Dundee make right moves to become a modern club

ARE we about to see a modern Dundee Football Club?

There have been big strides made in recent weeks.

Aside from ending our long wait to find out who the new manager will be, work has been under way for some time to rejig the football department at Dens Park.

Then there’s the new stadium plans for Camperdown Park, though we will have to wait a fair while yet before we see any spades in the ground at ‘New Campy’.

And now a team-up with Dundee and Angus College to effectively move out of Dens Park during the week.

For the foreseeable future, matches will still be played at Dundee’s spiritual home, of course.

But all the work done behind the scenes, Monday to Friday stuff that nobody sees, will now happen away from the old ground.

There is a sadness in seeing the club begin to move away from their home of 123 years.

And no doubt there will be plenty of fans unhappy to see it happen.

But Dens Park is frankly outof-date for a modern football club.

Managing director John Nelms revealed a few months back that the main stand may have to have reduced capacity because it is no longer up to scratch in terms of safety. That sort of thing just can’t go on.

And that’s the very building where all the offices are, most of them stretched out and detached from each other.

So, I’m very much behind the move to Gardyne Campus on the east of the city.

I’m all for tradition and keeping to your history but sometimes you just have to move on.

It feels very much like Dundee are doing that, even if it has taken a number of years since the idea of a new stadium was mooted. What pleases me is they haven’t just waited around for new training facilities to be built alongside the stadium. If there’s issues with planning permission, then they might not arrive for years.

And training is a problem for the Dark Blues. With no single facility, things can be a little haphazard in terms of location.

One week they are at Riverside, another at RPC, then something else needs booked.

So, having use of a venue with all the indoor facilities you need with pitches alongside is a big step forward.

There will be a bit of wait-time until the pitches are ready but, once they are, having a training area right next to the rest of the club, gym, swimming pool etc, it makes life so much easier for management and players.

And makes it easier to attract new players – and coaches. Hopefully so too will the restructure with Gordon Strachan at the helm.

Gary Bowyer is in as manager and there’s a head of recruitment to arrive, too.

That’s the modern way of running a club. Spreading the load and having a three-man team with real experience in there will, hopefully, reap rewards.

Not only are the Dark Blues moving their business hub out of a 100-year-old building, they are bringing the entire set-up into the 21st Century. Let’s see what difference it makes on the pitch.

From left – John Nelms (Dundee FC managing director), Caryn Gibson (economics partnership manager Dundee & Angus College), Darren Foy, (centre manager, sports and fitness, Dundee and Angus College), Simon Hewitt, (principal, Dundee and Angus College), Gordon Strachan (technical director, Dundee FC), Greg Fenton (chief executive, Dundee FC Community Trust).