Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
United spend to bring Tannadice up to scratch
DUNDEE Un ited’s American owners have forked out a quarter of a million pounds over the summer to make sure Tannadice is up to scratch.
And the spending to make it one of the best grounds in the country will continue over the next few years.
Tangerines managing director Mal Brannigan, while stressing no criticism was being aimed at previous regimes, has revealed the one surprise millionaire Mark Ogren and his son Scott got after buying United was the extent of work needed to the stadium.
However, he was delighted with their belief it should be undertaken as a matter of urgency.
Since the end of last season, that’s seen almost £100,000 spent on the Eddie Thompson Stand and an ongoing refurbishment of the Executive Lounge and Captain’s Suite underneath the Jerry Kerr Stand.
Other improvements sanctioned by the owners include the new ticketing system that’s now in operation and the installation of a fibre optic ring covering the entire stadium.
“The one thing that did catch us a little bit by surprise when we came in was probably the amount of investment we needed to put into Tannadice to bring her back up to speed and to better the facilities the fans were experiencing,” explained Brannigan.
“It was not necessarily an enormous surprise but, at the same time, we were probably a little bit behind where we thought we would be and we have addressed a l ot of that stuff during the summer, so, when we go forward, we have good foundations in place.
“We’ve done a lot of infrastructure work. Fans will be able to l ook up i n the Eddie Thompson and look up to the rafters and see there’s a lot of paint work that’s gone on there.
“We’ve re-netted the steelwork underneath that as well. That was something that would have had to have been done for a number of years, wasn’t done, and was something that needed addressing.”
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