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What is going on with Dundee’s pitch as Dens Park postponements stack up?

The Dens Park pitch. Image: SNS.
The Dens Park pitch. Image: SNS.

Dundee fans have a right to wonder what is going on at Dens Park just now.

There certainly isn’t any football being played anyway.

That’s three games in a row called off because of the weather.

Saturday’s league match with Partick Thistle was one of only two matches across the country postponed.

Games were being played on amateur pitches around Dundee yet the city’s oldest professional club weren’t able to do the same.

Now a club statement has referred to switching on undersoil heating ahead of Tuesday’s ill-fated second attempt to face Dunfermline in the SPFL Trust Trophy as “fiscally irresponsible”.

So what’s going?

Weather

Obviously the weather has been the catalyst for these three matches being called off.

Steady – not heavy – rain in the city saw the pitch become waterlogged, followed by a last-minute postponement last Tuesday.

More rain made things worse underfoot for the weekend’s attempt to face Partick Thistle before freezing temperatures left the surface as hard as concrete on Tuesday.

But the weather has only highlighted an already existing problem.

It must be made clear none of these issues should detract from the superb work done by groundsmen Brian and Brian Robertson over a number of years – and their endless efforts this month to get these matches played. No blame should be heading their way.

One section of the park in front of the home dugout has been an issue for some time. It appeared to have been fixed by the club at the start of last season.

Officials inspect the waterlogged Dens Park surface last week. Image: Craig Brown, Dunfermline Athletic.

However, the recent match against Arbroath on January 2 showed the same section displaying some wear and tear.

That was again the main area of concern, though not the only one, officials were looking at ahead of calling off last week’s game with Dunfermline.

The sodden turf then froze at the start of this week. Though that problem could have been dealt with had Dens Park’s undersoil heating been switched on.

Fiscally irresponsible

Dundee made clear in their statement on Tuesday afternoon that it was a financial decision to leave the undersoil heating off this week.

That was despite the knowledge it would lead to the game being called off.

There are no rules in the Challenge Cup to say a club must use undersoil heating to get a game on. The same goes for the Championship.

But a look back at the Cove Rangers match postponed in December lends some explanation.

A Dundee statement before that game read: “Despite our undersoil heating being on since Monday, the freezing conditions and last night’s heavy snowfall have meant that the pitch is now in a state that would put players’ safety at risk.”

Courier Sport understands putting the undersoil heating on that week cost the club in the region of £15,000 for a game that ultimately didn’t go ahead.

League attendances have generally ranged between 4,000 and 5,000 this season.

However, despite prices being slashed to £10 a ticket for the SPFL Trust Trophy clash with Dunfermline, only two stands were to be opened by the Dark Blues.

A small crowd was expected with the club expecting to struggle to turn any profit on the game. Add anything like a further £15,000 to the bill and it would likely end up costing the club money to play the match.

Finances

Reading between the lines of this decision, coupled with Dundee’s struggles in the January transfer market, could suggest money issues.

Dundee chief John Nelms has warned of tough times ahead for club
Dundee chief John Nelms. Image: SNS.

However, that’s not the case here.

What we are seeing is the new way of running Dundee FC by managing director John Nelms.

Gone are the days of big losses, year on year. Decisions like forking out £250,000 in transfers to save themselves from relegation under Jim McIntyre, only to go down anyway, are in the past.

Post-pandemic, the ultimate target is to ensure the club’s annual accounts break even or better.

That means a tightening of the belt across the business and sticking strictly to budgets.

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