Thursday 9th of December saw a new board of directors of Dundee Football Club introduced to eager Dark Blues fans at The Friary in Lochee.
The Open Forum which began at 7.00 pm and ended at 8.30pm was attended by 200 fans and took the form of a brief introduction by our new Chairman Bob Brannan and he was joined on the stage by Frank Esposito, Richie Robertson, Ross Dow, Jim Duffy, Peter Marr, George Knight, Jimmy Marr and Billy Barnett.
The floor was then was thrown open to Dundee fans to ask as many questions on whatever topic they wanted.
Questions were asked on Youth Development, Contingency Plans in the event of relegation and about The Property Company that has a right to buy Dens Park for 7 million pounds. The Board answered the many questions in a forthright manner and the writer of this article was impressed by the experience and the skills that the new Directors will bring to the Board Room.
However the underlying message was clear- The Club require more people to attend games at Dens Park and we the fans are being urged to coax as many stay away supporters back as possible. The Board understand the reasons for people staying away but hope that fans with the Dark Blues at heart can be persuaded back to Dens.
The total debt has been reduced from 20 million to 7 million and facilities are in place to repay this over a period of 20 years. The debt is secured by Dens Park.
According to Mr Marr, Jim Duffy is under no pressure to sell any players but if an offer came for Stevie Lovell then he would be allowed to leave if the offer was substantially more than what we received from Rangers for Nacho Novo.
Mr Brannan stated that The Marrs have invested 5 million into Dundee FC to get the debt to a manageable level and that "this money was hard cash and not smoke and mirrors".
The Club will be opening an "English type Youth Academy" in the summer and Jim Duffy is implementing a feasibility study to this end. The funds will be found for this ambitious plan.
The highlight of the night was undoubtedly when George Knight handed over a cheque for £100,000 to the club from Dee4Life that is testimony to all the hard work that every one has done over the last year to see our proud club survive. There are undoubtedly very hard times ahead but if we can continue to pull together, utilise the skills of our new board and attract more supporters through the gate then we can go from strength to strength in the future.
DUNDEE FOOTBALL CLUB -111 NOT OUT !