Last updated : 17 September 2002 By Ed_ScottishFitba
Problem shared is a problem halved
The move to ground sharing in Scotland has taken another step. Dundee and Dundee United have written to the Scottish Premierleague seeking permission to groundshare in the future. This was on the cards as they want to be involved in EURO2008. The UEFA delegation who are inspecting EURO2008 sites will be talking to the clubs today. This prompted Dundee and Tannadice chairmen Jimmy Marr and Scott Carnegie to make the formal groundsharing request. They will require special dispensation as current SPL rules state that clubs cannot groundshare. The SPL criteria requires member clubs to have an all-seated stadium of more than 10,000 capacity. This is why Falkirk has repeatedly missed out on promotion, as Brockville fails to meet the required SPL standards.
The letter from the Dundee clubs says: "The directors of Dundee FC and Dundee United FC appreciate that this is a very difficult and emotive issue, given that the winner of the First Division has in the past been prevented from being promoted to the Scottish Premierleague because they were unable to meet the stadium criteria.". The clubs are conscious of the sensitivity of this move and continued: "Notwithstanding this, we believe that a distinction can and should be made to allow the football teams of Dundee and Dundee United to share the same stadium. Both clubs have already spent considerable sums of money upgrading their existing stadia to meet SPL guidelines. Accordingly, this would not represent a `back-door' means of a football club obtaining entry to the SPL." I wonder if the vote will be 11-1 in favour of the ground share?
