Shed Boy
Apr 19 2003, 03:31 PM
This was posted on a website called Grounds Tour where a guy goes around a ground in the UK every week. He was at Tannadice last week for Dundee United V Rangers and i just thought that id post the review as Tannadice was the first ground to get 100/100 matchday rating.
Result: Dundee United 1 Rangers 4
Attendance: 10,271
Days don't start much better than this ... orange juice, cereal, cooked breakfast and several slices of toast!! After this indulgence I was ready to leave the B&B where I'd stayed overnight in Aberdeen and prepare for the visit to Dundee United's Tannadice Park. With a little time to spare, I had chance to explore more of Aberdeen and it continued to strike me as a pleasant city. Around 10:45am I set off back down the A90 to complete the 60 or so miles to Dundee. The traffic was light and by 12pm I was pulling off onto the B960.
Looking at my directions, I realised that I would pass Dundee's Dens Park ground to reach Tannadice. As the floodlights came into view though, it was instantly obvious that the homes of the two Dundee clubs sat side by side. I parked up on a side street overlooking the two grounds, with the Tannadice floodlights visible just behind Dens Park. With over two and a half hours to go until kick-off, there was a fair bit of time to kill. However, it sounded like there was a match taking place inside Dens Park, with a referee's whistle and a fair amount of shouting audible within. I was pleased to find that this was the case, with an open gate next to the Bob Shankly Stand providing entry to the ground. An amateur cup semi-final was taking place and admission cost just £1. The lower tier of the North Stand within the ground was open and a hundred or so spectators were gathered there. Dens Park was an impressive venue, a mixture of the old and new, with attractive, modern stands behind either goal and considerably more dated affairs on either side. The modern stands were completely identical, even to the extent of having almost exactly the same advertising hoardings! This unexpected opportunity to see the inside of Dens Park certainly whetted my appetite to experience a proper matchday at Dundee and I reflected how pictures I'd seen of the ground failed to do it justice. The amateur match wasn't bad, with a hatful of goals scored (particularly in the first half), and served to pass the time well until the turnstiles were about to be opened at Tannadice Park.
Thirty seconds was all it took to complete the walk from one stadium to the other. It was hard to judge the age of the Tannadice stands as none looked sparklingly new, but yet none appeared particularly dated. Three sides of the ground were largely deserted but a large number of Rangers fans were gathered on the streets outside the Main Stand. There were no obvious signs of a ticket office or club shop outside the stadium and there wasn't the hustle and bustle around the ground you would expect just an hour before the kick-off of a high profile game.
A steep slope led up to the turnstiles for the East Stand. I had pre-booked my ticket for this stand just over a week before the match, aware that had been made all-ticket. The East Stand overlooked a small set of allotments which were squashed in between the surrounding houses and roads. The facilities within the East Stand were quite good and as I emerged to find my seat in the stand I was greatly impressed by Tannadice Park.
Tannadice was one of the most unusual modern-looking venues that I had seen. The Main Stand and Fair Play stand, a continous structure on one side of the pitch, looked particularly eye-catching, with the classic floodlight towers adding the final touch to a relatively small but charismatic and charming arena. The East Stand, situated behind a goal, was the main home end of the ground. It comprised of a fair-sized lower tier and small upper section. The sun-drenched George Fox Stand to my right was similar in that it had a decent-sized lower section, with the upper gallery of seating struggling to beat double figures in terms of rows of seats.
The Main Stand to my left curved round to join the East Stand. It comprised a small section of seating, raised several feet above pitch level. Filling the space underneath were executive boxes, although they appeared to contain little more than just a row of seats behind glass. The Main Stand did not run the full length of the pitch, joining onto the Fair Play Stand which ran to the west end of the ground. The Main and Fair Play stands had been integrated well, but the roof of the Fair Play Stand extended further towards the pitch to cover a small lower section of seating that continued in place of the executive boxes. The upper tier of seating was continous between the Main and Fair Play Stands, complete with a distinctive four rows of perspex panelling to the rear. With steps leading up to the raised sections of seating, this side of Tannadice Park was one of the most intriguing structures I had seen on my travels. The West Stand, behind the goal at the opposite end of the pitch to where I was sat, was a slightly more mundane affair; a fairly small structure but capable of holding more fans than the low, overhanging roof would suggest from the outside.
The Main Stand, Fair Play Stand and West Stand were given over entirely to Rangers supporters who had sold out their large allocation. The home areas of the ground, the George Fox Stand and East Stand, were both well populated but not at full capacity. The stewarding in the ground seemed strange as there were a lot of stewards in the East Stand and Main Stand / Fair Play side of the stadium, but hardly any visible on the other two sides. This seemed particularly odd given that one of these stands, the West Stand, was housing the away supporters.
The atmosphere generated by the Dundee United fans at Hampden Park in February had persuaded me to make the trip to Tannadice a priority when planning my itenary for the remainder of the season and as kick-off drew near, the home supporters did not disappoint. Despite the lack of numbers outside the ground, the stadium filled quite early and even as the teams came out to warm up there was passionate cheering and jeering from the supporters of both sides. There were some great songs played over the PA system and this helped to improve the atmosphere further. The Dundee United fans clapped along to "Beautiful Sunday", whilst the sound of the Tom Hark tune (which I always associate with Preston and Burnley) brought a great response from the Rangers fans too. It was strange to see both sets of supporters dancing to the same piece of music. "Love is in the Air" was the next song played and this was also clapped and sung along too by the Dundee United fans. As the teams emerged from the tunnel between the East and Main stands, receiving a fantastic welcome from all sides of the stadium, I contemplated that perhaps I had found at Tannadice Park an unbeatable matchday experience.
As the game got underway, the atmosphere remained equally loud and vociferous. Many fans in the lower tier of the East Stand ignored the requests over the PA system to sit down and remained standing for much of the early part of the game. The Rangers fans certainly did their part to add to the atmosphere, with certain chants, particularly "Rule Britannia", prompting loud and vehement boos by the Dundee United fans, as they tried to drown out the Rangers followers. Although Dundee United went close early on, Rangers soon established superiority with a 2-0 lead. Whilst this inevitably quietened down the home fans a little, the Rangers supporters ensured that a noisy atmosphere was maintained. The passion of the Dundee United fans was still apparent as some turned on their team and the match officials, as a mood of thinly veiled frustration descended on the ground. The half-time whistle was met with a deafening chorus of boos from the home faithful, with Dundee United conceding another goal with virtually the last kick of the first half. However, whilst clearly angry at the team's performance and resentful of the Old Firm, on the occasions when their team did put a good move together or have a decent effort at goal, the home fans were not slow in showing their appreciation.
A series of Dundee United songs were played over the PA system at half-time and whilst the home side soon went 4-0 down in the second half, a late consolation goal lifted the spirits of the United supporters. There was a fair amount of gallows humour from the fans in the East Stand; when United scored to make the score 4-1 there were chants of "We're going to win 5-4" and as an announcement was made for someone called Ged in the East Stand to go home immediately, a few of the home supporters around me made comments such as "lucky b*stard - do you want a lift Ged?!". The home fans also got a little upset at being asked to sit down by the stewards, pointing across to the Rangers fans who were all jumping round in the West Stand. There seemed to be a good atmosphere in all areas of the ground and I couldn't help but wonder that if the matchday experience is this eventful when Dundee United are getting heavily defeated, what must it be like when they beat the Old Firm or their Dens Park neighbours?
As I headed back to my car, I reflected on just how big a gulf exists between Celtic and Rangers and the other sides in the SPL. Driving back to England, the thought also occurred to me that all my experiences of Scottish football to date have revealed the undiluted passion of the supporters. In every game I'd seen to date north of the border, the passion of the supporters for their own team had really struck me, along with the level of resentment towards other clubs. The weekend in Scotland had proven to be very enjoyable and I was looking forward to May when I would be up in Scotland for three weekends in a row, once the Football League calendar reached its conclusion. I hope to visit Dens Park before the end of the season and will certainly try to get back to Tannadice in the future for another high profile game, possibly the Dundee derby.
Tannadice is a stadium hemmed-in by its surroundings, with the stands very close to the pitch. The orange and black seating within the attractive stands adds to the ground's appearance. From within, there was a certain aura about the venue and a real buzz amongst the fans in the build-up to kick off. There are few, if any, football grounds that have undergone modernisation that have managed to retain such a degree of character as the home of Dundee United. At both Hampden Park and Tannadice I have been struck by the passion of the club's followers who are clearly crying out for a successful side. For fans contemplating trips to Scottish grounds, Rangers and Celtic are perhaps the most obvious starting points but I think any supporter would be hard-pressed to find a livelier, more enjoyable matchday experience than Dundee United and a more intriguing and alluring setting than Tannadice Park.
Grounds Tour Rating: 100
Link to the website (http://www.groundstour.freeserve.co.uk/groundstour/index.html)
Thought this was brilliant as what I always thought about my teams brilliant supporters and ground has just been confirmed from a neutral. :clap
Result: Dundee United 1 Rangers 4
Attendance: 10,271
Days don't start much better than this ... orange juice, cereal, cooked breakfast and several slices of toast!! After this indulgence I was ready to leave the B&B where I'd stayed overnight in Aberdeen and prepare for the visit to Dundee United's Tannadice Park. With a little time to spare, I had chance to explore more of Aberdeen and it continued to strike me as a pleasant city. Around 10:45am I set off back down the A90 to complete the 60 or so miles to Dundee. The traffic was light and by 12pm I was pulling off onto the B960.
Looking at my directions, I realised that I would pass Dundee's Dens Park ground to reach Tannadice. As the floodlights came into view though, it was instantly obvious that the homes of the two Dundee clubs sat side by side. I parked up on a side street overlooking the two grounds, with the Tannadice floodlights visible just behind Dens Park. With over two and a half hours to go until kick-off, there was a fair bit of time to kill. However, it sounded like there was a match taking place inside Dens Park, with a referee's whistle and a fair amount of shouting audible within. I was pleased to find that this was the case, with an open gate next to the Bob Shankly Stand providing entry to the ground. An amateur cup semi-final was taking place and admission cost just £1. The lower tier of the North Stand within the ground was open and a hundred or so spectators were gathered there. Dens Park was an impressive venue, a mixture of the old and new, with attractive, modern stands behind either goal and considerably more dated affairs on either side. The modern stands were completely identical, even to the extent of having almost exactly the same advertising hoardings! This unexpected opportunity to see the inside of Dens Park certainly whetted my appetite to experience a proper matchday at Dundee and I reflected how pictures I'd seen of the ground failed to do it justice. The amateur match wasn't bad, with a hatful of goals scored (particularly in the first half), and served to pass the time well until the turnstiles were about to be opened at Tannadice Park.
Thirty seconds was all it took to complete the walk from one stadium to the other. It was hard to judge the age of the Tannadice stands as none looked sparklingly new, but yet none appeared particularly dated. Three sides of the ground were largely deserted but a large number of Rangers fans were gathered on the streets outside the Main Stand. There were no obvious signs of a ticket office or club shop outside the stadium and there wasn't the hustle and bustle around the ground you would expect just an hour before the kick-off of a high profile game.
A steep slope led up to the turnstiles for the East Stand. I had pre-booked my ticket for this stand just over a week before the match, aware that had been made all-ticket. The East Stand overlooked a small set of allotments which were squashed in between the surrounding houses and roads. The facilities within the East Stand were quite good and as I emerged to find my seat in the stand I was greatly impressed by Tannadice Park.
Tannadice was one of the most unusual modern-looking venues that I had seen. The Main Stand and Fair Play stand, a continous structure on one side of the pitch, looked particularly eye-catching, with the classic floodlight towers adding the final touch to a relatively small but charismatic and charming arena. The East Stand, situated behind a goal, was the main home end of the ground. It comprised of a fair-sized lower tier and small upper section. The sun-drenched George Fox Stand to my right was similar in that it had a decent-sized lower section, with the upper gallery of seating struggling to beat double figures in terms of rows of seats.
The Main Stand to my left curved round to join the East Stand. It comprised a small section of seating, raised several feet above pitch level. Filling the space underneath were executive boxes, although they appeared to contain little more than just a row of seats behind glass. The Main Stand did not run the full length of the pitch, joining onto the Fair Play Stand which ran to the west end of the ground. The Main and Fair Play stands had been integrated well, but the roof of the Fair Play Stand extended further towards the pitch to cover a small lower section of seating that continued in place of the executive boxes. The upper tier of seating was continous between the Main and Fair Play Stands, complete with a distinctive four rows of perspex panelling to the rear. With steps leading up to the raised sections of seating, this side of Tannadice Park was one of the most intriguing structures I had seen on my travels. The West Stand, behind the goal at the opposite end of the pitch to where I was sat, was a slightly more mundane affair; a fairly small structure but capable of holding more fans than the low, overhanging roof would suggest from the outside.
The Main Stand, Fair Play Stand and West Stand were given over entirely to Rangers supporters who had sold out their large allocation. The home areas of the ground, the George Fox Stand and East Stand, were both well populated but not at full capacity. The stewarding in the ground seemed strange as there were a lot of stewards in the East Stand and Main Stand / Fair Play side of the stadium, but hardly any visible on the other two sides. This seemed particularly odd given that one of these stands, the West Stand, was housing the away supporters.
The atmosphere generated by the Dundee United fans at Hampden Park in February had persuaded me to make the trip to Tannadice a priority when planning my itenary for the remainder of the season and as kick-off drew near, the home supporters did not disappoint. Despite the lack of numbers outside the ground, the stadium filled quite early and even as the teams came out to warm up there was passionate cheering and jeering from the supporters of both sides. There were some great songs played over the PA system and this helped to improve the atmosphere further. The Dundee United fans clapped along to "Beautiful Sunday", whilst the sound of the Tom Hark tune (which I always associate with Preston and Burnley) brought a great response from the Rangers fans too. It was strange to see both sets of supporters dancing to the same piece of music. "Love is in the Air" was the next song played and this was also clapped and sung along too by the Dundee United fans. As the teams emerged from the tunnel between the East and Main stands, receiving a fantastic welcome from all sides of the stadium, I contemplated that perhaps I had found at Tannadice Park an unbeatable matchday experience.
As the game got underway, the atmosphere remained equally loud and vociferous. Many fans in the lower tier of the East Stand ignored the requests over the PA system to sit down and remained standing for much of the early part of the game. The Rangers fans certainly did their part to add to the atmosphere, with certain chants, particularly "Rule Britannia", prompting loud and vehement boos by the Dundee United fans, as they tried to drown out the Rangers followers. Although Dundee United went close early on, Rangers soon established superiority with a 2-0 lead. Whilst this inevitably quietened down the home fans a little, the Rangers supporters ensured that a noisy atmosphere was maintained. The passion of the Dundee United fans was still apparent as some turned on their team and the match officials, as a mood of thinly veiled frustration descended on the ground. The half-time whistle was met with a deafening chorus of boos from the home faithful, with Dundee United conceding another goal with virtually the last kick of the first half. However, whilst clearly angry at the team's performance and resentful of the Old Firm, on the occasions when their team did put a good move together or have a decent effort at goal, the home fans were not slow in showing their appreciation.
A series of Dundee United songs were played over the PA system at half-time and whilst the home side soon went 4-0 down in the second half, a late consolation goal lifted the spirits of the United supporters. There was a fair amount of gallows humour from the fans in the East Stand; when United scored to make the score 4-1 there were chants of "We're going to win 5-4" and as an announcement was made for someone called Ged in the East Stand to go home immediately, a few of the home supporters around me made comments such as "lucky b*stard - do you want a lift Ged?!". The home fans also got a little upset at being asked to sit down by the stewards, pointing across to the Rangers fans who were all jumping round in the West Stand. There seemed to be a good atmosphere in all areas of the ground and I couldn't help but wonder that if the matchday experience is this eventful when Dundee United are getting heavily defeated, what must it be like when they beat the Old Firm or their Dens Park neighbours?
As I headed back to my car, I reflected on just how big a gulf exists between Celtic and Rangers and the other sides in the SPL. Driving back to England, the thought also occurred to me that all my experiences of Scottish football to date have revealed the undiluted passion of the supporters. In every game I'd seen to date north of the border, the passion of the supporters for their own team had really struck me, along with the level of resentment towards other clubs. The weekend in Scotland had proven to be very enjoyable and I was looking forward to May when I would be up in Scotland for three weekends in a row, once the Football League calendar reached its conclusion. I hope to visit Dens Park before the end of the season and will certainly try to get back to Tannadice in the future for another high profile game, possibly the Dundee derby.
Tannadice is a stadium hemmed-in by its surroundings, with the stands very close to the pitch. The orange and black seating within the attractive stands adds to the ground's appearance. From within, there was a certain aura about the venue and a real buzz amongst the fans in the build-up to kick off. There are few, if any, football grounds that have undergone modernisation that have managed to retain such a degree of character as the home of Dundee United. At both Hampden Park and Tannadice I have been struck by the passion of the club's followers who are clearly crying out for a successful side. For fans contemplating trips to Scottish grounds, Rangers and Celtic are perhaps the most obvious starting points but I think any supporter would be hard-pressed to find a livelier, more enjoyable matchday experience than Dundee United and a more intriguing and alluring setting than Tannadice Park.
Grounds Tour Rating: 100
Link to the website (http://www.groundstour.freeserve.co.uk/groundstour/index.html)
Thought this was brilliant as what I always thought about my teams brilliant supporters and ground has just been confirmed from a neutral. :clap