Book review: Dundee United: The Official Centenary History

Published on Friday 27 November 2009 22:51

Dundee United: The Official Centenary History By Peter Rundo and Mike Watson Review: Martin Hannan

THE trouble with 'official' histories is that they are often anodyne and afraid to confront issues which have formed part of the development of a club.

That cannot be said about Dundee United: The Official Centenary History which will make an excellent Christmas present for fans of the Tangerine Terrors. Do not count on it as a stocking filler, though, unless the recipient has size 34 feet. For this is a hardback coffee table book, superbly illustrated throughout and quite beautifully produced by Birlinn publishers.

Written by lifelong fans and previous United book writers Peter Rundo and Mike Watson, the former the long-serving Tannadice programme editor and the latter a former director of the club, the official history has made it in time for the end of the centenary year of the club founded as Dundee Hibernian in 1909.

The founders were open about their intention to build a team that could carry the flag for the city's Irish community, 12 years after the demise of Dundee Harp, the city's first Irish-orientated club. That the club's antecedents were among the Irish Catholic community in Dundee came to be problematic in the 1920s. Though it had never been a sectarian club, following partition in Ireland and the political problems that caused in Scotland, the then directors tried to rename the Hibs as Dundee City. Their neighbours along the street, Dundee FC, objected to the name and Dundee United came into being in 1923.

Rundo and Watson do not gloss over such matters as the near demise of United in 1934 when they were bailed out at the last minute by, among others, former Dundee FC director William McIntosh, the man who had blocked the Dundee City name 11 years earlier.

There is also a factual report on the most controversial incident in the club's recent history – Jim McLean's altercation with BBC reporter John Barnes in 2000 which ended his long spell as manager, chairman and managing director.

The book takes the form of a season-by-season account, and there are some gems of information: the minutes for the inaugural season show that 'Docherty will be played if McDermott is still drinking', while the resignation letter of manager Willie MacFadyen in 1954 states that he owed the club 337 and would repay it "at the earliest opportunity". As you would expect, the book features the great United highlights, such as the first major trophy win – the League Cup of 1979 – which started the magnificent run in the 1980s by McLean's team.

The following season brought another League Cup, retained against Dundee, followed by the pinnacle, the club's sole Scottish championship in 1982-83. Also described are the great European adventures culminating in the Uefa Cup final loss to FC Gothenburg in 1987, plus the sole Scottish Cup win in 1994, and a perceptive tribute to the late chairman Eddie Thompson.

With a comprehensive statistics section, this book has everything you will want to know about United. It's a must for every Arab.

&#149 Dundee United: The Official Centenary History by Peter Rundo and Mike Watson, published by Birlinn, 25.