A holiday to the industrial port city of Dundee might not be on top of your list, but the old Tannadice Park of Dundee United is characteristic and perfect in its imperfection. A visit is more than worth your time, particularly because the stadium of rivals Dundee FC is a mere 200 yards away.
Dundee United was founded in 1909 as Dundee Hibernian. Fourteen years later the club changed its name to Dundee United. The Terrors had their most successful spell in the 1980s when they won a league title (1983) and reached the semi-finals of the European Cup (1984) and the final of the UEFA Cup (1987).
Tannadice Park, which has a capacity of 14,233, is perfect in its imperfection. Inside, it feels like a somewhat strange and awkward hotchpotch of different stands. From the outside, on the other hand, it looks like a whole. The stadium does not consist of four, but five stands, although the most recently built Jim McLean Fair Play Stand is more like an extension of the Jerry Kerr Stand.
The West Stand, also known as The Shed, is also remarkably asymmetric. The southern part of the stand reaches way across the touchline, whilst the northern part does not even reach the touchline. It essentially feels like it was misplaced by accident. The pitch is not flat either. There is a height difference of almost two metres between the north-western corner and the south-eastern corner of the pitch.
And then we have not even talked about the different floodlights or the peculiar narrow box where the directors and other important people of the club take place. In short, it is a wonderful and unique football stadium, where the club has been playing ever since its foundation in 1909. You cannot imagine a more beautiful home for Dundee United.
About 200 yards from Tannadice Park, you will find Dens Park, the home of city rivals Dundee FC. It is rare to see two football stadiums so close to each other. It is a tradition for both teams to walk from their home stadium to the ground the derby is being played at when playing each other. The rivalry is big, although in general quite friendly because every family has at least one Dundee FC and one Dundee United fan. You can compare it to the Merseyside Derby between Everton and Liverpool for example.
In the years when hooliganism was at an all-time high in the UK, both fan bases combined forces and created one hooligan firm called The Dundee Utility. Two Dundee-born writers and former members, Kenny McColl and John Robb, wrote a book about their time in the firm.
There is no one bigger at Dundee United than Jim McLean. Not only did he play for the club for three years, but he was also their longest-serving manager. In his successful spell as a manager from 1971 to 1993, he won three trophies, including The Terrors’ only league title. After he stepped down as a manager, he was Dundee United’s chairman for a couple of years. In 2021, a year after McLean sadly passed away, the club unveiled a beautiful statue of their icon with a trophy in his hand. You can find the statue at the Eddie Thompson Stand.
One of the highlights of Dundee is the hill Dundee Law, which offers a beautiful view of the entire city and its surroundings. In winter, when the leaves have fallen off the trees, you can spot Dens Park and Tannadice Park from here.
There are tons of pubs in close proximity to the stadium where you can enjoy a nice pint before or after the match. The Snug Bar, Bowbridge Bar, The Athletic Bar, Frews Bar and Clep Bar are all special pubs with football memorabilia on the walls. Clep Bar also displays a shirt of the eccentric Claudio Canigga, who played a year for rivals Dundee FC, on the wall.
Tickets can easily be purchased on the club’s official website. Do you want to visit a match against clubs like Rangers or Celtic? Then you must have already bought tickets to other home games earlier in the season.
Dundee is quite a compact city, so everything can essentially be reached on foot. The stadium is about a 35-minute walk from the train station. Quite long, but you can also explore parts of the city centre on the way. Alternatively, you can also take buses 1, 2, 20D, 137 or 138 to the bus stop Sibbald Street, which is within walking distance of the stadium. From the bus stop Caird Hall, which is near the train station, you can take bus 138 to Sibbald Street for example.
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