Dundee Violet (Scotland)

Dundee Violet FC is a Scottish Junior non-league football that was formed in 1883 and are based in the city of Dundee. The club first competed in the Dundee Junior League.

In 1928-29 Violet reached the final of the Scottish Junior Cup, where they faced Denny Hibs and won 4-0. However, the Stirlingshire club complained that their opponents had fielded an ineligible player at Tynecastle Park.

The rematch at Dens Park home finished 2-2 before ‘The Pansies’ ran out 4-0 winners at the same venue in front of a crowd of 9,556 as Wilson and Reilly both bagged two goals for the Dundee men to become the first Tayside club to lift the trophy.

Violet moved to play in the Tayside Junior League from the 1969-70 season until in 2002 the club became members of the East Region of the SJFA along with all other Tayside Junior clubs.

Violet were placed in the Scottish Juniors East Region Superleague before being relegated after one season to the Tayside Region Premier Division, in which they were runners-up in 2003-04.

The Junior league set up was reorganised once again for the 2006-07 campaign with the club taking up a position in the North Division of the East Region; finishing as runners-up in 2009-10 and then champions in 2011-12.

Promotion was secured to Division One from where they were relegated back to the East Region North in 2016-17.

A link up with local youth club Fairmuir was formulised in 2017; allowing the duel registration of players between the two clubs along with the sharing coaching resources and facilities at Glenesk Park.

A mass exodus of Junior clubs to the East of Scotland League led to further restructuring, with Violet becoming members of Premier League North.

Dundee Violet FC will play in the SJFA East Region Premier League North in the 2019-20 season.

My visit

Sunday 19^th January 2020

I’d woken after a comfortable night’s rest at the Travelodge in the north of the city of Dundee. In a sign of age, I went home early after the previous evening’s Dundee v Motherwell Scottish Cup tie after a couple of pints.

That would have been unthinkable a few years back, but a battered haggis supper, a mug of tea with Sportscene showing the Scottish Cup highlights of the day was more enticing than an extra hour on the pop.

The next morning followed the pattern of weather over the weekend. Cold, windy and bright. It wasn’t going to put me off my plans, which would include visiting three Junior non-league clubs and to see Dens and Tannadice Park’s in daylight.

Off I walked along from the hotel after leaving my bag and continued along Strathmore Avenue for around ten minutes. Cox’s Stack, a large tower and relic of the city’s former jute industry in the distant and Dundee Law on my left dominated the skyline.

I got a glimpse of the ground past the Jehovah’s Witnesses hall on the left and then a better view from the side of Frankie’s Fish Shack takeaway. Unfortunately, those would be the best photo opportunities that I’d get.

The main gates were padlocked on Balfield Road and there was nobody about in the clubrooms that backed onto the street. It was a case of making the best of my opportunities from outside the ground.

Glenesk Park had open grass banking down the far touchline and behind the far goal. The near end was open flat standing, with the main side having a cover either side of the halfway line with players tunnel in the middle and training lights on the roof along with all the facilities and buildings.

Once done I took a walk to find the bus stop towards Downfield JFC; my next port of call.