Ground #371 - Tannadice Park

Date: 7th August 2022
Ground: Tannadice Park

Location: Dundee, Scotland

My eleventh new ground of 2022 was on Saturday 7th August at Tannadice Park in Dundee, Scotland. The game was Dundee United vs. Livingston in the Scottish Premiership.

Tannadice Park is located in a residential area of the city just 200 yards from city rivals Dundee FC. It has roads to the north, south and west and allotments to the east and the parcel of land is irregular in size resulting in two of the stands tapering to fit in with it. The venue is 1.5 miles north of Dundee railway station and has been home to the club since 1909. Prior to this other clubs from the city used the ground dating back to the 1880s. 

The club store and ticket office are located on the opposite side of the road to the south side due to the tight footprint. The south end is technically split into two stands bolted together - the older Jimmy Kerr Stand was the first cantilevered stand in Scotland upon its opening in 1962 - it is a two-tier stand running from the halfway line and round the south-east quadrant to meet up with the east end. It has an upper deck for seating  with a high roof giving ample space for a TV platform and media section. ThE lower section is taken up by corporate viewing. This unusual set-up of corporate sections being low down is also split into two sections due to space required for the steps leading up to the seating deck. Directly in front of the corporate area are the two dugouts. The Jim McLean Stand was built in 1997 and is bolted onto the Jimmy Kerr Stand so that seating is provided for the full length of the south side. This extension has seating on both upper and lower decks. 

This eastern end is home to the Eddie Thompson Stand - another two-tier structure which tapers off at the upper level to accommodate the adjacent allotments. This stand was opened in 1994 and is inhabited by the loudest element of the home support. The George Fox Stand is the largest at Tannadice Park and runs along the northern end. Another structure dating back to the early 1990s this has two tiers with a smaller upper deck on top of the larger lower deck. The West Stand is the only single-tier one at the venue - it was converted from terracing to seating in 1994 and you can still see the leftovers of the terracing in the north-west corner with the stand not extending for the whole end of the pitch. This is a more basic looking stand with two stanchions supporting the roof. It is given over to away followings with large support while smaller allocations are positioned in the Jim McLean Stand. 

This was the first home league game of the season for Dundee United coming off the back of a 4th place finish last season while Livingston had finished 7th. The home side had a lethargic start, possibly due to being in Europa Conference action the previous Thursday beating AZ Alkmaar 1-0. The away side were the better of the two but the first half was a very dull affair with neither side registering a shot on target. That all changed four minutes after the break when Livingston took the lead through a cracking 20-yard drive by Christian Montano. This spurred United into action and a couple of minutes later Tony Watt did well to make space in the box for a shot which was well saved by Shamal George. Watt was involved again in the 66th minute after a neat 1-2 finished with him shooting just wide of the post. Livingston's best chance for a second came three minutes later when Joel Nouble played Scott Pitman in on goal. United goalie Mark Birighitti rushed out and closed down the shot to keep the game at 1-0. Dundee United continued to press and Mathew Cudjoe had two 20-yard efforts go close, the first requiring a tip over by George and the second just wide of the mark. The latter came in injury time and this proved to the the final chance for United to salvage something out of the game. Any hopes of a better performance in the 2nd leg of their Europa Conference tie against Alkmaar a few days later went up in smoke as the Tangerines suffered to a 7-0 defeat leaving them to contemplate a bad week for the club.

Result: Dundee United 0-1 Livingston

Division: Scottish Premiership

Attendance: 7,442