United we stand
Further to my recent post about going to Scotland to watch Dundee United beat Una Strassen of Luxembourg in the first leg of the second qualifying round of the UEFA Conference League, here’s what happened next.
United won the return leg by the same score (1-0) and progressed to the third qualifying round to play Rapid Vienna with whom the club has some history because back in 1984 United beat Rapid (on away goals) in the quarter-finals of the old European Cup.
Had I not been away on holiday I would have been tempted to go to the first leg in Austria. I’ve only visited Vienna once but I really liked it and I’d be happy to go back, even if smoking in the cafes and bars has been prohibited since I was there, robbing some of the older ones of their distinctive and even historic character.
Vienna is also easy to get to (unlike, by all accounts, Luxembourg) and Rapid’s Allianz Stadium has a capacity of 28,000 compared to the 1,800 that could be accommodated in Una Strassen’s tiny ground. Getting a ticket, therefore, wasn’t a problem.
However, I was on a cruise that week, and when I got back – the game in Vienna having been drawn 2-2 - the return leg at Tannadice was reportedly sold out, apart from some expensive hospitality packages. Some additional tickets were released 24 hours before the game (I hate it when they do that) but they were snapped up within minutes. In short, I didn’t go.
Reports suggest the atmosphere last Thursday was fantastic and the game was pretty good too. Playing against a side that reached the last eight of the same competition last season, United were 2-0 up at half-time before Rapid scored two second half goals to take the match into extra time.
According to the BBC reporter at the game:
United are now trying to win this tie with a teenager who spent the second half of last season on loan at Montrose and another youngster who struggled to get off the Falkirk bench in attack.
A few minutes later, following another United substitution:
You're 17. A Dundee United fan. And you've been brought on in extra time of an angst-ridden European tie against Rapid Vienna for only your second appearance. Enjoy, Scott Constable.
Remarkably, reports suggest that United were the stronger team in extra time and missed a couple of chances to win the match, which then went to penalties, and you can guess what happened next. Rapid won 5-4, United’s missing penalty hitting the inside of the post but bouncing out rather than going in. C’est la vie.
There was a lot of positive post match comment, and it was good to read that United fans stayed and applauded both teams after the game. A similar thing happened after the second leg of the UEFA Cup final in 1987 when United lost 2-1 on aggregate to Gothenburg of Sweden (who were quite successful in Europe in the Eighties).
As a result of that UEFA awarded United a ‘Fair Play’ award and the prize money was invested in a new stand which is now called the Jim McLean Fair Play Stand after the club’s legendary manager. It’s an extension of the unusual L-shaped cantilever stand that was opened in August 1962, and it occupies the same part of the ground as the uncovered family enclosure in which I stood and watched my very first game at Tannadice in August 1969 when the ground’s capacity was 22,000. Today it’s 14,000.
The record attendance however is 28,000, which dates back to 1966 when United played Barcelona in the Inter-City Fairs Cup. Remarkably, United have played Barcelona in four competitive fixtures (twice in 1966, and twice in 1987) and have won all four matches.
I mention all this because after last week’s game I spotted some wonderful drone photographs of the ground on social media. They were taken by Paul Vinova, a local photographer, during the match. Paul describes himself as a ‘hobbyist photographer’ and he has kindly given me permission to post the photo below.
With the floodlights on photos like this always look more dramatic after dark, and it’s a great picture. The Fair Play Stand is in the top corner of the ground but for some reason the lower tier is empty, which I can only think was for security reasons. (I am assuming that Rapid fans were in the upper tier but I may be wrong.)
I normally sit in the upper tier of the George Fox Stand which runs the length of the pitch to the right of the picture, but when I first went to Tannadice it was a steep, standing only terrace with no cover. A roof was added later (although they had to reduce the height of the terracing to accommodate it) before the terracing was demolished and replaced by the current all-seater stand in the Nineties.
In fact Tannadice was completely uncovered until 1959 when a roof was added to the terracing behind the goal (at the top of the picture) in what is known as The Shed end. Like the George Fox Stand, the stand behind the goal at the nearest end of the ground was also built in the Nineties. Prior to that it was uncovered terracing.
Beyond Tannadice you can also see Dens Park, home of Dundee FC, which is just 200 yards up the road, and at the top of the picture there’s Dundee Law (aka Law hill), the highest point in the city.
Do I regret not going to the match last week? Not really. Having been away I had a lot of work to do and it would have taken at least two days out of my week to travel to Dundee and back. Also, as I said to an old schoolfriend:
My main concern is that United only have one point in the league after two games and we all know a bad start drags teams into a relegation battle very quickly. Who cares about Europe?!
He didn’t agree so I may be alone on that, but that’s how I feel. Qualify for the group stage of the UEFA Conference League and risk getting relegated? No thanks!
As for drone photographs of football grounds, they seem to be increasingly popular. According to Paul, two of his friends also flew drones at the match. And you may recall this photograph, taken above Gayfield, home of Arbroath, in August 2023.
Anyway, it’s photos like this that remind me why I still go to Tannadice, despite living 400 miles away, even if it’s only a few times each season. It might not be the most attractive stadium (some might say it’s a bit of an ugly duckling), and most of the football in recent years has been dire, but there are still few places I’d rather be on a Saturday afternoon.
Tannadice Park, Dundee, August 14, 2025. Photo courtesy Paul Vinova Photography.
