Dens Park

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Dens Park Stadium
Dens
Dens Park (bottom) and Tannadice Park
Location	Dundee, Scotland
Opened	1899
Owner	Dundee F.C.
Surface	Grass pitch
Tenants	Dundee F.C.
Capacity	11,856 (Football)

Coordinates: 56°28′30.95″N, 2°58′23.50″W Dens Park is a football stadium located on Dens Road in the Scottish city of Dundee.

The stadium is the home of Dundee F.C. and has a capacity of 11,856. Uniquely, the stadium shares part of the same road (Sandeman Street) as Tannadice Park, which is the home of city rivals Dundee United F.C.

The club moved to 'Dens' from their first stadium at Carolina Port in 1899. Over the years, the ground has been redeveloped, with the construction of the near-identical Bobby Cox and Bob Shankly stands, which sit at either end of the ground. The former is given over to home supporters, and the latter to visiting supporters. Dundee FC are the rightful owners of Dens Park stadium.

It has held one Scottish League Cup final and on November 25th 2007, held its first Scottish Challenge Cup final.

The record attendance at Dens is 43,024. This was set in 1953 when Dundee played host to Glasgow Rangers F.C in the Scottish League Cup.

1 Stadium Development
2 Proposed Development
3 Future of Dens Park
4 External links
5 References

[edit] Stadium Development

Following Dundee's successful league campaign during the 1998/99 season, Dens park had to be redeveloped to adhere to the new SPL seated capacity guidelines. Dundee F.C were therefore required to redevelop the East and West terraces. Barr Stadium Construction Ltd were charged with the task of removing the existing concrete terraces and the construction of two, 3000 seater stands. The stands were built in a record time of 82 days for the start of the 1999/2000 season.

The impressive single-tier stands were named after Bobby Cox and Bob Shankly, names chosen by the fans. Each holds 3000 supporters with snack bars, toilets and wheelchair access. Each provides a fantastic view of the playing surface with spacious leg room. A new Dundee F.C Club Shop and ticket office were also built. The Bobby Cox Stand usually houses Home supporters while the Bob Shankly Stand houses the away support.

Undersoil heating was installed in 2005 to combat pitch-freezing during the winter months.

[edit] Proposed Development

In late 2007, Dundee F.C announced plans to sell much of the land south of the pitch to a housing developer. As part of the plans, new flats/houses would be constructed on the presently unused portion of the land and a new South Stand would be constructed, running alongside the pitch at no cost to the club. This would significantly increase the capacity of the stadium and would upgrade facilities at the club. Dundee Chief Executive Dave Mackinnon announced that the club should have have "positive news" regarding the project, early in 2008.

[edit] Future of Dens Park

In 2002, plans were drawn up for a new stadium to be built in Dundee, as part of Scotland's bid to host the 2008 European Football Championship. This stadium would have been shared by Dundee and near-neighbours Dundee United. The stadium was planned for construction on a new site at Caird Park. Therefore, both Dundee and Dundee United would have said goodbye to their historic homes. However, Scotland were not successful in their bid, which meant these plans were put on ice for the time being. They could be resurrected should Scotland launch a successful bid for future European Championships. However, both clubs have expressed strong views which oppose a ground sharing agreement. Both clubs have shown interest in a new ground sharing arrangement that could take place if Ukraine and Poland fail to meet UEFA's expectations for hosting Euro 2012^{[citation needed]}