Dundee F.C.
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Template:Football club infobox Dundee Football Club, founded in 1893, is a professional football (soccer) team based in the town of Dundee. They have just (May 2005) been relegated from the Scottish Premier League, the top league of Scottish football. Their current manager is Jim Duffy. Dundee play their home games at Dens Park.
Unusually for a town of its size, Dundee supports two top class professional football teams, Dundee FC and Dundee United FC. The two teams are bitter rivals, despite having grounds that are within a few hundred yards of each other. Matches between the teams hold the British record for 'closest away fixture'.
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History
Formed in 1893, Dundee football club was formed by an amalgamation of two city teams, Our Boys and East End. The club played their first Scottish league match on 12 August 1893 drawing 3-3 with Rangers. Dundee moved to their current stadium Dens park in 1899.
The club were relatively unsuccessful in their early days with their Scottish Cup win of 1910 being their only real achievement until the early 1950s when they won the Scottish League Cup twice.
Dundee have only won the title in Scotland's top division, then called the First Division, on one occasion. Under the guidance of manager Bob Shankly, brother of Bill Shankly, and with players such as Alan Gilzean they won the league championship in 1962. The following season the club reached the semi-final of the pretigous European Cup beating the likes of Sporting Clube de Portugal and R.S.C. Anderlecht, before losing to AC Milan.
Success since their golden era in the early 1960s has been scarce. They did win the League cup in 1973-1974 and ended a four year spell in the Scottish First Division in 1998 under Jocky Scott. In 2000 the club made perhaps their biggest ever signing when they brought in Argentine internatoinal Claudio Caniggia, who later signed for Rangers.
In 2003, Dundee went into financial difficulty and were forced to go into administration with many top players such as Fabian Caballero and Giorgi Nemsadze leave the club. In 2005, however, the clubs finances look much better with the club focusing on developing youth players. However, at the end of the 2004/2005 season, Dundee finished last in the SPL and relegated to Division 1 for the 2005/2006 season.
Famous Players
- Alan Gilzean
- Claudio Caniggia
- Nacho Novo
- Billy Steel
- Eric Sinclair
- Ian Ure
Club Records
- Highes home Attendance: 43,024 vs Rangers F.C., 1953
- Biggest League Win: 10-0 vs. Queen of the South F.C. 1962. vs. Alloa Athletic F.C. 1947 vs. Dunfermline Athletic F.C. 1947
- Biggest League loss: 11-0 vs. Celtic F.C. 1895
- Most capped player: Alex Hamilton, 24 Scotland
- Most League goals: Alan Gilzean, 113
Honours
Division 1(1) 1961-62
First Division(3) 1978-79 1991-92 1997-98
Division 2(1) 1946-47
Scottish Cup (1) 1910
Scottish League Cup (3) 1951-52, 1952-53, 1973-74
External link
- Official Site (http://www.thedees.co.uk/)