Aiming high in the world of sport
When Dundonians are not working, dancing or listening to music, their focus shifts to sport. The city’s two football teams – Dundee in blue and white, and Dundee United in tangerine and black – have both tasted domestic success, and their home-grounds are a stone’s throw from each other. This panel highlights popular local sports, like boxing, golf and ice hockey, and some of the talented people who have excelled in them.
1. Marshall Key
Born in Dundee in 1932, Marshall Key made his debut for the senior Dundee Tigers, aged just 16, during the 1948-49 season. He later played in Paisley, Harringay and Edinburgh, and as player-coach for Swiss team Crans-sur-Sierre – it was in Switzerland that he would find himself giving skating lessons to actor Charlie Chaplin’s son, Michael.
2. Bowling
In September 1892, 122 clubs formed the Scottish Bowling Association. Dundee still has many outdoor bowling clubs, some of which date back to the mid-1800s.
3. David Leslie
Born in Dundee in 1952, David Leslie is a former international rugby union player who represented Scotland 32 times between 1975 and 1985. He also trained as an architect, graduating with first-class honours from DJCAD.
4. Willie Smith
Champion golfer Willie Smith (1876-1916) was born in Dundee and initially played at Carnoustie. He and his brothers emigrated to the US, where he turned pro in 1894 and won the US Open five years later, winning by a margin of eleven shots. This record remained in place until 2000 when it was broken by Tiger Woods.
5. Shirley Robertson OBE
Born in Dundee in 1968, champion sailor Shirley first sailed as a child, in a homemade dinghy. She went on to make history as the first British woman to win Olympic Gold medals at two consecutive Olympic Games, in 2000 (Sydney) and 2004 (Athens).
6. Jenny Wood Allen
Jenny Wood Allen (1911-2010) became the world’s oldest female marathon runner in 2002, when she ran the London marathon aged 90. She had previously been the unofficial Scottish women’s cycling champion, ran her first marathon aged 73, and completed over 50 marathons in her lifetime.
7. Neil Paterson
The multi-talented Neil Paterson (1915-1995) captained Dundee United FC in the 1936-37 season, as an amateur player, and went on to win the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, for ‘Room at the Top’ in 1959.
8. Dick McTaggart MBE
One of five boxing brothers from Dundee, Dick McTaggart competed for the Lightweight title in the 1956 and 1960 Olympics, winning Gold and Bronze medals respectively. More recent success in the same sport was achieved by Dundee’s Sam Hickey who won Gold in the Middleweight event at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
9. Tennis
Dundee has three LTA-affiliated tennis clubs – Broughty Ferry TC, Forthill Community TC and West End LTC – and eight park-based courts.
10. Natasha McKay
Born in Dundee in 1995, Natasha is a six-time British Figure Skating Champion, and she also competed with Team GB at the Beijing Olympics in 2022. Natasha announced her retirement from competitive skating in May 2023, to focus on coaching in her home city.
11. Snooker
Dundee’s longest-established snooker hall is Tivoli Snooker Club on Bonnybank Road. It is often used as a venue for Scottish Snooker’s national tournaments.
12. Dundee FC & Dundee United FC
Located just 200 yards (183 metres) from each other, Dens Park (Dundee FC) and Tannadice (Dundee Utd FC) are the two closest senior football clubs in the UK. Both clubs have tasted domestic success, and many heroes have emerged – these include former player and longest-serving manager Jim McLean, goalkeeper Hamish McAlpine and Maurice Malpas for Dundee United; and, for Dundee FC, players Billy Steel and Bobby Cox, and manager Bob Shankly who led the club to its one and only League Championship win in 1962.