For almost half a century there’s been no Dundee Football Club without Petra Ryce.
For the 57-year-old super fan was as much a fixture at Dens Park as the stands themselves.
On Saturday fans stopped at the 57th minute to honour her with applause.
And now, as her family prepare her funeral, they’ve revealed she’ll make one last journey – in a one-off Dundee FC coffin – past the stadium to Dundee Crematorium.
Petra Ryce – Dens legacy
Petra was born on December 2, 1964 to Eddie and May Ryce.
As the youngest of four, she was always known as the bairn to brother Teddy and her sisters, Yvonne and Leigh.
Named after her uncle Peter – a keen Dundee fan – who died in a car accident aged 26, his passion for the Dark Blues must have rubbed off. Because despite a diagnosis of cerebral palsy aged two, by seven she was Dundee mad.
Full and happy life
Petra attended Kings Park School followed by the St Aidan’s Project in Broughty Ferry. Always outgoing and friendly she made friends wherever she went.
She loved going on holiday – whether in Scotland or to Spain, and in the 90s she travelled back and forth to Bahrain where Yvonne worked for the national airline.
“Petra always loved her food and so she was thrilled when she got to take part in my training sessions for cabin crew dealing with First Class passengers.
“She’d play the passenger and developed quite the taste for first class wine not to mention the handsome Bahraini stewards serving her,” said Yvonne.
Thrill seeker
Petra was never deterred by her disabilities.
So much so that she took even her family by surprise when they discovered she was a closet ‘adrenaline junkie’ during a family holiday to Disneyworld and MGM Studios.
From then on trips to Alton Towers and Thorpe Park were arranged regularly.
“Negotiating the rides was never a simple task and she would need a crew of three people to get her on and off the rides. However, Petra’s abounding joy and excitement always made the effort worthwhile.”
Losing mum and dad
Petra lost both her parents in 2012. Losing her lifelong carers was a traumatic time but sisters Leigh and Yvonne stepped in to support her.
With their encouragement Petra was able to live independently and within a year – alongside the support of the Inclusion Group – she found a life she never imagined possible.
Petra took great pride in living on her own with her dog Sasha. And especially liked making her own decisions.
Despite the sadness of losing her mum and dad, it undoubtedly became the most fulfilling time of her life.
Always on the go
Whether it was aqua aerobics, the ‘Do Your Thing’ dance class at the Rep, the Kaleidoscope Club or Dundee FC home matches with her late brother Teddy, Petra was always active.
She also loved JLS and Wet Wet Wet concerts, her skills development sessions at the McKinnon Centre, and latterly being a member of Advocating Together.
Petra was also a keen nationalist. Her support of the SNP extended to her weekly highlight – Nicola Sturgeon’s Covid briefing.
Petra’s party house
Because all the family celebrations were held at her home, Petra earned the reputation for having the ‘party house’.
Always delighted to be the centre of family fun and festivities – usually with a bottle of Desperado lager in her hand – she’d enjoy catching up with everyone’s news and gossip.
The Dark Blues
No matter the weather Petra attended every home game at Dens Park.
In the final two weeks of her life, she made it to both home games and was inundated with get well messages from players and former manager Jocky Scott.
“Gavin Rae was the apple of her eye, and she took a keen interest in his career. On finding out the news of her death he sent us an email. He was really fond of her.”
On Saturday, February 26 the club and fans paid tribute to Petra.
At the 57th minute – commemorating the age she was when she died – the crowd in the home stand clapped. And flowers were left on her seat.
Despite her speech and language difficulties those who sat near her could hear her loud and clear in support of the Dens. Especially the profanity!
Bit of a chancer
Petra was known in the family – and beyond – as someone who would chance her luck.
It even had to be noted in her care plan that she was likely to try and coax new carers to do things she could do for herself.
This started at a young age. When she was nine, on the promise of being grounded if her naughty behaviour persisted, she managed to get herself out a downstairs window, onto her trike and rode the five miles to Dens Park, just in case she had to should her punishment ensue.
She was only caught when her mum saw the marks on her shoes.
Food and fitba
Petra’s dad joked with his youngest daughter that her biggest passions in life were the two Fs: food and fitba.
But her older sisters were keen to make sure their sibling’s health didn’t suffer.
Petra would call Leigh ‘the gaffer’ and Yvonne ‘the food police’ but still managed to sneak a fly sausage roll or pie at the football.
That was until one week, when the camera zoomed in on a goal and instead of picking up the ball in the net, caught a sneaky Petra munching into a pie.
“Always the chancer.”
Final farewell
A celebration of her life will take place at 10.30am on Thursday, March 3 at Dundee Crematorium. Petra will be laid to rest wearing her Dark Blue top, in a specially designed Dundee FC coffin.
It’s believed to be the first time the club has given permission for its logo to be recreated in this way. The coffin will also feature an image of the stadium and her favourite player’s shirt.
The funeral cortege will take her past the club one more time, stopping briefly at the player’s entrance.
Songs by her favourite JLS and Wet, Wet, Wet will be played and Petra’s cousin Poppy will read a poem.
“Our sister was a larger than life character, every day of her life. She made us laugh and she enjoyed every second of her life.
“A persistent cough, and a bout of Covid, masked the fact she actually had cancer. She didn’t know she was dying but it was just four weeks between diagnosis and death.
“We’ve lost someone special and so we’ll be pulling out all the stops to make sure her final farewell is a party just like she’d want it to be.”
- You can watch Petra’s funeral here by entering username: geju9399 and password: 469224.
