Tannadice Park
Encyclopedia : T : TA : TAN : Tannadice Park
| Tannadice | |
| |
| Facility Statistics | |
| Location | Dundee, Scotland |
| Broke Ground | 1891 |
| Opened | 18 August, 1909 |
| Renovated | 1992-1997 |
| Surface | Grass (1909–present) |
| Owner | Dundee United Football Club |
| Original Construction Cost | |
| Reconstruction Cost | £ 6,000,000 |
| Architect | |
| Tenants | |
| Dundee United | Scottish Premier League |
| Seating Capacity | |
| Football | 14,209 |
Tannadice Park or 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 on the same road [link] as Dens Park which is the home of city rivals Dundee F.C.
The ground is built on what was previously called Clepington Park. In 1875, the area of Dundee between Coldside and Maryfield was open countryside, the only habitation being the farmhouses of West Clepington and East Clepington farms. Where Dens Road and Mains Road converged the road degenerated into a cart-track at what is now Provost Road, and this continued several hundred yards north to meet Clepington Road. The area immediately south of Clepington Road was simply open fields. The only road leading into this area was Arklay Street, a mere hundred yards in length north from Dens Road.
Organised football was by then burgeoning throughout the city and the grassy part of that area – that is now allotments behind Tannadice Park – was first used in the late 1870s. The first club to claim part of that area as its home ground was called East End F.C. They did so in 1882, giving it the name Clepington Park. East End remained there until moving to a new ground in 1890, and Clepington Park was then taken over by Dundee Wanderers. East End would be one of the two clubs which amalgamated to form Dundee F.C. in 1893.
By that time, Provost Road had been built, and, like Arklay Street, had been built as far north as Clepington Road. The area to the west of Arklay Street remained open land but that to the east was being gradually developed. Proceeding north up Arklay Street in 1890, one of the new streets on the right had been given the name Tannadice Street.
The following year Dundee Wanderers decided to enclose the ground they had taken over to enable them to charge for admission. But, in order to provide a better vantage point for spectators, it was decided to harness the natural slope roughly a hundred yards to the west, below what is now Sandeman Street. It was this area which they enclosed and the club built what was termed a ‘grandstand’, although this was a simple wooden structure of bench seats, probably no more than ten deep; it had no roof and would have accommodated 500 spectators at most.
By 1909, Tannadice Street had been extended across Arklay Street to meet Sandeman Street at an angle. At the point where these two streets met was Dens Park, the new Dundee F.C. ground, opened in 1899. The triangular area immediately to its east, circumscribed by Sandeman, Arklay and Tannadice Streets, contained Clepington Park.
When Dundee Hibernian were formed that year, their choice of a ground came as a surprise. Given the club’s origins within the city’s Irish community, it had been expected they would set up home in the Lochee district, where the bulk of that community had settled. However, rather than construct their own ground, the men who had formed the new club decided to seek ready-made accommodation at Clepington Park, home for the past 19 years of Dundee Wanderers, a club which would be the Hibs’ main local rivals. On behalf of his committee, the Hibs’ secretary Pat Reilly made an offer to the landlords which clearly exceeded what Wanderers were paying. The result was that the established tenants were informed that their lease would not be renewed for the coming season, and instead was to be transferred to the Hibs in 1909.
This caused quite a furore in the city and the extent of the Wanderers’ anger can be gauged from the fact that, before departing Clepington Park, the club dismantled the grandstand and wooden changing rooms along with the fencing which enclosed the ground; even the goal-posts were removed, leaving Hibs with an open space.
Immediately on taking over the lease, the Hibs committee decided to emphasise the arrival of the new club by changing the name of the ground. They settled on Tannadice Park, adopting the name of the street on which the main entrance to the ground was to be situated.
The Dundee Hibs board's first priority after enclosing it, was to provide changing accommodation. At that time, dressing-rooms were not usually built under the grandstand, but were contained in a stand-alone building known as the pavilion, following the example of cricket grounds. The pavilion was a common feature at Scottish football grounds, particularly smaller ones, until well after World War Two, it was situated at the South-East corner of the ground where the players’ tunnel is today, and remained at Tannadice until 1961. Some indication of the early development of Tannadice can be had from the following report taken from the city’s Evening Telegraph newspaper of 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.’
The club's and the ground's innaugural 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 Jerr Kerr Stand (opened as the Main Stand in August 1962) was the first in Scotland to be constructed with a cantilever roof to provide column-free viewing for specators. It was intended at the time that the whole ground would be re-built in a similar manner to the Jerry Kerr Stand, but due to lack of finance no further building took place. The stand was also the first ever to have a glass fronted lounge in the Main Stand 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. The stand was extended in 1997 so that it ran for the full length of the pitch. This section of the stand is allocated to away supporters today.
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.
Two new two-tiered stands, the George Fox and East Stands, were opened in 1992 and 1994 respectively. Seating was installed in The Shed in 1994 and the 1,977 Fair Play Stand, and extension to the Main Stand was completed in 1997.
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.
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 the only Scottish club to achieve their highest attendance against foreign opposition. The highest attendance at Tannadice for a domestic match was 26,407 in a Scottish Cup tie on 23 February 1952 against Aberdeen.
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