5 years of Mark Ogren: Dundee United’s heady highs and costly lows under American ownership – and what’s next?

December 19, 2018 proved to be a landmark day in the history of Dundee United, as American businessman Mark Ogren swept to power at Tannadice.

Having earned significant wealth in the oil and gas industry, the Minnesota-native arrived in Tayside with a stated desire to make the Tangerines “a force within Scottish football once again“.

The five years since he purchased a 85.61% shareholding from Mike Martin and James Fyffe have rarely been dull.

Promotion, European qualification, relegation, six different managers, fan fury and significantly upwards of £10 million spent.

Here, Courier Sport reflects on half-a-decade of Ogren ownership.

Dreaming big and Covid hits

“This isn’t a hobby for us, and we expect to make money long-term.”

Ogren’s aim sounded ambitious in December 2018.

And that’s before the sporting – and wider – world ground to a halt due to the Covid pandemic.

Following the heartbreak of a promotion playoff final defeat to St Mirren in 2019, Robbie Neilson guided the Terrors back to the Premiership on a points-per-game basis after the shut-down of Scottish football in March 2020.

Although in the top-flight, Ogren found himself in charge of a spectator-led business, without spectators.

With the campaign played behind closed doors, the United accounts for the year ending June 2021 noted a “match day and non-match day income of an estimated £4.2m of lost revenue”.

An insurance policy and the extraordinary generosity of fans – the majority effectively donating their season ticket money – assuaged the impact a little.

An eight-figure outlay

Ogren has never been shy about bolstering the squad, with the summer of 2022 a particularly lavish, and ultimately foolhardy, outlay. He has spent comfortably into eight-figures during his tenure.

The sales of Lawrence Shankland, Jeando Fuchs, Kerr Smith and Dylan Levitt, among others, have banked a fee. Nevertheless, that determination to “make money” articulated five years ago seems a distant hope.

In United’s most recent published accounts for the year ending June 2022, money due to creditors –  Ogren being by far the largest –  stood at £12,172,699.

However, Ogren’s backing should not be seen as a folly. He has overseen the rebuilding of the club’s withering academy structure, gaining Scottish FA Elite status in 2019.

Ogren purchased and redeveloped Gussie Park – now Foundation Park – in partnership with the Dundee United Supporters Foundation. A once strained relationship is now solid.

There has been a plethora of changes in the club’s commercial, marketing, and operational departments.

Lamentably, United are in the same league that Ogren found them, but he contends the structure is “night and day” compared to the one he found in 2018.

Managerial appointments

Ogren has appointed five permanent Dundee United managers.

Tam Courts is the longest serving of those bosses, occupying the dugout for slightly more than a year before departing to join Budapest Honved.

Which is not to say that Ogren’s choices have been disastrous.

Micky Mellon solidified United’s place in the Premiership following Neilson’s shock return to Hearts in the summer of 2020. His successor, Courts, took United into Europe.

However, Jack Ross and Liam Fox were ill-fated. Between them, they won eight matches between June 2022 and February 2023, setting the Tangerines on a path to relegation.

Despite a positive initial impact, Jim Goodwin was unable to complete a great escape – but impressed sufficiently to earn a two-year contract; now charged with leading the Terrors back to the top-flight.

European qualification ahead of schedule

Courts was a contentious hire.

Having cut his teeth as a manager at Kelty Hearts before linking up with United’s newly transformed academy, critics labelled him the cheap option.

However, the Fife coach – in his maiden season as a Premiership boss – guided the Tannadice outfit back to Europe for the first time since 2012.

The football was not always scintillating; the standard of the league was far from vintage – but you can only beat what is in front of you and, particularly in comparison to what has come since, the campaign was terrific.

Upon his arrival, Ogren stated “in maybe three to five years, we need to be competing in the top six of the Premiership.”

At this point, they were ahead of schedule.

The 2022/23 campaign collapses

Ogren was in attendance as United, now managed by Ross, defeated AZ Alkmaar 1-0 at Tannadice in the Europa Conference League qualifying round first leg.

In terms of a standalone result, achieved amid a fervent atmosphere on home soil, it was the zenith of Ogren’s time as owner. The stadium erupted as Glenn Middleton curled home the winning goal.

As this reporter left the stadium at 10.50pm, there were already fans queuing up to secure a ticket for the return at the AFAS Stadion.

Surely a successful season was in the offing?

Then came the second leg.

Ogren was in the Netherlands to witness the squad he bankrolled implode 7-0, equalling the heaviest ever defeat for a Scottish club in Europe. It would set the tone for Ross’ capitulation, also overseeing a 9-0 defeat against Celtic.

Things would go from bad to worse.

Fan fury and subordinates pay the price

The early months of 2023 will go down as the most tumultuous of Ogren’s tenure.

With United hurtling towards relegation – a fact that seemed scarcely appreciated within the corridors of Tannadice – the club signed just one player in the January transfer window, young centre-half Loick Ayina on loan.

Meanwhile, Tony Watt was farmed out to St Mirren for the remainder of the campaign, leaving 16-year-old Rory MacLeod as the only back-up striker to Steven Fletcher.

United were pilloried at the time. The gaps in the squad – a new goalkeeper and a defensive midfielder were also badly needed – were patently obvious.

Much of the ire was aimed at sporting director Tony Asghar, with an “Asghar Out” banner unveiled at the February 1 defeat at Kilmarnock. Protests followed at the Tangerines’ AGM, where Ogren backed Asghar and head coach Fox.

For the first time in his tenure, the frustration of angry Arabs was directed towards the owner – rather than solely Asghar and Fox – as United slipped to a humbling, meek 4-0 defeat at Ross County.

Usually genial and upbeat, he looked haunted in the Highlands.

Within four days of Steven McLean’s full-time whistle in Dingwall, both Asghar and Fox were no longer at the club.

What next?

In an exclusive interview with Courier Sport in August, Ogren reaffirmed his commitment to guiding United back to the Premiership.

It is an aim that must be achieved against a backdrop of fiscal prudence – sorely lacking last term – following a predicted drop in revenue of around £4 million due to relegation.

It is understood United have succeeded in cutting more than £2 million off their wage bill, albeit Ogren is likely to be asked to strengthen Goodwin’s ranks in the January transfer window.

In the longer term, he acknowledged that, “I probably have more years behind me than I do in front of me (as United owner)”.

But Ogren believes that United is a business with value – and expects to recoup a commensurate price. Whether potential suitors agree, given the financial challenges of Scottish football, is another matter.

The looming relaxation of rules governing dual ownership is also a fascinating development.

United are a club with a rich history, sizable stadium, engaged fanbase and recent experience of European football; unarguably the sixth-biggest club in the country.

One could surmise that they will attract enquiries if such linkups became commonplace.

Before that, however, Ogren must ensure that his sixth year as custodian sees United return to the Premiership. Whether seeking to spearhead long-term progression himself, or craft a more inviting asset to sell, that much is essential.