Gordon Wallace

Image is detail of the original and used by kind permission of DC Thomson & Co Ltd.

Gordon Wallace joined Dundee from Raith Rovers in 1969-70 for a fee of around £15,000. Originally signed from Alyth United by Montrose in 1962, Wallace joined Raith four years later. The striker was recognised for his goalscoring exploits in 1968 when he was awarded the Scottish Football Writers’ Association player of the year. Wallace’s 30 goals that season helped Raith avoid the drop, and this didn’t go unnoticed outside of Fife. The European Champions, Celtic, and Newcastle had the striker watched and Blackburn, too, showed an interest.

In the end, it was the Dark Blues of Dundee who secured his signature and it seemed a fitting acquisition, given Gordon originally signed, provisionally, for Dundee almost a decade earlier, prior to his move up the Angus coast to Montrose. Wallace actually made a couple of reserve appearances scoring three goals before being released. Despite missing out on a front row seat to some of Dundee’s most famous exploits in the 60s, Wallace would be instrumental in providing for some incredible memories for the players and fans alike in the 70s.

Wallace’s impact was immediate, scoring in a derby defeat in September 1969. That same season Dundee reached the first in a run of Scottish Cup semi-finals against Jock Stein’s Celtic. The Dark Blues almost forced a replay when Wallace cancelled out Lou Macari’s Celtic opener in the 55^th minute, but a late Celtic goal halted Dundee’s cup progress.

The 1971-2 season produced two of the most memorable European nights in the club’s history. Wallace joined in the scoring to defeat AB Copenhagen and set up a meeting with Cologne. Finding themselves 4-2 down on aggregate with 21 minutes left of the second leg to play, the Dark Blues levelled the scores with six minutes left. The away goal rule was not in Dundee’s favour, but the crowd had not given up hope and the noise from the terraces reached incredible levels. That volume increased further when the fans thought Dundee had won a penalty but, agonisingly, the referee sought counsel from his assistant, and he changed his mind. Undaunted, the Dark Blues ploughed on and after a couple of goal line clearances Bobby Wilson crashed in a late winner.

The draw threw up another of Dundee’s European Cup foes in AC Milan. Dundee’s 3-0 defeat in the San Siro meant another dramatic second leg comeback attempt. Some astute selection changes by the manager frustrated the Italians and Wallace’s first half strike gave the home side hope. Another goal in the second half charged the atmosphere inside Dens once again, but on this occasion the Dark Blues fell just short and it was AC Milan who went into the quarter final draw.

In 1973-74 Wallace cemented his place in Dundee FC folklore. Despite being defeated by Celtic in five Scottish Cup semi-finals; a couple of League Cup quarter finals and various other stages of the two cup competitions in the 70s; there was one occasion where the Dark Blues got the better of the Hoops. During the power strikes and impending three-day weeks; Wallace was the dynamo that sparked the League Cup Final into life. His goal was enough to bring the trophy back to Dens for a third time.

Injury kept Wallace out of the team for about 19 weeks in 1974, but Wallace marked his return in typical fashion with two goals in a reserve game against Aberdeen in Dec 1974- provisional signing, Eric Sinclair, assisted with one of those strikes. Wallace’s time with the club came to an end when he was released in 1976.

St Johnstone, Arbroath and Dumbarton made offers to the player, but it was Dundee United who captured his signature with an eye on the future as Wallace was by now a qualified coach. Before long Wallace returned to Raith Rovers, again as a player coach, and it was while in Kirkcaldy that he scored his 300^th goal in a game against Queen of the South.

The lure of Raith, as well as being the club to provide him with a stage as a player, was that they were committed to keeping him at the club until he found a job. He took on the role of manager and was at the helm for five years before moving back to United to coach their strikers.

Between his stints at Raith and United, Wallace enjoyed two memorable summers in the USA as a player for the Seattle Sounders in the North American Soccer League (NASL). His team mates included Bobby Moore and Geoff Hurst and when the former wasn’t babysitting for him, Wallace was teasing the latter about his goal that never was. Wallace had the opportunity to share the pitch with the greats- Beckenbauer, Carlos Alberto and, of course, Jocky Scott. Wallace had encouraged his good friend to make the trip over and in his second stint in 1978, there was a part of the Pacific Coast in the star studded, cosmopolitan football league that was forever Dundee. As well as teaming up with Scott, the two former Dark Blues were managed by another ex-Dee – Jimmy Gabriel. Sadly, Wallace’s two stints were either side of Seattle’s appearance in the 1977 Soccer Bowl final.

Wallace was an integral part of the United back room staff on their European adventures and would visit many countries scouting United’s opponents – once watching Barςa’s Lineker achieve hero status in Catalonia by scoring a hat-trick v Madrid.

Wallace crossed the divide once again, taking up the post of Dundee manager in 1989 – much to the annoyance of United who claim he was ‘tapped up’. A claim, backed up by the authorities, which ultimately cost Dundee £5,000 in fines.

A B&Q cup win in 1990 and sitting top of the First Division wasn’t enough to satisfy overly emotionally invested fans or the buy-in of the then chairman and so Wallace left to join up with Jocky at Dunfermline. He was compelled to give his reasons:

“No money has been made available to me for players for the past year and I was informed recently that none would be forthcoming to myself this season. I have also been told that a new contract for myself would not be considered”.

Wallace’s connection with the city clubs was nowhere near the end and in the years since he has taken on a number of roles at both clubs, including becoming part of the caretaker management team at United when Ivan Golac resigned.

Gordon once again joined Dundee in his role as Youth and First Team Advisor in 2004.

The man who won a major piece of silverware for the club was inducted into Dundee’s Hall of Fame in 2010 and was one of its earliest entrants, such is the esteem in which he is held.