A Dundee school’s football team has made history by winning the city’s main football cups over each of the last five years.
Grove Academy’s triumph in the Senior Johnston Trophy at Tannadice gave them a clean sweep of all the competitions since the boys came together in first year at the Broughty Ferry school.
As S1s in 2009, they won the Logie Cup for under-13s and when they moved up to S2 in 2010 they lifted the Urquhart Cup for under-14s at Dens Park.
Their victory in the final of the Senior Sports Cup in 2011 for S3s at Dens Park as under-15s made it a hat-trick, and they followed this up last year when they triumphed in the Dundee United Cup for under-16s at Tannadice at S4 level.
Their crowning glory came this month in the final of the Senior Johnston Trophy for S5s/6s with their 2-0 win over Harris Academy.
“This is a tremendous achievement by the boys,” said coach Allan Gallazzi.
“We’ve been through the records of the Dundee Schools’ Football Association right back to the 1920s and we can’t find any other case of the same school team winning the city’s annual football trophies each year as they have progressed through their school careers.
“They’re a very good team with some fine young players and they have done very well indeed.”
Allan, a pupil support worker at Grove, said the boys have also shone away from knock-out competitions, twice reaching the quarter finals of the Scottish Cup at two age groups and winning the Dundee schools’ league at S1, S2 and S4 stages. They had a handful of players in the Dundee team that one the Scottish Cup for area select teams last year.
The Grove “galacticos” include centre half Matthew Allan and his defensive partner Sean Gallagher who have both signed for Dundee. Callum McHardie, another Dens signing, is a prospect too, as is striker Jordan Garden, son of Montrose manager Stuart Garden and grandson of legendary former Dundee player and manager Jocky Scott.