THE BATTLE OF COLOGNE - 1962

Here's a detailed account of the (in)famous "Battle Of Cologne" which took place in September 1962 between FC Cologne and Dundee FC.

Although it's chocolate coloured, once you click onto the images to get the large versions, you can read it clearly enough when you zoom in.

It was quite a nasty match but there are some amusing moments in it too.

The article comes from an early 70's weekly magazine called "Book of Football" which built up into a multi volumed encyclopedia.

1999 - THE END IS NIGH

Like a Nostradamus forecast of doom for the end of the century, bang on cue in 1999, news came out about the imminent extinction of Dundee FC.
Talk of a merger with the other lot across the road surfaced and that Peter Marr & Co were seriously considering the move.
Straight away the fans went into action as they organised protests at matches, had meetings in halls, wrote letters to newspapers and petitioned the club itself.
Above is one of the original petition forms.
Eventually the club were overwhelmed by the supporters activities and instead of it being the end of the club, a fresh surge of effort saw a brighter future ahead as they prepared to build the new stadium.
And we survived to tell the tale...phew!!

DFC PAIR FROM THE PAST - 1913

There's a good chance that you may not have seen these 2 Dee players before. Their pictures don't appear in any of the DFC books I have.
Perhaps it's not too surprising as they only played in a few games during the 1913/14 season which was a rather uneventful year on the pitch, Dundee finishing 7th and no cup runs of note.
So, to give them their 15 minutes of fame...
LEN WALL was a left half / winger. He played a total of 17 games and scored 1 goal.
CLYDE SKENE was a centre forward. He played only 12 games and scored 7 goals, which is pretty good going if you ask me. I've no idea why they both were so short lived.
The images above were recently discovered in a 1913 edition of Peoples Journal.
Big thanks to DG.

DENS IN THE PAST

A rare and ancient action picture from Dens Park taken in 1903. This was when the Dee played in an all dark blue strip. The North Stand was extended a few years later then eventually replaced with the present Stand in 1921.
The 1902-03 season was a pretty good one for Dundee, finishing in 2nd position in the League, reaching the semi final of the Scottish Cup and winning the Forfarshire Cup and Dewar Shield.
It was a particularly good year for goalie Billy Muir, letting in only 12 all season.
The highest attendance at Dens in 1903 was 24,000 in a Cup game against Hibs.
Thanks to DG.
Photo. Dundee Ref Library.

WHEN DUNDEE WON THE TENNENTS SIXES - 1988

This football tournament took place on 24 & 25 January 1988 and was held at the Scottish Exhibition & Conference Centre in Glasgow.
Here is the lowdown -
Teams taking part : ABERDEEN - CELTIC - DUNDEE - DUNDEE UTD - DUNFERMLINE - FALKIRK - MORTON - HEARTS - HIBS - MOTHERWELL - NOTTINGHAM FOREST - ST MIRREN.
They were split into 4 Groups each with 3 teams, with the winners & runners-up going through to the quarter finals.
Sunday 24th had all the Group section games.
Monday 25th had the quarter finals, semi's and final.
Dundee were in Group 1 with Aberdeen and Morton.
Dundee's results were as follows -
Group stage:
Dundee 9 v 3 Morton
Aberdeen 1 v 2 Dundee
Quarter final:
Dundee 4 v 3 Dundee Utd
Semi final:
Dundee 4 v 1 Aberdeen
Final:
Motherwell 2 v 3 Dundee
Dundee win Tennents Sixes Trophy and are the tournament's top scorers.

DENS PARK IN 1988

This aerial shot of Dens Park was taken in 1988. It shows the bench seating in place around the Provost Rd - Dens Rd section.
The 87/88 season was a rather average year in the SPL, with the Dees finishing 7th.
Tommy Coyne was our top scorer with 37 goals.
The way some of the cup ties worked out meant that Dundee ended up playing Dundee United an incredible 9 times that season!
We did get a trophy however, winning the Tennents Sixes indoor tournament... so no too bad!

DUFFY #2 - THE MANAGER

Jim Duffy had 2 stints as Dundee manager -
1993 - 1996
2002 - 2004
Duffy took the Dees to 2 cup finals at Hampden as manager. League Cup in 1995 & Scottish Cup in 2003. However, it was more than just footballing managerial qualities he contributed to the club as his involvement behind the scenes when Dundee were going through troubled times, assisted in the club's survival.
Above is Jim Duffy with one of his "Manager of the month" awards in 2003.
Photo by DC Thomson.
Below is a wee tv ad for the 95 final.

DUFFY #1 - THE PLAYER

Jim Duffy had 3 stints as a Dundee player -
1984 - 1988
1990
1992 - 1996
A Dens favourite, Duffy rarely put a foot wrong in defence and wasn't afraid to get stuck in as the above photo shows, from a game against Rangers in 1987 in which he got booked for his efforts.
He played a total of 238 games for the Club.
Photo by Newsquest.Tints by GG.

DENS FOOTBALL SPECIALS - 1950'S

I've been on a few "football specials" in my time, buses and trains, but back in the 50's (before my time!), Dundee used to have trams to do the job. This was when Dens attracted crowds of 20 to 30,000 regularly.
On match day, around 20 extra trams were laid on to take fans from Albert Square up to Dens. After dropping the crowd off at the ground, the trams would then turn around at a point in Moncur Crescent and trundle back down to the city centre to pick up some more supporters. This shuttle service would operate up until kick-off, then the trams would wait outside Dens until the game was over to take the fans back down town.
Below is some rare footage of the Dens Park football specials in full flow.

DUNDEE IN AMERICA - 1985

Here is the official match programme from USA when Dundee played FC Seattle at their Memorial Stadium on 2nd June 1985.
This was 1 of 4 matches Dundee took part in during a summer tour of America and Canada.
The opening paragraph on the cover reads : "All of a sudden, our kids (Seattle) are playing the world's great soccer teams. On successive Sunday's at the Memorial Stadium, Dundee come in from Scotland, Santos arrive from Brazil and Universidad de Guadalajara of Mexico is next on June 16th".
The Dees won the match 1-0 with McGeachie scoring. Crowd 4,500

EUROPEAN CUP RUN 1962/63 - #4 - MILAN

It's now the semi-finals of the European Cup and Dundee's brilliant run is coming to an end. The result in the1st leg played at the San Siro was just too much of a gap for the Dees to recover from, the Italians winning 5-1.
The dark blues weren't finished notching up victories however, as the 2nd leg at Dens on 1st May 1963 was yet another win. DFC 1 v 0 AC Milan.
But the dream was over. The sensational run that stunned everyone, came so close to seeing Dundee be the first British team to lift the European Cup.
Crowd at Dens 38,000. Crowd in Milan 78,000.

EUROPEAN CUP RUN 1962/63 - #3 - ANDERLECHT

We've now reached the Quarter Finals and Dundee just can't seem to stop banging in the goals. The 1st leg against RSC Anderlecht was an away tie and yet again the Dees went goal crazy, winning 4-1.
The next week back at Dens on 13th March 1963, Dundee grabbed another couple of goals with a 2-1 victory on the night.
18 goals in 6 European matches and a semi-final spot the reward.
Crowd at Dens 40,000. Crowd in Brussels 60,000.
Below is some rare footage of the Dees in action in their 4-1 win at the Heysel Stadium.

EUROPEAN CUP RUN 1962/63 - #2 - LISBON

Trailing 1-0 from the 1st leg in Portugal, the return tie at Dens on the 31st October 1962 against Sporting Lisbon turned out to be another match with lots of goals, with Dundee coming out on top, 4-1. A Gilzean hat trick and a goal by Cousin was starting to make Dundee's progress in the European Cup seem easy!
Crowd at Dens 32,000. Crowd in Lisbon 50,000.

EUROPEAN CUP RUN 1962/63 - #1 - COLOGNE

Becoming Scottish League champions in 1962 meant Dundee got to compete in the European Cup ( the Champions League as it is known today, but still the same trophy). It has only happened once in the Dees history and so I am going to put up the full set (4) of souvenir programmes that DC Thomson published to accompany the games at Dens.
Starting the run off with the match against FC Cologne on 5th Sept 1962. A game in which Dundee caught everyone by surprise by bombarding the Germans on the night, winning 8-1. Goals by Gilzean (3), Penman, Wishart, Robertson, Smith & an o.g ensured that even when we got gubbed 4-0 over there, we still came out comfortable winners on aggregate.
Crowd at Dens 25,000. Crowd in Cologne 40,000.

DOUG HOUSTON - 1962 to 1973

Captain sensible, Doug Houston, is one of the Dees longest serving players in their 115 year history. He was at Dens from 1962 to 1973 and played a total of 341 full games. In his latter years he became Dundee's regular captain. Although he played midfield he did manage to bang in a few goals from time to time, including scoring a goal in his final match for the club at Dens against Hearts in the last game of the season, April 73.
The above photo shows him leading the team out at Tynecastle in 1971, a game that ended in a 0-0 stalemate.
Photo by The Scotsman.Tints by GG.

HAMMY & THE HAMSTERS - 1964

Dundee FC have one of the first ever examples of what happens when football & music get together to make pop records.
In 1962 the Hector Nicol single called "The Dundee Song" was released in which all of Dundee's team get a mention in the lyrics as a tribute to them becoming Scottish League Champions. Hector, however, was an entertainer, not a footballer and there were no players involved in the recording.
In 1964 up popped Hammy & The Hamsters, a group formed entirely of Dundee players. Alex (Hammy) Hamilton, Kenny Cameron, Andy Penman, Alex Stuart, Hugh Robertson & Craig Brown. All were first team players at the time. They performed on stage locally as well as recorded. In April 1964 they came out with a pop single called "My dream came true" on 7 inch vinyl, which is now extremely rare. Needless to say it sold mostly in Dundee and surrounding area only.
Here below is a short excerpt from the track including Hamster Craig Brown explaining how the group originated.
I'm not 100% certain but I think they may be miming on the clip below...see what you reckon!!

DFC'S TOUR OF NORTH AMERICA - 1959

This rare item is a programme from Dundee's tour of USA & Canada back in 1959. The tour lasted a month, mid May to mid June, and during the tour the Dees had many encounters with local teams as well as playing a couple games against clubs from Europe. One was Legia Warsaw (Poland), a 3-3 draw played in New York, and the other was England's West Bromwich Albion. As a matter of fact, DFC and West Brom played each other 3 times during this tour, twice in Canada, and this game (above) in New York. The above match took place at Ebbets Field, the home stadium of the famous Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team. A crowd of 21,000 attended the game which ended in a 2-2 draw.

DUNDEE'S CLUNK CLICK STRIP - 1974

This was one of the kits Dundee played in around the 1973-75 period. We used to call it the "Clunk Click" strip because it looked like a car seat belt. For those of you too young to know, "Clunk Click" was a slogan used on a series of TV public info films on car safety in the early 70's, reminding drivers to always use their seat belts.
Here below is a snippet of one of the ads with Jimmy Savile giving the lowdown.

DFC AT EASTER ROAD - 1963

An atmospheric evening shot from Easter Road, taken on 18th September 1963. This game against Hibs was the 2nd leg of the Scottish League Cup Quarter final, which we lost 2-0. The week before in the 1st leg at Dens we drew 3-3, so it was a full house in Edinburgh to see who would go through. We did fair a bit better in the Scottish Cup that season, reaching the final, but losing out to Rangers in front of 120,000 at Hampden.
The 2 main Dee players in the picture are, Stuart #6, with Ryden leaping up beside him.
Photo by The Scotsman.Tints by GG.

ALAN GILZEAN - TOP GOAL SCORER

What a goal machine oor Gillie was. I think he tops just about every goals record Dundee has. Here's the lowdown on his statistics:
TOP OVERALL SCORER - 169 goals in 190 games.
TOP SCORER IN 1 SEASON - 52 goals in 1963/64.
TOP EUROPEAN SCORER - 9 goals.
TOP SCORER IN 1 GAME - 7 goals against Q.O.S. in 1962.
TOP SUCCESSIVE SCORER - 7 goals in 7 consecutive games.
TOP HAT-TRICK SCORER - 17 hat-tricks.
Amazing...I'd like to see someone TOP THAT..!!