A Spanish football team’s fans will raise a glass to the city of Dundee on Saturday on a night of bumper celebrations.
Sevilla’s La Liga match against Granada will mark the club’s 130th anniversary and 40,000 fans will gather to mark the occasion.
Javier Terenti, from the history department at Sevilla FC, said the relationship between the two cities was established centuries ago and will be further strengthened on Saturday.
An 1890 cutting from The Courier documented the founding of the club by British residents in Seville who met in a pub on January 25 that year to celebrate Burns Night.
Along with some Spanish friends they decided to form the country’s first official football club “after a deal of talk and a limited consumption of small beer”.
It confirmed Sevilla’s little-believed claims of being the oldest club in Spain.
Mr Terenti said: “The Dundee newspaper cutting is already part of the club’s own history and occupies a place of honour in the club’s museum.
“Therefore, it will be impossible to celebrate the club’s 130th anniversary without thousands of Sevilla FC fans remembering the words contained in it.
“We will raise a glass to the city of Dundee and its people on Saturday when we celebrate.”
The Andalusian club, which has won one La Liga, five Copa del Reys and five UEFA Cups/UEFA Europa Leagues, has also been trying to track down the name of The Courier’s correspondent in Seville in 1890.
The reason why this report was published in The Courier is probably due to the fact that, at that time, tonnes of Seville oranges were loaded on steamships, travelling from Seville to Dundee for the manufacture of the city’s famous marmalade.
There was a Thomson at the club, which they thought could be related to DC Thomson, who played one of the first matches Sevilla played against Huelva on December 27 1890.
“The mysterious Thomson will also be remembered, as we remember that of other Scots like EF Johnston, Hugo MacColl or Isaias White,” said Mr Terenti.
“The relationship between Seville and Dundee was established centuries ago thanks to the oranges that came to Dundee from the Andalusian capital.
“Those oranges were an essential ingredient for the production of the famous Dundee jam.
“It could be said that this relationship became even stronger when, thanks to that Burns Night of 1890, we interchanged football for oranges.
“Today, 130 years later, there is no doubt that this relationship is still valid, strengthening that fondness between Seville and Dundee.
“The 130th anniversary of the club will be a source of pride for thousands of Sevilla FC fans all over the world, and Dundee and Scotland will always be part of so an important day in the history of Sevilla FC.”
Sevilla, whose former players include Diego Maradona, Sergio Ramos and Dani Alves, were also managed by former Rangers manager Jock Wallace from 1986-87.
Mr Terenti said Wallace’s legacy lives on today in Sevilla and he will also be remembered on Saturday despite being dismissed from his job after just one season.
He said: “Wallace’s team played a beautiful game and had great players such as Jiménez, Serna, Francisco, Rafa Paz, Ramón, Álvarez and also Ted McMinn from Scotland.
“Wallace was a coach who believed and bet on young players from the club’s youth academy, which today is one of the most important pools of young players in Europe.”
Seville v Dundee: Facts, footie and food.
SEVILLE
Population – 690,000
Football clubs – Sevilla (La Liga) Home: Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium, capacity 43,883.
Real Betis (La Liga) Home: Benito Vilamarin Stadium, capacity 60,721.
Leading attraction – Museum of Fine Arts (1835)
Gastronomy – Bitter Seville oranges grow on trees lining the city streets. Formerly, large quantities were collected and exported to Britain to be used in marmalade.
The fruit is now used predominantly as compost locally, rather than as a foodstuff.
According to legend, the Arabs brought the bitter orange to Seville from East Asia via Iraq around the 10th century to beautify and perfume their patios and gardens.
DUNDEE
Population 148,750
Football clubs Dundee United FC (SPFL Championship). Home: Tannadice Park, capacity 14,209.
Dundee FC (SPFL Championship). Home: Dens Park, capacity 11,850.
Leading attraction – V&A Dundee (2018)
Gastronomy – Dundee cake and pehs.
According to legend, the Arabs and the Dark Blues both favour the Dundee Peh as a staple fortification on football matchdays.
