I already have a couple of items up about Jim Steele's playing career at Dens, so no need to go into detail again, but I just thought I'd put up this pre-curly top image of him as a young lad.The photo was taken around 1967 when Jim had not been at the club very long and was still a couple of years away from making his first team debut.When Jim moved to Southampton in 1972, he was a top player by then, and I remember that same year when I was 14, I wrote asking for a signed photo of him wearing his Saints strip. However, not having a clue of the postal address of Southampton's ground, all I could muster was the name of it, so I ended up just putting - Jim Steele, The Dell, Southampton - on the envelope!It was no surprise that I received no reply, as I suspect my letter never reached him in the first place!
This stripey trio of Dundee supporters were captured by my brother on the way to Hampden for the Scottish Cup Final against Rangers in 2003.I have a batch of other photos from the final at Hampden I will be putting on view over the next few days. So stay tuned, you may spot yourself!
47 years ago, yesterday, everybody in town was reading about Dundee being Scottish League Champions. Here is Hugh Robertson indulging in The Sunday Post dated 29th April 1962, catching up with the previous days events at Muirton and celebrations in the City Centre.Photo by DC Thomson.
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
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.
This mail order ad for a sports bag is dated May 1970. These bags were very common in the late 60's and throughout the 70's. Kids began using them as school bags and just about every youngster had one in their team of choice, in club colours.21/6 in today's money works out at around £1.07p. 3/- is 15p.
This top notch book sets about covering Dundee FC's history using mainly pictures. It's a real visual treat full of photographs, memorabilia & cartoons, spanning 1893 to 1977.Here's part of the books description written on the back cover - "This excellent selection of over 200 images brilliantly illustrates the first 84 years of the club's history, and forms a stunning pictorial tribute to the star players and major triumphs of yesteryear. It will delight and interest Dark Blue fans everywhere."I'll second that, well worth grabbing a copy and still available for around a tenner.
Here's Ian Ure and Alex Hamilton waiting in an Edinburgh hotel ready to travel with the Scotland team for an international match.Ian and Hammy played in the same Scotland team together quite a few times in 1962-63. In fact they both featured in Scotland's famous 2-1 victory against England at Wembley in 1963. Also in the team were icons, Dennis Law and Jim Baxter.The footage below has some moments from that very game. Listen out for the commentator stating that Ian Ure is considered to be the best centre-half in the world!Incidentally, Scotland played most of this match with 10 men. Captain Eric Caldow broke his leg early in the game, and there were no subs allowed for this back then.Photo by the Scotsman.
King Gordon is of course, Gordon Wallace, the scorer of the only goal in the League Cup final against Celtic at Hampden. 16 December 1973 is the date on the Sunday Post and the stories in it give a reminder of the conditions behind the scenes which played a part in the game's early kick-off - i.e. power cuts, weather and strikes.Sunday's SCOTSPORT, who showed the League Cup final highlights, was broadcast at 2.05pm, in between The Saint and the Galloping Gourmet!A couple of more pages below.
DC Thomson went to town on this issue of the Sporting Post dated Saturday 28 April 1962, the day Dundee won the Scottish League. 2 goals by Gilzean and 1 from Penman got us the victory at Muirton against St.Johnstone, and thus Dee history was made.They no longer publish the Sporting Post but I still remember hanging around our newsagent as a young lad in the 60's & 70's, a couple of hours after the Saturday football had finished, and a queue would be waiting ready to pounce on the bundle of Posts chucked onto the pavement from the passing delivery van. The wee slide show below gives you a few shots of the inside of this issue. Music is provided by The Shadows, a track aptly titled "Wonderful Life", which was number 1 in the charts on this day.
An ultra rare item which is now 99 years old. The Glasgow Herald dated - Thursday 21 April 1910. Price, one penny. This of course is the day after Dundee won the Scottish Cup and so it does contain a review of the match.It has 16 huge pages - much larger than the Courier. There are no photos at all in the paper, there aren't even any headlines as we know them today, just small boxes with short news articles and adverts. There are news items on Roosevelt, Kitchener, Mark Twain, and closer to home a piece about the plans to build the Usher Hall in Edinburgh. I don't think these would have been discussed much in the Hulltoon pubs that day!So, getting back to the MAIN story, the Scottish Cup Final 2nd replay at Ibrox which ended Dundee 2 v 1 Clyde. Dee scorers - Bellamy & Hunter.A segment of the match report reads as follows - "Dundee, who played brilliant football, obtained the leading goal; Hunter, after a short individual run, giving McTurk no chance with a shot from short range."The cup was presented in the Ibrox Pavilion to ex Bailie Robertson, on DFC's behalf.Total takings were £793.To read the above match report in full, or grab a copy for yourself, click onto the image to enlarge it.The vid below is just a couple of shots of the actual paper. The accompanying music was recorded in 1910 too!
Time for a wee break now, so no more posts till January.For any newcomer to the Shrine who is not yet used to the layout, here's a quick guide..Anytime you visit the Shrine you will only see a few of the latest posts on the page. To view ALL the material, go to the BLOG ARCHIVE in the green panel on the right of the page and click on any month to open that months items, then you can scroll through them.If you want to leave a message, there is a small COMMENTS feature at the bottom right of each post, again just click onto it if you have something to say.A big THANKS to those of you who have dropped comments on so far.I've got loads more to put on over the coming months, so stay tuned and I'll be back in full flow early next year with another bundle of goodees!CHEERZ GG
Slade were top of the charts in December 1973 when Dundee were top of the stairs in Hampden collecting their League Cup winners medals. Every year since, when I hear that #1 tune "Merry Christmas Everybody" blasting out during December, I always remember the #1 team in the '73 Final.Below is some rare footage of the extended version of the medal ceremony where every DFC player gets a mention in a roll-call of honour.
It was 35 years ago today Dundee won the Scottish League Cup. 15th December 1973 was the big day and it was a match I was at. I'd be aged 15.I remember making a customised scarf for the special occasion. I came up with the idea of adding the words "DUNDEE FC" to my regular dark blue scarf, so what I did was get on old white pillowcase, cut all the letters out from it then painstakingly sew them all onto the scarf. Took me all evening but the end result was pretty smart!We Dundonians were up against the odds that day - Celtic being in their 9 in-a-row season. We were up against the elements too - the atrocious winter weather nearly had the game cancelled, and we were up against the government - there were power cuts and transport strikes all over Scotland. Despite all that was chucked at us, we still came out on top.Here below is a wee film that gives a glimpse as to what the Dees trip to Hampden was like on the day we beat the odds!Photo by DC Thomson.
A rare wee souvenir from '68, although it be a bit tatty now.The Fairs Cup was a kind of precursor to the present UEFA Cup, and this Elland Road game was the 2nd leg of the semi-final. The 1st leg at Dens Park ended 1-1. This return match in Leeds was Dundee's very last game of the season, but unfortunately we lost it 1-0. Leeds, whos team consisted of legends like Bremner, Lorimer, Giles & Hunt, went on to lift the trophy.
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!
On a snowy December in 1976, Dundee FC had a Gala Day at Dens Park. There were stalls laid out selling various goods, the fans could meet the players, and there was music and other entertainment on throughout the day. Because it had snowed the night before, the pitch was cleared so that a charity game could take place, with the snow being swept to the side of the pitch. In amongst the entertainment taking place on the day was a scheduled appearance of the Batmobile, and sure enough, in through the Tannadice Street gate at the side of the Stand came the Batmobile, with Batman & Robin waving to the crowd from inside the car. The car drove around the track at the side of the pitch then stopped in front of the Stand. Out popped the Dynamic Duo to pose beside the Batmobile and greet the crowd. Bad move!! While they were posing and waving, a group of kids ran over to the snow that was piled up at the side of the pitch and started chucking snowballs at them. They were absolutely pelted! Next thing was the hilarious sight of the Caped Crusaders scarpering back into the Batmobile for protection then screeching off back out of Dens. You could almost see the words POW - SPLAT - THUD pop up as Dundee's bairns chased the crimefighters back to Gotham City!!
Jim Duffy had 2 stints as Dundee manager -1993 - 19962002 - 2004Duffy 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.
I'm not referring to the "transfer window" here, I'm talking about kids transfers. In the 60's when I was a school kid, we used to get transfers "free" in comics and from the rag man who used to drive his van around Dundee's housing schemes for jumble. There were usually about 10 transfers on one sheet of paper, and what you did was, cut around one of the images, wet your arm or back of hand (usually by licking), place the transfer onto the wet patch, hold into position for about a minute then peel off the back paper leaving the image on your body like a tattoo. Good fun, although they always flaked away after a few hours.The transfer above is an original unused one from the 60's which was too precious for me to waste my saliva on!
If anyone wants to use this Dens billboard image to make a birthday card, click on the picture first to get the large version.
I already have a couple of items up about Jim Steele's playing career at Dens, so no need to go into detail again, but I just thought I'd put up this pre-curly top image of him as a young lad.
