Scotland's hidden gem football club with rehabilitated prisoner and revived manager prepares for day in sun

If the competition was about providing balm for the troubled and rehabilitating the fallen, then Dundee North End have already won the Scottish Cup.

Take Grant Adam for example. The last time he was so firmly in the public eye he was being described as “callous” by the local newspaper. That’s not a word that springs to mind while watching him attend to myriad jobs on his to-do list as the labourer-on-call ahead of Sunday’s third round tie against Airdrieonians, when he’ll swap his joinery tools – he works for the firm owned by club president Gary Irons - for a pair of goalkeeper gloves.

Adam thought his playing career was over when the door to his Perth prison cell slammed shut three years ago.

There’s not much more to be said about the crime for which he was handed an eight-month sentence – embezzling £15,000 from his his own grandfather while having Power of Attorney over the then 78-year-old’s finances.

Grant Adam will be in goal for Dundee North End against Airdrieonians. | SNS Group / SFA

Never mind callous, he knows words such as despicable, cruel and unforgivable were also banded about, understandably. Family relations have clearly been damaged, although he’s working hard to regain trust. There was plenty to contemplate while serving three-and-a-half months in Perth prison.

Now 33, life is beginning again. There is no other choice. He is the father of a five-year-old girl. Orla Adam will be one of the proudest daughters in Dundee when she takes her father’s hand as one of the mascots when the teams walk out at the charming North End Park just before 1pm on Sunday.

The Scottish Cup has outdone itself in the form of Dundee North End. To quote from the handsome edition of Cup Tied, the new book from Nutmeg magazine celebrating the first 150 years of the tournament, “here are clubs of vintage nicknames – Bleachers and Belters, Loons and Mighty Mariners – playing at grounds glowing with homespun character and characters…”

North End are known as The Dokens after the plant that once grew in prolific numbers around the side of their pitch, which seems apt. The leaf of this particular plant is known for its remedial properties.

Adam was sorely in need of a second chance when he turned up at Dundee North End’s door. He tried to re-start his football career at Lochee United, where he played before going to prison. However, a fall out over a football matter meant he was out of the game again and in danger of sliding into old habits.

Gambling and substance abuse were cited in court while it’s also incumbent to mention unimaginable tragedy. Adam’s father Charlie Snr, the former Dundee United striker, took his own life 12 years ago next month at the age of 50. His mother, Eleanor, died in December 2020 from cancer aged only 54.

Adam had spells with Sunday's Scottish Cup opponents Airdrieonians. | SNS Group

It was the following year that Adam’s crime came to light, with brother Charlie, then the captain of Dundee, challenging his younger brother to “put right the mistake” after prison. He remains intent on doing that.

Adam describes the emotion of his release day, with George Shields, the former Montrose manager and one of his late dad’s old mates, coming to fetch him. “It was not a nice place to be,” he says. “Just the relief ... even coming out the front door, the relief I am actually getting out now. Stuck in an institution for three and a half months …”

He had his own cell and was able to keep fit at least. “I was a Passman, able to go to the gym three or four times a week. But just day to day life… you are on the landing (of the hall) but you are behind bars. It’s just not a pleasant place. Drugs, phones, people getting slashed. It opened my eyes.”

Even after his release, it was difficult. “You are dead wary when you are in there,” he says. “People around about you, you need to watch. The first three or four days I was still on edge when I came out. But once I got settled, I was fine.”

Dundee North End have proved a handy port in a storm. Adam stays a ten-minute walk away. He signed a new one-year contract earlier this month. “I feel as though the club have looked after me, I wanted to give something back,” he says. “Prison is in the past now. I have had to move on with my own life. I have found a platform – Dundee North End have given me that platform.

“The people in the club have looked after me. Last year, winning the league, it rebuilt confidence in myself. I can get back to the person I was long before I went away …”

Adam might well have thought he’d already played his last Scottish Cup tie. Before this season’s journey to the third round, with Tranent and Inverurie Locos already taken care of, his last appearance was in 2016 for Forfar Athletic, one of 13 clubs in his career so far. Also included in this number are Rangers, where he started his career, and St Mirren, for whom he sat on the bench when the Buddies lifted the League Cup against Hearts 11 years ago. Adam even had two spells with this weekend’s opponents. He developed a good relationship with the Airdrie fans.

“They can be a bit wild,” he says. “But I am sure they have good memories of me being there. I done well there. Maybe they will be singing my name again, they used to sing that quite a bit. ‘Granty, Granty, swing on the bar…’ I used to swing on the crossbar.”

Adam knows the 500 or so fans traveling up from Lanarkshire might be singing something very different this time.

Kevin McNaughton oversees training for Dundee North End. | SNS Group / SFA

It’s this red heat football existence that Kevin McNaughton says he missed after retiring from the game. Now co-manager along with Lewis Toshney, he is someone else who has found new direction with North End. A Dundonian, what did he know about the club before he joined? “Not a lot,” he admits, although near proximity to something or someone does not guarantee awareness.

After all, he only recently discovered he grew up in the same street as his dugout partner in the Menzieshill area of the city. A ten-year age gap is one explanation. McNaughton is 42, while Toshney, who started his career with Celtic, is 32

They never played against each other either. McNaughton enjoyed a fine career, initially in Scottish football with Aberdeen. It’s when he left, with the Pittodrie club having dithered before offering him a new contract, that he really flourished. He established himself in the hearts of Cardiff City fans during a memorable nine-year stay in the Welsh capital.

Even then, it probably ended too soon, although he did at least get the chance to play in the Premier League having already reached the finals of both the League and FA Cups.

“When we got promoted, I had a run of games,” he recalls. “Our two full-backs were injured. I was out of the team under Malky (Mackay). I got pushed out of the way a bit, they signed a couple of defenders. But then two full-backs got injured, I got back in – Arsenal away, Newcastle (in the FA Cup) away, Man City away and Man Utd away. I played in them four games. We had Norwich next at home and I got dropped!”

He was adored by Cardiff fans. He still is in fact to the extent that he finds it hard to walk the streets of the city on annual visits without being stopped for a picture or a chat. “It’s the distinctive silver locks,” he smiles. No wonder he found it so hard when the roar of the crowd stopped. His last senior game was for Forfar, when he was taken off in the first half at Stranraer: “I just thought, I can’t do this any longer, I am not going down to Stranraer to play 25 minutes.”

He was living in the countryside just north of Forfar. He sought to recreate the hit of playing football with Kirrie Thistle, now a league rival, but his hip hurt and his marriage was breaking up.

McNaughton had spells at Aberdeen and Cardiff City. | SNS Group

It was around this time that he sent out a tweet that alarmed the football world and beyond: “Let my kids know I’ll hover above, I’ll always love them they’re too good for me.”

McNaughton was later located safe and has since opened up on his battle with depression. “I was going through a separation and taking all my stuff out of the house,” he recalls. “I think that’s what triggered it. I’d gone through the mill that year and then my car was stolen, with everything in it.”

It was later found abandoned. Now married to Natalie, two of his three children, Finlay and Poppy, will be at Sunday’s game, with Archie, the eldest, excusing himself. “The oldest is not into football at all,” he says. “I asked if he wanted to come to the game… ‘nah’”.

Otherwise, all roads lead to North End Park. McNaughton is enjoying being back in the spotlight and he was reminded of football’s power to offer comfort when playing in the recent Masters tournament in Aberdeen, with old Pittodrie teammates such as Gavin Rae and Eoin Jess. “Everyone was asking how I was getting on,” he says. “I got messages from every walk of life (when he went missing). Social media gets a bad rap but, in that situation, I think you can view it in a positive light.”

Currently working as a trainee assistant practitioner at Ninewells hospital, which he describes as “notch down from a nurse,” life is good. “Everything has settled down,” he says. “Getting back involved in football has made a massive difference for me.

“When you stop playing football you lose that sense of purpose. It is hard to adjust to it. Getting back into football was brilliant. And when you get success as well, it’s the best thing ever. Winning the (East Region Midlands) league with North End, I got the same buzz as winning the league with Cardiff and getting promoted. It was the exact same feeling.”

A general view of North End Park, with its Fair Play Stand that once lived at Tannadice. | Alan Pattullo

Airdrie fans requiring directions to Sunday’s Scottish Cup third round tie against Dundee North End are advised to park where they normally do for games against Dundee and Dundee United.

They are encouraged to visit the same pre-match pubs (although making sure to leave time for at least a quick half in the superb North End social club).

Everyone knows where to go to find the closest football stadiums in British football. Not so many might be aware that a third venue sits adjacent to such a famous football street. If not exactly cheek-by-jowl, which is how Dundee’s Dens Park and Dundee United's Tannadice are often described, then North End Park exists cheek-by-chin to its better-known neighbours.

Regular visitors to Dens and Tannadice might be unaware of this hidden gem's existence. Shamefully, this writer was one.

No longer. "Come on up!" urges commercial manager Eddie Lafferty during a phone call. I have already parked up outside some old shipping containers in what I think is the right area. Promisingly, there's a sign for Dundee North End Garage. I can also see what looks like a stand roof peeking above a wall. It looks somewhat familiar. Turns out I have stood beneath it several times.

"That’s the old Fair Play Stand from Tannadice,” Lafferty explains. It was bought for scrap value during the most recent round of significant renovations at Tannadice in the mid-1990s. Something else I’d seen before are the railings lining the park. They once ran along the side of the Tay Road Bridge.

North End Park is a few Hamish McAlpine goal kicks from the home of Dundee United and about ten or so Gordon Smith corner kicks from Dens. These names are chosen advisedly. Both players turned out for North End, Smith before joining Hibs and McAlpine for a season 'on loan' after signing for Dundee United. The legendary goalkeeper will attend the Airdrie match, along with nearly 2000 others. As many as 300 are booked in for hospitality.

"This is my happy place," says Lafferty, who grew up round the corner. He is a Dundee FC fan and watches them as often as he can but has had his heart stolen by The Dokens. He tells me goats once grazed on the park to save on grass-cutting costs but police put a stop to it after an open gate meant several were spotted trotting down Clepington Road.

North End Park is preparing for one of its biggest matches. | Alan Pattullo

It’s hard to know what’s true and what is not. Lafferty points out a reddish coloured building in the corner, from where the cooing of pigeons could often be heard during matches. “It’s a doocot” he says, home to DFC – the Dundee Flying Club. Next they’ll be telling me Duncan Ferguson kept his pigeons there while playing for Dundee United.

What is true is that the Tannadice club trained at North End Park during Craig Levein’s days as manager before abruptly flitting for St Andrews. North End are unusual in junior football for owning their own ground though they are run on a committee basis – around 14 strong, at the last count.

The members have all been putting their shoulder to the wheel this week, no more so than Gary Irons, the aforementioned club president.

He has parked his motorhome at the back of the social club. Although he lives north of Arbroath, he has been staying on site in the rush to get everything done ahead of the biggest day in the club’s 130-year history. “You might know my uncle,” he says. Really? Who’s that then? “Albert Kidd."

Irons wants to leave his own mark on Scottish football. “My plan is to take Dundee North End to the highest level we can,” he says. “I would love to be the third team in Dundee, maybe playing your Forfars and teams like that.”

It’s true things tend to come in threes in the city of jute, jam and journalism. Dundee, Dundee United and ... Dundee North End? Prepare for things to get even more confusing.