Of them all

and had a private room but, instead of singing, we all ended up pouring our hearts out when we got on the mike.

“We talked about what we needed from each other and how we had to stick together. It was a surreal night but one I will always remember.”

The players were also pushed on by a vociferous fan base that had rallied behind the club in its time of need, eventually taking ownership of the club the following May.

Irvine, who spent five and a half years as a player at Dens Park before returning as a coach, added: “The fans played a massive part in it all. I think that’s why I have such a strong bond with Dundee.

“I was actually a Dundee fan when I was young, too, through my uncle Brian being a player there but my real love for the club came from that season and the experiences we had with the fans.

“It’s probably how I’ve ended up at the club for such a long time.

“I was at the peak of my career at Dundee. I played some good stuff there and probably experienced everything you can – promotion, relegation, player of the year, bad seasons, administration!”

And he rates the Deefiant squad – that also included the likes of Craig McKeown, Rhys Weston, Kyle Benedictus, Jamie Adams, Jonny Stewart, Nicky Riley, Colin McMenamin, Sean Higgins and Leighton McIntosh – as the best he was part of in more than five seasons at Dens Park. “Deefiant is hard to look past,” he said. “Just look at the team – you had Leigh Griffiths who has gone on to be one of Scotland’s best strikers, Fozzy Forsyth who went down south and has had a great career with Derby, Rhys Weston and Matty Lockwood had already had good times down there, then there were boys like Gary Harkins and Stephen O’Donnell and a Scotland international in goals with big Rab Douglas.

“As much as getting the top six was a great achievement, the Deefiant just stands above the rest. And getting top six (in the Premiership) doesn’t happen often either – most teams find it really tough in the first season.

“To give Paul Hartley his due, he strengthened really well and built a really competitive squad but still the Deefiant season was the best I played in.”

Full-back Gary Irvine admits being dubbed ‘the White Cafu’ by Dundee fans is one of his treasured memories from a lengthy and successful playing career.

Coronavirus recently brought an end to Irvine’s 14th year as a first-team footballer where he has turned out for Ross County, St Johnstone, St Mirren and this past year at Forfar.

However, he admits his five and a half years as a player at Dens Park, before returning as a youth coach, were the best of his career.

Amid that were the Deefiant season of 2010/11, the Championship-winning campaign of 2013/14 and finishing in the top six of the Premiership the following term.

As a kid, Irvine followed the Dark Blues while his uncle Brian played 78 times in two years between 1997 and 1999.

And he says his affinity with the Dens Park support, even when he played against Dundee, only served to strengthen his feelings for the club.

A goalscoring flurry from right-back where Irvine scored four times in seven matches during the 2014/15 campaign saw supporters draw a comparison with one of the finest forwardthinking defenders of all time, Brazil great Cafu.

“I really liked that!” said Irvine.

“I took to it as a player – there’s nothing better than the fans coming up with a song and a funny nickname like that.

“I don’t think it could’ve worked any better – Cafu was my idol and being compared to the best rightback in the world was a massive compliment.

“I loved the song and there was even a Brazil flag with the White Cafu on it.

“I actually came back with St Mirren and we knocked Dundee out of the cup but the fans still sung my name, which was amazing.

“I went across to the flag at the end of the game and big Gary Knight from the Big Rabbie D club gave me a cuddle and the flag too – I’ve got it at home as a keepsake.”