As Dundee face Hearts at Tynecastle on Wednesday night, we take a look at a player who played for both clubs, Austrian striker David Witteveen who played his part for Dundee during the DeeFiant season.
Witteveen was actually born in Varese in Italy in 1985 but started his football career with Austrian sides SV Spittal and Red Bull Salzburg before going on loan to WAC St. Andrä. He played for Salzburg’s second string in the Austrian Erste Ligaand for St. Andrä in the Regionalliga Mitte before moving to Hearts in July 2009.
The striker made his SPL debut in the first game of the season against Dundee United at Tannadice and in the following week, on his home debut, scored what turned out to be his only goal for Hearts in a 2-1 defeat to Rangers.
Witteveen made nine appearances before Christmas but when Jim Jeffries came in as manager he failed to make any more appearances for Hearts.
He was therefore loaned out to First Division side Greenock Morton in March 2010 and the following month scored a hat trick in a 3–3 draw against Queen of the South and added goals against Dundee and Ross County before the end of the season.
In the summer he returned to Tynecastle but on August 27th joined Dundee on a three month and manager Gordon Chisholm put the 25-year old straight into the squad for a key game against Falkirk on the following day. For the sixth Saturday in a row, Dundee started with a debutant in the starting eleven with the 6ft 3in forward wearing the number nine shirt and finally things seemed to click on the pitch.
Falkirk had come down from the SPL the previous year and were one of the favourites for promotion, having retained most of their squad, but for long spells Dundee played them off the park to record a vital 2-0 win. Dundee were well on top in the first half and went ahead through Nicky Riley and Stephen O’Donnell but had to battle hard in the second half after being reduced to ten men when Rab Douglas was red-carded early on.
For the second time in a league match at Dens, Dundee had been up against it when the referee brandished a red card but they showed some of the steely grit and determination that would be their hallmark in the coming months. As Falkirk piled on the pressure, Dundee defended gamely and, backed by a noisy home crowd, the players showed the support that they could be genuine title contenders on this sort of form.
David’s next appearance for Dundee came in a 2-1 home win over Morton on October 2nd which was the first game of the club record 23-game unbeaten run. It was also unfortunately the last match before Dundee entered Administration for the second time on October 15th and although nine players were immediately released, Witteveen remained after his parent club agreed he could complete his loan.
He missed the next two games against Stirling and Dunfermline where the fans and the players showed huge passion and determination as the efforts to save the club were underway and it was the same again away at Falkirk on October 30th.
The Dundee fans packed out the away end in their first competitive visit to the Falkirk Stadium and they were treated to a cracker. For the third match in a row since Administration, the game finished in a draw, this time 3-3 and it was only a late Falkirk penalty which had denied the Dark Blues their first away win of the season.
Witteveen started on the bench as Dundee were pegged back from being two goals up after racing ahead with early strikes from Griffiths and Higgins, but they took the lead again with seven minutes to go when Witteveen got his first goal for the club to make it 3-2 after coming on for Sean Higgins just after the hour. The fans celebrated with gusto with some of them accidentally spilling onto the pitch after a trackside advertising board collapsed and Chief Executive Harry MacLean, who had been sitting among the support, had to step in and have a word with the police to stop any unnecessary arrests.
Their celebrations were in vain however when Mark Millar made it 3-3 from the spot just three minutes later after Craig McKeown was adjudged to have pushed Kenny Deuchar at the back post. It looked harsh but it took nothing away from another committed performance against a side looking to return to the SPL at the first time of asking and the day was topped off when £1,736.80 was presented to the Dee4Life Campaign from Falkirk.
Witteveen came off the bench the following week against Partick at Dens as The Dee secured their first win since going into Administration. It came thanks to late winner from Jamie Adams on the day of the red card protest towards the SFL who had imposed a draconian 25 point penalty on the club.
David played just once more for Dundee as a late substitute in a 3-0 win away at Ross County seven days later and returned to Hearts at the end of November.
After completing his loan at Dens Park, he began negotiating his exit from Tynecastle and was in discussions with Major League Soccer officials about a potential move to the United States but it never materialized.
After Stirling Albion were hit by an illness crisis in the New Year, David agreed to play two games for The Binos as a trialist in January and scored in a 4-2 defeat at Falkirk. His second game was a 6-1 defeat to Partick before returning home to sign for Austrian Regional League East side SV Horn.
In June, Witteveen joined Austrian second division side FC Lustenau and played there for a season before joining SV Grödig. After a series of good performances with SV Grödig, he was offered a contract from Austrian Bundesliga side SC Wiener Neustadt, and agreed to a two-year deal in June 2013.
After just one season he was released and moved to Kapfenberger SV but despite scoring 10 goals in 24 league games, was released and signed for Ritzing where he still plays today at the age of 33.
Witteveen never lost while playing for The Dee and he will be remembered as one of the DeeFiant heroes who gave their all to save the club.
