Tannadice Park , usually referred to as Tannadice , is a football stadium located on Tannadice Street in the Scottish city of Dundee. The stadium is home of Dundee United F.C. and has a capacity of 14,209. Uniquely, the stadium is opposite Dens Park, which is the home of city rivals Dundee, making them the two closest senior football venues in the United Kingdom.

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Stadium layout

Tannadice is an all-seater stadium and has been so since 1994. The various stands are as follows:

The Jerry Kerr Stand: Originally built in 1962, it was the first cantilevered stand at a football ground in Scotland and only the third in the UK. Particularly notable for its unusual L-shaped construction, the stand runs from the halfway line on the south (Tannadice Street) side of the pitch, bending around the ground's south east corner, to end slightly along the east goal-line. The only seated accommodation at the ground prior to the post-Taylor Report redevelopment, it was known simply as the Main Stand until 2003, when it was renamed in honour of Jerry Kerr, the manager who had overseen its construction. The development of other parts of Tannadice has meant that this stand is now normally reserved for away supporters.

The Fair Play Stand: The most recent addition to the stadium, opened in 1997. Although separately named, it is effectively an extension of the old Main Stand to cover the entirety of the ground's south side. The name derives from the Fair Play Enclosure, a small enclosed terrace which previously occupied this corner of Tannadice, and itself named for the award given to United and their fans by FIFA following the club's run to the 1987 UEFA Cup Final. This stand is also reserved for visiting supporters.

The West Stand: Invariably referred to by its historic nickname, The Shed , it retains its original roof construction dating from 1957; between then and 1980, it was the only covered standing area at Tannadice, therefore becoming the most popular and atmospheric part of the ground. Since 1994, seats have been installed on the original terracing, parts of which are still visible at the corners. With season ticket holders now accommodated in the more modern parts of the stadium, the Shed can be allocated to either home or away supporters as demand dictates.

The George Fox Stand: Named after a long serving club director, this two-tier stand was built in 1991–92 along the north side of the ground and was the first phase in the conversion of Tannadice to meet all-seater requirements. It is allocated to home supporters.

The Eddie Thompson Stand: Opened in 1994 as the East Stand , and with a similar design to the adjacent George Fox Stand, it also has two tiers of seating. The East Stand now houses the loudest and most passionate elements of the United support, whereas George Fox patrons have the reputation of being somewhat more restrained in their behaviour. As such, this end of Tannadice is the spiritual heir of the old "Shed". In March 2008, the stand was renamed after the current club chairman, Eddie Thompson. ^[1]

History

Early days (1882-1909)

The ground that is now Tannadice was first used for football in the 1870s, when the the surrounding area of Dundee was still largely open countryside. The area that is now the allotments between Tannadice and Arklay Street became the home ground of a local club called East End in 1882; they gave it the name Clepington Park . East End remained there until moving to a new ground in 1890, and Clepington was subsequently taken over by Dundee Wanderers. East End would be one of the two clubs which amalgamated to form Dundee F.C. in 1893.

By this time, the surrounding modern street pattern had begun to emerge, with Provost Road, Arklay Street, and Clepington Road all having been laid out. West of Arklay Street remained open land while the east was being developed. By 1890, one of the new streets leading off Arklay Street had been given the name Tannadice Street.

In 1891, Wanderers decided to enclose Clepington to enable them to charge for admission. In conjunction, it was decided to utilise the natural slope roughly a hundred yards to the west (below what is now Sandeman Street) in order to provide better views for spectators. As well as enclosing the new pitch, now situated on approximately its modern alignment, the club built a modest grandstand, a simple uncovered wooden structure with bench seating. It probably housed no more than 500 spectators.

From 1899, Wanderers had to contend with considerable competition for local support with the opening of Dens Park, the new Dundee F.C. ground. This was situated almost opposite Clepington, where the extended Tannadice Street met Sandeman Street at an angle.

New owners (1909)

1909 saw the formation of Dundee Hibernian, a new club representing the city’s Irish community. As much of the local Irish population was concentrated in the Lochee district, it was assumed the Hibs would seek to set up home in that area. However, rather than seek to construct a new ground, the new club's secretary Pat Reilly took the controversial step of approaching the landlord of Clepington Park in order to secure a ready-made venue. This was considered even more surprising given that Dundee Wanderers, a club which would initially be expected to become Hibs’ main local rivals, had been settled there for a lengthy period; and also the leading local club Dundee were situated just across the road. The Hibs committee made an offer to the landlords which clearly exceeded what Wanderers were paying; as a result, the established tenants were informed that their lease would not be renewed for the coming season.

The extent of Wanderers’ anger at this development is evident from their decision to effectively dismantle Clepington's fixtures and fittings. The grandstand, changing rooms, fencing and even the goalposts were removed, leaving Hibs with an open field rather than the ready-made ground they had envisaged.

Nevertheless, the new club over the lease, and a decision was taken to emphasise the new era by changing the name of the ground, Tannadice Park being adopting from the name of the street on which the ground's main entrance would be situated.

Hibs' first priority, therefore, was to re-equip Tannadice for the new season and a new grandstand and fencing were soon provided. A cricket-style pavilion housing dressing rooms was constructed in the south east corner of the ground, where the players’ tunnel is today; this survived until 1961. An indication of the rapid development of the new Tannadice is contained in a report from the city’s Evening Telegraph newspaper, 21 July 1909:

‘The pavilion is a splendid two-storey structure built of brick, containing two large dressing-rooms, two committee rooms, press box and referee’s room. The pavilion will be lit by electricity. The stand on the road side will be the whole length of the field and will seat about 1,000 people.’

Hibs and United (1909-59)

The club's and the ground's inaugural match was against Edinburgh Hibernian on 18 August 1909, in front of a crowd of 7,000. The original capacity of Tannadice Park was around 10,000, the terracings were specially extended and additional temporary seating erected for a Qualifying Cup-tie against Forfar Athletic in 1913; all of this was necessary to allow a record crowd to be accommodated, and the reported attendance was 15,000.

No further improvements to the ground took place until Dundee United won promotion to Division One for the first time in 1925. The Scottish League Management Committee informed the club that Tannadice would be subject to an inspection during the close season to ensure that it was up to the standard required for the higher level, and this clearly concentrated the directors’ minds. Since 1909, Tannadice had been leased, but the board now decided to buy the ground, paying £2,500. Extensive renovations were then begun, the first to the pitch. There was a steep upwards slope towards the corner where the George Fox and East Stands now meet, and this necessitated solid rock being blasted to enable it to be levelled. For the first time, proper terracings were constructed, while the pavilion was given a facelift and new turnstiles were built.

The various financial crises which beset the club in the 1930s and its general lack of success on the pitch prevented any further ground improvements until 1953. At that time, the north terracing was concreted and four years later the same was done at both ends. During the close season of 1957, an important development took place with the construction of the Shed, which was opened in September of that year.

The Kerr and McLean eras (1959-92)

The new Main Stand, opened in August 1962, was the first in Scotland to be constructed with a cantilever roof to provide column-free viewing for spectators. It was intended at the time that the whole ground would be re-built in a similar manner, but due to lack of finance no further building took place. The stand was also the first ever to have a glass fronted lounge for the benefit of sponsors. This was opened in 1971 and overlooked the pitch, something that is now a common sight in football grounds across the country.

Much of the rebuilding that took place in the 1950s and 1960s was financed by an innovation by then manager Jerry Kerr who had been greatly taken by the success of Warwickshire County Cricket Club in raising money for the rebuilding of Edgbaston through the medium of a football pool. Kerr set up Taypools , which, for about a decade, brought money into the club which helped finance the rebuilding the West ("The Shed") and North stands as well as the Jerry Kerr Stand. Floodlights were installed in 1962.

Under-soil heating was installed during the close season of 1985 at a reported cost of £100,000, United were the fourth Scottish club to have the facility, following Queen's Park, Rangers and Hibernian. The undersoil heating was first used for the UEFA Cup tie against Neuchâtel Xamax on 27 November 1985.

Modern Tannadice (1992-)

Two new two-tiered stands, the George Fox and East Stands (renamed 'The Eddie Thompson Stand' in 2008), were opened in 1992 and 1994 respectively. Seating was installed in 'The Shed' in 1994 and the Fair Play Stand, an extension to the Main Stand, was completed in 1997.

Records and trivia

The official record attendance at Tannadice was 28,000 for a Fairs Cup match against FC Barcelona on 16 November 1966, thus making Dundee United one of only two Scottish clubs to achieve their highest attendance against foreign opposition, the other being Hearts in their friendly against Barcelona at Murrayfield. The highest attendance at Tannadice for a domestic match was 26,407 in a Scottish Cup tie on 23 February 1952 against Aberdeen.

References

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