Family comes first for Scott Fraser.
The 29-year-old has enjoyed a fruitful career in England’s League One over the past six years.
However, the arrival of Fraser’s daughter, now two years old, saw priorities shift for the family.
And a return to Dundee was very much the plan.
The issue was Fraser had a good contract with Charlton Athletic that ran until 2025 with the London club having paid £500,000 for his services and reluctant to let an asset go on the cheap.
Family first
The former Dundee United man’s first comment on his arrival at Dens Park was the desire to enjoy his football once more.
And he admits it’s been a long time since he had that joy on the pitch.
“A while ago if I’m honest. Probably when I first went to Charlton it was enjoyable,” Fraser said as he sat down to chat to written media with a washbag adorned with smiling photos of himself and his daughter.
“I signed in January and Ben Garner came in during the summer and I probably had four or five months with him that I genuinely enjoyed.
“My missus was pregnant in the January when we signed for Charlton. The first few months was OK because we had family and that around us.
“However, when we’re not happy off the pitch, London is obviously a different type of world than what we’re used to up here.
“I’ve made no secret of it. As soon as my missus said to me that, in other words, she’s had enough of London, it’s been tough.
“We’d play Saturday, Tuesday down there so I was away a lot. I could be away on Monday, back on Wednesday.
“If you played back-to-back away games you’re away on the Friday again and not back until Sunday morning.
“So it could be two or three days a week that I’m home and then four or five days I’m gone.
“It made it difficult.
“I stopped enjoying my football. It’s the first time I’ve experienced it in my career, in terms of off-field things affecting my football.
“But listen, my family will be put before everything, that’s what it will be.”
‘You’re not listening to me’
Six months at Hearts last season brought a taste of the home life again.
“From that point on I don’t think there was any chance of getting my missus to go back down!” Fraser joked.
However, offers came in from elsewhere in England and Charlton were eager to make some of their money back.
And they accepted offers from other clubs.
“That’s why I probably got more frustrated than I’d ever been because I’d explained to them that I wasn’t trying to get a better move or more money or anything like that,” Fraser added.
“It was purely a family situation. I get football is a business and you pay for players blah, blah, blah…
“I thought I made it clear and as professionally as I could that it was a family choice.
“But they accepted four or five offers from English clubs. I’d reiterated to them for the best part of a year, over a year, that I didn’t want any other English club.
“I wanted to go home.
“Then we eventually got the Hearts move and even in the summer there were three or four English clubs that they were trying to tell me to go to.
“That it would have been good for my career.
“I was like, you’re not listening to me.
“So eventually we managed on the last day of the window to eventually get the deal agreed to get out and then obviously I got here.”
Amazing offers
There was, though, a fair bit of time between leaving Charlton and signing on the dotted line at Dundee.
Three weeks passed before the deal finally got done.
And offers came from all over.
“That’s the thing isn’t it, when you become a free agent it sort of opens up everywhere really,” he added.
“My agent was calling me saying clubs from here were interested.
“I had to search the clubs online because I didn’t know where they were!
“But yeah, there was a couple of ones on the other side of the world that I think as a lifestyle would have been sort of amazing for us.
“But this is where I wanted to come to.
“It looked like it was going to get done, then it looked like it had no chance, then it looked like it was going to get done again.
“The manager [Tony Docherty] was more frustrated than anyone.
“It wasn’t difficult in that I always wanted to come here but it’s the first time really that I’ve been a free agent since Covid.
“So I felt it was only right that we looked at everything.
“Maybe I had more offers than I thought I would have and from different parts of the world, where it would have been interesting to take the family if they wanted to go.
‘We’re home’
“There’s maybe some we’ll look at in the future but I just think right now where we’re at, to come to a club like Dundee, being in Dundee, being from Dundee.
“I know what it’s about, I know how good it can be and we should come and try and be a part of that.
“It could be great.
“I feel happy already because we’re home.
“I feel like I’ve picked the right group of people to come and work with every day.
“The manager and his coaching staff really seem genuine, good football people and human beings as well.
“I spoke to the manager two or three months ago, it was the first thing we talked about. It was about the family here and getting them settled and he was completely aligned with that.
“And then me personally for football, I think he’ll suit me in terms of how he wants the team to play.
“Attacking football and getting me on the ball and things.”
As for facing Aberdeen on Saturday?
“However long they need me to play, I’ll be ready.”
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