AROUND midday on Sunday, the old wooden front door at Dens Park will creak open and an age-old tradition will be reenacted.
Carrying only their boot bags over their shoulders, Tony Docherty’s players will traverse the 250 yards to the front door of Tannadice before battle commences. It’s been a long time coming.
It’s a sight that piqued the interest of fans across the globe long before anyone had heard of a carbon footprint.
Players walking to their rivals’ stadium before a derby? How can this be so?
The answer, for the uninitiated, can be found in the Clep Bar, Frews, the Snug and many other watering holes before and after today’s clash between Dundee United and Dundee.
Fans of both sides will drink together and wind each other up. They will trade insults before taking their leave and heading to the ground.
Dundee players will make the short walk to Tannadice ahead of Sunday's city derby
Tony Docherty's Dundee players will form a guard of honour for Championship winners United
Win, lose or draw, they will reconvene in the same spots after full-time and carry on where they left off.
Fraught with tension and brimming with history, it is unmistakably a derby. But just not as most fans would know it.
Dundee boss Docherty even confirmed this week his players will give Championship winners United a guard of honour before the game.
By common consent, the lack of toxicity can be attributed to geographical and social factors.
‘There’s no part of Dundee you’d go into and think, “That’s a Dundee or a United area”,’ explained Danny Smith of Dundee’s Up Wi’ the Bonnets podcast.
‘A lot of fans from both sides will go for a drink before the match in the same pubs, they will sing their songs towards their friends in the stadium, but, no matter the result, they will be back in the pub together afterwards.
‘For 90 minutes the opposition are your enemy. Before and after, you are friends again, no matter the result.’
Craig Fleming, a United fan of some 40 years, concurs.
‘In some respects, it’s a bit more of a friendlier derby,’ he said. ‘During the game it’s extremely passionate but before and after… Dundee is a small enough city so people have to get on.
‘You can’t hide anywhere.’
This will be manifest in the sight of families leaving their homes, divided loyalties apparent in their contrasting colours.
‘I’m married to a United season ticket holder,’ Smith continued. ‘My daughter has had all the United colours and songs put on her through her grandparents. My son is almost four months old. If I’ve anything to do with it, he’ll become a Dundee fan…’
There is no shortage of history on either side which parents in divided households can impart upon their offspring.
Jim Goodwin lead Dundee United to the Championship title last season
Dundee players walk to Tannadice before the last derby in 2022
Dundee were not only the best side in Scotland in 1962, the following year, Bob Shankly’s men were only denied a place in the European Cup final by AC Milan.
Twenty years later, after Jim McLean bounced into Tannadice, United won the Scottish title and made beating the likes of Barcelona a matter of routine.
While the success of a rival on a European stage made life a misery for some, it is said that a good number would swell the gates on those storied nights.
‘It’s probably true,’ added Fleming. ‘People went to support the city as a whole and were proud of what a team was doing in their city even though it was their rivals.
‘It was the better football at the time — Dundee in the 60s and United in the 80s. You would simply never get that on the west coast.’
The fluctuation in fortunes for these great sporting institutions has been known to be seductive.
‘My wife’s father was a United fan,’ added Fleming. ‘When he passed away a few years ago, we were going through stuff in the loft and we found letters he had written to Dundee.
‘He had these Dundee programmes from years gone by. It seemed he switched allegiances throughout the years.’
A lack of poison in the air should never be confused with a lack of passion, though. Securing the bragging rights means just as much to a fan of either club as it would to a supporter on either side of the Glasgow or Edinburgh divide.
There’s an added sense of spice today. This is only the fourth time the clubs have met at the outset of a season. United have won twice with the other being a draw. Dundee also haven’t won an away derby in the league in 20 years.
No matter what the die-hards will tell you, absence also makes the heart grow fonder.
With Dundee’s promotion in 2023 coinciding with United’s relegation, today’s clash is the first in any competition since a 2-2 draw at Tannadice on April 9, 2022.
‘Personally, I’ve missed it,’ Smith admitted.
‘You always look out for the derbies when the fixtures come out. People will say that they don’t really bother about the other team but I’m not so sure about that.’
Fleming agrees: ‘We’ve all missed it. I think the Dundee fans have as well, and they’ll see this as their chance to get their own back.
‘Dundee as a city needs the derby. It needs the excitement. It creates a buzz before and after. The pubs do well too. It’s a big part of the culture in the city. When it’s missing, you do feel it.’
Those who will look you in the eye and tell you different have certainly had time to form their opinions.
Having started this century as top-flight mainstays, the clubs have often passed each other like ships in the night.
They’ve competed in different divisions on 14 out of the last 20 seasons including the current one — with both finding themselves in the Championship in 2019-20.
Jim Goodwin’s side have home advantage today yet their reputation as the city’s preeminent side over the past 40 years is now under serious threat.
The acquisition of Docherty as manager a year ago was a shrewd move by Dundee. The eighth appointment in 10 years has given much-needed stability to a club that’s known so much tumult.
Dundee striker Simon Murray claimed five goals in the League Cup group stage
The signing of one-time United striker Simon Murray from Ross County is a sign of ambition and might well see the Dark Blues improve upon their sixth-place finish of last term.
‘It’s probably the first time in a long time that United are underdogs,’ said Fleming. ‘So, there’s a bit of trepidation in there. Dundee have been flying for a wee bit now. I’d take a draw, to be honest.’
Come what may, there will be more to discuss in the surrounding bars than hostilities on the pitch. If Dundee get their way, Dens Park will soon be no more with the club hopeful that they will soon be given the green light to move to a new stadium at Camperdown Park.
If it all comes to fruition, that traditional walk before derbies would become a thing of the past. It’s hard to imagine, though, that the essence of this unique fixture would go with it.
‘The heart says that it wouldn’t feel right if Dundee are stuck out at a posh shiny new stadium at Camperdown and not being so close,’ said Fleming.
‘The head says it’s probably the right move if it works for them. But I like it with the stadiums being so close. It creates a lot of wider interest.
‘The walk before the derby is traditional. It’s a good thing that the TV cameras pick up the fans mingling before the game then going their separate ways. It’s the way it should be.’