This week was a huge moment in the history of Dundee Football Club.
It may not have seemed quite so big when the Dark Blues announced they were moving into the Gardyne Campus of Dundee and Angus College.
However, the impact it will have on the players, management and staff at the club should not be underestimated.
The behind-the-scenes working of the club has effectively moved out of Dens Park, the club’s home since 1899.
A workplace full of history, stands and rooms named for dark blue legends, a sparkling boardroom decked out with polished wood that speaks of tradition.
But history and tradition bring another aspect: age.
The Main Stand at Dens Park is certainly feeling its years.
Managing director John Nelms’ spiel when talking up plans for the proposed stadium move to Camperdown Park centred on trying to sell a 21st-century product in a 19th-century environment.
The new stadium is still a way down the line but the plans behind the scenes at the club continue apace.
The new structure of the football department has been talked about plenty.
But it goes hand-in-hand with a step into a modern working environment.
Times are moving on for Dundee Football Club.
But what difference will it make?
At Dens
Until this week, Dundee FC was solely based where home matches are played.
Now Dens will be largely empty through the week before being full, the club hopes, on a Saturday.
The players and management were at one end of the main stand with office staff spread out thinly through almost the entire length of the old building.
Knowing if colleagues were even in the office, never mind working with them, could be tricky due to the spread-out nature of the workspace.
What about the players?
The normal routine for the Dundee players last season was far from ideal. Far from the way a modern football club in the Scottish top flight should be working anyway.
Players arrive at Dens in the morning, get changed then jump back into their own cars – Covid rules still in place – and drive to Riverside, where they would be training more often than not.
After a few hours there, often spent on windswept pitches by the River Tay, they would all jump back in their own cars and drive back to the stadium.
There they would get showered and changed then maybe grab a bite to eat, though that wasn’t supplied by the club.
Then it would be a team meeting with video analysis or the like after that before their working day was done.
What is there at Gardyne?
New manager Gary Bowyer has a new office, managing director John Nelms has a new office, technical director Gordon Strachan has a new office.
The players have a new home during the week and staff from all the different branches of the club are now gathered in an open-plan space.
There is a gym, there is a swimming pool, all on hand for the Dundee players and coaches.
More importantly there are pitches to train on within a short walking distance of the players’ changing room.
The pitches are currently in OK condition but work is already being done by the father and son team of Dundee groundsmen, Brian and Brian Robertson, to bring them up to scratch for a professional football club.
There is one pitch with rugby goals and beside it one with football markings which will be used by the first-team when pre-season starts on Monday.
But plans are already under way to put in a third pitch on the far side (area with longer grass in picture below).
The existing surface will be dug out and the same soil and turf used for the Dens Park pitch will be laid.
The dimensions will also be the same as the club replicate their home pitch as much as possible for training through the week.
So what now for the players?
The cars stay in the car park.
The video below shows the short walk from the campus building to the pitches.
After training, the players will wander back inside to get showered and ready for whatever team meetings are to come – there are rooms set out for tactical and video analysis.
They can chat to Nelms or Strachan about whatever issues there may be, share some banter and gossip with the other staff and will grab lunch – now provided by the club – next to the open-plan office space.
Players can step away from that area to meet the media for press conferences in the media room next to reception.
They can use the gym, go for a dip in the pool or get physio treatment on site.
There is even a garden between the offices if they need to contemplate a bad defeat.
A blueprint?
It may not have the traditional vibe of Dens Park but there is certainly a positive vibe among the people who run the club.
The difference is “night and day” to some, a “brilliant” change for others already in place.
There will be a far simpler and more professional experience for the players when it comes to training.
It is a modern facility – one that Dundee are already considering as a blueprint for their own bespoke training centre planned for Camperdown Park.
It may be a step away from Dens Park but it is a major step forward off the field.
Now is the vital part – making the most of the facility to improve things on the pitch.
GEORGE CRAN: Are Dundee now moving into the modern football world?
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