Dundee United, Tannadice – Hopper Tales #68

We headed north of the border for our football fix for the third week in a row. This time a trip to the home of Dundee United – Tannadice Park.

This is a place that conjures up memories of European football, David Narey, Paul Sturrock and Maurice Malpas are players’ names from the past that come readily to mind.

United are a club, like Aberdeen, that briefly challenged the dominance of Celtic and Rangers, which can only be for the good of Scottish football in general.

They reached the final of the 1986/87 UEFA Cup, where they were unlucky to lose 1-2 over two legs against the Swedish side. Göteborg (Gothenburg).

There was also the little matter of the European Cup semi-final loss to Italian giants, Roma in 1983/84. They won 2-0 at Tannadice before cruelly getting beaten 3-0 in the away leg, denying them a spot in the showpiece European final.

The 1987 UEFA Cup was the clubs’ only major European final to date and these days, those big nights of European football seem far away.

Dundee United are currently embroiled in a relegation fight, while their city neighbours are looking to regain their SPL status from the Championship.

That would be an unacceptable turn of events for the Terrors’ fans and they will be doing all they can to cheer their team through this difficult period. Ultimately and very deep down, they are probably cheering Dundee on too. After all, which football fan doesn’t love a good derby game against their closest rivals?

It is during this dogfight that we chose to visit Tannadice Park for the first time and continue our quest to visit the forty-two SPFL grounds of Scotland.

The Journey

Newcastle

Our day started in its usual sleepy, stumbling around kind of way at 06:00 before heading out of the door to catch the 07:05 bus to Newcastle.

Having arrived around 07:50, we headed to our usual haunt at Greggs. There was plenty of time to spare, so we sat in and ate our breakfast at leisure, before leaving at 08:20.

We made our way to the train station and arrived in good time for the 08:49 train heading to Aberdeen.

After climbing aboard, we sat back in comfort, leaving dead on time.

Newcastle wasn’t the only thing we were leaving behind either. – the weather was miserable! From the moment we stepped out of our front door, it was grey and chucking it down with rain.

Rain-sodden, condensation-covered windows on the bus made it hard to see where we were going and people were letting me know on Twitter that it was pretty much the same in most of the north of England.

Here Comes the Sun

Once we were past Berwick, it was a different story. Glorious sunshine filled the window as we flashed by the lovely Scottish east coast, toward Edinburgh.

Indeed, the sunshine stayed with us through most of the day, to the point where I had to wear my woolly hat to protect myself from the sun, despite only having a tee-shirt on.

Having passed Edinburgh, we came to the Forth Rail Bridge, which I never tire of crossing.

Another of our favourite football grounds flashed by as we went through Kirkcaldy. The San Starko (Starks Park), home of Raith Rovers is one I definitely want to return to, at some point.

As we approached Dundee itself, it was time to cross another remarkable bridge – the Tay Rail Bridge.

Spanning the River Tay for an astonishing 2.75 miles, it is the second bridge to occupy this spot. The first, built in 1878, tragically collapsed in high winds the following year, just as a train was passing over it. All seventy-five passengers and crew on board sadly died in the incident.

Construction of the second Tay Bridge was begun in March 1882 and was officially opened to the public in June 1887.

I’m happy to report the bridge is still standing strong well over a century later.

Dundee

Having crossed the Tay Bridge, the track curves sharply to the right and runs parallel to the river as it pulls into Dundee train station.

We got off the train and left the station.

Despite the sunshine, the wind was quite blustery by the river and we fastened up our coats. After our last trip to Dundee’s Dens Park (Hoppers Tale #55), we had determined to have a wander down the riverside if we had time. To be honest it was a bit of a disappointment and we soon gave up and headed into the city centre.

The Dandy and The Beano

There was something else I wanted to do this time that we didn’t do previously.

When I was a kid, the Beano and the Dandy were two hugely successful comics. It was only as an adult that I found out these two masterpieces were created in Dundee. To mark their success, there are statues of two of the more popular characters from those magazines in the city centre.

Desperate Dan and his dog (Dawg) tower above the smaller Minnie the Minx. There is also ‘Oor Wullie’ a couple of streets away and these characters form a small part of the number of statues and public art that litter Dundee’s city centre in abundance.

Dundee public art trail

With this particular itch scratched, it was time to head up the hill towards Tannadice.

Well, by way of a bus, of course!

We caught a number 18 bus up the hill and got off in Arklay Street. From here, it’s just a short walk around the allotments that back onto the stadium.

Dundee United – Tannadice Park Exterior

We had decided to collect our tickets from the ticket office before it got busier later. This meant we would know exactly how much time we would need to get into the stadium, rather than potentially getting stuck in a queue.

The ticket office doubles up as the club shop and I was excited to see that replica shirts were on sale at just £22.00. Disappointing then, to see that there were none available in my size (fatty).

I contented myself with a pin badge and collected the tickets. I asked about programmes and was told by the lovely lady behind the counter that they were available via sellers around the ground.

After leaving the shop, we made our way along Tannadice Street, which runs along the southern side of the stadium.

The eastern side of the ground is one way in and one way out, so to do a proper circuit of Tannadice, we went there first.

Jim McLean

The main reason for going up here was to get a look at the statue of Jim McLean.

McLean managed the Tangerines from 1971 until 1993, thus becoming the longest-serving and most successful manager in the Terrors’ history. He led them to three major honours including two League Cup wins and a League title in 1982/83.

Besides the statue, there is also the Jim McLean Fair Play Stand named in his honour. This is where the Livingston fans would be located for today’s game.

McLean passed away on Boxing Day 2020 but it is certain he will live on for many years in these parts.

Newspaper report and obituary article here.

Nicknames

The other interesting aspect of this corner of the ground is the centenary wall that has the names of Arabs fans past and present permanently embedded into Tannadice.

This club has quite a few nicknames by the way, doesn’t it? United, Terrors, Tangerines, Arabs…

Tangerines seems like quite an obvious one but why the Terrors, or Arabs?

The Terrors seems to be the club’s original nickname but despite extensive research, I couldn’t find out where that name comes from. If someone knows, I would love you to leave a comment below and let me know the answer…

The Arab’s nickname harks back to a Scottish Cup game between United and Albion Rovers in the 1962/63 season. After a cold snap left the Tannadice pitch unplayable a heater was brought in to get rid of the ice on the surface. Afterwards, the pitch was still found to be unplayable, so truckloads of sand were spread on the surface so that the game could be played.

It would seem that Dundee United played well on the sandy surface, winning the tie 3-0. One newspaper claimed they had “taken to the sand like Arabs” and the name stuck.

Moving On…

After leaving the McLean statue behind, we carried on up Tannadice Street towards Dens Park in the distance. Their magnificent floodlights were looking superb in the distance (I don’t have a floodlight fetish, you do!)

The main entrance is on this side of the stadium, although it really isn’t anything other than a doorway. There really isn’t a lot to say about the outside of the stadium in truth once you get past the statue and that wall. It’s all rather bland and disappointing.

At the far end of this stand is a little park for kids and it marks the ‘no-mans-land’ between Dens Park and Tannadice Park. It also makes for a great photo opportunity of Dens Park, where the outer wall of Tannadice is on the left.

To the right of the park is Sandeman Street, to the left is Tannadice Street and on the far side of Dens Park, lies Dens Road. All three parallel roads are connected vertically by Arklay Street where we got off the bus.

It was back, towards Arklay Street that we now went, along the side of the stand we would later be sitting in. Again, there wasn’t a lot to see from the exterior.

We left the stadium behind us as we headed to our next destination.

Dundee United – Tannadice Park Exterior Gallery

The Troll Inn

It was time for a pint and a rest from the sun that was blazing down on us – along with the cool wind! You have to love the UK weather, don’t you? It must be the only country on earth where you need to take your winter parka, Bermuda shorts and sunglasses with you on any day trip no matter the season.

At the end of Sandeman Street is Arklay Street and opposite the allotments behind Tannadice Park, is the Troll Inn.

An unassuming little pub that looks like the sort of place you might avoid if you were a stranger in town… Oh! Wait!

We walked in anyway and it was full of the expected orange-clad customers and… trolls!

Not your regular run-of-the-mill social media variety either. These were the real deal. Ugly, Scandinavian-looking trolls filled the shelves and poked their long proboscises haughtily over the patrons below.

But… Why?

I had to ask the owner what had made him fill his bar with these creatures. Turns out it had something to do with an ex-wife who hated them and wondering what to theme his new pub venture on twenty years ago. It was the obvious football, or… “I know! Trolls!”

Well, the decision seems to have paid off because he is still here with his trolls all these years later, although the ex-wife obviously isn’t. Unless she is the bigger encased troll on the counter behind the bar…

We ordered two pints of Tennents (£6.40) and sat back to watch the game on the TV screens above us. Hearts were thrashing Ross County, much to the delight of the people in the bar. Ross County is one of United’s main relegation rivals at the bottom of the League, so each of Hearts’ six goals was understandably met with cheers.

We had a couple of pints in here before heading off back to the stadium for the match.

Having left the Troll Inn behind, we got our match tickets out and headed for the turnstiles along Sandeman Street.

First, we came across a programme seller, as promised by the lady in the ticket office earlier. We bought a copy, priced at £3.50 for fifty glossy pages.

Programme

Dundee United – Tannadice Park Interior

Our tickets were bought online from the Dundee United ticketing website for £26 each and were collected from the ticket office. (The ticketing page always seems to put you in a short queue, even at times of the day or night when you wouldn’t expect it to be busy.)

You can enter via any of the turnstiles on the side of the stand, as the concourse is all connected in one long space.

We handed our tickets to the gateman in the traditional style and entered the famous old ground. In fact, this has been the club’s continuous home ground since they were first founded in 1909.

United was founded by the city’s Irish community following the collapse of Dundee Harp and were originally called Dundee Hibernian.

They changed their name to the now-familiar Dundee United in 1923.

The first thing we noticed was the amount of graffiti art and murals that were on the walls – in a good way. These were clearly done with the approval of the club and it adds a bit of colour to the breeze block walls that would otherwise look very dour.

Nice touch!

George Fox Stand

We were situated in the George Fox Stand – lower tier and as such, I have no decent photographs of this side of the stadium. It is a double-tiered stand and, like the rest of the stadium, is all-seater and covered by a roof.

This stand was built in 1992 and is named after a former chairman of Dundee United.

We found our seats and I started taking pictures of the stadium.

Eddie Thompson Stand

To our left, is the East, or Eddie Thompson Stand. This is another double-tiered stand and is the end of the ground behind which, the Jim McLean statue stands watch.

This stand was built two years after the George Fox Stand, in 1994 and is named after a local businessman.

It is also the stand where Dundee United’s more vociferous fans congregate.

They were already waving a sea of orange and black flags

Jerry Kerr Stand

Opposite us, is the Jerry Kerr, or Main Stand. The away fans’ section to our right is a newer extension of this stand, known as the Jim McLean Fair Play Stand. It was built in 1997 and is the newest part of Tannadice Park.

The Main Stand is another double-tiered structure, though some executive boxes take up the lower tier at the pitch level. It is older than the previously mentioned structures.

It was opened in August 1962 and was the first in Scotland to be constructed that offered spectators a view unimpeded by structural supports.

It is built in an L-shape, with the stand stretching around the corner towards the Eddie Thompson Stand.

In this corner, is where the players’ tunnel is located at Tannadice. There is also a huge, unique floodlight on the roof in this corner of the ground.

There is a press gantry and electronic scoreboard above the executive boxes on the halfway line.

The newer section of this side of the ground has genuine double-tiered seating levels.

West Stand

Completing the picture, on our right is the West Stand, also known as The Shed.

This is a single-tier construction and was not in use for today’s match.

Although it is now all-seated, this was the traditional ‘home end’ terrace, popular with the more vocal home fans. The original terracing is still visible in the northwest corner of the ground.

Nowadays, it is left empty unless demand for tickets makes it a viable option. In this case, it can be used for home or away fans, as the situation requires.

For visits by the big two clubs from Glasgow, this will typically be allocated to the away fans.

Tannadice Park has a total capacity of 14,223 and the playing surface is natural grass.

Dundee United – Tannadice Park Interior Gallery

Dundee United – Pre-Game View of Tannadice Park

Dundee United v Livingston – The Game

Form

Coming into this game, both sides were desperately searching for victory.

Dundee United obviously needed points to help them survive the drop into the Championship and Livingston were looking to finish in the top six before the division splits into two.

The Terrors have found good form when it matters and had won their last two games plus a draw and one loss in the last four. Encouraging stuff since the appointment of former Aberdeen boss, Jim Goodwin in early March.

Meanwhile, Livingston had won two and lost two of their last four fixtures.

Coming into this match, the result was a toss-up but I was predictng a 2-1 win for the home side before the game.

Kick-Off

The visitors from West Lothian got the match underway, kicking towards the Eddie Thompson Stand and United attacking The Shed. There was a palpable tension around the ground. The Arabs’ fans were here to support their team.

Like the earlier TIFO display, the nervousness was on full show, too.

Steven Fletcher

As a Stoke City fan, I was pleased to see Steven Fletcher starting for Dundee United. He was often injured during his time at the Potters but when fit, he is a handful for any team even in this latter stage of his career.

As it turned out, he was a key figure and my man of the match.

He won, by my reckoning, all but one of his aerial duels and constantly battled the Livi defence, giving them no rest. On top of everything, he scored the goal that sealed the Tangerines’ victory late on.

A testament to his professionalism and the way he has dedicated himself during his career.

Slow Start

It was a slow start to the game, with the Arabs possibly shading things. It was Livi who had the first chance though, with the ball being played by big centre-forward, Bruce Anderson to the right side of the area to full-back, Nicky Devlin. He carried the ball towards goal but was well marshalled by two United defenders who outmuscled Devlin and forced him to scuff his shot wide of the post.

The Arabs went without creating anything of note until the 17^th minute – which is ok when you score with your first chance!

The moment that relieved some of the Tannadice tension was a goal of beauty from Jamie McGrath.

Ian Harkes, son of John Harkes who was one of the first American internationals to play in the UK, was heavily involved. He received the ball on the left and played a quick one-two with Aziz Behich that cut out a trio of defenders.

Harkes took the ball infield and played a pass to McGrath on the edge of the ‘D’.

He controlled the ball before putting in a ferocious low shot to the right of the goal. Shamal George dived full stretch to his left but was unable to stop the ball from hitting the net.

What a goal!

Tannadice erupted around us in an explosion of joyful orange.

1-0 Dundee United!

Unfortunately, for McGrath, his day ended with injury at the half-hour mark and he was replaced by Kai Fotheringham.

Five minutes later, George denied United a second goal with a smart save. A good move down the left saw Scott McMann put in a cross between the six-yard box and the penalty spot. Inevitably, Fletcher won the duel and knocked it down into the path of Finnish international, Ilmari Niskanen.

Niskanen hit his shot first time and it was heading goalwards before bringing the best out of George in the Livi goal, palming it wide for a corner kick.

The last action of the half came with a free kick to Livi. Stephen Kelly took the set piece and he summed up Livingston’s first-half performance by putting his effort well over the bar.

As you can hear in the video below, the Dundee United fans weren’t happy with a few of referee, Kevin Clancy’s decisions but I thought he had a good game. There were a couple of decisions I think he got wrong but overall, one of the better referees I’ve seen this season.

Half-time – Dundee United 1 v Livingston 0

The half-time whistle was greeted with an ovation from the Terrors’ faithful as they applauded their team’s efforts.

Meanwhile, I checked to see how the Jekyll and Hyde Stoke City were getting on.

1-1 away at Cardiff and that’s how it stayed after Stoke’s Jack Bonham saved a penalty in the second half. Not a bad place to pick up a point but Alex Neil had better use his summer transfer war chest wisely to give this team a bit more backbone.

I look forward to seeing what he does with his big opportunity to shape the team in his style.

The Second Half

Back at Tannadice, the players had returned to the field and it would be the Arabs kicking off the second half, kicking towards their own fans in the East Stand.

End to End

The action was better in the second forty-five. Both Livi and United had chances early on without really troubling the keepers too much.

Liviingston’s Steven Bradley put a 49^th minute shot wide of the post before Fletcher lobbed one over the bar at the other end a couple of minutes later.

The towering figure of Joel Nouble was involved just a minute later as he set up a twenty-five-yard shot for Livi’s Andrew Shinnie. Shinnie’s shot was aimed right down the centre of the goal though and although well struck, it was straight into the arms of Mark Birighitti in the United goal.

Livi started applying more pressure as the half wore on and came close from a corner.

You can view some of that action in the video below.

Scrappy

A succession of substitutions, injuries, fouls and yellow cards dominated the proceedings between the hour mark and the second goal.

In total, there were three Dundee United bookings and two for Livingston, with three of them coming in this period of the game

As the clock headed inexorably toward the ninety, cometh the hour, cometh the man.

Winning Goal

Having received a little treatment on the sideline, Steven Fletcher was waved back onto the pitch and the game could continue. Just over a minute later (85) he scored the goal that secured the victory and the points for United.

With Livi pressing hard, the ball was hoofed clear of the Arab’s penalty area. Fletcher nodded the ball to Fotheringham in the centre circle, where a succession of errors by the Livi defence presented the chance for Fotheringham to set up Fletcher.

The wily veteran didn’t need to be asked twice and he latched onto the forward pass at the edge of the area. He calmly stroked the left-footed shot past the oncoming George to the delight of most inside the stadium.

2-0 Dundee United!

With all the stoppages, fouls, injuries etc, it was no surprise to see five minutes of injury time announced. I take that back, it was a surprise to see only five minutes of injury time added.

Livi huffed and puffed but the fight was mostly gone out of them now and United hung onto their clean sheet.

My 2-1 prediction wasn’t too far off but I was selfishly hoping Livi would snatch a goal at the death.

They didn’t and Mr Clancy brought the game to an end.

Full-Time Whistle

Let the celebrations begin…

A more professional Match Report is available here, via The Courier website.

Full-time – Dundee United 2 v Livingston 0

Attendance – 8,034

Entrance Fee – £26.00

Programme – £3.50

Dundee United – Match Highlights

Up Next

With the first phase of the SPL now completed by this weekend’s fixtures, the schedule for the rest of the season is still to be announced by the SPFL.

Both clubs will be anxiously awaiting their fixture list, although it will be of much more importance to Dundee United, of course, as they still battle the danger of relegation. Those fears will have been eased on the back of three straight wins, however, and they will be looking forward to facing whoever they are given in this form.

They now sit four points clear of Ross County and the biggest immediate danger would appear to be the Championship playoff place in eleventh.

Motherwell ‘should’ be safe, which leaves Ross County, Kilmarnock, St. Johnstone and United to battle the drop zone.

Thoughts

I enjoyed our trip to Tannadice Park and would happily return for another visit someday.

The sunshine makes everywhere look better and Dundee was resplendent today, wearing its sunny crown with aplomb.

I would like to see the outside of Tannadice given a bit of a makeover but that is a common complaint of mine and certainly not one limited to the Arab’s home ground.

How about plastering the exterior walls with sand, for instance? Let’s really take that nickname and embrace it.

Inside the ground, the orange colours were everywhere and it gave a real vibrancy to the occasion. I’m sure the sun helped with that but when done properly, orange is a great colour, as I’m sure visitors to Blackpool or Hull, for example, can testify.

The Troll Inn was a convenient, fairly priced watering hole within easy reach of the stadium and I would recommend it as a stop-off if you want to be closer to the ground than the city centre. Other bars to consider are the Frews or the Clep Bar.

Overall, a great place to watch some footy!

Dundee – After the Game

After the game, we waited for the stadium to clear so that I could take a few extra photos. I’m glad we did because my cover photo was one of those and I’m happy with the outcome of that one.

Following the photos, we exited the stadium and made our way to get some food, as we hadn’t eaten since Greggs in the morning.

Snack Required

Jamies Chip Shop was a convenient place to grab a snack after the game, at the top of Arklay Street, although you may have a wait on your hands. It is busy after a game and everything is cooked fresh.

We ordered two bags of chips and had to wait about fifteen minutes for the backlog to clear. We didn’t mind though, as there was quite a wait until our train to Edinburgh.

A generous-sized portion of chips each later, we headed back down Arklay Street to catch a bus back into the city centre. Ten minutes later we boarded the bus and were soon back in the shopping district of Dundee.

After being dropped off, we passed by the comic statues again and I noticed someone had made a slight alteration to Minnie the Minx…

We walked to the train station and found a bench where we ate our chips (which were still nice and hot).

Magpie Whisperers (Not!)

Mrs Hopper and I tried using our Jedi skills to entice a magpie that had inadvertently got itself stuck in the train station lobby, out through the main doors. We tried lobbing small pieces of chips towards the door but it just ate the chip and flew back into the roof and panicked again.

The next chip I threw right into the middle of the doorway, while Mrs H tried shocking it out of the door by running towards it while in the doorway. It flew straight up in the air and started flapping around again.

At this point, we realised that Yoda had failed us and the tremor we thought we had felt in the force, was just those chips settling.

We figured he would eventually find his way out, or not. Nothing more we could do to help it, anyway.

Time to Go Home

Our train arrived on Platform 3 and we settled in for the first part of our journey home. We set off at the designated time of 18:47 and arrived at Edinburgh Waverley around an hour and a half later.

Our connection was at 20:56, leaving enough time for Mrs Hopper to get a coffee before we headed to Platform 7 for the last train back to Newcastle.

Again, everything went well and we left on time, arriving back in the Toon at 22:20.

We raced (limped faster than normal) to the bus stop and caught the 22:35 bus home. We finally got through the front door at about 23:30, making this a late one but well worth it to get it done in a day trip rather than an overnight stay.

Next Up For Hoppers Guide

Next up for us is an exciting one.

We are spending a couple of days in the historic city of Stirling. Leaving on Thursday and coming home straight after Stirling Albion‘s game against Forfar Athletic.

These are both teams we have yet to see, too.

Stirling is a place I have wanted to visit for a while now, with its historic castle, the William Wallace Monument and the historic Bannockburn battleground.

Plenty to hold the interest of someone who likes a bit of history!

Onto the next!

Hopper Tales #67 – Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic

Hopper Tales #69 – Stirling Albion