One of the most beautiful and poignant moments of the Saturday when Dundee clinched the SPFL Championship title was when Club President and 1962 Championship winning goalkeeper Pat Liney got his hands on the trophy, kissed it, looked up to the heavens and said “we got it back for you Bobby.”
After the players came off the pitch from their lap of honour, Pat took the Scottish Championship trophy into the hospitality lounges to huge acclaim and after having a quick look at it, confirmed it was the exact same piece of silverware that Dundee were awarded when they became Champions of Scotland in 1962.
The trophy is inscribed with ‘Scottish Football League Division One Championship’ and was first presented in the inaugural 1890/91 Scottish League season to joint winners Rangers and Dumbarton whose names are engraved at the top of on the back of the cup.
The names of the winners of the Scottish League Division One champions continued to be engraved on the back of the trophy until the outbreak of the World War Two and this included the league winners during the First World War.
However here was no official league championship during the second global conflict and when league football returned in season 1946/47 the leagues were renamed the A Division and B Division (which Dundee won) but the same trophy was still awarded to the Champions of Scotland.
The last winners of the A Division were Aberdeen in 1955, after which the leagues were renamed Divisions One and Two again and in 1959/60 Hearts became the last name to be engraved in the back of the cup, which was now full.
After that the League Champions’ names were inscribed onto the base of the trophy and Dundee were the second of those to be done there in 1961/62 – something that everyone from players, to staff, directors and fans were keen to have a look at over the weekend.
When Dundee won the Scottish League Championship in 1961/62 there was no actual presentation of the trophy like Dundee enjoyed at full time against Dumbarton. The main presentation in those days was normally the raising of the League Flag on the first home game of next season, which Dundee did before a League Cup tie against Celtic on August 15th 1962. It was raised on a specially erected flagpole behind the TC Keay goal and was unveiled by Lady Provost McManus in front of 21,000 fans.
This tradition of course continues today and Dundee will get to unfurl the SPFL Championship flag before the first home Premiership game of next season.
Interestingly in 1962 the Dundee players never actually saw the trophy arrive at Dens. It was delivered by courier from the Scottish League headquarters in West Regent Street in Glasgow unlike this year when it was delivered by helicopter. The first Alan Gilzean remembers seeing it was on August 6th, the day of the annual pre-season public trial when he noticed it adorning the boardroom as he walked past. It was not until three days later that the players got their first proper look at it during an official photo call when a traditional team group photo was taken alongside the iconic photos of the famous eleven crowding round the trophy and captain Bobby Cox standing holding it in front of the main stand; an image that this season’s skipper Gavin Rae recreated on the lap of honour.
In season 1975/76 The Scottish Football League was reconstructed from two divisions to three and were renamed Premier, First and Second Divisions. At that point, the Division One Championship trophy was then used for the Premier Division Championship, (even though the trophy is inscribed Division One Championship), the Second Division Championship trophy was then used for the First Division Championship, (even although the trophy is inscribed Division Two Championship) and a new Second Division Championship trophy was purchased. Then when The Scottish Football League was reconstructed again into four divisions in season 1994/95, a new Third Division trophy was purchased to reflect the new set-up.
This meant therefore that when Dundee FC won the Scottish League First Division Championship in 1978/79, 1991/92 and 1997/98 they were presented with the trophy that was inscribed with ‘Division Two Championship’ and were the last First Division champions to be presented with that trophy.
At the end of season 1997/98 the Premier Division clubs of the Scottish Football League broke away to form the new Scottish Premier League and commissioned a new trophy for the SPL Championship which Celtic will get this season. As a result, the trophy that was used for the SFL Premier Division Championship was now presented to the winners of the Scottish League First Division with Hibs becoming the first second tier club to be presented with this in 1999.
This trophy therefore has been used for the second tier league title ever since and as it is the first time that Dundee have won the second tier title since 1998, it is the first time the trophy that Bobby Cox so lovingly cradled fifty-two years ago has returned to Dens, making the Scottish Championship win just that little bit more special.
The day before the Dumbarton game, the ‘King of Dens Park’ Alan Gilzean, who was top goal scorer when Dundee were Champions of Scotland, phoned the club to pass on his good luck and best wishes with the hope that the players could channel ‘the spirit of 62.’ In lifting the SPFL Championship and bringing the trophy ‘home’, the players certainly achieved that and it was great to see Pat Liney get his hands on it once again and tell his skipper Bobby Cox in the High Stand that we did it for him.
Kenny Ross
