meeting supporters who are in a similar situation, location wise,” he said. “It’s been fantastic for away days and feeling part of a group, which living in Ayrshire as a Dundee fan, you don’t get.
“I’ve made some great friends in the Glasgow Dees and love joining up with them for some pre-match pints. They’ve made me feel welcomed from the day I signed up and if there is any other west coast Dees out there, I’d recommend joining the group.”
Ryan also wants to encourage Dundee supporters to join Dee4Life, and he was motivated to become a director by the club’s plight last season and a desire to ensure it does not happen again.
“I think it’s very important to have a voice for fans to use and build on,” he said. “We need to continue to push for better fan engagement and to build a healthy relationship between the club and its supporters. I feel it also gives me a stronger voice, living away from the city, to be represented along with all other Dundee fans, from all walks of life. Supporters are the lifeblood of our club. Dee4Life can be a voice for those fans and that’s vital.”
More than 50 years have passed since Ryan’s grandparents left their hometown and the Dark Blue torch is once more being passed to another generation. Ryan – who now lives in Ayr – has already begun the process of indoctrinating his son, Jude, although he knows from experience the challenges that he will face in keeping his on the right path in the years to come.
“I’m now facing the same obstacles that my dad probably had with me. I’ve already bought Jude the strips and taught him the appropriate songs etc but it’ll go one of two ways. He’ll fall in love with Dundee like I did, and my dad did, or he’ll end up drifting to one of the teams down here.
Ryan with his son, Jude.
“Whatever happens, I’ll be fine with it. I’d obviously prefer him to support Dundee, but I know it can be quite challenging supporting a team 120 miles away. I’m lucky that I had my family and now the Glasgow Dees but it can be a lonely place when you’re young and nobody else supports Dundee in Ayrshire! In saying that, I recently had a random meeting with a Dundee supporter in the middle of Ayr. He spotted Jude playing in his strip and my Dundee tattoo and came over to speak. Maybe there are hundreds of us scattered around here after all!”
“Overall Dundee is very important to me for a lot of different reasons and not just footballing ones. I feel a connection to the city through my grandparents and supporting the club keeps that relationship beating, now that they have both passed.”
Firstly, I apologise for the delay in getting October’s update to you all – so much has happened over the past month and we wanted some of our projects to reach fruition before circulating.
As part of our efforts to improve our digital presence, we have launched a new website at www.dee4life.com
that incorporates a new membership management platform. This was a much-needed upgrade and the new platform will help automate a lot of the time-consuming administration work and ensure an improved experience for members.
Gone are manual spreadsheets, difficult to pull distribution lists and members’ communications relying on director intervention. Now, we can offer you a seamless customer experience including simplified 4-step sign-up process, multiple payment options, ability to self-update membership details, digital membership card and access to a members’ only portal to see trust documents.
This work has been led by our directors Ross Day and Ryan Norrie and forms a major part of our efforts over the past few months to overhaul the way the Trust is run to ensure we are a more modern and agile organisation capable of representing Dundee supporters.
You will have seen that our annual membership fee has risen to £10, a modest increase that was backed by the vast majority of those who completed our recent survey. This will help us expand our activities and, where appropriate, support the club’s development. This deduction will occur automatically on your renewal date and no action by yourself is necessary.
In a similar vein, our recent raffle of framed tops sponsored by Dee4Life in recent seasons – organised by Ross – raised £420 for our funds and the winners will be receiving their prizes by post shortly. We will also raffle/auction Paul McGowan’s 2021/22 awayshirt at our AGM on Saturday 19 November, when limited edition Dee4Life pin badges – an initiative by board member Mary Coyle – will also be on sale.
This will be the first occasion since pre-Covid that we have been able to hold an in-person AGM and we hope as many members as possible take the opportunity to attend. The event starts at 11am in Dundee Social Club and it is our intention to complete the formal part of the meeting as quickly as possible to allow the maximum time for questions from the floor and an open discussion about the direction of both Dee4Life and the club we all love.
The proposed development at Camperdown will no doubt be uppermost in the minds of many of you and we are keen to hear your thoughts about this at the AGM. As we shared with you last month, we have written to the club to ask that they consult with fans directly about the potential impact, risks and benefits of the development for the football club.
We have been gauging the views of experts in planning, property, construction, and the law as we seek to provide oversight on behalf of all Dundee fans. Given our club’s previous brushes with extinction, we believe this is essential. While we support the development in principle, our backing is contingent on the club addressing the issues that we outlined previously and fully engaging with supporters.
The 2022 Dee4Life AGM will take place at Dundee Social Club from 11am on Saturday 19 November.
The meeting, which takes place prior to Dundee’s home match against Hamilton, will be the first in-person event hosted by the Trust since January 2020. Details of ballots relating to the election of directors to the Dee4Life board will be sent to members shortly, along with the agenda for the AGM and a copy of the Trust’s annual accounts.
The formal part of the AGM will be followed by a Q&A when members will hear from the board about recent changes and Dee4Life’s future direction. Accountability is essential to the success of the Trust and any attendee can raise questions about Dee4Life and its performance.
Dee4Life Chair Norrie Price said, “We welcome the opportunity to host our first face-to-face event for a few years and to speak directly to our members. In recent months our board has been working worked hard on a process of internal reform that will make us more agile and active as an organisation.“
“We know from the recent survey we carried out that our members see our primary purpose being to represent fans. The AGM will also allow us to gauge the views of supporters about the club and the issues they want us to raise with them.“
“Ultimately, we all love Dundee and want it to succeed. For that to happen, the fans and club management need to work together in harmony. It is vital that the views of supporters are heard at boardroom level and respected.”
Snacks will be provided for AGM attendees while refreshments will be available from the bar.
In addition, it is hoped that an open meeting, giving all Dundee supporters the opportunity to ask questions of the Trust’s directors and raise issues and ideas relating to both Dee4Life and the club will also take place before the end of the year.
We have been asked by BBC Scotland’s The Nine to take part in a feature about the proposed new stadium development at Camperdown. In this we will be outlining the Trust’s position on ‘Nou Campy’ and, as such, I thought we should take the opportunity to share this with our members and the wider Dundee support.
Dee4Life has always been supportive of the stadium development in principle, however there are many outstanding questions that we believe the club needs to address.
The public meetings hosted by Dark Blue Property Holdings as part of the planning process provide an opportunity for the public to understand the implications of the development for the city, but our priority is the impact on Dundee Football Club.
Our concerns include:
The prospect of Dens Park being sold before completion of the new stadium, depriving the club of a safety net
The lack of clarity over ownership of the new stadium
The lack of clarity on the prospect of interim groundsharing
The apparent absence of a Plan B should the Camperdown project fall through
Exposure of the club to risks associated with inflation and rising interest rates facing DBPH
Dee4Life, on behalf of all Dundee fans, are custodians of the ‘A-Shares’ which provide the support with additional rights, including protection against the club playing its home games away from Dens Park for any period exceeding one year. The Trust is committed to representing its members and the wider Dundee support to ensure their views are heard.
Therefore, we have written to John Nelms and Tim Keyes to ask that they, as owners of both DBPH and Dundee FC meet with representatives of supporters, shareholders and other stakeholders to discuss the specific impact the development will have on the club. The relationship between the club and DBPH, including expected lease terms with DBPH or any future owners and details of the risk/benefits for Dundee, is crucial.
We believe a new stadium could prove to be transformative for Dundee but there are examples of clubs who have found themselves in perilous situations because their own dream moves have turned sour. Our own club has twice been placed in administration because the ambitious plans of previous owners were not built on robust foundations. As a result, transparency and engagement are essential to ensure we do not make the same mistake again.
We welcome all views on this and other matters so please feel free to share your own opinions on the development with me, or any of my fellow Dee4Life directors.
Dee4Life 