The name Arvid Schenk brings painful memories for Dundee fans.
Whatever the opposite of a one-hit wonder is, the goalkeeper’s infamous derby debut is it.
Six goals conceded in his one and only appearance for the club and a name remembered across Scottish football for the wrong reasons.
But what does that New Year’s Day derby mean to the man himself? And what has he done since?
To find out the answer to those questions, Courier Sport tracked Arvid Schenk down.
This is his story of THAT debut.
‘The first moment’
The date was January 1, 2015, and Dundee had made the short trip across the road to Tannadice.
No 1 Kyle Letheren was due to keep goal.
The newly-promoted Dark Blues were in poor form heading into the contest while their rivals United were looking to move into the top four.
Dundee’s record in derbies had been even more scratchy – six defeats and just one draw from the previous seven meetings stretching back to the last derby victory in 2004.
This New Year’s Day would be the nadir of that sequence, however.
A portent of things to come saw Letheren pick up an injury in the warm-up. That meant a debut for Schenk.
But it was as bad a debut as it can get for a goalkeeper – conceding within 31 seconds and being beaten six times in an absolute mauling against your fiercest rivals.
“If you get six goals you can’t say I was good. It was horrible because you get six,” Schenk exclusively told Courier Sport.
“The first goal I remember they shoot against the back of the defender, I go to the left side and the ball goes to the right side.
“That was the first moment in the game.”
Where did Schenk come from?
Schenk, though, was no mug. He’d been at big clubs, though had only featured in second teams in the lower leagues in Germany.
He’d been at Wolfsburg the previous season who would go on to finish runners-up in the Bundesliga at the end of the campaign.
There he worked with Diego Benaglio, Bundesliga winner and veteran of multiple major tournaments with Switzerland.
Injuries had been an issue, however, and Schenk had left Wolfsburg in the summer.
Then along came the opportunity to move to Dundee – but could he be there in 24 hours?
“Kyle Letheren was injured and they needed a good backup,” the German explained.
“They spoke with my agent and spoke with Luka Tankulic because we had been together before at Wolfsburg.
“In two days they called and asked ‘can you sit on the bench in 24 hours against Hamilton Academical?’
“I was at a point in my career I wanted to get experience because my two years at Wolfsburg I was all the time injured.
“I was not so happy with my situation as a player.
“The guys spoke really well about Dundee and it was a big chance to get to a big league and a good club.
“It happened very fast.”
Scott Bain to Hamburg?
Schenk joined compatriots Tankulic and Thomas Konrad, both of whom he remains in touch with.
Overall his memories of his short time in Dundee are very positive – aside from the part everyone saw at Tannadice.
The former goalie revealed Konrad had tugged at the nostalgic heartstrings by sending him pictures from Dundee, their old neighbourhood and the stadium, after visiting for the final match of the season in May.
All three have now moved into coaching – Konrad as director of scouting at Karlsruhe and Tankulic is player-coach at his hometown club Rot-Weiss Ahlen.
Schenk also remains in touch with Scott Bain, who was No 2 to Letheren that season.
“I remember Bobby Geddes, the goalkeeper coach, and I spoke with Scott Bain and he was really such a nice guy,” Schenk recalled.
“After a few training sessions I spoke with my agent and said it was really fair I was on the bench because Scott was one of the best goalkeepers I ever met.
“I played with Diego Benaglio at Wolfsburg, with good German guys. But in my eyes Scott was one the best Scottish keepers I ever seen.
“When I worked with Hamburg he was an option to get for our first goalkeeper but the Germans were maybe not so keen on a Scottish goalie. I said ‘you have to see this guy, he’s a machine!’
“They took Sven Ulreich from Bayern Munich at that time.
“In my eyes I think he could have made bigger steps if he had moved out of Scotland.”
‘Just one chance’
Bain would take the No 1 jersey late in the campaign and would be a key man for Dundee until moving to Celtic in 2018.
Schenk’s time at the club was far shorter, however.
One 90 minute chance was all he got. And he’s now forever remembered for THAT infamous derby.
“It happened really fast. We did the warm-up and came inside then Paul Hartley said ‘Arvid, you are playing’,” the former St Pauli goalie explained.
“I was OK. That was the moment I had worked for, I was waiting for.
“I felt comfortable. I had a good connection with the team and the other guys.
“All the time you dream you play in the big games like a derby on New Year’s Day. My wife was in the stadium and I felt ‘what a good moment’.
“In this moment you don’t feel why did I get this worst game.
“I think we lost it as a team and my part I’d be happy if I didn’t do a big mistake or be rubbish but if you get six then you can’t say it was good.”
However, as negative an experience as it was, Schenk used the “horrible” Dundee debut to make a positive change.
He added: “Now I am on the other side as a coach I use that story to tell players you only get one chance or maybe two chances.
“As a goalkeeper it is often just one chance.
“My chance was this game for me and I didn’t take it.
“The gaffer spoke to me afterwards and said ‘it was really hard for you, don’t worry about it. In the next game, if Scott is fit then he will play but if he isn’t then you will, you are good enough.’
“There was nothing like ‘what’s happening?!’ or any bad flow or anything.
“It was hard for everybody because it was a derby and for the town and the clubs it was such an important game.”
Leaving Dundee
Schenk’s contract ended earlier than planned in late January.
The external view saw that as something of a punishment for the derby debacle, getting rid of a liability at the earliest opportunity.
However, Schenk reveals a different story behind his departure. And one that has now shaped the rest of his life.
He would play again in the lower reaches of German football but coaching quickly became his focus. He would spend almost six years at Hamburg, moving up from U/11s to becoming HSV’s goalkeeping co-ordinator.
A year ago he switched to coaching staff at VfB Lubeck.
“My contract was until the end of February,” he explained about his Dundee exit.
“We spoke and they asked what my plans were and I said if I won’t be in the squad [if Letheren and Bain are fit] to play then maybe it is better to see what my next option to do is.
“At this time my body was also not in the best flow because the two years before at Wolfsburg I had a lot of problems with my left knee.
“I was really down about my physical position.
“I said if they wanted me to stay I was happy to stay but if there is no chance to get onto the bench or make the next steps then I have to work on my body to get it right.
“In this moment I spoke with family and friends and I was in the position where I felt I had to change my mindset.
“I loved the game and loved goalkeeping but in my body and my head it was about changing.
“Playing always with pain and then you get this chance and you play not good.
‘I didn’t know it but it was my last game’
“It was a hard time because I was at the moment to break up with football completely.
“I changed things and I’m really happy I changed.
“When we start as kids we really want to be footballers and I had to be fair to myself – I was 27-years-old and I was not in the position where I could say it was the biggest career but I had done everything I could do.
“I’m really happy to grow up with St Pauli and play for Wolfsburg and Dundee and Hansa Rostock.
“The moment had come to open a new chapter and find a new way to feel comfortable.
“The last three years of my career was always with pain and working against your own body.
“It had switched to the head as well and I wasn’t happy.
“But Dundee was a pleasure because I enjoyed the time overall.
“When I look back it was the right decision to switch from playing to coaching.
“I didn’t know it at the time but it was my last game.
“But I still look at it: it was a derby, it was a pleasure to play in and I often think about it when I see what Stuart Armstrong has done since and so many others who played that game.
“It was not the best moment but I am still thankful for this game.”
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