Dundee Wanderers F.C.

Dundee Wanderers

Full name	Dundee Wanderers Football Club
Founded	1885 (as Wanderers)
Ground	Clepington Park
League	Scottish League
Home colours

Dundee Wanderers were a Scottish football club based in Dundee. The club were briefly members of the Scottish Football League Second Division. Their home ground was Clepington Park (now Tannadice Park, the home of Dundee United).

The club was formed as Wanderers in 1885 as a breakaway from Dundee Our Boys (which eight years later merged with Dundee East End to form Dundee F.C.). Wanderers merged with another city club, Strathmore, in 1891 adopting the name Johnstone Wanderers. The club were renamed Dundonians in January 1894 in order to apply for membership of the Scottish League. They were successful, but as Dundee F.C. had objected to their name, Dundonians became Dundee Wanderers in June 1894. They spent the 1894–95 season as members of the Second Division, finishing ninth out of ten. Their performance might well have been worse had they not been awarded two points after Renton failed to fulfil a fixture against the club, with the Dunbartonshire side instead opting for a glamour friendly against Queen's Park.^[1] Wanderers' brief sojourn in the Scottish League did produce one record that still stands, however, with the club's 15–1 away defeat to Airdrieonians remaining to this day the heaviest defeat in Scottish League history.^[2]

The club lost the tenancy of Clepington Park during the summer of 1894, as a consequence of which they played the first half of their one season as a League club at East Dock Street Park. In December they returned to Clepington Park, but failed to secure re-election to the Scottish League for season 1895–96 and went on to join the Northern League.

They became Northern League champions in 1900, but lost the tenancy of Clepington Park again in 1909 to the newly formed Dundee Hibernian (later Dundee United). Rendered homeless, Wanderers had to play all of their matches on the grounds of their opponents the following season and, still unable to find a ground, were forced to resign from the Northern League at the end of it, playing only cup ties and friendly matches during 1910–11. Having secured the tenancy of St Margaret's Park in Lochee, the club re-joined the Northern League for season 1911–12 but their demise was approaching.

The final competitive match played by Dundee Wanderers was a Scottish Cup tie at Arbroath on 7 September 1912, which they lost 8–0. There is no record of the club taking the field again and it was formally wound up at the end of that season.

Formed: 1894. Defunct 1913. (1885 Wanderers. 1892 Johnstone Wanderers - Amalgamated with Strathmore. 1894 Renamed Dundonians. 1894 Renamed Dundee Wanderers).

Grounds: Wanderers/Johnstone Wanderers - 1885–1891 Morgan Park. 1891–1894 Clepington Park.

Strathmore - 1880–1892 Rolle's Pier/Logie Park. 1892–1894 Carolina Park.

Dundee Wanderers - 1894 East Dock Street Ground. 1894–1909 Clepington Park. 1909–1910 No Ground. 1910–1913 St Margaret's Park, Lochee.

Colours: Wanderers/Johnstone Wanderers - 1885–1894 Maroon shirts with dark blue sash (diagonal stripe), dark blue shorts.

Dundee Wanderers - 1894–1900 Red & white striped shirts, dark blue shorts. 1900–1913 Red shirts, black shorts.

References

1. ^ B. Crampsey, The First Hundred Years, Glasgow: Scottish Football League, 1990, p. 32
2. ^ Twydell, Dave (1997). Rejected F.C. of Scotland Volume 3:The Rest. pp. 76. ISBN 1-874427-17-8. 

External links

• Club history and kits