Floodlights
North Stand
Dundee Tour
Dundee FC with the Bobby Cox stand in front and the South Enclosure
and main stand to either side (Owen Pavey)
Dens Park Stadium,
home to Dundee
FC, has also undergone a major transformation, but it is
one that has yet to
be finished. Dens
Park only two years
ago was a scar on
the landscape of
Scottish Football,
but under the guidance of the Marr
Brothers Jimmy and
Peter - Dundee's
chairman and chief
executive - the fortunes of the club are
being transformed on and off the pitch.
The saga began as Dundee chased promotion out of the Scottish League First Division in early
1998. The newly formed Scottish Premier League made it very clear to all members - future and current that certain ground standards would have to be adhered to allow admission to the new league.
These criteria included the club in question having 10,000 covered seats as well as adequate pitch
protection in order to prevent as many games as possible being postponed. Dundee were one club
that failed to meet the guidelines and although they achieved promotion in 1997-98, they knew that
they had to have an SPL stadium by July 1999 or else face demotion from the top league regardless
of their league position. The Marrs hoped to broker a ground share with Dundee United but the SPL
declined this request, claiming that it would breach their rules and set a potentially dangerous precedent, and to this day, clubs like Falkirk still hope to change their minds regarding groundshare. Incidentally, Falkirk's request for a groundshare last season was rejected 10-0 by the SPL committee.
The next step for the Dark Blues was to apply for planning permission to put in place two stands at
either end of the ground in order to get the number of seats up to and over the 10,000 mark. Grandiose plans made in the early 90s by late ex-chairman Ron Dixon, tragically killed in a car accident in
Mexico in September, mooted the idea of building a large stand where the South Enclosure currently
lies and on the land behind it, with an ice rink and hospitality suites beneath it. However, the only
ground development during his reign was the construction of a dog track that has since been removed
as the idea was ill-conceived and was ultimately a failure. The two new stands sprung up in little time,
although the ground was not actually ready for the beginning of season 1999-00. While the dilapidated
main stand has remained unchanged over the years, save for a rebuild following a small fire in 1986,
the two new stands have rejuvenated Dens Park Stadium. Initially the South Enclosure was to be shut
except for Old Firm games where it would be given over to the large away supports, and this seemed
to cause no problems as all Dundee fans who previously sat there had taken up residence in the new
Bobby Cox Stand, but it was soon realised that this caused a distinct lack of atmosphere, so the half
demolished side was reopened for regular business in March 2000. When work begins on redevelop-
Groundtastic
page 51
Issue 23