Numbers behind Dundee FC’s title win – including remarkable 31-year league record

The Premiership beckons once more for Dundee Football Club.

They are heading back to the top flight as champions of the second tier for the sixth time in their 130-year history.

It may not have been plain-sailing all the way to the Championship trophy lift.

But it was done in true Dundee style – nail-biting to the very end.

The final-day title decider was a game that will live long in the memory of all who witnessed it.

Gary Bowyer’s final match in charge of the Dark Blues was a remarkable rollercoaster ride of goals, goals and more goals.

But how did they measure up to the rest of the division across the entire campaign?

Team

The only stat that really matters at the end of the day is the amount of points won – Dundee won 63 from 36 games, five more than the rest.

Remarkably that’s the lowest points total for any second-tier winner since 1991/92 (Covid-affected seasons removed) – it was the Dark Blues who were top 31 years ago as well with 58 points from 44 games.

Dundee won 34 of their 63 points at Dens Park (54%) and 29 on the road (seven wins, eight draws and three defeats).

Only Greenock Morton had a better home record (by one point, Partick Thistle and Queen’s Park both won 34 points as well as the Dee) while Ayr and Inverness bettered Dundee’s away record by just one point.

The Dark Blues and Queen’s Park won more games than any other side with 17 each but, crucially, the title winners lost only seven matches – that’s two fewer than Morton and a massive five fewer than the Spiders.

With 66 goals scored, Dundee were the top scorers and 40 goals conceded also gives them the best defence across the division.

On the disciplinary front, the Dens men picked up 52 yellow cards – three more than Ayr United and seven more than the least, the 45 for Queen’s Park. Greenock Morton received 92.

However, Dundee were the bad boys of the division with more reds than any other side. Four teams had four but the Dark Blues saw five sent off – Ryan Sweeney twice, Josh Mulligan twice and Ben Williamson once.

Individuals

The top appearance-maker across the campaign was winger Paul McMullan (46), followed by Ryan Sweeney (44), Lee Ashcroft and Josh Mulligan (both 42) and Luke McCowan (40).

Most league starts was Sweeney with 32, centre-back partner Ashcroft in second with 32.

Of course, trophy-laden Lyall Cameron ended the campaign as the club’s top goalscorer with 14 in all competitions. He also scored the only hat-trick of the campaign, in the 7-0 thrashing of Hamilton.

Zach Robinson, though, scored more league goals than the Dens academy graduate with 12 of his 13 Dundee goals coming in the Championship.

Luke McCowan and Alex Jakubiak both hit double figures with their strikes on that fateful final day of the campaign, McCowan getting seven in the league and Jakubiak six.

On the assists front, Paul McMullan was once more king at Dens Park. He was pipped in the Championship standings by Dom Thomas (12) of Queen’s Park but managed 11 in 35 league games.

Add in cup assists and McMullan finished the campaign with 14 assists and seven goals for the Dark Blues.

At the other end, clean sheets were in abundance for the Dark Blues with 16 in total – five ahead of any other side.

Adam Legzdins earned 10 of those, Ian Lawlor three and Harry Sharp was in for three as well.

Top of the league charts were Brian Schwake (Morton), Calum Ferrie (Queen’s Park) and Charlie Albinson (Ayr) all with 11.

Attendances

Finally, how did Dundee’s crowds compare to the rest of the division?

The club’s average attendance plunged by 19.3% from the previous campaign, thanks to the loss of Premiership away crowds.

This season saw an average gate of 4,865 in the past season, more than double the average of eight clubs in the division.

Partick Thistle’s average was 3,122 with Inverness on 2,277 as third-highest. Bottom of the pile were Queen’s Park with 1,008, just behind Cove Rangers on 1,018.