JOCKY'S BOOK

Something all Dundee fans can add to their Christmas list this year - the book about Dee legend, Jocky Scott, called "Jocky's Journey".
The full story about Jocky's career with loads of great photos.
Go get!

IAN SCOTT - FORWARD - EARLY 70'S

Ian Scott joined Dundee in 1971. Although he was a striker, he wasn't exactly a prolific goal scorer for us. Then again, he was competing with Wallace, Duncan & J.Scott in the forward line at the time, so it was a difficult task I suppose. In his 82 games he played for the club, he managed to grab a total of 19 goals.
His final appearance in Dee colours was in April 1975.
The photo of him was taken in 1971.
When he hung up his boots, he went on to be a policeman and is now retired.

DAVE JOHNSTON IN THE 70'S

Dundee's left back, Dave (Biffo) Johnston, was well known for having a power-blaster of a shot. So what you DIDN'T want to be doing was standing in the way of one of his shots.
Unfortunately, Alex Ingram of Ayr United didn't heed this warning, and took the full force of one of Biffo's thunderbolts, right in the kisser!
You can see on the footage below from 1975 how, despite appearing to have his left eye half shut from the impact, Ingram not only stayed on his feet, but he didn't even flinch!
The picture above of Davie at Dens was taken circa 1970.

THE UNION JACK CHANT - 1970'S

Back in the early 70's, when fan rivalry included the odd bout of bigotry in the banter, Dee fans sometimes borrowed ideas from the Gers when it came to singing chants on matchday.
As well as flaunting Union Jacks at matches (which was copied off Rangers), the Derry used to burst into the "Born Under A Union Jack" chant, a well known Gers song, but obviously, Dundee's version having a tweak to the wording. The original tune, by Lee Marvin is called "Wandering Star". Here below is a wee reminder of that very tune, with sing-a-long lyrics!
I wouldn't be surprised if it's outlawed now!!

JOHN GRAY - EARLY 70'S

Although he only totted up a handful of games, I remember seeing John Gray play in the early 70's. He did have a tough time mind you because, being a striker, he was fighting for position with the likes of Wallace, Duncan & Scott, and so as a consequence he didn't quite make it through to being a regular. Checking his stats, it seems he only played in a total of 12 matches in 2 season, 1972/73 & 1973/74.

BOBBY ROBINSON'S 2 NICKNAMES

Bobby Robinson was a classy 70's midfielder who used to like having runs at goal. He was nicknamed "Trigger" by his team mates, because of his turn of speed.
However, I remember my crowd had our own alternative nickname for him - "Peach of a goal". This came about when one of Bobby's goals featured weekly on the intro sequence to Sportscene. In the original match it was taken from, Archie McPherson came out with the phrase "peach of a goal" in his commentary to describe it, and that kind of stuck with us. We had a rather Monty Python kind of sense of humour then and we did actually shout out "Come on, Peach of a goal" during matches!! We were in fact referring to the Python sketch featuring a guy with the nickname, Arthur "Two Sheds" Jackson!!! A good laugh at the time, even if a bit silly.
Anyway, Bobby's time at Dens was from 1971 to 1977, in which he played 195 full games, and included a Scottish League Cup winners medal in 73. He also played for Scotland while he was a Dee - 4 full caps in 74/75.
He, sadly, died far too soon, in 1996 aged only 46.

JOHN DUNCAN ACTION SHOT #1

John Duncan was in the legendary forward line of the late 60's/early 70's that included Gordon Wallace & Jocky Scott. All 3 strikers are actually in the top 10 of Dundee's all-time top scorers. Duncan's goal scoring tally came to 109, after playing a total of 179 full games for the club between 1966 & 1974.
This was the era I used to follow the Dee every week, and I remember one Saturday, John Duncan parked his car at the top of Provie Road and my crowd spotted him, so we all ran over and started chatting to him. As we all made our way down to Dens, every few steps other Dee fans noticed us and joined the posse. By the time we reached the ground there was a crowd of about 100 of us who ended up escorting him to the main entrance!
The above photo was taken in the 1971/72 season at Dens but I must admit I don't recognise what team it is. Hearts maybe? If you recognise any of the players, drop the info into the comments.
Photo by D C Thomson.

DUNDEE FC PENNANT FROM THE 70'S

From around the mid 70's era is this original DFC pennant which I'm sure a few of you probably had on your wall at the time. A little tatty near the bottom but otherwise in top notch condition. This was made of a plastic/pvc type of material which has probably helped keep it in such good nick after 4 decades.

DUNDEE 1977-78 HANDBOOK

Quite a nice illustration of the DFC "braces" kit on the cover of this Official Handbook from the 77/78 season.
Content includes - a word from chairman Ian Gellatly - match action shots - a message from manager Tommy Gemmell - quiz - profiles on Bobby Hutchinson, Billy Pirie, Iain Phillip, Ian McDougall & Ian Redford - club history - squad photo - DFC Social Club news - famous game from the past and the latest fixture list.

IAIN PHILLIP - 70'S CENTRE HALF

Iain Phillip was a real classy player, who, after a couple of appearances as sub, made his full team debut on 19th Sept 1970 against St. Mirren at Dens.
He was with the club for nearly 10 years, signing in 1968 and ending his time there in Sept 1978. Why it wasn't the full 10 years is because he had a stint at Crystal Palace in 1972, which was pretty short lived, and when he came back to Dens in 1973 he was in the team who lifted the Scottish League Cup that year.
He made a total of 253 full appearances for the Dee and has also played at international level for Scotland.

LET'S ALL DO THE CONGA!

This unusual squad photo was taken at the start of the 1969/70 season.
The team line-up (quite literally!) is from left to right as follows :
Campbell, Kinnonmonth, Scott, Wilson, Gilroy, Bryce, Murray, Wallace, Houston, Easton & Donaldson.
69/70 was a pretty average year for us, 6th in the League and a Scottish Cup semi.

DUNDEE FC ON MAG COVERS #3 - SHOOT

Here's the cover of Shoot from Feb 1971 showing Dundee's Doug Houston, in white, battling it out with wee St Johnstone winger, Kenny Aird. The game being played at Dens Park.

HOW TO WEAR YOUR SCARF IN THE 70'S

Sometime around 1972/73 youngsters got creative when it came to scarf wearing. Above are 2 of the most popular ways teenagers wore them to matches. Like all fads and crazes, this did eventually fizzle out, probably around 1976. Fun while it lasted!

BASTARD REFEREE CHANT - 1970'S

This amusing chant sung at Dens and around the rest of the country, began, like so many others , in the early 70's.
A chorus of the chant would be triggered when events on the pitch weren't going your teams way and the ref was to blame, for example if one of your players was sent off or the opposition was awarded a penalty.
The tune used was "My darling, Clementine", and the wee karaoke below should be enough to get the gist of it.
Photo by the Scotsman.

DUNDEE'S TOUR OF AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND - 1972

This programme is dated 17th May 1972. It was 1 of 7 matches Dundee played in on their tour of Australia & New Zealand, spanning the period 13th May to 28th May. The above game, which took place in Adelaide, finished Australia XI 1 v 2 Dundee FC.
The A&NZ tour was a big success for the dark blues, winning all 7 of their games, notching up an amazing 53 goals and conceding only 6. One of their encounters ended up 16-1..!!
The stats do make it look like that the Aussies may have been a bit amateurish, hence the large scorelines, but later 6 of the players who played for Australia in the above match went on to become involved in their National team who qualified for the World Cup in Germany 1974, having finished top of the Asia & Oceania Group.
As regards the Socceroo's fate in 1974, well they lost to both East and West Germany, ( the latter being eventual cup winners ) but they did manage a draw with Chile... which is more than they achieved against us!

THE WAY TO GO HOME CHANT - 1970'S

This was another chant that started up in the early '70's. It would be sung when, for example, Dundee were 3-0 up and winning the game very easily. A chorus of "Show them the way to go home..." would ring out to embarrass the opposition. The tune is a really old composition going way back to the 1920's called "Show me the way to go home", and is mostly known as a drinking song.
Below is a wee karaoke to get a bit of practise!

DUNDEE'S LEAGUE CUP WIN - 1973

It was 35 years ago today Dundee won the Scottish League Cup. 15th December 1973 was the big day and it was a match I was at. I'd be aged 15.
I remember making a customised scarf for the special occasion. I came up with the idea of adding the words "DUNDEE FC" to my regular dark blue scarf, so what I did was get on old white pillowcase, cut all the letters out from it then painstakingly sew them all onto the scarf. Took me all evening but the end result was pretty smart!
We Dundonians were up against the odds that day - Celtic being in their 9 in-a-row season. We were up against the elements too - the atrocious winter weather nearly had the game cancelled, and we were up against the government - there were power cuts and transport strikes all over Scotland. Despite all that was chucked at us, we still came out on top.
Here below is a wee film that gives a glimpse as to what the Dees trip to Hampden was like on the day we beat the odds!
Photo by DC Thomson.

WHEN BATMAN VISITED DENS - 1976

On a snowy December in 1976, Dundee FC had a Gala Day at Dens Park. There were stalls laid out selling various goods, the fans could meet the players, and there was music and other entertainment on throughout the day. Because it had snowed the night before, the pitch was cleared so that a charity game could take place, with the snow being swept to the side of the pitch. In amongst the entertainment taking place on the day was a scheduled appearance of the Batmobile, and sure enough, in through the Tannadice Street gate at the side of the Stand came the Batmobile, with Batman & Robin waving to the crowd from inside the car. The car drove around the track at the side of the pitch then stopped in front of the Stand. Out popped the Dynamic Duo to pose beside the Batmobile and greet the crowd. Bad move!! While they were posing and waving, a group of kids ran over to the snow that was piled up at the side of the pitch and started chucking snowballs at them. They were absolutely pelted! Next thing was the hilarious sight of the Caped Crusaders scarpering back into the Batmobile for protection then screeching off back out of Dens. You could almost see the words POW - SPLAT - THUD pop up as Dundee's bairns chased the crimefighters back to Gotham City!!

JOCKY SCOTT SUPERSTAR CHANT - 1970

This chant was popular at Dens in the very early 70's. It uses the tune from Jesus Christ Superstar which was a rock opera stage show in 1970.
The short karaoke below should be good enough for you to sing it out loud!
Photo by DC Thomson.Tints by GG.

DOUG HOUSTON - 1962 to 1973

Captain sensible, Doug Houston, is one of the Dees longest serving players in their 115 year history. He was at Dens from 1962 to 1973 and played a total of 341 full games. In his latter years he became Dundee's regular captain. Although he played midfield he did manage to bang in a few goals from time to time, including scoring a goal in his final match for the club at Dens against Hearts in the last game of the season, April 73.
The above photo shows him leading the team out at Tynecastle in 1971, a game that ended in a 0-0 stalemate.
Photo by The Scotsman.Tints by GG.