Post War (1945-1960)

Promotion & League Heartache

In 1946 Dundee romped to the Division B title, but that season was unofficial owing to the amount of players still on active service. It proved to be a worthwhile warm-up for Dundee as the following campaign was even more fruitful. The Dark Blues strolled to the championship taking 45 of the available 52 points. Dundee demonstrated remarkable attacking prowess, scoring 113 goals on the way to the title, conceding 30 in the process. Bert Juliussen scored 33 goals in all competitions including 13 in the two consecutive 10-0 league wins against Alloa and Dunfermline. 

Dundee translated their league form to the cups, reaching the quarter finals of both cup competitions, succumbing narrowly to, their then great derby rivals, Aberdeen in each case. Dundee won the 1946 and 1947 editions of the Forfarshire Cup within a fortnight in May 1947, the quirks of that particular cup’s fixture scheduling meant that tournaments were often held over until the following season, or seasons. The second of the wins took place in glorious sunshine at Dens and came virtue of a 5-0 win over Dundee United in front of 14,000. The derby win complemented the two league derby victories in front of large crowds at both grounds. Crowds across the board were booming and Dens was no different with 36,000 turning out to see Dundee’s 2-1 win against Celtic and 38,000 to witness the 2-1 defeat against Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup. 

The crowds, needless to say, increased with top-flight football and Dundee’s average attendance reached 21,000. In 1947-48, Dundee managed a creditable 4th place finish in their first season in the top flight since 1938. In 1948-49 the Dark Blues managed to once again increase their average attendance to, a club record, 24,500 – and not without good reason. Dundee reached the semi-finals in both cups and, crucially, finished runners-up in the league – losing the chance to claim the title on the last day. 

On that last afternoon of the season at Brockville, Dundee knew a win would secure the league, regardless of what their title rivals Rangers could do in their own game. Manager George Anderson was said to be so nervous that he uncharacteristically locked the Dundee players in the dressing room in an effort to protect the players. Some of the players would later state that this tactic actually contributed to building the tension and nerves. On the pitch Dundee won a penalty with the scores at 0-0. Alex Stott, scorer of 39 goals that season, stepped up and failed to convert. Falkirk soon raced to a 2-0 lead which Dundee reduced late on, but Falkirk again scored a brace to ease to a 4-1 win. The Dundee players returned to the familiar setting of the dressing room to the news that Rangers had also won by the same score line. The fact this group of players had come close, closer even than the great sides of the early 1900s, was of no consolation. 

In the cold light of day, it’s tempting to run down the season’s fixtures looking for that rogue result that cost the league championship. The 6-1 defeat to St Mirren absolutely looks out of place, as does the double East Fife did over Dundee (2-5 & 0-3) – the only team to achieve that feat that season. Nevertheless, Dundee fans wouldn’t have long to wait to delight in the club ending its decades long quest for silverware. 

Cup Success

George Anderson had by now done a sterling job in rebuilding Dundee and dragging the club from their pre-war doldrums, but Dundee’s manager was always looking to improve the team. In September 1950 Anderson surreptitiously made his way to Derby to meet with the club officials of Derby County, and then to Glasgow to meet Billy Steel. Billy had been training with Rangers and commuting to Derby for matches, it wasn’t a situation that suited either party. The paper talk had been of when, rather than if, Billy would sign for the Ibrox club. Anderson’s visit to Glasgow, under the radar of the press, was not in vain. The man who always cut a dashing figure in his bowtie and bowler hat shook the British footballing public by announcing Billy Steel as a Dundee player at a press conference. Billy would later say that he was lured to Dundee by Anderson’s kindness. 

Dundee pushed the boat out to secure the mercurial inside-left paying a Scottish record transfer fee of £23,500. It was to be a shrewd investment as for Steel’s debut – the traditional derby match against Aberdeen – 8,000 more fans passed through the turnstiles than on average.  

It is no coincidence that immediately after Steel’s signing Dundee enjoyed a period of triumph- winning the League Cup in 1951 and 1952, making the Dark Blues the first team to retain the trophy. Steel was already a big-name player by the time he joined Dundee and had earned a number of Scotland caps. Steel was even chosen for the Great Britain team to play the Rest of Europe in 1947, playing alongside luminaries such as Stanley Matthews and Wilf Mannion. 

It was while at Dundee that Steel scored four goals against Northern Ireland, but also while at Dundee that Steel earned the unenviable distinction of becoming the first player to be sent off playing for his country in a match against Austria. Reputedly, while the disconsolate figure of Steel’s small frame was trudging off the field in Vienna, he was attacked by a female spectator who brandished an umbrella as her weapon of choice. 

Steel, regarded as one of the greatest Dundee players, enjoys an almost iconic status in the Dark Blue haunts of the city. He was a product of the wartime era with a celebrity and stature equal with contemporaries such as Matthews, Mannion, Billy Wright, Billy Liddell et al. He left an indelible imprint on those fortunate enough to have seen him live, and the tales of Billy’s antics still captivate the generations of fans who came after he was gone, ensuring the cult of Steel lives on. 

Billy’s diminutive frame and cherubic features, exaggerated by the oversize shirts and shorts of the time, belied a fiery temperament, sharp wit and acidic tongue. Stories of Steel audaciousness on the field and devilment off it are often embellished but always born from the truth. Steel was said to be keenly aware of the Scottish selectors in the Celtic Park stand during Dundee’s visit to the East End of Glasgow one afternoon. Oozing with his trademark self-confidence, and playing against his international teammate Bobby Evans, Steel nutmegged a hapless opponent before stopping, turning and nutmegging the player for a second time then rode another few tackles before placing a cross for Bobby Flavell to score. Steel walked casually back to his own half, never breaking his stare aimed towards the captivated selectors. 

Steel played in both League Cup finals and when it looked like Rangers had salvaged the first of those finals by equalising late on, Steel, standing over a dead ball, apparently instructed Alfie Boyd to get in the box and to expect the ball to come directly to Boyd’s head. The free kick was delivered with pinpoint accuracy and Boyd easily sent in a dramatic late winner.

Sandwiched between those cup wins was the unfortunate Scottish Cup final defeat against Motherwell. Four second half goals flattered the ‘Well, but ultimately it was a deserved victory for the Lanarkshire side who took no chances and allowed Dundee’s maestro little room to manoeuvre. The game was witnessed by one of the largest crowds to attend a club match in European football history with 136,990 inside Hampden, and another few thousand locked outside. 

All good things come to an end and, ever the showman, Steel rocked football again, by announcing his retirement at the age of 31 in 1954. 

“As I was walking down the Overgate,

I met wee Johnny Scobie,

And he said to me,

Would you like to see,

The famous Dundee F…C”

Our visit to the fifties wouldn’t be complete without stopping by the cup tie responsible for birthing the above song lyrics. After storming their League Cup section with five wins and one draw the Dark Blues drew Dundee United in the quarter finals. On September 12th 1956 Dundee lined up:

Brown, Reid, Irvine, Henderson, McKenzie, Cowie, Chalmers, Black, Merchant, O’Hara, Christie.

Jimmy Chalmers, in particular, was in electrifying form, tearing United apart on the wing and helping himself to a hat-trick in the process. Black, Christie, O’Hara and Merchant chipped in with the goals in a 7-3 rout. Any notion of a third League Cup final in five years were disabused when Partick Thistle edged out Dundee 3-2 at Ibrox in the semi-final replay. 

By the mid-fifties, Dundee lacked the spark of the George Anderson era, but as the old stars left one-by-one, new bodies replaced them as, slowly but surely, the club started building something special.