Three consecutive home wins, nine points secured and eleven goals scored – it’s a good time to be a season ticketholder! While recent results at home have been very positive unfortunately the away results have not been so good. The quality of the attacking football and the pace and dynamism of players such as Seb Palmer-Houlden, Scott Tiffoney and Oluwaseun Adewumi combined with the skillful probing of Lyall Cameron and the incredible work rate of Simon Murray is making for some great entertainment. The defence is clearly still a work in progress, however, and injuries to the likes of Ziyad Larkeche and Clark Robertson are certainly not helping but the arrival of Sean Kelly on a short term deal should help and there is plenty of reason for optimism. We welcome Tony Docherty’s comments around strengthening the squad in the transfer window and if the defence can be tightened up it could be a very positive end to the season.
Results are not the only thing to be encouraged about at home. The much maligned pitch last season has been replaced with a much healthier looking playing surface that stood up well to Storm Bert and the inclement weather we have seen in recent weeks. The Club and the groundstaff deserve credit for addressing this issue and enabling the focus to remain on winning points and climbing the league table. With all that in mind it has to be hoped that more fans are tempted to come along to matches and we would certainly encourage all members to be reminding their family, friends and colleagues that half season tickets are now available from the Club.
While the pitch held up well and the Hibs match thankfully went ahead unfortunately it was necessary to postpone the AGM which had been scheduled to take place earlier that day. We did not believe it was reasonable or advisable to ask members to travel, in some cases from other parts of Scotland and the central belt, in those conditions.
The AGM has been rescheduled for 11.30am on 1 February 2025 at the Dundee Social Club.
We look forward to seeing as many members there as possible. Hopefully the prospect of a free prize draw and a nice cup of tea or coffee will entice a good number of you along to Thistle Street!
Among the topics for discussion at the AGM will be our search for new talent to join the Board. We are keen to hear from Dundee fans who would like to get involved and have interests or backgrounds in areas such as membership, social media and events/campaigns/fundraising. If you know of anyone who might be interested please do ask them to get in contact with us or to attend the AGM.
Another piece of news from the Board is that sadly Ross Day has stepped down. Ross has been a mainstay of the Board for two years and has made a substantial contribution. His knowledge and experience will be missed and we would like to take this opportunity to thank him for all his efforts on behalf of Dee4Life.
Back to Club matters and it was encouraging to see the proposed training complex at Riverside receive planning approval from Dundee City Council. The benefits to the Club are clear in terms of establishing a dedicated high quality training facility with grass and all weather pitches and in taking this component out of the plans for the new stadium at Camperdown. It also pleasing to see the community benefits being offered at the Riverside complex and the Club is to be commended for linking up with Riverside West End FC to allow their various teams to use the facilities.
It is also going to be interesting to learn more about the Club’s new partnership with Mexican side CF Monterrey, known as the Rayados, and see what the outputs might be from a player development perspective in particular. We will be curious to see if Antonio Portales will be joined by some more of his countrymen from the Rayados Youth Academy in the coming months.
I will wrap up by wishing all of you the very best for the festive season. I hope you and your families have a wonderful Christmas and New Year and are in fine fettle for the first of our two encounters with the lot from down the road next month on 2 January. Between that and our Scottish Cup tie there is plenty to look forward to.
Former Dundee chairman Bill Colvin shares his remarkable DFC journey with us and why he thinks being a member of Dee4Life is important…
Bill Colvin never intended to become involved with Dundee. He was a lifelong Dunfermline fan who had lived in the south of England for many years. He was approaching a point in his life when, after a highly successful career in the care industry, most would look to wind down their commitments.
Taking on a stressful and time-consuming new interest wasn’t part of the plan, and sinking several hundred thousand pounds of his own money into a football club he didn’t even support certainly wasn’t on the agenda.
Bill Colvin in the Dens Park directors’ box during his time as Dundee Chairman. (Image by Derek Gerrard Photography)
But then tragedy and opportunity combined to change Bill and his wife’s Pam’s life and bring them into the orbit of a fanbase who will forever remain grateful or the role he played in saving their club.
Investing in Dundee
The history of Dundee FC is commonly told through football grounds across Scotland – West Craigie Park, Caroline Port and Dens, Ibrox, Hampden and Muirton – but the role that the 2010 Scottish Care Home Awards ceremony played in the club’s story is less well-known. It was at this event that current Dee4Life director Kenny Valentine sought out Bill, his friend and former colleague, to ask if he might be able to help Dundee out of the financial mess they had found themselves in. As it turned out, Bill had been thinking along similar lines and the conversation they had at the bar of the Glasgow Hilton would have far-reaching consequences for the Dark Blues.
“My father-in-law, Bill Gordon, was a big Dundee supporter,” explained Bill. “He was there when they won back-to-back League Cups at Hampden and he would take great pleasure in reminding me that Dundee’s record victory [10-0 in 1947] was against the Pars. Pam and I had bought her parents a house down here in Surrey so he hadn’t been to watch the team for a lot of years but I had a friend who was a business associate of Peter and Jimmy Marr. They very kindly arranged for me and my father-in-law to go to a game at Dens. Peter arranged for Bobby Cox to spend time with us and that meant so much to Bill. Bobby presented him with a Dundee tie and you would have thought it was made of gold he was so delighted.
Bill Colvin (left), his father-in-law Bill Gordon and Bobby Cox (right)
That was my first experience with Dundee and it left me with a really positive impression of the club.
“Very sadly Bill died when he was on holiday with us up in Scotland a few years later. The following day, the club went into administration for the second time. We used to get the Courier delivered down here every day and it helped build the banter between Bill and I when Dundee were playing the Pars. We would read about how the club might not survive and think about how Bill would have felt about that. That got us thinking about using some of the money from his house to help his club live on. But it was just an idea at that stage and that’s where Kenny came in. I’ve known him for a long time through the care industry and he knew Pam’s dad had been a Dundee fan. I was asking him ‘how the hell do I get into Dundee to offer some help?’”
Kenny, who was volunteering with Dundee FC Supporters Society – as Dee4Life was then known – promised to connect Bill with club chief executive Harry MacLean. A follow-up call took place while Bill was on holiday on Bermuda. Kenny claims the money his friend was willing to pledge grew with every bottle of beer he sunk. By January 2011, when Bill flew up to Scotland to meet with Harry, his donation had ballooned into a very substantial sum.
‘Crazy’ Dee-fiant memories
Aside from the finances involved, news of Bill and Pam’s generosity helped fuel the ‘Dee-fiant’ spirit that was driving the club to defy the odds by surviving the 25-point penalty designed to ensure relegation. At a time when those involved with the club felt under attack from all sides, the Colvins showed that not only did Dundee still have friends out there, but also ones willing to fight for its existence.
“You have my wife to thank for all this, she’s the one who had been brought up a Dundee fan and who kept encouraging me as we got deeper and deeper in,” laughed Bill. “It was unbelievable that we survived the points deduction. What Barry Smith – one of the nicest men I’ve ever met – did was incredible. Then you had Steve Martin’s son-in-law [Craig Robertson] being called up from the juniors, Neil McCann scoring that goal against Raith and Sean Higgins playing with steak in his boots. It was crazy.
Bill Colvin alongside wife Pam at a Dundee Player of the Year Dinner (Image by Derek Gerrard Photography)
“The longer the unbeaten run went on, the more addicted we got. It really is like a drug, isn’t it? We were following every minute of it. If we couldn’t be at the games, we were following them on the television or the radio and Pam used to run around the coffee table every time we scored. She was already a fan but got deeper into it and I got hooked as well.
“I have so much respect for every one of those players who got us through. When Sparky went to Wolves and when Craig Forsyth went down south they waived their fee so the club could keep the cash. That was young guys giving up a substantial amount of money and I don’t think a lot of people know that. And there was everything that the supporters were doing. It was a real team effort to keep the club alive.”
American interest
The highs of the Deefiant season would prove impossible to maintain. Two unhappy years of fan ownership included an unexpected elevation to the top flight in the place of the imploding Rangers followed by a humbling relegation as the club struggled to find any kind of security. Throughout this period, Bill continued to support the club financially, helping to stave off disaster by ensuring wages were paid on one occasion. Originally Bill and Pam had envisaged making a single donation and stepping away when the club exited administration. Instead, Bill was elected to the club’s board of directors in April 2013 and was destined to become part-owner shortly afterwards.
“There were a lot of really good people doing their best, but the club needed money to get back on its feet again,” he said. “I was busy with work so didn’t really have time to get involved but as I was putting more and more money in, I felt I should maybe be having more of an influence over how it was spent.
“After I joined the board, [former CEO] Scot Gardiner called me out of the blue and said, ‘I’ve got these Americans who are really keen on putting money into the club’. Back in those days I was going back and forward to Houston every two or three months on business, so Scot and Steve Martin flew over to Houston with me to meet Tim Keyes and John Nelms. My company had a box at Houston Dynamo so we took them to the game. It was something of a validation that all the Dynamo guys I introduced them to already knew them through John’s involvement with youth football there and Tim’s business background.
“I talked to banks, people that worked with them, advisors, accountants. It was clear they had money behind them and, to be honest with you, the prospect of having someone to share the load was appealing to me.
“Dundee fans had been absolutely unbelievable. They had put a lot of money in but when money is required overnight, you can’t just go and arrange a fundraiser so I was quite happy to see another investor in there.”
Relationships were strained as the newly formed Football Partners Scotland sought to buy a controlling stake in Dundee while DFCSS directors held out for assurances how the deal would protect the club and to allow rank-and-file members to vote on whether to give up their hard-fought ownership. Tired of what they saw as delaying tactics, Bill, Steve Martin and finance director Iain Crichton resigned from the board, only to retake their positions once the sale was completed. Bill was the now the chairman of a club he had never imagined becoming involved with.
Dundee FC Season 2014/15 Board of Directors Bill Colvin John Nelms Steve Martin Ian Crighton pic.twitter.com/kTz4VpeGAm
— Dundee FC Players Past & Present (@DundeeLegends) April 27, 2023
“Things did turn ugly in that period, but I certainly understood why they were cautious,” admitted Bill. “They had had to endure some fairly unusual owners, shall we say, who had made bold promises that didn’t materialise. Now they had people saying ‘we’re going to put all this money in’ and it was understandable they were wondering what the catch was.
“When John, Steve and I held meetings to appease fans who might have concerns about us, I was shocked at the number of people that turned up. The places were packed and there was a whole cross section of the city there. It showed the passion that people feel for the club and that’s what drove Pam and I on to keep supporting the club financially. We would look around the ground and see little kids at the games with their grandparents and such a diverse range of people and it was wonderful. At any club the fans keep it going and should be an integral part of it. I think it is important there are supporters’ organisations like Dee4Life looking out for fans and asking questions. I know from speaking to Kenny how hard he and the current Dee4Life board are working to ensure Dundee fans have a voice so I would encourage as many as possible to join up.”
Bill stood down as Chairman in May 2015, with the club having won promotion and achieved a top 6 Premiership finish since FPS had taken over. He had been instrumental in appointing Paul Hartley to the manager’s post and the two enjoyed a strong relationship for the rest of Bill’s time on the board.
“John Brown had done a brilliant job in nearly avoiding relegation the previous year but it was becoming obvious that we had to look elsewhere to ensure we got promoted,” recalled Bill. “Paul had done a great job at Alloa and he carried us over the line, thank God. There are two things that really stick in my mind about that time. The first was watching the game against Cowdenbeath the year we got promoted when Greg Stewart and Kane Hemmings tore us to bits. I ran downstairs after the game and said, ‘We’ve got to sign Greg Stewart’ and Paul looked at me and said, ‘it’s already in motion, Chairman’.
“The other was when we played Aberdeen in the cup and we were sitting next to Alex Ferguson at the game. He couldn’t understand why I was praying for a draw but it was because I wanted the replay money. And then David Clarkson came on and scored the winner in injury time!
“It was an exciting time. I tried to buy the stadium off John Bennett several times, but we never got it over the line. I never felt it was an absolute essential to own the ground and thought it was more important that we found money to keep it in good shape for the fans.
“It was an honour to be Chairman of the club and to have done something for the supporters, to have worked with the people I did and get to know so many fantastic players – guys like Peaso, Jimmy McAllister and Gary Harkins. Jesus, what a player Harkins was!”
Regrets?
So, given all that, does he ever regret stepping away?
Pam and Bill Colvin in the Dens Park board room.
“No. I think it was the right time for me to step back but we still follow Dundee to this day. Not as closely as we used to because it’s quite a trek from Surrey to Dundee. For a couple of seasons we were flying up for games every two or three weeks but we uncoupled ourselves a bit over the years. I’ve not been up to Dundee for a while, but we’ll hopefully be at Dens later this year.
“Everything we did was great fun. There are some great people around the club, and it’s such an important part of the fabric of the city. We got hooked and don’t regret a single thing. In fact, I’d do it all again. If it the worst ever comes to the worst again, I’ll be there for Dundee.”
To join Bill in the Dee4Life ranks, sign up today for just £10 a year.
Life-long Dark Blue and Dee4Life member Craig Robertson recalls some of his favourite moments following Dundee, the time he turned down Jim McLean’s offer to join United and when Barry Smith made his dreams come true by asking him to play for The Dee…
All my family are Dundee fanatics so there was never any doubt about who I would support. My first game was a resounding 4-0 defeat at home to Aberdeen in March 1985 when I was four (the programme is in a frame at home), so I suppose you could say it set the tone for the years that followed. Luckily I don’t remember anything about the game other than snow being piled at the side of the pitch, but it was the whole experience of going to a game at Dens – the walk from the car, climbing the stairs in the main stand, the smells of pipe smoke, seeing so many blue and white scarfs – that meant I was hooked evermore.
The walk to Dens from whatever direction, especially when the floodlights are on, still gives me that childlike buzz of excitement. Being able to play under the floodlights at Dens is a moment that will live with me forever and I still feel incredibly fortunate to be given that opportunity. My favourite player around those early years was Jim Duffy. He always seemed to have loads of time on the ball and the way he headed the ball back to Geddes or Carson is a very vivid early memory. I then graduated to Keith Wright, mainly because he was left footed, but also as he always seemed to give United defenders a hard time, no more evident with his hat-trick in the 4-3 home win in 1989. Other favourite games include the Hearts League Cup game in 1995 and vaulting the greyhound fence onto the pitch after the penalties, the title win at Raith in 1998 and being in the Derry melee after Adamczyk’s late equaliser v United the season after. The noise in the main stand when Wighton’s winner went in is also a highlight.
I didn’t miss many games throughout the 90s, home or away, and at that point and climbing the 44 steps of the Derry was just as important to me as the actual result. Maybe that’s because we spent most of that period in the second tier, but results are sometimes the least important thing about supporting a club like Dundee. It’s getting stories passed down from your Dad, who had the same from his Dad. It’s going to the game with family and friends, sharing experiences good or bad. A lifetime ambition was to see Dundee away in Europe and that is my standout supporter memory. Along with five friends we made the trip to Vllaznia, 20 years ago this month, with a memorable planes/trains/automobiles experience. The trip was built around a week’s 18-30s holiday in Kavos. We got in at 4.30am ahead of a 5am taxi to the port for a ferry to Sarande in the south of Albania. We then needed to barter with the local taxi drivers to get our best price for a 6-man taxi to Tirana in the North, a journey which took 10+ hours on roads best described as cliff-hanging dirt tracks. When we finally got to the 5-star Sheraton hotel (a far cry from our horrific digs in Kavos) we were greeted by Jimmy Marr and Di Stefano before meeting up with fellow Dees who had travelled a little easier on the chartered trip! Shout out to Blair Morrison who was our logistics man and who I’m still thank to this day for making that trip possible.
Craig with a young Albanian he managed to convert while on his Vllaznia trip.
By that point I wasn’t making as many Dundee games as I would have liked as I was playing most Saturdays. I had been ‘S’ form with Rangers and United wanted to sign me, but I wasn’t keen for obvious reasons. I would train with their youths and play in friendlies, but I always wore a Dundee top underneath the United shirt. My brother used to say ‘never let that badge touch your skin’. Even at summer tournaments on the hottest day of the year I’d still have two layers on. Eventually Jim McLean cornered me in the dressing room and told me I had to make up my mind. He was swinging this golf umbrella about and looking as menacing as you’d imagine. When I said I didn’t want to sign he walked out without saying a word. I think I was lucky not to be chinned!
After that I played for Forfar’s youth team for a few seasons and was about to sign for Lochee United when I went down to Grimsby for a pre-season friendly. We had just signed the likes of Caballero and Nemsadze and about 800 fans made the trip because of the sense of excitement about the club. I came home, apologised to Lochee and got a season ticket for Dens.
When I did eventually sign for Lochee, I still took every opportunity to go to Dundee games when I could. It just so happened that my testimonial year with Lochee was coming up when Dundee went into administration for the second time. We’d talked about getting a game between Dundee and Lochee at the end of the season but it was my mate Paul McMillan who came up with the idea of using it to raise money.
I think we raised something like £14,000 in the end with more than 2,000 turning up and Artero and others taking a game for Dundee. Someone had asked earlier that day if I fancied taking a game for Dundee in the second half and I was delighted. At that point that was living the dream for me and I really didn’t expect what came next.
I was in the office one day and I got a call from my Lochee manager, Paul Ritchie, who asked if I fancied playing for Dundee. Obviously I was stunned but I thought it could be a wind up so I wasn’t totally committing in case the call was being recorded or something. He told me to keep the line free as Barry Smith was about to phone me.
I was standing outside the office with my heart thumping but until I heard Barry’s voice I was still half-thinking it was a joke. I phoned my mum and dad and then my brothers. Once he got over the shock, my older brother started giving me lifestyle advice, telling me to start stretching immediately and get out for a run that night then go straight to bed.
At the pre-match meal, Barry asked if I wanted to start on the left wing or in the middle? I was being asked to pick where I played for Dundee! I think he just wanted me to feel as comfortable as possible and not to make a fuss over me. He told me to go out and do what I’d been doing all season. Then when we got to Starks Park, I was handed the number 9 shirt. It was absolutely crazy! It had all happened so fast I didn’t have much time to get worried. I just floated through on adrenaline but then I was watching the away end fill up during the warm-up and I was suddenly like, ‘shit, I’m actually away to play here.’
My wife and her family, my parents, both my brothers and a couple of car-fulls of mates were there. They’ve told me on numerous occasions since that it was the proudest moment of their time supporting Dundee, which means a lot. You think guys don’t talk about their emotions. Then it comes to football!
I can’t remember much about the game. It went by in a blur. All I was thinking was ‘don’t give the ball away’. Going back into work the next day was surreal. Some guys I worked with had been at the game and everyone wanted to talk about it. I didn’t do a scrap of work that day. I just hid behind my computer screen reading match reports and trying to find my rating out of 10!
The Morton game the following Saturday was different. There was a four-day build up. The adrenaline had worn off and I was thinking about all kinds of stuff – I would be playing for Dundee at Dens. I’d be wearing the dark blue this time rather than the away strip. I kept thinking about all the great number 9s who’ve played at Dens. All these stupid things were going through my head and I didn’t play nearly as well.
Craig in his final appearance for Dundee at Dens Park against Dunfermline. Image: Sean Dee Photography.
Barry told me I could play another game as a trialist and ‘not to do anything stupid at weekends’. I was about to go on my stag do a few weeks later when I got a call saying I was needed to play against Dunfermline in a couple of days. There were about 30-40 boys meeting up but I ended having two pints and going up the road early. My mates had my stag do for me.
It was 1-1 and I came on as a sub. In the last couple of minutes the ball fell to me nicely on the edge of the box and I immediately played it out wide. The first thing my wife said after wards was ‘why didn’t you just shoot?’. I’ve thought about it a lot over the years but in the moment I wasn’t thinking about grabbing the winner or anything like that. Since then I must have had 50 people tell me I should have just hit it but for every single minute I played it was in my head not to do anything stupid. I didn’t want to be in any way responsible for ending that run. I was asked to keep things simple and that’s what I did. Since then a lot of people have told me that I was living their dream for them and that always makes me think about how lucky I am to have had that experience.
I’m still a season ticket holder at Dens. My girls both enjoy coming along to games with me and have been season ticket holders since birth, although they prefer “the seats with a back” in the main stand to the Derry buckets. And I think the younger one enjoys the hot dogs more than the actual game. However it’s my duty as a father to pass the Dundee experience on, there is no option in our family to support anybody else. My older daughter was just one when the Championship was won in 2013 and it’s a great family memory having her in between my wife and I at the final whistle, with her uncle [Declan Gallagher] on the pitch and her grandfather [Steve Martin] in the stand as he was a director at the time.
Craig’s daughters – he has made sure they follow the team in dark blue.
I joined Dee4Life for the same reason I go to Dens every week. Whoever the custodians are, their job should be to steer the club to the best of their ability but never forget why the club exists in the first place. Fans are the biggest stakeholders in every club in the world and as such deserve to have some sort of representation. It’s logical to me that the more involvement you give a group like Dee4Life, the more invested they become and organic growth of the fan base comes from that. By that I don’t mean involvement as in making decisions, but in the way of ideas/suggestions.
On paper, Tony Doc looks to have done a decent job of re-assembling a depleted squad so I’m cautiously optimistic of making it to 10th spot which really should be the only ambition this season. Top league consolidation obviously isn’t an option open to my brother-in-law’s new team this season! To be fair to Declan, it’s a great move at this stage of his career, offering security and gets rid of the three-hour daily round trip. That said, I never feel more like singing the blues than when Dundee win and United lose, and I won’t be slow to remind him of that!
To join Craig as a Dee4Life member, sign up here for just £10 a year.
Former fanzine editor, award-winning football writer and one-time Sportscene guest Alan Pattullo tells us why the 87 Skol Cup semi beats any World Cup final, how he risked expulsion from school to watch Dundee play Brechin City and why he joined Dee4Life…
I was born at DRI in April 1973 – so I was just about alive when Dundee last won a major trophy – but grew up in the rural badlands of Angus. I think I picked Dundee to support out of cussedness as much as anything. I note with some pride that my first Dundee match was the first game of the 83-84 campaign at Dens v Montrose in the League Cup. We all know what the last competitive game held there had been. But I chose to shun success at that time and I’m forever glad I did.
While it’s often said that such areas as rural Angus are dominated by United, Dundee were and are definitely well represented in my neck of the woods. But that certainly wasn’t the case at the school I went to on the outskirts of Edinburgh. Rugby was sadly king and a few of us would break out of school on Saturday to attend football matches. I was the only one bound for Dens Park though and it’s funny to look back and think I was risking expulsion to watch us play Brechin City. But the passion was very real then and it’s barely dimmed since, even if the stakes are not quite as high now when it comes to attending games.
Early Dee hero
My first hero, perhaps surprisingly, was Walker McCall, whose No 9 play and height caught my eye. Iain Ferguson was another early favourite, as was Tosh McKinlay, who was a class apart as a left back. Early standout games were Scottish Cup ties v Celtic and Rangers at Dens – I’ve a memory of Ferguson being straight through in the latter game and the ref blowing up for half time! Was always thus.
It was Dens as much as the team that stole my heart, sitting in the old Section F ‘Father and son’ section in the main stand (before being old enough to graduate to the Derry) and the intoxicating whiff of tobacco smoke and pies. I was sitting there with my dad and sister – who, absurdly, cannot remember the game at all – when I witnessed what I consider my greatest match (and I’ve been fortunate to cover three World Cup finals): 2-1 v Dundee United in the Skol Cup quarters, 1987. I can still feel the surge of emotion when Tommy Coyne equalised towards the end. I’m not sure anything has come close to that feeling since. These reasons, among many others, are why I’m not an advocate for the Camperdown development. Dens is our home.
I grew up on a farm and with a friend down the road – an Aberdeen supporter who then switched loyalties to Forfar – started writing a fanzine that would become It’s Half Past Four …And We’re 2-0 Down (HPF). It summed up that feeling towards the end of the game when you had been reduced to making deals with God if it meant getting a goal that might spur a comeback. Invariably of course that didn’t happen. I remember looking at the clock in the corner at Dens many times and hoping against hope. The first issue was a more general football fanzine but by issue 2 we had decided to make it a Dundee FC-centric publication. I think my friend, who was a good bit older than me, had found other things to interest him such as girls. I meanwhile was happy to stay up until the wee sma’ hours writing diatribes about Angus Cook and composing all time Dundee disaster XIs etc.
Four edition’s of Alan’s It’s Half Past Four …And We’re 2-0 Down fanzines.
There was not too much content about Dundee to savour beyond what the Courier was reporting. There was barely even a book to buy before Jim Hendry’s fantastic Dundee Greats. I just wish HPF might have extended to more than eight issues.
Challenges of being a Dee and football writer
One time, Ron Dixon invited me to Dens Park. I was just a student and so had to smarten myself up for a boardroom visit. He sat down in front of me and told me that I reminded him a lot of himself, which I wasn’t sure whether to take as a compliment or not. He’d actually bought a copy of the fanzine outside Dens. He thrust a tenner into the hands of one my friends I’d recruited to help me sell them, and drawled: “keep the change”. I like that image.
When I became a football writer professionally, I suppose the biggest problem was that I wasn’t always covering Dundee. I had to get used to not watching them play on a weekly basis. I started freelancing for Scotland on Sunday. Although my first assignment was a 0-0 between Morton and Dundee at Cappielow, it wasn’t always a Dundee game that I was handed. I remember sitting at Palmerston Park while Dundee were winning the league in Kirkcaldy in 1998 and finding that quite hard. But you get used to it and of course, it solved the problem of not having to criticise the team I loved! I didn’t fancy doing it in print that much and having former chairman Derek Souter phone me up to complain, which he did a few times. But Derek and I are all right now. I’ve had a seat near him in the Derry in recent seasons and I enjoy his insight. Although Angus Cook did recently put the phone down on me….
There’s certainly been plenty of news to cover at Dens over the years, that’s for sure. I suppose it started to get really interesting when the Bonettis came in. The Caniggia signing is still hard to process and while I was fortunate to bag a one-to-one interview with him a few months into his stay, I’m still annoyed that my sports editor sent me to interview Robert Prytz – then assistant manager at Hamilton Accies – rather than to cover Caniggia’s unveiling.
Interviewing Caniggia on the Copacabana
He did redeem himself by sending me to Albania for Dundee’s return to European competition in 2003. That was certainly memorable and a real privilege – to be paid to see what I always dreamed of seeing: Dundee in proper European action (I don’t count the Intertoto).
Also memorable but in a less positive sense was the night Scotland were humped 6-0 by Holland in the second leg of the Euro 2004 play off. Reports were just emerging that Dundee were preparing to go into administration the following day and so I was trying to process that amid the wreckage of another failed major finals attempt. I have to confess the Dundee news was uppermost in my mind but I had to try and be professional and concentrate on the Scotland story.
Another memorable moment, and I don’t think I will ever beat this one, is interviewing Claudio on the Copacabana beach during the World Cup finals in Brazil in 2014. I stalked him after spotting him at the Maracana during the France v Germany last 16 game and the following day waited outside his hotel until he emerged. He gave me about 20 minutes of his time and was utterly charming and happy to chat about Dundee after giving me what I needed on what looked like being Messi’s last chance to win the World Cup.
Bringing it slightly more up to date, the recent title winning game v Queen’s Park was a privilege to be at. I would not have been able to go had I not been working as we all know that tickets were like hen’s teeth. Even getting press accreditation was hard enough. But I did and all was going swimmingly until about 12 minutes in when Dundee decided to make it a bit more interesting by conceding two quick goals. My sports editor phoned up at half time requesting 1000 words on the final whistle rather than the 500 previously agreed. They came fairly easily fortunately. And the pint at Larbert station en route home in a pub full of Dundee fans has rarely tasted sweeter.
When I first started the job I did fear it would compromise my relationship with Dundee and maybe it has to a certain extent. You see and hear things you sometimes do not want to. But I’m happy to report that even now when I go to a match as a fan, I slip effortlessly back into the mindset of the teenage me. A week is made a lot brighter if I know there’s a trip to Dens at the end of it, and I can get my scarf on rather than sit in the press box.
Dee4Life and raising a future Dee
I’m still a member of the Capital Dark Blues, I had been aware of the club when I was at school in Edinburgh and even contacted the then convener Grant Anderson about getting lifts up to games but the timings didn’t work. And then I started at Dundee Uni and didn’t have such worries about getting to games. But since returning to Edinburgh to live I’ve had more involvement and in the early 2000s the club was very vibrant – though I also remember attending a Dixon/David Holmes meeting in Edinburgh in the early 90s and Holmes marvelling at the number of Dundee fans present. He said something like if Hearts or Hibs organised a similar meeting in Dundee, they’d be holding it in a phone box! So Edinburgh has always had a really healthy number of active Dundee fans, but I think it was at its peak in the early 2000s, when Ivano and Dario Bonetti were coming for question and answer events in Italian restaurants and the annual dinner was being attended by around 150 people.
My love for Dundee remains as strong as it ever was an I now hope to pass that on to my son, Jack. I’m always struck by parents who take a casual view of the matter of their offspring’s loyalties. I know of several who are simply happy if it’s the local team rather than their own. Well, there’s no way I’m taking Jack – who is still only five – to Hibs or Hearts games at the expense of Dundee. Fortunately, he seems to be showing interest. His first game was away at Livingston, the last game of 2021-22 season when we were already relegated. I thought that would be a chilled-out one to introduce him and I was eager for him to be able to say he once saw Charlie Adam play in dark blue – or light blue as it was that day. He’s since been to Dens – a 2-1 win over Ayr United, when Paul McMullan scored a worldie. Jack wears his Dundee strip to tots’ football coaching each Sunday morning and it gives me pride to see that standing out amongst all the usual football tops you’d expect on an Edinburgh pitch.
Dee4Life member Alan Pattullo and his five-year-old son Jack.
That’s one of the reasons I’m a Dee4life member. This is a tricky and potentially defining time in the club’s history. We all need to ask the right questions and be wary of plans that potentially put the club’s very future at risk. It’s what I would be doing in fanzine days and what I’m trying to do now in a professional capacity.
On the pitch, I’m pretty optimistic. I’m fairly easy to please. Simply knowing I can enjoy Lyall Cameron and Josh Mulligan in a Dundee shirt for another season at least is a welcome bonus, as I had doubted seeing them again after the Queen’s Park title game when they were out of contract and on the radar of other clubs. I’m passionate about seeing young talent from the Dundee area being given a chance and it does seem like Dundee have got their act together on the youth recruitment front.
As for the first team, Tony Docherty has done a sterling job of rebuilding again and I’m glad to see so many from last season returning. I was saying to someone the other day that for the first time in my lifetime there’s not anyone at Dundee United I would take over the current Dundee player in the corresponding position. Not that this is relevant this season when it comes to securing safety in the top flight. But I’m hopeful we can do that.
To join Alan as a Dee4Life member, sign up here for just £10 a year.
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.”
Dee4Life 