Another first – are there any left – for the Highland Dark Blues when brothers Peter and Jimmy Marr made the long trek to Inverness to attend our monthly meeting.

As part of their promise to visit as many of the supporters groups as possible, they came North to face the music and answer our questions on the financial problems of Dundee FC, what they are doing behind the scenes and what the outlook is for the future.

Give them their due. They came to Inverness in a week which had seen uproar over the SPL’s decision not to allow Inverness Caley Thistle promotion, a decision aggravated by the knowledge that Dundee FC had voted against the application.

Faced with over 40 questions from our members, the Marrs had to sit through our Agenda before getting their chance to speak. Our meeting was also enhanced by the attendance of Brian Irvine, whose role in Ross County’s Life Skills through Sport Project played a major part in our decision to donate £350 to this worthy cause.

First off, and Peter held his hands up in response to the past mistakes and financial mismanagement which inevitably led to Dundee’s current plight in Administration.
A mixture of gambling on a model of Real Mallorca’s setup whereby players were brought in and then sold on for a profit, the collapse of the transfer market, ITV Digital in England and others across Europe, and an acceptance that Peter’s absence from Scotland and Jimmy’s involvement in their other businesses, all combined to play their part in DFC’s financial plight. Followed by Ivano’s inability to bring in the ‘stars’ which he promised, the lack of fight on the park, particularly in Cup matches, and no significant increase in crowd levels.

Peter then went on to explain the current situation. We will be out of Administration altogether in early July. New Chairman Bob Brannan is set to be appointed to the board and Jimmy will be stepping down as Chairman. Bob Brannan brings a high level of business acumen to the board and he mixes with the highest level of players in the financial world. Other new board members will be appointed and announced within a few weeks. There will also be a space on the new board for a Supporters Representative, who will come from the Dee4Life/Supporters Trust. There is a certain amount of friction between these parties, however, and they don’t see eye to eye on how this will work in practice. It looks like the Supporters Trust will be able to purchase new shares, as will it’s members, although no details could be given at this time. It was felt by Peter that the monies raised by supporters so far could be put to better use by going directly into Dundee FC, not being used as a lever to gain power for the Supporters Trust. As no one else seems willing or able to move in and take Dundee forward, whoever is appointed to the board will need to work with the Marrs. It was stressed by those present, that efforts must be made by both parties to work together towards the financial security of Dundee FC. The Marrs can’t ignore the voice of the supporters, at the same time, the funds raised so far under the Dee4Life banner must be seen to be put to good use, it must be transparent, particularly after the events of the past 8 months or so.

Peter then went on to answer questions regarding the future of Dundee and was convinced that we will be playing at Dens Park for some time to come.
Jim Duffy has a budget to work with for his squad and it is essential that season ticket numbers meet their target. Peter was able to tell us that at this point, season ticket sales were actually ahead of this time last year. The good news which was to follow the next day – the signing of a one year extension by Jim Duffy – may also give the sales and added boost.

We then discussed at some length the SPL vote of the previous week and Dundee’s part in it. Peter explained and had documentary evidence that the SPL considered the 31st March as a deadline for indicating where clubs were to be playing their matches for 2004-5. As Aberdeen failed to put forward Pittodrie as their ground by this date, Jimmy voted against. Dundee, Hearts, Clyde and even Falkirk had abided by this deadline with their respective ground-share options. Peter went on to explain that Inverness CT put forward two other proposals, both of which allowed them to play their matches in Inverness and these were heavily defeated. But, says Peter, Dundee voted for these proposals and asks where were the original 7 voters who were in favour of the first proposal? With these decisions and the following ramifications, the country now deems the SPL a laughing stock, and Peter did not disagree that changes were necessary. We will wait and see what transpires over the next few weeks – it can’t really get any worse – can it?

The evening ended with Peter stressing that things looked much brighter for Dundee but that there was still a lot of hard work to do and he was determined to do all that he could to secure Dundee’s long term future.

We rounded off the meeting with Derek Steel’s 5 minute Video Clip, ‘The Highs and Lows of following Dundee FC’ which had been shown at our recent Dinner and Race Night. Peter and Jimmy spent nearly 3 hours with us, and all those who attended enjoyed the meeting immensely. Being away from the centre of things, it was found beneficial to get their thoughts and hopes for the future.

The mistakes of the past which led to the huge debts are exactly that, in the past. But the sacrifices of supporters up and down the country to save their beloved Dundee cannot be wasted. It remains to be seen if lessons have been learnt – and, indeed, if the future is Dark Blue.

"JABBA"