As Dundee face Ayr United in the Betfred Cup on Saturday, we take a look at a player who played for both club and also became the first ever manager of the Honest Men, Herbert Dainty.
One hundred and eighteen years ago Dundee players plied their trade in front of large crowds that stood on the hallowed Dens Park terracing, singing forgotten battle hymns of days long gone as they brought home the Scottish Cup for the only time in the Clubâs history. Over a century later there is a pride still felt by those who never saw them play but yet who know their names and feel an affinity that transcends time. Among those Dundee heroes is the goal scoring centre-half Herbert Dainty whose name itself evens conjures up images of a bygone age.
Hebert Charles Dainty was born in Geddington, Northamptonshire on February 6th 1879 and started his playing career with local club Kettering. In August 1899 he joined English Football League Second Division side Leicester Fosse but soon became a bit of a soccer nomad as he played for a different club in each of the next five seasons.
In May 1905 he joined Dundee FC and there must have been something to his liking in Juteopolis as he stayed at Dens Park for the next six seasons and became one of four Englishmen who helped Dundee win the Scottish Cup in 1910. He joined the Dark Blues from Southern League side Southampton where he played alongside Dundeeâs 1910 Cup winning captain Bert Lee and when he decided to come to Dundee, it âprovoked an outcry in the townâ, according to authors Duncan Holley and Gary Chalk in their book, The Alphabet of the Saints.
Bert made his debut for Dundee on August 19th 1905 in a 2-1 home defeat to St Mirren and he became an ever present in the side, making 31 appearances in his first year. Dainty would score his first goal for Dundee from the spot against Morton on September 2nd in a 3-1 win at home and he would score seven penalties in his Dark Blue career. Bert however wouldnât just score goals direct from 12 yards as in his time at Dens he would score 25 goals; a terrific total for a centre-half.
In his second season Bert would miss just one game, playing 37 times, as Dundee finished runners-up in the Scottish League championship to Celtic and would beat his debut season goal tally by one, scoring six times.
Bert was now a mainstay in the side and would miss just one game in the 1907/08 season and his goal tally would again increase to eight as The Dee finished fourth but on the same point tally of 48 that they had had when they had finished in second place the previous year.
Dundee however would improve their points tally by two the following season but again could only finish as runners-up to Celtic in Division One with Dainty contributing four goals in 33 starts. Bert did however win his first medal with Dundee when they won the Forfarshire Cup with a 2-0 win over Brechin City in March but the real glory was just around the corner.
Just over 12 months later Dundee won the Scottish Cup in April 1910 with a 2-1 win over Clyde in a second replay and Dainty was one of the men of the moment as he was outstanding in all three games. As Clyde piled on the pressure towards the end of the match to try and force a third replay, Dainty marshalled the Dark Blue defence superbly as they resolutely held out to take the Cup back to Dens Park for the first and to date only time.
Dainty was now a local hero and in the same month as that cup success, a Dens testimonial for the popular defender attracted a crowd of 8,000 against Rangers. Six months later the Englishman was given the honour of representing the Scottish League against the Southern League on October 24th but at the end of the season he was off on his travels again when he joined Bradford Park Avenue in the summer.
After a two year spell in Yorkshire Bert was keen to come back to Dens as he still had business interests in the city but an argument with the Dundee board meant instead he went to Ayr United.
Within a year he was appointed player / manager with the Honest Men to become their first ever manger but in 1915 he did return to the city, not to Dundee FC but instead to the six year old Dundee Hibernian where he became their second ever manager in a similar capacity that he had enjoyed at Ayr.
It was clear that his popularity in the city had endured despite having âcrossed the roadâ to the club who would become Dundee United in 1923.
During the First World War benefit and charity matches were held to fill the gaps in the rather haphazard fixture lists which then existed and Dainty became actively involved in organising teams, which he called âDaintyâs XIâ, from any footballers who happened to be stationed in the Tayside or Fife areas.
Dainty relinquished managerial duties at Tannadice in 1917 and he retired from playing the following year when he was invited to become involved in the running of Dundee Hibs. He was co-opted onto the club committee in 1920 and was made chairman in 1922 but towards the end of that year, with the club in serious financial difficulty, it was taken over and turned into a limited company and with Bertâs services were no longer required, his involvement with football ended.
It was our great grandfathers who watched the legendary Herbert Dainty and his team mates achieve unequalled glory in Dundeeâs past and while we now sit where our forefathers once stood and sing a different tune, we can still love, cherish and idolise the heroes of a century ago.
Honours at Dundee:
Scottish Cup winners: 1910
Scottish League Championship runners-up: 1906/07, 1908/09
Forfarshire Cup winners: 1908/09
Scottish League cap: 1
Appearances, Goals:
League: 187, 24 goals
Scottish Cup: 25, 1 goal
Totals: 212, 25 goals
