Dundee Football Club is proud of its history that has developed ever since it became the first professional football club founded in the city in 1893. That history has not been achieved by time but by the achievements, star quality and inspirational characteristics of the players and management who have served our great Club.
In 2008 the Directors of the Club decided to mark the achievements of these legendary figures and a Committee was set up decide the criteria for the Hall of Fame. The public were asked to vote for their favourites through the official matchday programme, website and local newspapers and the idea sparked great debate amongst the Dark Blue support. After hundreds of votes were cast, a total of eight legendary players were inducted in the inaugural Dundee Football Club Hall of Fame on Friday 3rd April 2009
Inductees
WILLIAM “PLUM” LONGAIR – 2009 HERITAGE AWARD
The first Inductee into the Hall of Fame was William “Plum” Longair who served the club for 33 years, captaining the side in its first ever match in 1893 against Rangers at West Craigie Park. He went on to make over 100 appearances and brought international recognition to Dundee by becoming its first ever-international player when capped against Wales in 1894. After his retirement from playing he helped train the team, including the Scottish Cup winners of 1910 and in over 20 years of coaching he never missed a game.
On his death in 1926 an estimated 20,000 people lined the streets as his coffin was taken from his home in Victoria Street to Eastern Cemetery to honour one of the greatest footballing figures in the early development of football in the city.
DOUG COWIE – 2009 LEGENDS AWARD
The next entry into the Hall of Fame was Doug Cowie who played 446 games for the club in a 16-year spell; a club record. The highlight of his career came when Dundee won the League Cup in successive seasons against Rangers and Kilmarnock in 1951 and 1952. The winner’s medals were overdue after Dundee and Doug sadly lost the League title on the last day of the 1948/49 season.
Playing at either wing-half or centre-half made no difference to Doug, his skill and elegance on the ball was always on show. Even the bullish Billy Steel admitted that his half back could “play a wee bit”.
In 1953 Doug made his international debut alongside Billy as Scotland drew 2-2 against England at Wembley. It was the first of 20 full caps for the national side and all gained whilst playing for Dundee. He is the only Dundee player to represent his country in two World Cup Finals.
CLAUDIO CANIGGIA – 2009 INTERNATIONAL AWARD
The first ever International Award was given to Claudio Caniggia whose arrival in the City of Discovery in many ways mirrored that of Billy Steel fifty years previously. Both arrivals stunned the Scottish football scene and brought massive media attention and while both arrived with a reputation as controversial characters, they were quickly taken to the hearts of a Dens public who recognised their undoubted ability.Caniggia was aged 33 in September 2000 and hadn’t played for months but from the moment he took to the field for his debut as a substitute at Pittodrie there was no doubt that he was still the real deal. His last minute goal was pure theatre and 3,000 Dark Blue fans headed south from the Granite City that evening ready to tell anyone who hadn’t been lucky enough to make the trip “I was there when Claudio played for Dundee for the first time.”In the weeks and months that followed it was unusual to see a replica top with anything other than ‘Caniggia 33’ on the back as ‘The Tayzurri’ revelled in the Argentinean’s presence on Tayside – and on the field the darting runs of a man who still had phenomenal acceleration over short distances lit up a season when entertainment almost seemed more important than results. It was a brief stay on Tayside but full of so many fond memories for Dundee supporters.
BARRY SMITH – 2009 LEGENDS AWARD
Caniggia’s captain Barry Smith was next into the Hall of Fame. Few would have imagined that when Barry arrived at Dens in 1995 as part of the deal which saw Morton Wieghorst move to Celtic, that the club would be welcoming a man who would go on to be one of the finest captains in the clubs history. Barry’s time at Dens spanned over 11 years and as captain led the club to the First Division Championship, a Scottish Cup Final and the club’s return to Europe after a 27 year absence.Dundee spent seven seasons in the SPL with Barry as captain, in the first year the side finished 5th under the management of Jocky Scott. The next few seasons saw Barry as the Scottish heart in Ivano Bonetti’s continental Dees before Jim Duffy took over and led the club to the Scottish Cup Final. His legendary status was further enhanced on how he captained the side through the pain of Administration in November 2003 before going on to taste success winning the Icelandic league with FC Valur. In late 2008, Barry was welcomed back to Dens as part of Jocky Scott’s backroom staff. Taking charge of the under 19’s he was given the chance to join Brechin on loan to continue playing until the club came calling again in October 2009 and asked him to take up the position of caretaker-manager when the club fell into Administration for a second time. The heroic efforts in overcoming a draconian 25-point penalty from the Scottish Football League to avoid relegation had many wondering if he could be voted into the Hall of Fame for a second time.
BILLY STEEL – 2009 LEGENDS AWARD
In September 1950 the next entrant of the Dundee Hall of Fame had developed into one of the first football superstars with 17 Scottish caps to his name and since his wonder goal for Great Britain against the Rest of the World in 1947, he was regarded as one of the best inside forwards in the world. George Anderson wanted the best for Dundee and in Billy Steel there was no finer inside forward so when an initial approach was rejected he re-doubled his efforts and offered a new record British transfer fee of £23,500.
Billy’s outstanding ability gave him a confidence, often seen as arrogance, however a year after his arrival Dundee beat Rangers to win the League Cup with Billy setting up Alfie Boyd for the winning goal. Success bred more success and the following year Dundee became the first club to retain the League Cup by beating Kilmarnock in the final.
Billy Steel played a total of 131 games for the club scoring 45 goals and also gained a further 13 Scotland caps during his Dens career, playing alongside Doug Cowie in two Internationals against England and Sweden. In over 40 years involvement in local football Tommy Gallagher regarded Billy Steel as the best player ever to play for Dundee and many who were lucky to watch him would agree.
JOCKY SCOTT – 2009 LEGENDS AWARD
Jocky Scott’s place in the Club’s Hall of Fame was never in doubt after a 45-year connection with the Club after arriving as a 16 year old in 1964 and made his debut in a 6-0 win over Motherwell at Dens. Two weeks later he scored the first of his many career goals for The Dee with his double putting Dundee on the way to a 4-1 derby win at Tannadice.The creative part of his game was as important as the goals he scored and a succession of Dens strikers would testify to the service supplied by the keen football brain of Scott and he was part of the Dundee that beat Celtic on a rain swept day in 1973 to win the League Cup Final at Hampden and bring the cup back to Tayside for the third time. The run to the Scottish Cup semi-final in the same season saw Dundee regarded as the best in the country at the time. Jocky returned to Dens as a player in 1980 playing five more first team games but it was as a coach that his future would map out. He progressed to assistant-manager at Dens under Archie Knox and took over the hot seat when Knox returned to Aberdeen. It was the first of three spells in charge at Dens.
ALAN GILZEAN – 2009 LEGENDS AWARD
There have been some great forwards in Dundee’s history but none have had a strike rate to match Alan Gilzean, the Coupar Angus born hit-man delivering 169 goals in 190 top-flight competitive appearances in the club’s colours.
He holds almost every club goalscoring record – most career goals, most goals in a season, European top scorer, most hat-tricks and shares the honour of scoring most goals in a game when he netted an incredible seven goals against Queen of the South in December 1962. That season Gillie’s fame spread throughout the Continent as Dundee progressed to the European Cup semi-final, beating Cologne, Sporting Lisbon and Anderlecht on the way.
Amazingly the following season he surpassed his impressive scoring rate with 52 goals in 48 games and a winner for Scotland against England in April 1964. A month later he scored twice as Scotland drew 2-2 with West Germany in Hanover and by now it was obvious that English clubs would come calling for his talents. In December 1964 he moved to Tottenham Hotspur but not before signing off in style with a hat-trick against St Johnstone.
BOBBY COX – 2009 LEGENDS AWARD
The inaugural Hall of Fame Dinner came to a fitting close with the final Legends Award going to whom Dundee supporters simply called Mr Dundee – Bobby Cox.
He was born overlooking Dens Park and was educated at nearby SS Peter and Paul then St. Johns,signing for Dundee in 1955 and a year later after only four reserve games he was given his debut at home to Queens Park. The story of a Legend had begun.
Bobby was an almost ever present in the side for the next decade only missing out for injuries to his cartilage and slipped disc. He was given the honour of taking over the club captaincy from Doug Cowie and thus leading the club into its finest hour at Muirton Park on 28th April 1962.
That League championship brought qualification to the European Cup and Bobby led the team on the brilliant aggregate defeats of Cologne, Sporting Lisbon and Anderlecht. Injury against Motherwell ruled him out against AC Milan in the semi-final and robbed Dundee of one of its most influential players. Bobby would experience further European ties in the European Cup Winners Cup and the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.
In 1964 he captained the team in the Scottish Cup Final on 25th April 1964 against Rangers, their last appearance at that stage of the tournament for 39 years.
Bobby retired in 1969 after 14 years with club but the association would not stop there for this one club man and through his hosting of the hospitality lounges at Dens he gave the club a loyal service for over 50 years.
BOB SHANKLY – 2010 HERITAGE AWARD
The second recipient of the Heritage Award was Bob Shankly, manager of what many regard as the greatest team in the club’s history.
He managed Dundee to their one (and only) League Championship in 1962 then into the European Cup beating the famous names of Cologne, Sporting Lisbon and Anderlecht before falling at the semi-final stage against Italian giants AC Milan. His free scoring side reached the Scottish Cup final in 1964 during a season in which they scored an incredible 141 goals.
Shankly once recalled what he looked for in a player “I look for character. I want lads with guts and go, who won’t crumple when things don’t go their way.” No one could argue with his philosophy or how he moulded his team into winners. He let his players express themselves but earned their utmost respect and they rewarded him with the greatest days in the club’s history.
GIORGI NEMSADZE – 2010 INTERNATIONAL AWARD
The International Award went to Giorgi Nemsadze, a player who had a nomadic existence in Europe before arriving at Dens in 2000. His ability was without question as he had almost 50 caps for his country but as part of the Tayzurri he had his longest stay at any club in his career and that stability brought the best out of him.
The man with the dancing feet brought joy to the terraces at Dens. He could command a match from the centre of midfield and when he scored they were memorable.
In November 2000 at Tannadice he linked with Barry Smith and Claudio Caniggia before chipping united keeper Alan Combe. A goal that sent 5,000 Dundee supporters into ecstatic celebration. His goal against Inverness Caledonian Thistle in 2003 gave the club their first Scottish Cup final appearance in 39 years. That was a mark of a Dundee Legend – he always brought joy to Dundee supporters when they watched him. One reporter even commented on his play at Dundee: “The Georgian’s close control was such that one wondered if he had wiped his boots with glue rather than polish”.
GORDON WALLACE – 2010 LEGENDS AWARD
Ask any Dundee supporter who Gordon Wallace is and you will get the reply: “He’s the man who scored the winner in Dundee’s League Cup victory over Celtic in December 1973!” And so he did, chesting down a Bobby Wilson free-kick with his back to the goal, turning and, almost all in the one movement, firing the ball past the desperately diving Ally Hunter for one of the best goals ever seen in a Hampden Cup Final.
Born and bred in the city, Gordon watched Billy Steel make his debut at Dens in 1950 and overcome the setback of being released by Dundee in his early career to make his way into the club’s Hall of Fame.
In a career laden with goals his 265 League goals was a Scottish record for over 20 years until broken by Ally McCoist. In 1968 he broke an Old Firm monopoly and was awarded the Scottish Writers Player of the Year for almost single-handedly keeping Raith Rovers in Division One with his goals.
He managed the club in 1989 and won the Scottish League Centenary Cup the following year.
ALEX HAMILTON – 2010 LEGENDS AWARD
Alex Hamilton was one of the Scottish game’s great characters both on and off the pitch. Crew cut hairstyle, driving a white jaguar and forming a pop band Hammy and the Hamsters was all show.
So was his football. Pace, self-confidence and the ability to sell dummies like a salesman in a tailor’s shop made him one of the first overlapping full-backs in the country. He would very soon become the best in the country with 24 full Scottish International caps to prove it. At his peak in 1964, declared himself, Mohammed Ali-style, to be “The Greatest” right-back in Europe – a claim not without foundation as that very year he appeared for the Rest of Europe against Scandinavia.
He formed a formidable full back partnership with lifelong friend Bobby Cox and in 1961-62 Hammy was an ever present in the side that won the Scottish League Championship as he was the following season in the European Cup campaign that saw the Dark Blues reach the semi-final.
Alex made 359 appearances for Dundee in ten seasons, won a club record 24 International caps, 2 International Trial Appearances, 8 Scottish League Caps and most importantly that League Championship medal.
JIM DUFFY – 2010 LEGENDS AWARD
In 2009 Jim Duffy hosted the first Dundee Hall of Fame Dinner but twelve months later he was himself inducted into the legends of the club for his tremendous service in his various roles as player, coach, assistant-manager and manager in his four spells with the club.
He was a tremendous centre-half for Dundee and a rock in a Dark Blue jersey and a solid inspiration not just to the fans but also to all around him. Only the wealth of talent in the Scottish defence at the time prevented him from gaining any full international caps. His playing career was cruelly curtailed when a knee injury forced him to give up the game in 1987, just as Dundee looked to be challenging again for honours. Fellow Dundee Legend Gordon Wallace declared upon resuming his playing career in 1989 that if he had retuned earlier the team would not have been relegated.
Jim has had two spells as manager at Dens. In his first spell as manager, he led Dundee to the League Cup Final and then to the semi final the following season, a tremendous feat for a First Division side. His second spell at the helm saw him lead Dundee to their first Scottish Cup final since the days of Bob Shankly, capture a top six finish with a fourteen match unbeaten run and lead Dundee into Europe for the first time in twenty-nine years.
TOMMY GALLACHER – 2011 HERITAGE AWARD
Tommy Gallacher was inducted into the Hall of Fame with the Heritage Award to mark not only his cultured playing days in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s but for his work in the local newspaper industry.
His senior career started with Queens Park as his legendary father, Patsy Gallacher, was determined none of his sons would follow him and play for Celtic. After World War II this peerless half-back was in demand and could have signed for Wolves, St Mirren or Aberdeen but chose Dundee. That coincided with one of the greatest eras in the club’s history and the backbone of the legendary Dundee team was Tommy Gallacher, Doug Cowie and Alfie Boyd. It is a half-back line still recited to this day by older Dundee fans. He won the Scottish League Cup in 1951 but the honours list could have been so much longer as that Dundee team missed out on the League Championship on the last day of the 1948/49 season and a Scottish Cup final to Motherwell in 1952.
His impact on Dundee was not just as part of one of the greatest sides in the club’s history but after his retirement in 1956, he became one of the most respected journalists in the country. During the next 30 years his words became the staple diet of the city’s football support before the internet and wall-to-wall television coverage.
PAT LINEY – 2011 LEGENDS AWARD
Pat Liney, the club’s Honorary President became the first ever goalkeeper inducted into the Hall of Fame. In his time at Dens he had the task of replacing one of the country’s best ever keepers in Bill Brown – a task he accomplished in style being a member of that elite team who won the Scottish League Championship in 1962.
He is perhaps most remembered by Dundee’s supporters for a crucial penalty save in the penultimate game of the Championship season at home to St Mirren. With only twelve minutes left and Dundee 1-0 up disaster struck when the referee awarded St. Mirren a penalty and Dundee’s chances of winning the League Flag looked like they were over. That is until the keeper parried the spot kick and Dundee went up the park to score again. As they left the pitch the players heard of Rangers’ defeat at Aberdeen and the title was almost there.
Fellow Championship team member Bobby Wishart remembers this Legend as someone who fancied himself as a bit of a crooner. At the 40th Anniversary Championship Dinner in 2002 at the Hilton Hotel, he grabbed the microphone and led the assembled Dees in a chorus of, ‘Hail, Hail, The Dees are Here.’ Legends are made of such stuff!
IAN URE – 2011 LEGENDS AWARD
Another rock of the Dundee League winning defence was next up to receive his Legends award. Things could have been so different for this Dundee FC hero and bedrock of Dundee’s title winning defence had he followed his first love of rugby and gave in to the early doubts he harboured about his footballing ability.
Ian Ure turned his back on his first love, rugby to join Dundee in 1958 and learnt his trade from another Dundee Great, Doug Cowie. In season 1961/62, Dundee become Scottish League Champions and this colossus was an ever present making the number five jersey his own for both club and country. He made the first of eleven international appearances for Scotland, eight of which he won at Dens, in November 1961 against Wales and just three days later was part of the Dundee side which recorded the club’s greatest ever league result, a 5-1 victory over Rangers at Ibrox.
In December 1962, his superb performances at both home and in the European Cup, saw him presented with the Scottish Footballer of the Year Award, the only Dundee player to win such an accolade. Four months later as he starred in Scotland’s 2-1 win over England at Wembley the B.B.C. commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme described him as ‘the greatest centre half in the world today’
It took a then world record fee for a defender of £62,500 to take him away to Arsenal but the memories live long in the minds of the Dundee support.
ALAN COUSIN – 2011 LEGENDS AWARD
Throughout his playing career Alan Cousin became a Dundee Legend whilst remaining part-time as he chose to combine his early senior career with a St. Andrews’ University degree course.
Sporting mainly the number nine shirt, the striker proved the perfect foil for fellow front man Alan Gilzean and between them proved to be a very effective partnership that shot Dundee not only to the League title but also to the European Cup semis and Scottish Cup Final in subsequent years.
In over a decade at Dens, he played 384 games putting him comfortably in the top ten of most appearances for The Dee. He sits fourth in Dundee’s all time scorer list with a terrific 141 goals. This loyalty to the club was achieved despite approaches from several clubs when he was widely acclaimed as one of the top forwards in the country.
He became known as ‘the King of the Double Shuffle’ with a unique scissors movement that seemed to propel him away from opponents in an instant and he regularly mesmerised teams at both home and abroad.
ANDY PENMAN – 2011 LEGENDS AWARD
When you enter through the main reception at Dens Park, you are greeted with a picture with the simple caption ‘The Penalty King’ and inside the frame is a photo of a boy genius of Dundee, Andy Penman, who made his debut at the tender age of fifteen making him the club’s youngest player, won a Championship medal aged just nineteen after scoring the goal which clinched the title.
He was a wonderful midfield player and contributed a terrific 141 goals as one of only ten players to hit over a century for Dundee and is the club’s fifth top scorer of all time. A dead ball expert, his forte was from the penalty spot where he rarely missed, scoring twenty-five of them in eight years at Dens. He had startling vision and was a fine passer of the ball who could clip balls precisely through, round and over defences to give his forwards clear, unhindered runs at goal. He was a genius, a child prodigy in the art of football.
Sadly, Andy died in 1994, aged just fifty-one but his legacy lives on at Dens Park. Not only are you greeted by Andy’s image when you enter the main door but there is also a hospitality lounge that bears his name showing that ‘Boy Kings’ never grow up and they never die, at least not in the memories of those who were lucky enough to witness the skills and genius of Andy Penman.
TOMMY COYNE – 2011 LEGENDS AWARD
Tommy Coyne’s first spell at Dens was short – barely lasting two years – but it was certainly illustrious, earning him legendary status in the Hall of Fame.
He formed a prolific partnership with Keith Wright that produced a goals-to-game ratio barely matched in Dundee’s history. The Cobra and The Mongoose terrorised opposition defences and by the end of their first season, the magnificent attacking football had seen the side score a remarkable 100 goals in all competitions with this legend netting 15 at a strike rate of one goal in less than every two games.
The Cobra would start his second season in the same way and in September Dundee got revenge for a Scottish Cup semi-final five months earlier when they defeated Dundee United in a pulsating League Cup quarter-final at Dens in front of a capacity 19,724 crowd.
In November Coyne inflicted more misery on The Arabs when he scored a brace in a 3-1 Derby win at Tannadice as the Dundee fans taunted their rivals by thanking them for giving them their former striker. In his time at Dens he would be a thorn in United’s side scoring five goals, playing in three wins and five draws.
By the turn of the year he had netted his 30th goal, a magnificent achievement that put him in the running for the U.E.F.A. Golden Boot for Europe’s top league scorer. Ultimately however, Tommy would score thirty-three league goals to finish third and win the Bronze Boot: compensated by going into the record books as the Premier League’s top scorer. In February 1989 he left for Celtic Park, leaving a legacy of 60 goals in only 109 games but would return again in 1999 for a second spell where he helped Dundee to fifth in the SPL – their joining highest league placing since being Champions of Scotland in 1962.
2012 AWARDS
In 2012 the club integrated the Hall of Fame event with the 50th Anniversary of its League Championship win in 1962 with a dinner held in the Caird Hall attended by around 700 supporters desperate to recognise the greatest achievement ever by a Dundee team.
In a marvellous evening of nostalgia, the remaining players from the core of 11 who won the League Championship were inducted into the Hall of Fame with Legends Awards. Bobby Seith, Bobby Wishart and Gordon Smith had all won League titles before they arrived at Dundee and their experience was vital in nurturing the youthful talent abundant at Dens. That talent included winger Hugh Robertson who fittingly was the last name on the team sheet at No. 11 and became the last of the League Legends into the Hall of Fame.
In the year of Dundee’s 120th anniversary, a further five Legends were inducted at the club’s fifth Hall of Fame dinner at the Invercarse Hotel on Friday 29th March 2013.
HUGH ROBERTSON – 2012 LEGENDS AWARD
Hugh Robertson was wonderfully tricky left-winger in his 292 appearances for Dundee and as well as being a key supply line for Dundee’s forwards, contributed 61 goals in his eight years a Dens. A coal miner before joining The Dee from Auchinleck Talbot in 1957, Shug was an ever present in the 1961/62 title winning campaign in which he also won his first full Scottish cap against Czechoslovakia a World Cup play-off match as well as two Under-23 caps. Was part of the side to reach the European Cup semi-final in 1963 and the Scottish Cup Final the following year and would later return to Dens in 1975 as first a coach and then chief scout.
BOBBY SEITH – 2012 LEGENDS AWARD
A cultured and artistic right-half, Bobby Seith won the English League title with Burnley in 1960 before repeating that feat with Dundee two years later as part of the formidable half-back line of Seith, Ure and Wishart. He captained the Scottish League v Scotland during Dundee’s championship season and the following year captained the Dark Blues in both legs of the European Cup semi-final against AC Milan. Made 197 appearances for The Dee, including the 1964 Scottish Cup Final and would later go on to become a coach at Dens Park upon hanging up his boots.
GORDON SMITH – 2012 LEGENDS AWARD
Gordon Smith was a hugely important member of Dundee’s 1961/62 title winning squad and is regarded by many as the final piece of the successful jigsaw that manager Bob Shankly pieced together. Smith’s precision play was perfect in aiding the development of young forwards Alan Cousin and Alan Gilzean and Gillie’s prowess in the air was the perfect foil for Smith’s superb crossing ability. He was the pin-up of Scottish Football and the oldest member of the Dundee title winning side at 38 years old and in view of his age, Smith achievements at Dens are extraordinary. In total he played 100 times in three seasons, scoring 19 times and during the championship winning season he played 37 games, bettering that a year later with 48 appearances including a European Cup semi-final appearance at the age of 39. Having already won the League Flag with Hibs and Hearts as well as 32 caps for Scotland during a glittering career, Gordon contributed nine goals in he Dark Blue’s league winning year, including a famous strike in a 4-1 win over Dundee United on his home league debut.
BOBBY WISHART – 2012 LEGENDS AWARD
Bobby Wishart was a cultured left-half and a member of the celebrated Dundee half-back line of Bobby Seith, Ian Ure and himself A championship winner with Aberdeen in 1955, he repeated that feat with The Dee after joining from The Dons in January 1961 for a fee of £3,500 which gave him a golden finish to an excellent footballing career. Scored on his debut against Dundee United, Bobby also scored seven times in the Dark Blues’ league winning campaign, including the opening goal of the celebrated season. He played 37 times in the title winning year and in the following European Cup season, played ten games more including being an ever present in the Champions Cup run to the semi-final, scoring a famous goal in the first round 8-1 win over Cologne at Dens.
ALFIE BOYD – 2013 LEGENDS AWARD
Alfie Boyd’s induction into the Hall of Fame with a Legends Award comes as the most successful captain in the club’s history and lived the dream that all Dees have by growing up to play for the team he supported as a boy and scoring the winning goal in a cup final for them. He is the captain with the most winners’ medals in the club’s history with two League Cup medals and one Scottish League B Division medal and in the first League Cup win in 1951, he scored a dramatic last minute winner to defeat Rangers 3-2 at Hampden. As part of the famous half-back line of Gallacher, Cowie and Boyd, Alfie made 169 appearances for The Dee which also saw him lead Dundee out in the 1952 Scottish Cup Final and finish as Scottish League Championship runner-up three years before.
BOBBY GLENNIE – 2013 LEGENDS AWARD
Bobby Glennie is a Dens Park cult hero who was lucky enough to play for the club he supported as a boy for twelve enjoyable years and relished his Legends Award when he was inducted into the Hall of Fame. As a Dundee player there is arguably no one who was more committed to the cause and he quickly became a fans favourite during his 388 appearances in Dark Blue. In 1980 he had the honour of captaining Dundee in the Bell’s League Cup Final and in the last game of that season, in which he played in every match, he laid on the goal against East Stirlingshire for Eric Sinclair to secure promotion back to the Premier Division. Bobby was also a key member of Dundee’s 1979 First Division title winning team and is also revered for his forty yard screamer against Aberdeen in 1983.
BOBBY WILSON – 2013 LEGENDS AWARD
Bobby Wilson’s induction with a Legends Award comes after his eleven years at Dens makes him one of the Club’s longest serving players. In total he made 411 appearances for The Dee which includes a club record seventeen outings in European competition. A right-back very much in the wing back mould, Bobby’s highlight in a Dundee shirt undoubtedly came in the 1973 League Cup Final when he played a key part in the victory as his free kick was controlled by Gordon Wallace who then struck it into the net for the winner. Bobby also played in the 1967 League Cup Final against Celtic, scored in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup semi-final against Leeds United the same season and also scored the winner in the famous UEFA Cup game against Cologne in 1971 when Dundee came back from 4-2 down with twenty minutes to go, to win 5-4.
JACK COWAN – 2013 INTERNATIONAL AWARD
Following in the footsteps of Claudio Caniggia and Giorgi Nemsadze, Canadian Jack Cowan is the latest International Award inductee into the Dundee FC Hall of Fame. Cowan was a popular left back who made 149 appearances for The Dark Blues between 1949 and 1954 and was a key member of successful side of that period. In 1951 Jack was part of the team which defeated Rangers in the League Cup Final at Hampden in October and became the first Canadian soccer player to win a major football honour in Europe. Two months later he was named as the North American Football Confederation Player of the Year for 1951 after his terrific displays for Dundee and his League Cup winning achievement and became the first Dundee player to be awarded with any player of the year award outside of the club. Jack also played in the 1952 Scottish Cup Final later that season and was one of the inaugural inductees into the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame in May 2000.
GEORGE ANDERSON – 2013 HERITAGE AWARD
George Anderson’s induction with this year’s Heritage Award is as the most successful manager in The Dee’s history who did as more than anyone to shape the major force that Dundee became post-war. His first involvement with the club was as a goalkeeper in the all-conquering 1917/18 wartime Dark Blues which won every competition it entered but he is more fondly remembered as the manager who brought the most silverware to Dens during his eleven years in charge. Becoming managing/director in 1944, he found Dundee in the second tier and as he rebuilt the club from its wartime hiatus, he led them to back to back B Division Championships before being granted promotion to the top tier. Within two years Dundee were runners-up in the Scottish League Championship and after spending a world record fee for Billy Steel in 1950, his ‘think big, be big’ philosophy paid off as Dundee became the first side to retain the Scottish League Cup in 1951 and 1952 with a Scottish Cup Final appearance sandwiched in between.
BILL BROWN – 2015 LEGENDS AWARD
Bill Brown was one of the greatest Scottish goalkeepers of the post-War period and is a legend at Dens Park as a member of the 1951 League Cup winning side. He represented Scotland in the 1958 World Cup as a Dundee player and his legacy at Dens is 274 appearances, making sixty-two shut outs, winning one major trophy, gaining thirteen international caps at various levels and a host of memories of a keeper who was elastically agile, endowed with remarkably sharp reflexes and never less than impeccable for The Dee. Bill went on to achieve legendary status with Spurs in their double winning side of 1960/61 playing 292 times for the London club up to 1966.
JOHN DUNCAN – 2015 LEGENDS AWARD
Local boy made good John Duncan was one of the privileged few who got to play for the club he loved and repaid that by scoring goals for fun. In a seven year Dens Park career he scored 109 goals in 188 appearances, including forty in season 1972/73 where he finished as Scotland’s top scorer. The following season he was part of the team to win the League Cup against Celtic at Hampden while in European competition he is revered for his hat-trick against Cologne in 1971 in one of the greatest games Dens Park has ever seen. He was signed by Spurs in 1974, where his goal scoring feats continued, scoring 73 goals in 148 appearances over 5 seasons.
SANDY MACFARLANE- 2015 HERITAGE AWARD
A legendary figure in the annals of Dundee FC with a career that spanned over a quarter of a century – will receive the Heritage Award. He was both a player from 1901 to 1913 and as a manager where he had two spells between the Wars. The clever inside-forward made 333 appearances for Dundee, scoring 71 times and his time at Dens saw him win eight international honours, be a Scottish League Championship runner-up three times and was a key figure in Dundee’s 1910 Scottish Cup win.
JAMES GRADY (GOAL VS. DUNDEE UNITED) – 2015 HALL OF FAME MODERN MOMENT
A new category introduced this year – was be awarded to the ever popular James Grady. The pint-sized striker etched himself in to Dundee folklore, latching on to a Eddie Annand flick on before producing a stunning half volley that gave Jocky Scott’s Dark Blues a 1-0 victory against Dundee United at Tannadice in November 1998. Playing nearly 100 times for the Dark Blues, he was an integral part of the team that won the Scottish First Division and secured promotion back to the Premier League in season 1997/98.
JULIAN SPERONI – 2015 INTERNATIONAL AWARD
Argentinian keeper travelled up from London especially for the event – to be presented with the International Award. Signed under freedom of contract from Argentinean side Athletico Platense by Italian manager Ivano Bonetti in the summer of 2001, he quickly established himself as Dundee’s No. 1 and was an ever present the following season under Jim Duffy. He joined Crystal Palace for £750,000 ten years ago and has remained at Selhurt Park ever since, winning 4 Player of the Year Awards and having a restaurant at the Stadium named in his honour.
BOBBY GEDDES – 2016 SPECIAL RECOGNITION AWARD
Geddes is a member of Paul Hartley’s backroom team and he is a man who knows Dens Park well having been an excellent and popular goalkeeper for eleven years. Having served the Dark Blues with distinction for almost two decades, the Club felt it only right to induct him into the 2016 Hall of Fame with a new category, a Special Recognition Award.
Geddes kept 97 clean sheets in 313 appearances, played in a national cup final, was part of a promotion winning side, won 5 Scotland Under-21 caps, captain Dundee to success in the Tennents Sixes and is the oldest player to play a competitive senior match in Scotland after coming off the bench at Raith in April 2010 aged 49 years and 256 days, almost 30 years after he played for Dundee in the League Cup Final.
JOHN ‘SAILOR’ HUNTER – 2016 HERITAGE AWARD
John ‘Sailor’ Hunter is a legendary name in the history of Dundee Football Club as the man who scored the winning goal when the Dark Blues first won a major trophy, the Scottish Cup in 1910. Sailor scored four goals en route to lifting the trophy, including the winner against Hibs in the semi-final and was part of the side to finish as Scottish League runners-up by one point the year before.
Hunter scored 60 goals in 107 appearances, won one full Scotland cap while at Dens and was top seasonal scorer on two occasions in his three years at Dens and is inducted into the Dundee Hall of Fame with a Heritage Award.
JIMMY TONER – 2016 GOLDEN ERA AWARD
The 2016 Hall of Fame introduced a new category, the Golden Era Award to recognise the successful post-war period in the Club’s history. In the twenty five or so years after the Second World War Dundee FC won the Scottish League Championship, were the first team to win back to back Scottish League Cups, reached two Scottish Cup Finals and another League Cup Final, were League Championship runners-up, won two Scottish League B Division titles and reached the European Cup and Inter-Cities Fairs Cup semi-finals; it truly was a golden era. This new award is designed to honour the players whose achievements made it such a special time and the Club were delighted to announce that the first recipient of the Golden Era Award was Jimmy Toner, a member of that wonderful George Anderson side of the early Fifties who won two Scottish League Cups. Dundee were the first side to win back to back League Cups and Toner played in both finals against Rangers and Kilmarnock in 1951 and 1952 in his 71 appearances for the Dark Blues. He is one of only seven players to win two major winners medals with The Dee and returned to coach at Dens between 1966 and 1978.
ALLY DONALDSON – 2016 LEGENDS AWARD
Ally Donaldson’s Dark Blue career spanned 14 years over two spells where he amassed 408 appearances for The Dee. He was part of the Dundee side to win the First Division title and promotion in 1979 and won two Scottish League caps and two Scotland Under-23 caps while at Dens.
The popular keeper played in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup semi-final against Leeds in 1968 and with 126 clean sheets he holds the Club’s clean sheet record and is the fifth goalkeeper to be inducted into the Dundee Hall of Fame after Pat Liney, Bill Brown Julian Speroni and Bobby Geddes.
BILLY PIRIE – 2016 LEGENDS AWARD
Billy Pirie is a goalscoring legend for The Dee who found scoring as natural as breathing. In four years at Dens he scored 106 goals in 138 appearances and his record speaks for itself as a prolific goal getter, not just in Dundee’s history but also in Scottish Football history. His 44 goal haul in his first season with Dundee has yet to be bettered by any player who has followed and helped him win the 1977 Scottish League First Division Player of the Year.
His 1.3 goals per game ratio did much to alleviate the sense of doom and gloom then prevailing at Dens Park following relegation from the inaugural Premier Division and the memory of him scoring for fun in the First Division lives long in the memory of all who saw him. Part of the 1979 First Division winning side, goals king Billy more than deserves to be inducted into the club’s Hall of Fame with a Legends Award.
NEIL MCCANN – 2016 MODERN HEROES AWARD
Neil McCann came through the youth ranks and Dens and burst onto the scene in the early Nineties where he became the first winner of the Andy De Vries Memorial Trophy as Dundee Player of the Year. He scored the goal which took Dundee to the 1995 League Cup Final with a fantastic strike in the semi against Airdrie and he came out of retirement in 2011 in the Dark Blues’ hour of need to score another sensational goal as a Dee-Fiant hero against Raith Rovers; one of Dens Park’s greatest moments.
The winger won ten Scotland Under-21 caps while at Dens and those two never-to-be-forgotten strikes were among 12 goals in 97 appearances. Neil McCann is a true modern day hero of Dundee FC and in recognition of everything he achieved with and did for The Dee, the Club are honoured to induct him into the 2016 Hall of Fame with a new Modern Heroes Award.
ALEC TROUP – 2017 HERITAGE AWARD
Known to many fans as ‘Wee Troupie’ due to his small stature, Alec was a wonderfully tricky winger whose sparkling play, gentlemanly demeanour, good humour and extremely likeable personality undoubtedly brightened up many a troubled heart during the dark days of the First World War and the years that followed. He became a real hero of the people at Dens Park at a time when such role models were in great demand to rouse the population’s spirits as well as being an extremely talented player.
Alec Troup is a Dundee legend and folk hero and the Club were delighted that his grandson Brian Taylor, who himself lives Troup’s native Forfar, was in attendance to accept the 2017 Heritage Award on ‘Wee Troupie’ behalf
ALEX STUART – 2017 GOLDEN ERA AWARD
Alex Stuart won a Scottish League Championship medal with Dundee at the tender age of 21, played in the European Cup semi-final and had the honour of captaining Dundee in the 1967 League Cup Final. An accomplished defender, Stuart was famed for his powerful shooting and in his nine seasons in the first team, he scored a very credible 31 goals making him the highest scoring defender in the Club’s history to date.
Alex Stuart enjoyed a memorable eleven years at Dens Park when Dundee were at the height of their glory and was the only member of the league winning squad to play in both the Scottish and League Cup Finals. He was the last of the Championship side to leave Dens Park and his departure marked the end of a golden age for Dundee F.C.
THOMSON ALLAN – 2017 LEGENDS AWARD
Dundee have had a fine tradition of good goalkeepers over the years and Thomson Allan certainly fits into that category, winning the Scottish League Cup in 1973 and going to the World Cup in West Germany with Scotland the following year. He was confidence personified and inspired his team mates with his immaculate handling and wonderful ability to cut out cross balls and is one of the best keepers to have worn the number one shirt for Dundee.
The consistent, reliable and agile keeper is fondly remembered by Dundee supporters who were lucky enough to see him and he came out with the most number of votes in a fans’ favourite goalkeeper online poll on Dundee’s official site in 2009 and is now voted into the Hall of Fame by the supporters
KEITH WRIGHT – 2017 LEGENDS AWARD
For Dundee fans everywhere a mongoose is so much more than a small predatory mammal from Africa, chiefly known for its distinctive long tail. Rather it is a bona fide legend, famed for predatory goal scoring exploits while wearing a distinctive dark blue shirt, namely Keith Wright. Signed from Raith Rovers in 1986, Wright was part of two successful goal scoring partnerships in his time at Dens but became a legend in his own right when he scored a hat-trick in a memorable derby win over Dundee United in 1989.
Wright scored 75 goals in 197 appearances, won the Tennents Sixes and the Centenary Cup and was the last Dundee player to represent the Scottish League in 1990 and his goals against United will live long in the memory.
ROBERT DOUGLAS – 2017 MODERN HEROES AWARD
The Club introduced the Modern Heroes Award to recognise the contribution of a player or manager from the Nineties onwards and Robert Douglas is a player who earned legendary status across the three decades that this award covers.
With 98 clean sheets in 303 appearances, Douglas is a Dark Blue goalkeeping great and as big a Dundee hero as you’ll meet. He won the First Division in 1998 and the Player of the Year an unprecedented three times before becoming a Dee-Fiant in his second spell at Dens.
Robert Douglas has a special place in the hearts of many of the supporters who saw him play for their club and country and now that he has finally hung up those big gloves, Scottish Football is a sadder place.
DAVID ‘NAPPER’ THOMSON – 2018 HERITAGE AWARD
David Thomson was a pre-war Dark Blue stalwart making 385 appearances over a fourteen year period with Dundee FC, his only senior club. Nicknamed ‘Napper’ because of his cool, collective approach, he played for Dundee in the 1925 Scottish Cup Final and earned one full cap and two Scottish League caps during a distinguished Dens Park career.
BOBBY FLAVELL – 2018 GOLDEN ERA AWARD
To score a goal in a winning cup final for Dundee is pretty special but to do it twice is incredible and only one man has achieved this tremendous feat, Bobby Flavell. When Dundee became the first side to win back to back League Cups in 1951 and 1952, Flavell wrote himself into the Dark Blue history books by scoring in both victorious finals and the forward scored 53 goals in 98 appearances, striking up a famous partnership with 2009 inductee Billy Steel.
CAMMY FRASER – 2018 LEGENDS AWARD
Hailing from Fintry, Cammy Fraser is ‘one of our own’ and an inspirational captain from the early eighties. He joined Dundee in September 1980 when they were bottom of the First Division and by the end of the season his drive and attacking midfield flair helped Dundee win promotion and to a national cup final after scoring the winner in the League Cup quarter-final away at Premier League champions Aberdeen and a vital equaliser in the semi against Ayr. He also played his part in the First Division title winning campaign in his second spell in 1992 and was a terrific player who gave his all every time he pulled on a dark blue shirt.
ERIC SINCLAIR – 2018 LEGENDS AWARD
Eric Sinclair was a player who was wholeheartedly committed to the cause, played for the jersey and who enhanced his reputation and popularity when he scored the goal which returned Dundee to the Premier Division in May 1981. The tall, blond, predatory striker never gave anything less than 100% during games and was a regular goal getter for The Dee, netting 95 times in 289 appearances and finishing as top goal in two different seasons. He won the SPFA First Division Player of the Year in 1980/81 when his 22 goals helped Dundee into the top flight and was capped by the Scottish League when he scored against the English League. Sinky’s speciality was shielding the ball with his back to goal and he was also part of the Dundee side which won the 1979 First Division title and played in the 1980 League Cup Final. Eric also scored in the famous 5-1 win over Celtic in April 1980 and to cap it off scored the only goal against Dundee United earlier the same season; the second time he had scored a winner in the derby.
GAVIN RAE – 2018 MODERN HERO AWARD
Gavin Rae truly is a Dark Blue Modern Hero who enjoyed three spells at Dens between 1994 and 2014. He became the 21st player in 120 years to reach his third century of games for the club just before lifting the Championship trophy as skipper in May 2014 and his time at Dens also saw him win the First Division, play in the Scottish Cup Final, score in the U.E.F.A. Cup and become Dundee’s first Scottish internationalist in fifteen years. Starting and finishing his career at Dens Park, Gavin scored 32 times in 302 appearances and gave his all every time he pulled on the famous dark blue.
ALBERT JULIUSSEN – 2019 HERITAGE AWARD
Albert Juliussen was a real ‘Roy of the Rovers’ post war hero to the Dundee support when he scored an incredible 95 goals in 73 competitive games (plus another 33 goals in Forfarshire Cup, Dewar Shield and friendly matches) and was top scorer for The Dee for three years in a row from 1945/46 to 1947/48. He was part of a free scoring Dundee side which won back to back Scottish League B Division championships and has the best goal ratio of any Dundee striker who has played more than 20 goals for the club with an average of 1.3 goals per game. Juliussen was a goal scoring machine in his time in Dark Blue and his seven goals against Dunfermline is a joint club record (with Alan Gilzean) for most goals in one match. He brought hope and joy to a war weary Dundee footballing public who were grateful for the goals that fired Dundee back into the big time and the club were honoured to have his son Laurence in attendance to accept his Heritage Award on his behalf.
TOSH McKINLAY – 2019 LEGENDS AWARD
Tosh McKinlay was a wonderfully, classy left-back with attacking flair who served Dundee with distinction in his 204 appearances. He scored nine goals in a Dark Blue shirt and none is more fondly remembered than his stunning goal in a famous derby win over Dundee United at Tannadice in 1984 for which Dundee fans are forever grateful. His record in the derby of seven wins and six draws help cement his Dark Blue popularity and the Dundee fans were proud to see him go on and represent Scotland at both Euro 96 and France 98 after leaving Dens.
GEORGE STEWART – 2019 LEGENDS AWARD
George Stewart’s 12 year career at Dens Park saw him play in a European semi-final, ten domestic semi-finals and two national cup finals and pick up winners’ medal as part of the Dundee side which won the Scottish League Cup in 1973. Powerful in the air with a good touch on the ground, Stewart had been a popular character in both the dressing room and on the terracing is part of the last Dundee side to win a major trophy. He talks with pride of his 292 appearances for The Dee and deservedly entered the Dundee FC Hall of Fame, joining five of his team mates from that iconic 1973 side, one of whom Gordon Wallace, presented him with his award.
DARIUSZ ADAMCZUK – 2019 INTERNATIONAL AWARD
Dariusz Adamczuk was a cult hero to the Dundee support during the Nineties when he arrived for a club record fee, left 11 games later for another club record fee, returned to Dens three years later to help Dundee win the First Division and then was part of the side which secured the Dark Blues’ highest ever Premier Division finish. While at Dens Dariusz was capped four times by Poland and won the Dundee FC Player of the Year in 1999. His two spells at Dens Park were his most successful in his career and were as enjoyable for player and fans alike. He is a modern day Dundee FC hero who gave his all every time he pulled on the Dark Blue.
MORTEN WEIGHORST – 2019 INTERNATIONAL AWARD
Morten Weighorst was a hero for both his club Dundee and his country Denmark and while a player from a Scottish First Division side winning an international tournament with a top five FIFA ranked side may seem unlikely, that is exactly what Morten Weighorst did in 1995 the Danes won the King Fahd Cup (renamed the Confederations Cup in 1997). That same year Morten was a vital cog in the Dundee side that reached the Coca-Cola Cup Final and in the quarters against Hearts at Dens, scored a stunning strike to make it 4-4 in extra time before slotting home the winning penalty. A popular player at Dens, Morten was hugely influential in the Dark Blue midfield with his craft, surging runs and an eye for goal, and the week before the League Cup Final at Hampden scored the winning goal in a derby at Tannnadice. Legends are made of such stuff.
BOBBY FORD – 2024 LEGENDS AWARD
Bobby Ford played for Dundee from 1971 through to 1978 and has the distinction of being part of the side which lifted the club’s last major trophy, the League Cup in December 1973. The busy midfield man joined the club from Falkirk in an exchange that took Alex Bryce to Brockville and he made his Dark Blue debut in a stunning 3-2 victory over Rangers on November 13th 1971. Season 1973/74 saw Bobby turn out 51 times for Dundee which included matches in the UEFA Cup and on December 15th, he was part of the side which beat Celtic 1-0 in the League Cup Final after playing in all 12 matches on route to picking up his winner’s medal. He was a regular for the rest of his time at Dens and arguably his most famous moment in Dark Blue came when he played in the opening weekend of the newly formed Scottish League Premier Division. Two minutes into the match against Aberdeen at Dens, Bobby found the net to go down in history as the first person to score in the Premier Division.
ERIC FERGUSON – 2024 SPECIAL RECOGNITION AWARD
Eric Ferguson served Dundee as a physiotherapist from 1971 until 1992 and working under ten different managers he was part of the team that saw Dundee win two First Division championships, three promotions, one Centenary Cup and reach two League Cup Finals with The Dark Blues, lifting that trophy in 1973 after a 1-0 win over Celtic at Hampden. In 1957 he enrolled as a full-time student of the Scottish School of Physiotherapy in Glasgow. In 1970 he moved to the city of Dundee to serve at Strathmartine Hospital but just twelve months later was signed up by Dundee Football Club where he remained for the next two decades. His time at Dens Park saw him work with a wide variety of injuries to players, ranging from the short-term to the career threatening and there are many a Dee who are grateful to Eric for helping them make a full and fast recovery. Eric left Dundee in 1992 and having been The Dee’s physio for over 1000 matches in a 21-year period.
“Honouring the past, inspiring the future”, these inductees are worthy entrants into the Dundee FC Hall of Fame and represent all that is great about this wonderful club.
