A few Dundee United supporters may already be familiar with Wayne Bibby.
If a bombastic bloke with a broad Lancashire accent forced you to sing ‘Beautiful Sunday’ down the phone to secure a seat in hospitality, that’s the guy.
Bibby is Fleetwood Town’s supporters’ liaison officer and, in his own words, ‘Mr Fleetwood’.
However, he is steeped in Dundee heritage and counts himself as an honorary United fan.
Bibby’s father, Tam Harris — who passed away in August 2020 — is on the Dundee Music Walk of Fame. His brother, Jonny, is a caddy at St Andrews and a host of family members still live in Fintry.
Wayne spent a brief time in the City of Discovery as an infant, attending St Mary’s Primary in Lochee and following United in the time honoured fashion; being lifted over the old metal gates.
“Although I only lived in Dundee when I was a little ‘un, I’ll always have an affinity with the city because of the family on my dad’s side,” Bibby told Courier Sport.
“My dad, who is no longer with us, was Tam Harris. He is on the Dundee Music Walk of Fame. I’ve not seen it [the slab with Harris’ name] yet, but I’ve had the pictures sent to me.
“One of my sisters was born in Dundee and most of my family who are still up there live in Fintry.
“I remember going to Tannadice back in the days when I was small enough to get passed over the metal gate! That would have been back in the early 70s. I was about five.
“I’ve always followed Dundee United and I’m on all the fan pages on social media.”
The ‘Beautiful Sunday’ test
So, the excitement was palpable when Fleetwood chairman Andy Pilley told Bibby that United were heading south for a pre-season friendly — just as he was trying to convince the club chief to sign Benjamin Siegrist.
“I was actually sitting with the chairman and I said to him, ‘listen, nobody has bought the Dundee United keeper [Benji Siegrist] yet’,” he continued.
“They had their own ideas — but I liked Benji. He’s a good keeper. Although we’ve got a good keeper here.
“Anyway, he called me over and told me to look at his phone. It was a message from Scott Brown that said, ‘I’ve got Dundee United for pre-season’. It was Scott Brown who sorted it.
“He told me to keep it secret because it wasn’t official. So, straight away, I called my brother!”
Around 1,100 United fans will descend upon Highbury on Saturday for the pre-season friendly, with a boisterous atmosphere assured.
“I’ve been taking calls from United fans looking for hospitality and obviously they don’t expect me to know the Dundee United songs and all that,” added Bibby.
“So, I’ve been saying to people on the phone, ‘you need to do a test…’ Then I start singing the words to ‘Beautiful Sunday’ and say, ‘right, you need to complete the rest.’
“I’ve got all these videos of Dundee United fans singing to me over the phone!”
‘The Full Bibby’
On the subject of Brown, what has Bibby made of the former Scotland and Celtic captain following his appointment as boss of the Cod Army?
“I couldn’t stand him as a player! But I love that when it’s on your side — and he’s ours now,” he laughed.
“When I first met him in his office, it was 8am and I gave him the full Bibby experience. I said to him, ‘right Scott, this is my town, my club, my people!’ He was having a good laugh about it.”
He added: “I can’t believe the amount of season tickets we’ve sold in Scotland. We’ve sold around 100 season tickets for supporters in Scotland who want to come down and watch us now, as far north as Perth.”
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