Park woes ‘show need to flit Dens’

DUNDEE FC owner Tim Keyes thinks a new stadium is the best way to deal with the current issues over the playing surface at Dens Park.

A hearing is due to take place in August in the next phase of the planning application process to build a new 12,500-seater ground at Camperdown Park.

Keyes said the feedback he has received ahead of that key date has been “positive”.

His comments come as the Dark Blues do everything they can to ensure today’s home match against Motherwell is on – including drafting in covers from Celtic and specialist help from Burnley.

The cinch Premiership match is scheduled to go ahead at 3pm but rain and snow hit the City of Discovery yesterday.

“It’s always hard to fight mother nature,” Keyes told Dee TV.

“There’s not a lot we can do in some circumstances but I think we have done everything we can.

“We have brought in a lot of consultants to help with the pitch, we have brought in everything we possibly can to make the pitch playable.

“Sometimes you make it playable, sometimes you don’t, but it hasn’t been from a lack of effort.

“But also I think it leads to the need for a new stadium.

“With a pitch as old as ours, there is only so much you can do and if we can keep moving on the path of the new stadium, I think the current issues won’t be as relevant.

“It’s been a long road to get here (in the planning process). It’s taken longer than we anticipated.

“We have our hearing in August. From everything I’ve heard, from all the different consultants we have hired and all the different feedback we have got from different authorities, everyone seems to be very positive and in favour of the stadium.”

An inspection of the Dens Park surface took place on Thursday and the pitch was deemed playable.

Another check has been arranged for 11am today ahead of the Motherwell clash.

Concerns were raised after heavy rain on Wednesday and the SPFL told Dundee that an alternative venue would have to be found if the match could not go ahead at Dens Park.

With the Premiership split on the horizon, a lack of free dates to reschedule and a rearranged fixture against Rangers this coming Wednesday, league bosses are desperate to get the game played this weekend.

The Dens Park pitch.