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Dens Park
(Dundee)
Address: Sandeman Street,
Dundee,
Scotland,
DD3 7JY
Capacity: 11,850 (All-Seater)
If you’re looking for the best seats in the house here, I suggest going behind either goal.
Currently known for sponsorship reasons as Kilmac Stadium, the Dens Park name comes from the road that passes by its southern side, Dens Road (B960).
The ground was built in 1899, becoming home to Dundee Football Club who moved here from Carolina Port elsewhere in the city. They have remained here ever since.
A major change had to occur following Dundee’s promotion into the Scottish Premier League in 1999, which required Dens Park to be converted into an all-seater venue. The East and West Terraces therefore had to be demolished and completely rebuilt, with the process taking an impressive 82 days and left the ground ready for the 1999-2000 season.
Greyhound racing was held at Dens Park during the 20th century, and the ground has also played host to Scottish League Cup Finals and International matches at both senior and youth level.
Location and Getting There
Dens Park is based in the space between Sandeman Street and Tannadice Street, around one mile north of Dundee City Centre. Caird Park is roughly 0.7 miles away to the north, and the University of Dundee Is roughly 1.1 miles away to the southwest.
Dens Park’s biggest claim to fame perhaps comes from its extremely close location to Tannadice Park, home of Dundee’s rivals Dundee United Football Club.
The two stadiums are only 183 metres apart, making them the two closest professional football grounds in the whole of the United Kingdom.
Dens Park has very few car parking spaces around its vicinity, but it should be possible to find street parking that is within relatively close distance.
Residential streets surround both Dens Park and Tannadice Park on all sides, though do ensure that you are legally allowed to park at where you find and do not block the drives of any residents.
Coming to Dens Park by rail can be trickier.
Dundee Station, served by LNER, ScotRail, CrossCountry and Caledonian Sleeper, is close to the City Centre and walking from here to the stadium can take around 35-40 minutes.
As an alternative to walking all the way, you can head north to Panmure Street outside the McManus Art Gallery and Museum, taking the Number 18 bus service which stops on Arklay Street a short while away from Tannadice Street and the two stadiums. You can then simply walk along Tannadice Street past Tannadice Park to reach Dens Park. Taking the bus can half your journey time depending on how quickly you walk.
Taxi services from around Dundee Station are also available.
Outside the Stadium
Heading up to Dens Park along Tannadice Street will eventually bring you to the ground’s North Stand, which is the Main Stand.
Because Tannadice Street joins up to Sandeman Street, the Main Stand is curved in shape rather than straight. Its exterior consists of a mostly brown and partly blue brickwork base, with blue and red corrugated iron higher up and lighter coloured corrugated iron at the top. The Main Entrance and Reception is located on the Tannadice Street part of the exterior, with the Director’s Box and Boardroom Entrance also close by.
Entrances for the Community Learning Centre and Doug Cowie Lounge are based outside the point where Tannadice Street and Sandeman Street meet.
Along the Sandeman Street part of the exterior is the Legends Lounge Entrance, Charlie Cooke Lounge Entrance and Andy Penman Lounge Entrance. A blue brick building by the ground’s northwest corner holds Dundee Direct, the Official Club Shop and Main Ticket Office.
Turnstiles for the Main Stand itself are spread along the base of the whole exterior.
Heading round in a clockwise direction from the North Stand brings you round to the East Stand, which is named after Bob Shankly.
An older brother to famous Liverpool manager Bill Shankly, Bob Shankly was born in Glenbuck on 25th February 1910. He was the manager of Dundee between 1959 and 1965, during which time the Dee won a Scottish League Title in 1962 and made it to the Semi-Finals of the European Cup the following year, losing 5-2 on aggregate to Italian giants AC Milan. Shankly would guide Dundee to a Scottish Cup Final in 1964, where they lost out to Rangers, and he departed as manager the following year.
Part of the Dundee Hall of Fame, Shankly passed away following a heart attack on in May 1982 at the age of 72.
Accessibility on this side of Dens Park is limited as industrial buildings are right outside a large part of the stand’s exterior. It is made up of a blue brickwork base with white corrugated iron just above and blue corrugated iron in its higher parts.
The path leading to the exterior is off Tannadice Street on the northern side of Dens Park. It is not possible to reach here from the southern side of the ground.
Turnstiles for the Bob Shankly Stand can be found along the blue brickwork base.
The space immediately outside the Bob Shankly Stand is sometimes used as car parking spaces.
The South Stand at Dens Park is atop a grass bank, meaning that there is a blue wall in place along Dens Road (B960) below it. The exterior of the South Stand itself is mostly brick with a corrugated iron roof.
There used to be two sets of turnstiles along the blue wall, one over by the stadium’s southeast corner and the other by the stadium’s southwest corner. The southwest set are no longer in use, however.
Fans enter through the southeast set of turnstiles and then head up the grass bank via staircases that lead to the South Stand itself.
The area immediately outside the seating area is treated as an outer concourse.
The West Stand at Dens Park is named after Bobby Cox.
Born in Dundee on 24th January 1934, Cox was a defender who spent his entire career with the Dee between 1955 and 1969. Coinciding with much Bob Shankly’s time in charge of the club, Cox was the captain of the team that won a Scottish League Title in 1962 and made it to the Semi-Finals of the European Cup the following year.
He was associated with Dundee Football Club for more than 50 years in total, until he passed away on 20th February 2010 at the age of 76. The West Stand at Dens Park was named after him in 1999 and he was inducted into the Dundee Hall of Fame in 2009.
Because of the grass bank on the southern side of the ground, you can only access the Bobby Cox Stand via a road off Sandeman Street on the northern side of Dens Park. If you are on Dens Road (B960), you will need to walk up Provost Road and then onto Sandeman Street in order to reach the stand.
Its exterior is very similar in design to the Bob Shankly Stand opposite, consisting of a blue brickwork base with white corrugated iron just above and blue corrugated iron in its higher parts.
Turnstiles for the Bobby Cox Stand can be found along the blue brickwork base, and there is a small car park in the space between the stand and the Dundee Direct building that holds the Club Shop and Main Ticket Office.
Inside the Stadium
The Main Stand is curved in shape because of Tannadice Street and Sandeman Street outside of it and that means the closer you are to the stand’s centre, the further back you will be from the pitch.
Most of the seating blocks are elevated above ground and the seating blocks inside alternate between blue and red in colour. The two central blocks are for executive use. There are executive boxes underneath the seating blocks that are in line with Sandeman Street outside, whilst there is an additional tier of blue seating below the seating blocks that are in line with Tannadice Street outside.
Dens Park’s dugouts are based down at the very front of the stand by the pitch, with the tunnel located towards the centre and the changing rooms based inside.
Red supporting pillars come down regularly at the front of the stand and it is very likely that your view will be restricted somewhat as a result. The clearest views are likely to come from the front rows of the lower tier blocks.
Windshields at either end offer protection to the elevated seating blocks, but protection from the sides for the lower down seating blocks is much more limited.
The Bob Shankly Stand is single-tiered.
Most of the seats inside here are coloured blue, but the letters DUNDEE are spelt out in white across the blocks, with a sliver of black seating used to give each letter a 3D effect. The stand also has two flat platforms down towards the front for disabled supporters to use.
Your view from anywhere inside the Bob Shankly Stand is perfectly clear as there are no supporting pillars coming down from the roof.
Windshields at either end only provide protection to the rows further back, with just small walls in place to protect the front rows of the stand.
The Stadium Control Box can be found in the southeast corner between the Bob Shankly Stand and the South Stand, next to one of the four floodlight pylons that surround the pitch.
The South Stand is single-tiered and only runs across two thirds of the pitch.
You won’t find seats in here, with the stand instead using rows of backless benches. These are mostly blue in colour, though the letters DFC are spelt out in white across the stand. The gantry holding the matchday camera hangs down towards the front of the roof.
There are three red supporting pillars coming down from the roof, and it is the central one that will likely restrict the view for those sat in the rows behind it. The rows of benches down at the very front have perfectly clear views of the action.
There is a windshield in place by the stadium’s southeast corner, but it only protects the back rows of benches. Most of the benches inside here are left exposed from the sides.
The rest of the southern side of the pitch is taken up by fully uncovered terracing. It is no longer in use and nowadays often has advertising boards placed on it. The set of southwest turnstiles off Dens Road used to lead up to this section before they became out of use.
The Bobby Cox Stand is a carbon-copy of the Bob Shankly Stand opposite.
It is a single tier of mostly blue seating, with the letters DUNDEE spelt out in white across the blocks and a sliver of black seating used to give each letter a 3D effect. The stand also has two flat platforms down towards the front for disabled supporters to use.
Your view from anywhere inside the Bobby Cox Stand is perfectly clear as there are no supporting pillars coming down from the roof.
Windshields at either end only provide protection to the rows further back, with just small walls in place to protect the front rows of the stand. The Dundee Direct building in the stadium’s northwest corner can help with protection on this side, however.
Away Fans
Away fans are housed behind the goal in the Bob Shankly Stand. Around 3,000 supporters can be accommodated in here, and a couple of blocks in the adjacent Main Stand can be used for when the largest of away followings arrive.
The Bob Shankly Stand offers a better view than many home supporters will get. It has no supporting pillars coming down from the roof, windshields providing protection to most of the rows, and two flat platforms down the front that allowed disabled supporters to feel fully involved with the away crowd.
If the Main Stand blocks are in use, they will provide a more restricted view of the action and are based further back from the pitch.
Access to the away section requires you to be on Tannadice Street on the northern side of the ground.
You can find turnstiles along the brickwork base of the Bob Shankly Stand, and the Main Stand if that is also in use for away supporters.
Matchday Pubs
Pubs available to supporters on a matchday include:
-The Ambassador (233-237 Clepington Road, DD3 7UE) (Typically Home and Away Supporters) (Located north of Dens Park)
-The Bowbridge Bar (3 Main Street, DD3 7EY) (Typically Home and Away Supporters) (Located south of Dens Park)
-The Clep Bar (96-98 Clepington Road, DD3 7SW) (Home and Away Supporters) (Located northeast of Dens Park)
-The Counting House (67 Reform Street, DD1 1SP (A JD Wetherspoon Pub, Typically Home and Away Supporters) (Located near Dundee City Centre)
-Frews Bar (Strathmartine Road, DD3 7SE) (Typically Home and Away Supporters) (Located west of Dens Park)
-The Nether Inn (134 Nethergate, DD1 4ED) (Typically Home and Away Supporters) (Located near Dundee City Centre and Dundee Station)
-The Old Bank Bar (34 Reform Street, DD1 1RJ) (Home and Away Supporters) (Located near Dundee City Centre)
Overview
When it comes to good views, the best place to go at Dens Park is behind the goals in either of its two all-seater stands.
Its northern side has a rather unusual, curved shape to it, and the southern side feels rather old-fashioned with the presence of backless benches there instead of plastic seating.
Dundee’s home is normally brought up in conversations about the world’s closest football grounds, but there’s a lot more to this stadium than just its reputation.
With plans for a new home having been in the works since 2002 though, and those plans becoming more active in recent years, time may well be running out for you to visit this historic Scottish venue.
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