Melville means business in bid to get Dundee back to the top

Published on Friday 15 May 2009 23:11

WHEN Dundee chairman Bob Brannan sifted through the applications generated by the club's novel appeal for an entrepreneur's input in the boardroom, one understandably caught his eye amid the inevitably high percentage of crank candidates.

Calum Melville's response ticked all the boxes required; he had a track record in building up a business, and was clearly no flash-in-the-pan success. He was also fairly local, with a deep interest in football.

First impressions of the new director have also been promising. This is noteworthy, since Dundee fans have been handed plenty of reasons to be suspicious of apparent white knights. Over the last two decades, supporters have had to listen to more bluster than is present in the average edition of The Apprentice.

Melville, perhaps in recognition of the elated rattle spouted by some self-styled saviours, kept his counsel at first. But his profile has been raised by Dundee's recent activity on the transfer front, while the recent publication of this year's Sunday Times rich list broke his cover further; among Scottish football's moneyed class only the Old Firm pair of Sir David Murray and Dermot Desmond are placed higher than Melville's ranking of 436. He and brother Stuart are said to be worth 124 million. Reflecting the downturn in the construction business, Aberdeen owner Stewart Milne is valued at 90m – a drop of 310m from 2008.

When asked about this annual insight to Britain's wealth, Melville dismissed it with surprising force: "It's nobody else's business what we do or don't have," he replies, referring also to Stuart, with whom he took over the Aberdeen-based oil and gas services group GTC from their father in 2001. "It's only done to sell papers. And it gives fans the wrong impression."

But Dundee supporters are an alert bunch now, following past scrapes with some colourful boardroom characters. Further evidence of Melville's business acumen is supplied by the pin-strip suit jacket which hangs on a peg in his office in Bridge of Don, and his classic Wall Street look of blue shirt with white collar. A folded copy of the Financial Times on his desk is another convincing prop. His credentials also appear suited for the task facing him at Dundee. Cosalt, one of Melville's firms, is a market leader in maritime safety equipment; Dundee have themselves been close to going under more times than they care to remember.

But he is not concerned purely with survival. Melville also wants Dundee to prosper, to return to days when they were at the very least considered a middle-ranking Premier League outfit. Now facing the reality of a fifth successive season in the First Division, they are currently unable to make even this meagre claim. It has led to some disappointment on the signing front. Highly-rated midfielder Murray Davidson yesterday elected to sign for newly promoted St Johnstone rather than Dundee, despite the offer for both him and Dave Mackay being accepted by Livingston, and having matched the personal terms offered in Perth.

"You can take a horse to water, you can't make it drink," shrugs Melville. "Being in Division One means it is difficult to attract the right type of player. It's tough. Guys we are looking at aren't being chased by Hibs and Aberdeen. They are better than the First Division, but don't have those bigger clubs knocking down their doors. We can compete with teams like Motherwell and St Mirren for wages, but it is persuading the player that a year in the First Division is the right place for them to be."

The 40-year-old Melville, though, enjoys the challenge. It is part of the reason why he chose to answer Dundee's call to "help rebuild a famous brand" as the newspaper advert commissioned by the club termed it. He makes no secret of the fact he was an Aberdeen fan, although once found himself buffeted by celebrating Dundee supporters during an epic 4-3 victory over Rangers in August 1992. He and a friend had set off too late to watch Aberdeen's game at Motherwell, and veered off to Dens instead. Three children, a few companies and many millions of pounds later, he is back.

Melville's age-profile corresponds with that bracket where the most disillusioned Pittodrie supporters can be found. He felt little inclination to invest in Aberdeen having watched with alarm the abuse meted out to Milne, the property magnate charged with delivering the success which some fans have been persuaded to feel is theirs by right due to Alex Ferguson's achievements. "Like most guys I love football, and I played football, though wasn't good enough to play at a decent level," he says. "I had thought about getting involved in a football club for a number of years, but didn't want to get involved in Aberdeen. The opportunity with Dundee came up. That appealed to me.

"It is a proper football club. It's 55 minutes from my front door to Dens Park. I had a feeling when I went there that the club belongs to the fans, and the club cares what the fans think. The people in the club are also absolutely dedicated to Dundee FC. They have been through administration and out the other side. All that gave me a warm, fuzzy feeling."

Someone, perhaps, with reason to feel some edginess is manager Jocky Scott. The 61-year-old has been in a similar film before, one where he was jettisoned by a pair of ambitious brothers – the Marrs. Having led Dundee to fifth place in the SPL, their highest league position in 25 years, Scott was replaced by Ivano and Dario Bonetti in the summer of 2000. He is now back in charge of Dundee for a third spell.

"I speak to Jocky every day because I am interested," reveals Melville. "He might find that difficult. I think he thinks I am interfering. But the board have a responsibility to make Dundee profitable, so clearly we are interested in what players are available, and their salaries. He is nervous. As much as I try and allay his fears, he is scarred by the experience with the Marrs."

He continued: "Dundee are a good club and there is an opportunity to do something here. We can get promoted and become a sustainable, profitable football club, which is a misnomer these days in Scottish football. The bottom line is that I am here to help, not get the club into debt. The example I use is that my wife drives a Range Rover Supercharged, and so if Calum is run down by a powerful Range Rover in his drive, which is always a possibility, then Dundee has to carry on. There's no point getting someone to come in and put 1m in a year, which is great until he gets fed up, or becomes unwell like the guy at Gretna."

The process by which Dundee have gone from being 26m in debt five years ago to owing practically nothing seems like an exercise in number manipulation rivalled only by an MP's expenses claim. A confidentiality clause means Dundee are apparently not permitted to speak about it.

It is clear Brannan has managed to pull the club back from the brink, while his latest trick of enticing Melville on board could be the chairman's greatest turn yet. "The board have a financial plan for 2009-2010," says Melville. "Whether that money comes from me or the Duke of Edinburgh is not anybody's business. It is a plan and it is sustainable." Following a meeting at Dens last week Melville strolled across the street to Tannadice to watch Aberdeen draw 1-1 against Dundee United. While it wasn't quite the quality of the great New Firm derbies of his youth, the match still handed Melville a sobering dose of reality.

The standard was far, far higher than he has now become accustomed to in his short time watching Dundee, some of whose players, he says, should only be allowed to wear a shirt having first purchased it from the club shop. It is fair to assume that a much-changed team will begin the next campaign. Richie Hart and Sean Higgins have already been added to the squad, signed from Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Ross County respectively.

"You can look out and see Dens from the directors' box at Tannadice," he explains. "I didn't necessarily think 'this is much better'. But I did feel this is where we have to be. The atmosphere was great, but not because United have better fans. Dundee have better fans and a bigger fan base – of that I am absolutely convinced. But we have to get ourselves in the SPL. That is the only place to be. Rather than make me feel sad, it just steeled me."