Book description
Dundee. To football fans, it has been the subject of great curiosity
for as long as the game has been played professionally. How does a
relatively small and economically challenged city manage to sustain
two senior clubs which, perversely, play across the road from one
another? And why has this rivalry not suffered the scourge of
sectarianism which has blighted football elsewhere in Scotland?
When Dundee United reached the semi-final of the 1983-84 European
Cup it meant that, with the exception of Glasgow, Dundee was the only
British city to have provided two semi-finalists in that great
competition. Since then Dundee United have gone on to reach a UEFA Cup
final and to win the Scottish Cup.
For Dundee FC, things have been slightly different. There are many
fans with long enough memories to recall their glory days, and the
silence of their suffering has been punctuated only by boardroom
upheaval and the threat of closure. It is only recently that the
club's fortunes have taken an upturn, with an influx of exciting,
tenacious foreigners.
Things are changing. The economic, cultural and academic life of the
City of Dundee has flourished in recent years. Meanwhile, as
revolution sweeps the international footballing world, the scales of
success - which determine the balance of soccer power on Tayside - are
showing faltering signs of movement. The Jim McLean era has ended, but
will Dundee's Italian risorgimento succeed? Should there be
only one team? First published in 1984, Across the Great Divide
has been revised to update the historical perspective on professional
football in the City of Discovery.
Jim Wilkie was born and educated in Dundee. After an early struggle
with the
West Highland Free Press
and a more protracted skirmish with the music business, he now
freelances as a Press and Development person who writes and performs
occasionally. He is married with two children.
