Dens Park (Dundee v Raith Rovers)

Last Saturday my wife and I took a Citylink bus to Dundee. Gail does not usually accompany me on my groundhopping trips but she had decided she wanted to come along with me to see some shops in the City of Discovery. My main purpose of this trip was my first game at Dens Park, home of Dundee FC. Dens Park has a capacity of about 12,000 and despite the modern stands behind both goals still has a traditional feel to it, more so than Tannadice. The Bobby Cox and Bob Shankly stands were built ten years ago to comply with the 10,000 seated capacity required by the SPL at the time. Both stands hold 3,000. The Main (North) Stand is unusaul in that it is chevron-shaped, the middle bit is further from the pitch than both ends of the stand. The South Stand is an old terrace converted to seating.

Dundee is of course famous for having two professional football clubs, Dundee and Dundee United, with stadiums only 150 yards apart from each other. I had visited Tannadice Park, home of United, two seasons ago but I only managed to take a few pictures of Dens Park at the time and still had to return for a Dundee home game. Dundee United have been the stronger team for a while now, regularly competing for third place in the SPL and 'best of the rest' is as good as it gets nowadays if you are neither Rangers nor Celtic. A few decades ago the Dark Blues were the more illustrious side however, having won the Scottish league in 1962 and reaching the semi-final of the European Cup the following season, having beaten 1. FC Köln, Sporting Portugal and Anderlecht before losing to AC Milan.

The last of the major domestic trophies to be won by the Dee was the 1973 Scottish League Cup, even though they were losing finalists in the 1980 League Cup Final, which was staged at Dens (the biggest of the Dundee grounds at the time) and won 3-0 by Dundee United. The Dens Park side were relegated from the top flight in 2005 after a few years of financial turmoil and have been desperate to return to the SPL ever since. Despite a higher budget than the other First Division clubs they have been unsuccessful so far and their start to the new season has not been promising either.

The previous weekend I had seen Dundee lose comprehensively to Dunfermline at East End Park and last Saturday they were playing host to league leaders Raith Rovers. The game ended goalless despite a first-half penalty, which was awarded to the men from Kirkcaldy after Milan Misun had fouled Gregory Tade in the box. John Baird's spot-kick was saved by former Celtic goalie Rab Douglas. After the interval Dundee looked the stronger side but they could not find the net. The result meant Dunfermline are now top of the First Division, seven points above Dundee.

Approaching Dens Park.

The Main (North) Stand. Tannadice can be seen in the background.


Taken from Google Maps: only about 150 yards between both grounds. You can also see the odd shape of the Main Stand at Dens Park.

The South Stand.

The Bob Shankly Stand housed the Raith Rovers fans.

The Main (North) Stand.

Rab Douglas saved John Bairds's penalty.

Dundee were not able to find the net either.

Tannadice floodlights in the background.

The Bobby Cox Stand after the game.

The Dundee club shop.

Saturday 18th September 2010
Scottish Football League First Division
Dundee 0 Raith Rovers 0
Att: 4,532

East End Park (Dunfermline Athletic v Dundee)

Today I went to Fife to see Dunfermline take on Dundee at East End Park. I had planned to take the 1:10pm X26 Stagecoach bus from Glasgow Buchanan bus station to Dunfermline bus station but the bus never showed up so I took the X24, which was also late and it left Glasgow at 1:40pm. I knew I was going to struggle to make kick-off now and the bus arrived in Dunfermline at 2:45pm. Had I not been looking for a programme seller outside East End Park I would have been inside the stadium by 3pm however as it happens I was two minutes late and unfortunately still without a programme!

This was my first game at East End Park. I had taken some pictures outside the ground last season (when the Pars were also playing Dundee) but I had to come back in my quest to visit a home game at all 42 Scottish league grounds. Dunfermline were relegated to the First Division in 2007 and with its 12,500 capacity East End Park was fully compliant with the old SPL requirements. The ground has a modern look to it with fairly new 3,000-capacity one-tier stands behind the goals but the 1960s Main Stand gives it a bit of character as well. A drawback of the two-tier Main Stand is the large pillar in the centre of the stand which can obstruct your view quite a bit.

The Pars moved to within a point of First Division leaders Raith Rovers today with a convincing victory over Dundee. The home side were awarded a penalty when Nicholas Riley fouled Joe Cardle. Willie Gibson converted and the Fifers were 1-0 up. Steven Bell then made it 2-0 only minutes before the half-time whistle. After the interval Dundee pulled one back when Gary Harkins headed home but Pat Clarke made sure the three points stayed in the Kingdom when he scored 3-1.

For the pictures I took around East End Park last season see this post.

Approaching East End Park.

The Norrie McCathie Stand.


The North Stand.

The Main Stand.

The Dundee fans were housed in the East Stand.

Willie Gibson's penalty meant Dunfermline were 1-0 up. Note the large pillar, which restricts the view of almost everyone seated in the Main Stand.

Saturday 11th September 2010
Scottish Football League First Division
Dunfermline Athletic 3 Dundee 1
Dunfermline: Gibson 20 pen, Bell 42, Clarke 78.
Dundee: Harkins 51.
Att: 4,037

Firhill Stadium (Partick Thistle v Dundee)

I have visited Firhill Stadium only once to see a Partick Thistle match. That was some time ago now, during the 2002/03 season. The Jags were playing Dundee and both teams played in the Scottish Premier League at the time. My friend Marco from Holland visited me for a long weekend and we went to Celtic Park the next day (Celtic beat Hibs 3-2). I cannot remember much of any of these games to be honest and I do not think I took any pictures. Our seats for this match were in the Jackie Husband Stand.

The pictures below were taken by my friend Martijn during a First Division game against Ayr United, a game I did not attend. The ground has not changed much since the time I visited it. The only difference is that the terrace at the southern end of the ground has been removed and has been replaced by a grass bank. The terrace was not in use when we visited the ground.

Turnstiles leading to the North Stand.

Ayr United supporters on the North Stand.


The Jackie Husband Stand.


The grass bank behind the goal at the southern end of the ground was an open terrace when I visited the ground almost seven years ago.


The Main Stand.

The Main Stand seen from outside.

Firhill is now also the home of the Glasgow Warriors, one of only two professional rugby union teams in Scotland. I have also visited a couple of rugby games at Firhill. The Warriors play in the Magners League. Since there are only two Scottish pro teams they always qualify for the Heineken Cup as well. Performances in both competions can be described as inconsistent at best and attendances are generally lower for Warriors games than when the Jags are playing.

Pictures I took at a Glasgow Warriors rugby match at Firhill can be found here.


Saturday 1st March 2003
Scottish Premier League
Partick Thistle 1 Dundee 3
Partick Thistle: Buchan 31.
Dundee: Milne 15, Mackay 26, Novo 78.
Att: 4,599

East End Park (Dunfermline v Dundee)

After having visited the Cowdenbeath v East Fife derby, which had kicked off at noon, I took the 14:22 train from Cowdenbeath to Dunfermline Town. After less than 10 minutes on the train I arrived at East End Park well in time for kick-off but decided against shelling out another 16 quid and just took a few snaps from outside, including a few peeks inside thanks to a couple of friendly stewards.

Of course as far as visiting the 42 Scottish Football League grounds is concerned this one does not 'count' so I will have to go back here on a later date but from what I have seen it looks like an impressive First Divsion ground.

Outside the North Stand.

Turnstiles leading to the Main Stand.

Dundee fans queueing outside the North Stand.

The East Stand housed the Dundee fans.

The Main Stand.

The Norrie McCathie Stand.

Dens Park (Dundee)

For match day pictures at Dens Park see this post.

On Saturday 22nd March of this year Martijn and I headed for Dundee to see Dundee United take on Celtic at Tannadice. After the game we walked past Dens Park because I wanted to take a few pictures. One of the Dens Park gates was then opened and this gave me the chance to sneak in and take a few pictures. A few of the Celtic fans were thinking the same and these guys did not care about keeping a low profile so very soon Tayside police asked us politely but firmly to move on. Unfortunately I never had enough time to take pictures of all stands. Of course I have to come back here soon to see a Dundee game so I can tick off this ground properly.

After having left Tannadice I decided to walk towards Dens Park to take a few pics.


I could not believe my luck when I found out a gate was open on a Dundee United match day.

This is the only half decent picture I managed to take. The Celtic fan had nothing to do with me but his inability to keep a low profile meant this visit to Dens Park was a very short one.