Fans swarmed the pitch when Dundee FC were crowned league champions on a dramatic final day a decade ago.
‘Helicopter Saturday’ would never be forgotten.
All eyes were on the intriguing three-way battle for the Championship trophy.
Dundee started the season with John Brown in charge and were strong favourites to return to the Premier League at the first time of asking.
Dundee found themselves six points behind Hamilton Accies by the time they played each other at New Douglas Park on November 23 2013.
Had they fallen nine adrift, it may have proved to be an unbridgeable gap.
A 3-0 win turned out to be the high point of the John Brown Championship months.
A run of three games without a win, culminating in Dundee conceding a last-minute goal to Alloa to drop two points, saw the end of Brown’s tenure in February.
Paul Hartley took over in February 2014
Brown was replaced by former Wasps boss Paul Hartley.
His first game in charge was against Hamilton and a Martin Boyle goal gave Dundee the win at Dens Park, where two players were sent off for Accies.
A defeat at Morton on April 19 took Dundee’s title destiny out of their hands.
Advantage Hamilton.
However, Accies lost 4-1 to Dumbarton the following week and Dundee defeated Alloa 3-0 with goals from Christian Nade, Peter MacDonald and Craig Beattie.
The two results meant the title was back in Dundee’s own hands as they faced Dumbarton at Dens Park on May 3 2014.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Dundee were top with 66 points and Accies were close behind on 64.
Hamilton needed Dundee to draw or lose to Dumbarton.
However, Hamilton also had to win by eight clear goals at home to Morton.
This combined set of results was pretty much unimaginable.
Third-placed Falkirk were on 63 points and hosted Alloa.
The Bairns needed Dundee and Hamilton to both slip up to win the title
The SPFL booked a helicopter to deliver the trophy to the eventual winners.
All eyes turned towards the skies.
Dundee FC were going for all three points – and the league title
Hartley said: “People talk about a draw possibly being good enough but we can’t rely on that — we must be positive.
“There’s a lot riding on this in terms of financial reward for the club to get into the top flight.
“It’s a sell-out and it’s all Dundee fans.
“I can’t remember the last time that happened.
“The fans will get right behind the players.”
It was a gripping and glorious finale.
Coronation Street actor Sam Robertson was among the 10,000 Dees during an afternoon with plot twists to rival anything on the Weatherfield cobbles.
Dens Park erupted in raptures in the 25th minute when Christian Nade headed Dundee ahead when he flicked on a Kevin McBride free-kick.
The Dark Blues were two goals up and in cruise control after just 36 minutes.
Gary Irvine cut in from the right to send a perfect cross towards Peter MacDonald.
The striker made no mistake with a precision header past Jamie Ewings.
Dundee were quick out of the traps in the second half and came agonisingly close to making it three when Nade glanced a header off the Dumbarton post.
Dundee almost gave 2014 league title to Hamilton
The home fans had already started their title celebrations.
Instead of going for the kill, though, Dundee sat back and Dumbarton grabbed a lifeline from the penalty spot with 20 minutes still to play.
Scott Agnew made no mistake from the spot to make it 2-1.
The home nerves were jangling as news began filtering through of the incredible events at Hamilton, who were running up a cricket score against Morton.
Dumbarton were claiming for another penalty with six minutes left on the clock after a clumsy Kyle Benedictus challenge on Chris Kane.
Referee Bobby Madden was not impressed.
The title could have headed to Hamilton but for goalkeeper Kyle Letheren, who pulled off an incredible fingertip save to stop a Bryan Prunty header in the 90th minute.
Fingernails were bitten and more than a few hearts were in mouths as the helicopter carrying the Championship trophy circled overhead.
Some fans were heard to shout at the helicopter to buzz off in case it jinxed the result.
Others willed the referee to blow his whistle as he played four minutes of added time.
The Dees were not to be denied and the referee blew for the final whistle to spark joyous celebrations around the ground and on the pitch.
Incredible noise at Dens Park
At least 3,000 frenzied fans ran on to celebrate and sang their hearts out as Queen’s anthem, We Are The Champions, rang out around the ground.
Once the pitch was cleared, the players, their wives and girlfriends and children joined the celebrations as the trophy was presented.
In the end, the other results were meaningless.
Hamilton equalled their club record league victory by thrashing Morton in an unbelievable 10-2 victory, while Falkirk recorded a 3-1 win over Alloa.
“The Hamilton result is such a strange one,” said Hartley.
“You just don’t see results like 10-2, not even in amateur football.”
Hartley said a professional team “shouldn’t lose by that amount”.
He added: “It was nervy but I felt we controlled the game and dug in and got the result which is the most important thing.”
A fitting farewell for Dens Park skipper
Dundee captain Gavin Rae fought back tears in what was the last game of his career before retiring at the age of 36.
Rae had three spells with the club and his time at Dens included playing in the Uefa Cup during the Bonetti era and being capped for Scotland.
“I started at this club as a kid and I’ve had three spells here, it’s always been good to me and it means a lot to me,” he said.
“All last week I tried to push the thought of lifting that trophy out of my mind but even then I didn’t get much sleep.
“I just wanted to do it so much because the club and the fans deserve to be in the Premiership.
“It’s hard to put into words how I feel that we’ve done it in what was probably my last game.
“To do it in front of a full house with the ground jumping was unbelievable.
“I’ve played in a few big derbies and other huge games here but that atmosphere matched anything I’ve seen at Dens.
“It maybe wasn’t pretty but we did what we had to do and that’s all that matters.”
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