The first season 1893-94 was the first to be played in Scotland under the new `professional` status , and it was deemed to have been a great success by all.
The first game in the new league was played at Craigie Park rather than Carolina Port. This had caused a few eyebrows to be raised when the oldest surviving club in the City - Strathmore - caused a minor sensation when they secured the lease to Carolina Port, which had expected to go to the new amalgamated team Dundee FC.
So the Dees kicked off their first season in the less attractive surroundings of Craigie Park, the date was to coinside with the start of the Grouse season on the glorious twelfth of August 1893.
The visitors were Glasgow rangers and a crowd of around 4000 - 5000 apparently got good value for their 6d entrance fee, witnessing a fine 3-3 draw. And with that , Dundee had kicked off their proffesional careers.
It was in the September of the following year (1894) that another team were to form professionally, and the were to be called `Dundee Hibs`, later to become our arch rivals Dundee United.
The first two seasons ended with Dundee finishing a respectable 8th both seasons.
The 1894-95 season saw Dundee defeat the "Mighty" Celtic on their way to a semi-final appearance in the Scottish cup, they lost the game after an epic 3 game match with Renton, to whom they bowed out 0-3 in the second replay.
As a result Wullie Maxwell was enticed away to Stoke City and went onto become the 1st Dundonian to play for Scotland against England in 1898.
The average attendance in that season turned in at 4500, in a season which also saw Dundee win the Forfarshire cup after beating Lochee United in the final 1-0. Frank Barrett was an ever present this season as well as keeping goal for the international team as well.
The following season 1895-96 saw the FIRST recorded instance of serious hooligism, following game at Tynecastle on 2nd November 1895, a crowd of about 1,000 Hearts supporters congregated outside the pavillion to remonstrate with a young Dundee forward called Vail, whose robust challenges had not met with their approval. Police were called in and had to draw batons while Vail made his exit through the back door, the Hearts officials later admitted they regretted the incident "exceedingly"
In season 1896-97 Dundee finished in fifth place in the league which included a 1-0 home win agaisnt Celtic. The average gate was now 6,700 and Dave Willcocks finished top goalscorer for the team with 12 goals.
The following season saw Dundee drop to 7th in the league, and the clubs balance sheet when produced in March 1898 showed that from an income of £3,625 , wages of £1,912 had been paid - this along with other debts that were paid resulted in the club showing a loss of £222.
Money had to be found , and although locl benefactors from the local wine industry were found, their input was only temporary.
Players would once again have to be transfered to balance the books and Dundee started off the next term with a team consisting largely of part-time local players.
Dundees big goalkeeper Hillman , an ever present last year was also to fall from grace. He offered the club £100 for his own transfer but was knocked back by the board. Hillman then took matters into his own hands . One day he pushed an indirect free-kick into his own goal versus Kilmarnock, thus giving away a decisive goal. This paled into insignificance when, in a derby game versus the wanderers he first disputed a pnalty decision then secondly leaned against the post as the kick was taken (this would later be used for years by a local newspaper as an advert cartoon). He was quickly suspended and left to join Burnley for the sum of £200. Later in his career he would go onto play for the England international team.
The financial problems didnt go away and on Dec 9th 1898 Dundee informed Celtic they would be unable to fufill their fixture as the club was "totally and irretrievably wrecked"14th December the Scottish League offered to guarantee the players wages for the remaining 4 games. This offer was refused by the directors who had decided to go into liquidation. On December 17th 1898 Dundee Football and Athletic Club went into liquidation. A new committee was elected to take the club forward and so Dundee`s wheel of fortune had come full circle.
With the opening of Dens Park in 1899 and the re-establishment of the club as a limited company in 1900 Dundee were at last ready to take their place at the centre stage of scottish football.
On November 25th , Dundee attracted a crowd of 10,000 to see their match with Celtic and although a 1-2 defaet followed a record gate reciept of £252 was more than welcome by the club. Alex Robertson finished the season top goalscorer with 13 goals and the team finished in 6th place winning the Dundee and district Charity shield with a 1-0 win over wanderers. The average crowd was 7100
Season 1902/03 saw Dundee finish runners up for the first time to the talented Hibernian team , Dundee also knocked the Hibees out of the Scottish cup after an epic 3 game struggle with a total 75000 people watching the 3 games. Dundee lost to Hearts in the semi-final and won both teh Forfarshire cup as well as the dewar Shield. The average crowd was now 10,900 and the season completed with only 18 players being used.
Season 1906/07 again saw Dundee finish 2nd , this time to Celtic. The average crowd was 8,600 Billy Cox was top goalscorer with 21 goals and another Dundee Goalkeeper (Billy Muir) was keeping goal for the International team.
Season 1907/08 saw the emergance of John "sailor" Hunter who finished top goalscorer with 18 goals , average crowds were 10,250 and Dundee finished fourth in the league with a very respectable 71 goals scored. Falkirk made the record books with an astonishing 103 goals in 34 league games and finished runners up.
Season 1908/09 saw Dundee finish runners up only 1 point behind Celtic, both games between the clubs this season resulted in wins for Dundee and John Hunter was once again top goalscorer with an impressive 32 goal tally. Crowds were recorded as averaging 9,650. In the Scottish cup 2nd round tie versus Rangers 31,000 packed Dens Park although the official attendance was only 28000 and in the replay Dundee although losing the match 0-1 took home gate reciepts of £1,621
Season 09/10 needs no introduction , this was the clubs only success in the the scottish cup defeating Clyde after 2 drawn games, with Sailor Hunter netting the winner in front of 24,000 fans at Ibrox, crowds averaged 10,000 and Jimmy Bellamy was top goalscorer with 15 goals.
The team finished the league in sixth palce.
To read about the great cup run in detail please click HERE
In season 1910-11 Dundee failed to hold onto the Scottish cup , beaten in the semi-finals by Hamilton 2-3 with Bellamy netting twice for the Dee (one from the penalty spot), this result came as a shock especially as Dundee had beaten league champions Rangers in the previous round at Dens park in front of a 30,000 crowd.
Dundee once again finished in 6th posistion in the league with Bob Hamilton finishing the season as top scorer with 20 goals. The average home gate this season was 8,300 and perhaps the upset of the season was the dismissal of Dundee from the Forfarshire cup courtesy of a 3-2 defeat by 2nd division Forfar. Dundee also inflicted 3rd placed Falkirks only home defeat of the season with a 1-0 win in October.
Season 1916-17 saw Dundee finish a lowly 16th place, average home gates were down to 5200 and both the Forfarshire & Scottish Cups were suspended until after the great war. It was very much a one man show in the goalscoring stakes as Davie Brown rattled in 31 goals out of a total of 58 for the club, runner up scorer was Tom McCulloch with a measly 6 goals !!
At the end fo this season Dundee along with the other eastern clubs were asked to drop out of the league set up until after the war - this was to reduce the travelling costs to the other clubs who mostly came from the central or est coast area.
Season 1917-18 saw Dundee win the Eastern league with a final day 2-0 win over Cowdenbeath (Dundee on the league on goal difference) with top goalscorer Tommy Traynor notching both goals as part of his overall total of 28 for the season.
After this season Dundee FC went into abeyance and did not play again until season 1919-20.
Season 1919-20 saw the Dundee management splash out £5000 for the purchase of Dens Park (and by the time the ground had been renovated and a new grandstand built - still in exisitence today - the club were reckoned to have spent the best part of £60,000.
On the playing front , Dundee finished a respectable 4th behind Rangers , Celtic & Motherwell. Johny Bell hit 28 goals to finish top goalscorer and gates were averaging 15,100 - although a 34,000 crowd saw Dundee bow out of the Scottish at the hands of runners up Celtic. Rangers won the league this year with an impressive goal tally of +80 , the freescoring gers hit Dundee for 6 in the April of this year.
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May 20th 1893
Less than 3 weeks after the Scottish League decided to introduce professionalism into the league set up, East End - favourites to take the Eastern League title if they defeated the unfancied Harp in the final game of the season , lost 4-2. Harp finished 5th and Our Boys finished the season 8th out of 10.
In the evening a letter was drafted for presentation to the League committee at the forthcoming AGM on 12th June 1893.
It read as follows;
We, the undersigned as representing the Our Boys and East End clubs of Dundee, hereby make application for admittance as an amalgamated club to be named the Dundee Football Club to membership of the Scottish Football League.
We beg to submit that this application on behalf of the two leading clubs of this district has the entire sympathy of the general public and that the committees and layers of both clubs are prepared to give the new club their support.
Should this application recieve your favourable consideration, we would point out to you the advantages financially of the scheme. Matches between local clubs at threepence for admission have drawn over £100 at the gates and we feel sure with the admission raised to sixpence, and with interest attaching to a national competition such as the Scottish League, that this sum could be easily doubled.
One visit per annum from each of the league clubs would revive interest in the game here and would ensure large attendances.
Dundee, being the third largest centre of population in Scotland, viz 200,000 will, we think, commend itself favourably to you as a centre for a Scottish League club.
Dundee is now within easy reach of edinburgh and Glasgow having connections with both the Caledonian and North British Railways. There is at the disposal of the new club a ground with a laying pitch of 120 yards long by 75 yards broad, quite level and well turfed. Accomodation is provided for 20,000 spectators.
We are certain that we can sustain the interest in the competition throughout the entire season, as we have a large field in the North of scotland from which to engage players to compose our team.
SIGNED Wm Black
Thomas Shaw East End FC
Andrew Williamson
John Cameron Our Boys
[A.Buttar also signed the original document]
The Scottish League accepted the proposal and the new professional league spanned out thus;
Celtic , Rangers, Third Lanark, St.Mirren, Dumbarton, Renton, Hearts, St.Bernards, Leith Athletic and DUNDEE.
Dundee FC were BORN ;¬)
The season 1920/01 saw Dundee finish 4th, again behind the old firm and this time beaten into 3rd place by a Hearts team who went the season undefeated away from home.
The scottish cup campaign ended at the quarter-final stage where a 0-2 defeat from the lowly Albion Rovers ended the cup dream.
Top scorer for this season was Johny Bell who weighed in with 26 goals. The average home crowd was 15,200 and gate reciepts at the Aberdeen scottish cup game were a very impressive £1,056
Season 1921/22 saw the Dees yet again finish 4th with a tally of 49 points from 42 games played. Aberdeen gained revenge in the scottish cup, knocking Dundee out convincingly 3-0 in front of a healthy crowd of 26,577 in Aberdeen. This years top goalscorer was Dave Halliday with a haul of 25 goals. In December of this year (1921) the old wooden stand brought from Carolina Port was burned to the ground,with suggestions of an insurance job ! made in an autobiography by Jimmy Guthrie. The new North stand would be completed.
Season 1922/23 saw the Dees slip down to 7th place in the league although only 9 points seperated the clubs from 2nd place (Celtic) to eight place (Hibernian)
The home average was 15,600 and the scottish cup was again to leave a bitter taste with another lowly outfit (Third Lanark) knocking out the Dees at the 1/4 final stage. Davie McLean knocked in 23 goals to finish top scorer for Dundee
Around this period Dundee were nicknamed 'The Sugar Bags' as they wore the same colours as the sugar bag makers of the city , dark blue & white.
Season 1923/24 saw Dundee finish 5th place and the home crowds slipped to an average 12,600. Davie Halliday claimedan impressive 39 goals to take the title of top scorer and a 0-1 defaet at the hands of 4th place Raith saw Dundee exit the scottish once more.
Season 1924/25 saw a bad run of results leave the Dees in the lower half of the table, and in December manager McFarlane resigned. The board looked after the team themselves and indeed justified this decision with a terrific Scottish cup run wich saw the dees lose out to Celtic 1-2 in the final in front of a 75,000 crowd. Davie Halliday again scored a total of 24 goals for the club this year and his goalscoring record saw him transfered to Sunderland for a fee of £4000.
Our neighbours Dundee United FC Ltd were formed and the directors hoped to sell 2,500 shares at £1, but as today the buying public were not interested and the directors of the club blinkered onwards alone (how times change eh? LOL)
1925 - 1950 in progress pop back for updates - Ta
The rest will be updated depending on the sucess of this article
