CANIGGIA MEETS THE FANS

Although it looks like Caniggia has just walked into a hall of mirrors, the jocks in the locks are in fact, Dee fanatics, Ryan & Brian. They met the Argentinian superstar here at Dens when he signed for Dundee in October 2000.
Thanks to Pad.

THE FIRST DEE4LIFE EVENTS

This poster goes back 5 years to when Dee4Life first started organising fund raising events.
On the bill for Jan & Feb are - Jump the Q playing at the Deja Vu. Tam Cowan has 2 gigs, one at the Caird Hall and the other at the Dundee Social Club in Thistle Street. There is a Sportsman's Dinner at the Invercarse Hotel and finally, a Fashion Show at Bonar Hall. Spoilt for choice!
Click on the image to have a wee read of the large version.
Thanks to GK

IAIN PHILLIP - 70'S CENTRE HALF

Iain Phillip was a real classy player, who, after a couple of appearances as sub, made his full team debut on 19th Sept 1970 against St. Mirren at Dens.
He was with the club for nearly 10 years, signing in 1968 and ending his time there in Sept 1978. Why it wasn't the full 10 years is because he had a stint at Crystal Palace in 1972, which was pretty short lived, and when he came back to Dens in 1973 he was in the team who lifted the Scottish League Cup that year.
He made a total of 253 full appearances for the Dee and has also played at international level for Scotland.

DENS PARK OPEN DAY - 1997

Dundee FC had an open day on 12th July 1997 that featured a variety of entertainment. This included a guest appearance by Australian actress Isla Fisher. At the time she was mostly known for her role in TV soap "Home & Away" but she has since gone on to star in many top movies.
This event at Dens was part of the build-up to the start of the new 1997/98 season, which the Dees ended as First Division Champions. So, Dundee's team also played in starring roles, home & away!
Photo by DC Thomson.

GEORGE BEST IN DARK BLUE

Another photo of Bestie wearing the dark blue of Dundee in a charity match that took place at Dens Park during the 1981/82 season.
I have posted a picture of him at this event earlier in my January 2009 Archives.
Thanx to Pad.

ERIC AND ERICH - 1980

Eric Ferguson (Physio) with Erich Schaedler during an evening match at Dens.
The game was the 2nd semi of a League Cup tie against Ayr United on 19th November 1980. Dundee won it 3-2 (4-3 on agg). Goals by Williamson, Fraser & Sinclair got us to the final a fortnight later. We ended up runners up but managed to win promotion at the end of the season, going up with Hibs.

GOAL CELEBRATION - 2001

A goal by Steven Milne sparked this joyous scene between fans and players away at Easter Road.
The game took place on 27th October 2001, Dee winning 2-1. Gavin Rae grabbed the other goal.
Thanx to Pad.

GOOD OLD DUNDEE POSTCARD

This postcard was part of a series of 10 early football cards that were reproduced for an exhibition at Glasgow's Third Eye Centre, titled - Scottish Football : A History, and ran from 14th July to 20th August 1983. The exhibition covered the period - 1872 to 1914.
As regards this Dundee postcard, they played in this "all blue" strip around the 1903-04 era, so I presume the original card must have been from around that date.

CHAMPIONS OF SCOTLAND BOOK

Another book that is a must for your shelves is this one by Kenny Ross - Dundee, Champions of Scotland, 1961-62.
Here's a bit of what it says - "1961-62 was a golden season for Dundee Football Club. They became Champions of Scotland by winning the Scottish League title for the first and, to date, only time in their history. They then became Princes of Europe the following year with their fabulous European Cup adventure. For any club outside the old firm to win the Scottish title takes something special, and the Dark Blue side of that time was exceptional."
Here here!
You'll find a lot of match details and behind the scenes information to delve into as well as a bundle of great photos.
Well worth adding to your collection.

LET'S ALL DO THE CONGA!

This unusual squad photo was taken at the start of the 1969/70 season.
The team line-up (quite literally!) is from left to right as follows :
Campbell, Kinnonmonth, Scott, Wilson, Gilroy, Bryce, Murray, Wallace, Houston, Easton & Donaldson.
69/70 was a pretty average year for us, 6th in the League and a Scottish Cup semi.

KITSCH INVASION

I'd buy one!
If I had more time I could have had a go at turning this idea into an animation to use as a screensaver.
If there are any talented animators out there stuck for ideas...?!

MEADOWBANK THISTLE PROGRAMME - 1992

Meadowbank Thistle had a relatively short life. Their existence in this format only covered the 1974 to 1995 period. Before this they were called Ferranti Thistle, then in 1995 the club moved out of Edinburgh's Meadowbank Stadium and relocated to Livingston, changing their name accordingly.
This match programme was a League Cup tie. Dundee won 3-0, with goals from Dodds, McGowan & Campbell. A whopping crowd of...898 turned out for this football feast. Couldn't have shifted many programmes that day!
Meadowbank did have a bit of a cult following throughout the UK, due to Radio 1 DJ John Peel. Liverpool mad Peely adopted Meadowbank as his second team and would actually go see them play when he was gigging around Scotland. He would read out their scores during his shows and sometimes even give the lowdown on a game he caught.
Not sure if he witnessed this Dee victory mind you!

THE LAST STRAW

Back in the days before undersoil heating, in order to protect the playing surface from frost, they used to cover the pitch in straw. Come match day, all the straw would then be raked to the side of the pitch, as in the above photo.
This picture was taken during a Scottish Cup tie against Falkirk on 25th Feb 1979, Dundee winning 1-0 with a penalty by Pirie.
The Dee were in Div 1 at this time having been relegated in 76, but despite the pitch looking like a farm yard, Dundee finished top and got back into the SPL.

KEEP YER SHIRT ON - #3

This top contains the names of Dundee supporters who bought season tickets for 2002 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Dundee winning the Scottish League.
One of my faves!

KEEP YER SHIRT ON - #2

This doesn't look like a Dundee top but it almost became one.
Xara came up with the idea to have an alternative 3rd away strip and designed this effort, in green. Luckily, the concept wasn't approved and only prototype samples were ever made.
Ok for a goalie maybe. Some of the players ended up using the spares for training.

KEEP YER SHIRT ON - #1

This is the DFC away shirt for 2002-03 with most of the players from that season signing it - Gavin Rae, Nacho Novo, Barry Smith and them all.
The Dee made it through to the Scottish Cup Final that season.

WALLACE GOAL AGAINST GERS - 1972

A great picture of a jubilant Gordon Wallace in front of the Provie Road enclosure having just scored against Rangers.
This League game took place on 4th November 1972 and ended 1-1, in front of a 19,600 crowd.

SEATTLE STORM v DUNDEE FC - 1986

Talking about Seattle (previous post), here is another one the city's teams, Seattle Storm.
This programme is from when Dundee played them as part of the Dee's summer tour of USA & Canada in 1986. There were 10 matches in total, this one above took place on 6th June.
Ex Dee, Jimmy Gabriel, was coach for Seattle Storm when this match was played, but despite his time at Dens, his team tactics weren't enough to outplay the visitors from Dens on this occasion as the dark blues won the game 2-1. Goals by Mennie and Harvey.

JOCKY v PELE

On the subject of Pele, here is another wee Dundee link.
This photo showing Jocky Scott battling it out with Pele was taken in the USA in 1977.
Jocky was playing for the Seattle Sounders at the time (Gordon Wallace also played for them) and this crunch match against Pele's team, New York Cosmos, was the League decider. Unfortunately, Cosmos, who also had Beckenbauer & Carlos Alberta in their team, won it 2-1.
The Sounders did beat Cosmos earlier in the same season with Jocky scoring the only goal!

PELE AT DENS - 1989

20 years ago, the world famous feet of Brazilian football legend, Pele, were striding around Dens Park.
The superstar managed to find time to chat to school kids from Hill Primary, sign loads of autographs and present an award.
The award was "Man of the match", presented to Nigerian, Godwin Okpara.
Dens was hosting Group C matches in the under 16 World Cup Tournament. Nigeria finished top above Argentina, Canada and China.
Below are some more pictures of his Dundee Football Club visit. The wee lad he is holding is, Kristofer Johnston, who'll be 20 years old now!
Photos by DC Thomson.

WATCH OUT...THERE'S A SCOUT ABOUT!

This programme once belonged to a football scout, hence all the scribbling, which I'll get back to in a moment.
The game was a friendly at Maine Road, Manchester City v Dundee FC, on 7th August 1965, Dundee winning 2-1. I refer to it as a friendly but on the programme it actually says "Public Practice Match". 10,000 crowd.
Now to the scouts notes.
What makes it amusing is that although he was there to "watch" City, he ended up giving Dundee all the praise. He assessed all 11 of City's players and were summed up as follows - 6 players POOR - 3 were FAIR, 1 FAIRISH and 1 was GOOD.
While he was at it he jotted down observations on 6 of Dundee's players - 4 were GOOD, 1 was GRAND (Penman) and 1 was 1st CLASS/FAST (Hamilton).
He also gives a description of Dundee's 2d goal, from the keepers perspective, and he writes - "He will leave the goal and then they just lob the ball over his head in the net".
So there you have it. Even when it is only a friendly, it's best you try make a game of it because you never know who may be watching!

DUNDEE v DUNDEE

This picture was taken during a training session practice match at Dens in 1969. Jocky Scott in Dundee's away strip (white) and Jim Fraser in the home kit.
Your guess is as good as mine as to who won. Dundee probably!

DUNDEE FC BARCODE

Here is a simple but subtle DFC graphic that shows some historic dates. If there are any creative Dees who could put it to good use, feel free to do so.
Don't forget to click onto the image first to get the larger, better quality version before you get busy with it.