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STV News
3 days ago
- Business
- STV News
Dundee FC slam 'unhelpful procedural developments' amid new stadium plans limbo
Dundee Football Club has revealed they are 'frustrated' as the planning application process for their proposed new stadium is still ongoing. Managing director John Nelms revealed the Dees have racked up a £3.5m bill before the Camperdown Stadium Development Project has even been green lit. In April of this year, the club stated that talks with Transport Scotland over a suitable entrance were holding up the move. However, in the most recent statement, Nelms accused the national transport agency for Scotland of uploading a consultation response based on 'out-of-date information.' The managing director says this is just the most recent in 'a series of inexplicable procedural anomalies' that have hit the huge project. Dundee City Council was accused by the dark blues of 'unexpected delays' to vital responses. Nelms states that a Draft Traffic Management Plan was submitted on March 5, however, Dundee FC did not receive a response from the local authority until July 24. The plan was also submitted to Transport Scotland who didn't provide a response until August 8. The managing director says the club has been 'increasingly alarmed by unhelpful procedural developments' which are blocking the construction of 'an ambitious multi-use stadium and event campus.' Nelms said: 'We will continue the fight – though we had never intended or foreseen it being thus – to show our ambition for the City of Dundee and our commitment to a prosperous future for Dundee Football Club, its fans and, indeed, its rivals. 'The outcome of this process will, of course, have future ramifications for all fans, irrespective of the colour of their scarves. 'We now urge the most senior elected figures within Dundee City Council, together with Scottish Government and Holyrood parliamentarians to pay close attention as we approach a critical juncture of this long-running process.' Dundee City Council and Transport Scotland have been contacted for comment. Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
Scotsman
12-07-2025
- Sport
- Scotsman
Steven Pressley opens up on Dundee, difficult times, part in Boozegate and being back in Scotland
New Dens Park boss speaks to The Scotsman ahead of his first match Sign up to our Football newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... In the former temperance hotel where Dundee Football Club were formed, Steven Pressley is explaining his part in the Boozegate scandal. Sipping nothing more potent than a decaf Americano, the new Dens Park head coach has had it put to him that he has been front and centre in so many of Scottish football's most enduring episodes of the last quarter of a century, literally so in the case of the Riccarton Three rebellion. That was when he sat at a table between Paul Hartley and Craig Gordon and voiced grave concerns about how Heart of Midlothian Football Club were being run under Vladimir Romanov. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad He hadn't wanted to be there but felt it had reached a point where saying nothing was no longer an option. Likewise, one imagines, he hadn't wanted to see Barry Ferguson sitting with Allan McGregor at a table at breakfast time the morning after a Scotland game. Steven Pressley takes charge of his first Dundee match on Saturday. | SNS Group Nothing so strange about that, perhaps. Except they were still in the suits they had been wearing the previous evening as they travelled back from Amsterdam following a chastening 3-0 defeat to the Netherlands in 2009. It was instantly apparent they hadn't yet been to bed. 'We've talked about my principles,' Pressley says, referencing the earlier discussion about the Riccarton protest. 'My principles got in the way of many things. I was someone who would not use the media to get the correct narrative out there. I was one who said, no, this is the right way. I learned to understand that of course in time. False narratives developed around certain things and I did not manage them properly. Boozegate was certainly one of them. 'On reflection, I should never have taken the position of assistant coach for the national team. Being at Celtic at the time, it was never going to work still being a player.' It also saw him lose focus as a footballer, leading to what he considers was his premature retirement aged 35. Like Zinedine Zidane, he was sent off in his last ever game. Unlike Zinedine Zidane, whose career came to slightly quicker than planned ending in a World Cup final against Italy, Pressley was sent off playing for Falkirk against St Mirren. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'Everything transpired from there' 'As for Boozegate, and my part in this whole situation,' he continues. 'I had come down in the morning to meet my family on the Sunday morning after the Saturday game. I met them in the bar area. And then just as I was ready to leave, I noticed Barry was still there. Of course, he was there in his suit. Him and Allan. Me and another member of staff escorted them up to their room. We hoped that was the end of it. Of course, Barry left his room again. Everything transpired from there. That was the crux of the story.' Scott Brown had already skedaddled, which was an additional complication. 'The situation escalated. It became a really difficult situation to manage, especially for George (Burley) who at the time was going through his own difficulties. 'The feeling from Barry and Allan was that they had been persecuted because of the club they played for (Brown was of course Pressley's teammate at the time). I have spoken to him (Ferguson) a couple of times since, there's never been any problem,' he says. Steven Pressley (left) stretches off with Scotland captain Barry Ferguson in 2007. | SNS Group 0141 221 3602 The fact they've only spoken a couple of times since nevertheless suggests some simmering rancour. Or it might just be down to the fact that Pressley, having loomed large in Scottish football's orbit for so long, seemed to suddenly slip away from it all. From 2013, when he took over at Coventry City, to last month, when forums were abuzz with news that he had been chosen to replace Tony Docherty at Dundee, he was out of sight and, perhaps, out of mind. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'I've enjoyed being out of it,' he says. 'It's been quite sobering for me. I have probably never been so comfortable with myself and honest about myself. There's been a big change in me. There's not this kind of person that you think people want to see. I grew up in this era where you have to show strength all the time. But strength, I know now, can be shown in many different ways. At the time, vulnerability couldn't be shown. As a football player, you get into that costume, pretend to be a great leader...' It's perhaps incumbent to note mention it was Pressley's fate to be seeking to make his presence felt in the dressing room of one of British football's biggest clubs while his father, Gene, was dying of cancer. He passed away aged 47 in 1994. Looking back on difficult times Pressley, at Rangers at the time, was just 20 and felt the floor give way from under him. The manager, Walter Smith, understandably took his young defender out of the firing line, which only compounded matters for Pressley. He had what can only be termed as a breakdown during a training session. 'I actually remember two or three months after he'd taken me out of the team, it was a possession-type drill we were doing,' he says. 'I was in the middle and our team was struggling to get the ball back." Pressley describes bursting into tears. No wonder he subsequently sought to erect a shield around him. There's probably no better time to bring up what some still argue negates nearly nine years of impressive Hearts service. Wearing, on this occasion, a green and white hooped costume, he made a very public show of thumping his chest following a 2-1 comeback win for Celtic at Tynecastle in 2007. 'Of course, I regret it in some ways,' he says. 'You know, beating my chest, in hindsight, was not the right thing to do. It was certainly not directed in the manner it was perceived. It was an emotional action.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad God bless Steven Pressley. In a world where players, most recently Joao Pedro at Chelsea, cannot celebrate scoring a goal, even when it's their first for their new club, because it is against their former team, he kicked this unwelcome 21st century confection firmly into touch. Steven Pressley during his time at Hearts. | SNS Group 0141 221 3602 He was once sore at not being invited back to Tynecastle since leaving. However, he says he accepts it now. Not that he will require an invite on 1 November, when Dundee are due in Gorgie for the first time this coming season. Always tasty encounters, this one will contain an additional spicy ingredient. 'As long as I make it that far,' Pressley smiles, as if to underline that he now realises no one is bullet proof. The self-deprecation is also a sign that he knows what people are saying: Dundee have made an absolute ricket of this one, replacing the dependable Docherty with someone who hasn't been in the dugout for a competitive game since pre-Covid days. --------- That all changes on Saturday afternoon when Dundee entertain Airdrie in the League Cup. Surprisingly, the occasion of his first game will be Pressley's first visit to the club's home since he was appointed over five weeks ago amid considerable hostility. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Not only were many Dundee fans up in arms on social media, but his own mother, Norma, was unhappy. She did however stop short of visiting fans' forums to register her disgust, with a thread on one such site reaching 150 bristling pages. Now 77, his mum's 'doing great' reports Pressley. She still lives in Dalgety Bay, where he moved with his family from Elgin aged three. He adds: 'She is obviously happy her boy is back in Scotland. She is not happy I am back in management. She enjoyed my time out of it.' Steven Pressley is back in Scotland as a manager. | SNS Group No disrespect to his mother, but it's good to have Pressley back in Scottish football. He's already been the source of some mild entertainment at his unveiling press conference, when he admits he was nervous having been away from the media limelight for so long. Maybe his clearly prepared-in-advance line about him not being the right man if Dundee fans want someone with a history of winning titles was evidence of this unease. It was quickly seized upon and ridiculed when, in reality, winning titles, or indeed any honour, has not been something Dundee managers do since Davie White in December 1973. A month after Pressley was born, as it happens. 'Really?' he says. It would be a mic drop moment to rival Ange Postecoglou leading Spurs to a trophy in his second season at the club if Pressley can be the one to end this drought. As for him personally, he's won everything else in Scotland bar the League Cup as a player (he lost a final with, whisper it, Dundee United in 1997) 'I don't regret saying that at all,' Pressley reflects. 'As I was saying earlier, I am comfortable speaking the truth. And not trying to be something I am not. That's the fact. My history as a manger has been very much about developing players and teams. I won one trophy at Falkirk, the Challenge Cup. But my history would certainly not suggest I am a manager who will win things. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'Now I hope my experiences at Brentford (where he was head of individual player development) have changed how I go about things and how I look at football. But at the same time, it is not history where I have a lot of titles.' Former Dundee bosses make contact For Dundee, sadly, it's a similar story. Their only manager to win the actual Scottish league title is Bob Shankly, something Pressley is aware. One of his mentors, Alex Smith, worked under Shankly at Stirling Albion. 'Alex speaks so fondly about him, his management style,' says Pressley, who reveals Smith has been in touch from his base in Australia, as has Archie Knox, who was assistant manager at Ibrox when he was a Rangers player and is one of many predecessors in the Dens Park hot seat (Knox is also a Dundee fan). No pressure, Steven. Although technical director Gordon Strachan will be in the Dens Park directors' box against Airdrie, and it's been announced that Pressley's backroom staff has expanded with the appointment of first-team coach Barry Nicholson and goalkeeper coach Glen Johnson, he aims to be his own man. It's hardly penetrating analysis to describe the Dundee squad as light, even given several new signings. Pressley wants 'five or six' more, ideally at least two before the league start v Hibs. He does have three goalkeepers, with Trevor Carson and Jon McCracken vying for the No.1 jersey. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Fight for the gloves 'They will get equal minutes over the next couple of games and I want them to grab the jersey,' he says. 'I have come in here with an open mind about quite a lot of players. Sometimes you can come in with a preconceived idea and that can be dangerous. When you come in with an open mind sometimes players can surprise you. 'We still need five or six players in the group. One of the discussions we had prior to me coming in was we wanted a smaller group of say 20 players plus the goalkeepers, which I actually think is a good thing.' He's continuing to rediscover Dundee from his current city centre base. He's already made new friends at the local trendy optical boutique Land O' Spex (nee Spex Pistols). They quickly posted a picture of Pressley – 'the king is in the building!' – sporting his new pair of stylish goggles on social media. 'About four months ago, at night when I put the TV schedule on I realised it was a little bit faint,' he explains. 'Of course, I got my eyes tested and I needed glasses. I have been putting it off. Then I decided the other day that I need to go and get them. I went there and the gentleman looked after me. It's a lovely shop.' He's yet to decide whether he needs to wear them to watch games. Steven Pressley pictured with Richard Cook, the owner of Land O' Specs, after receiving his new glasses. | Steven Pressley pictured with the owner of Land O' Specs after receiving his new glasses. The personal housekeeping has continued. On the day we meet, he's about to get his hair cut. 'Nothing too severe, my wife told me that,' he says. 'She said that when she left.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad When Pressley says 'left', he doesn't mean for good, as many might have expected would be the likely outcome after June was informed by her husband that their long-planned trip to Vietnam to celebrate 25 years of being married was being cut short because he needed to get to Dundee. She has in fact just visited from their family home in Leamington Spa for the first time since her husband was appointed. They once lived together in the city. Ah yes, another tricky part of his history. Not only is he a former Dundee United player, but Pressley remains the Tannadice club's most expensive one 30 years after joining from Coventry City for a fee of £750,000. He says he can see the top of the roof of his old digs from Dundee's training base as he puts his players through their paces. Time at Dundee United 'I used to stay over the fence, in a flat converted by Geoff Brown,' he says. He has made few return visits other than when playing at Tannadice or Dens, although he did come back to watch his striker son Aaron, now at Walsall, play for Scotland Under-21s against Kazakhstan at Dundee United's ground. Pressley recalls his first experience playing at Dens. Deployed at right back for Rangers, he was given an uncomfortable afternoon by flying Dundee winger Andy Kiwomya, although the visitors did emerge 3-1 winners in that Boxing Day 1992 fixture. "It was a good lesson for me as a young player," he says. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad It's also a reminder just how long Pressley has been operating at the top. That was the season Rangers came close to reaching the Champions League final. Pressley even came on against Marseille at Ibrox. As we were saying, he's been involved in so many memorable moments, sometimes for better and sometimes for worse, including winning one of 32 caps in Scotland's 1-0 win over France in 2006. He is the only player to lift the Scottish Cup with three different clubs and one of the few to have crossed the great Glasgow divide.
Daily Record
16-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Record
Laura Anderson makes brutal Father's Day dig at ex Gary Lucy
Laura Anderson has taking a very public swipe at her ex, Hollyoaks star Gary Lucy Laura Anderson has taken a savage swipe at her ex Gary Lucy, who she shares her one-year-old daughter Bonnie with. Yesterday on Sunday (June 15) millions of dads across the UK were celebrated on Father's Day. However, many others find the day to be a difficult one for numerous reasons and the Love Island star sadly appeared to fall into that bracket over the weekend. Taking to her Instagram stories to share an obvious dig at Bonnie's dad, she uploaded a short clip of her giving the camera a sarcastic thumbs up, as she wrote: "Cheers to the single mums who feel sh*t for their kids on Father's Day." The former Capital Scotland host welcomed Bonnie in September 2023. Laura and Gary, who met on Celebs Go Dating, had a tumultuous relationship and shocked fans when they announced their split just days after Laura revealed she was pregnant. The former couple have had an off and off relationship since but it appears they are now officially on bad terms with Laura even branding Gary, who has four other children with his ex-wife, as a "deadbeat dad". Gary appeared to reignite his feud with the Love Island star after warning that "dads matter". The 43 year old made the veiled dig while sharing a throwback video of himself and his son Theodore, six. Gary was filmed in a restaurant beside Theodore and they could be seen giggling about "spicy" food together. The actor then gently grabbed his son's cheeks and said: "Look at that face, that gorgeous face.." The clip finished with Gary giving Theodore a kiss. Gary shared the video on Instagram but also seemed to have taken a swipe at Laura in the process. Laura has not held back in the past when it comes to taking aim at Gary over how often he sees their daughter. Reigniting the row, he captioned the footage: "Good enough to eat … Gorgeous Boy #dadsmatter." Picking up on the subtle dig, one follower replied: "Thought you had a girl with Laura..?" Laura has since moved on with her new Scots boyfriend, Clark Robertson, who plays for Dundee Football Club. The Love Island star went public with her new beau, who originally hails from Aberdeen, in October last year and is said to be hopeful he is the one. Clark, 31, has two children of his own, his eight-year-old son Cole and a five-year-old daughter named Mimi, who he shares with his ex fiancé Karla Ray. Laura and Bonnie recently moved into a luxurious new mansion which boasts an enormous garden and gorgeous coastal views. The reality star gave fans a walk through tour of her new pad but she has been careful to keep the exact location of it under wraps. It is also not known whether or not Clark has officially moved in with the mum and daughter but Laura definitely has the space to accommodate him in the future in her huge new home.
South Wales Guardian
03-06-2025
- Sport
- South Wales Guardian
Steven Pressley appointed Dundee head coach
The 51-year-old former Falkirk, Coventry, Fleetwood and Carlisle boss will take the reins after leaving his role as head of individual player development at Brentford last week. It represents a surprise appointment by the Dark Blues, with his name having barely been mooted since the sacking of Tony Docherty a fortnight ago, although he did play under Dundee technical director Gordon Strachan at Celtic. Pressley has not managed in Scotland since leaving Falkirk in 2013. Steven Pressley is our new Head Coach Dundee Football Club are today delighted to announce the appointment of Steven Pressley as the club's new Head Coach. Welcome to The Dee, Steven 💙 Click to read more ⬇️ — Dundee Football Club (@DundeeFC) June 2, 2025 Managing director John Nelms told the club's official website: 'We are delighted to welcome Steven Pressley as the new head coach of Dundee Football Club. Steven has spent the last four years at English Premier League club Brentford and brings with him a shared core value of player development and a rounded approach to winning football. 'Steven will be installing a framework that delivers on the messaging that the senior players and the development players are one effective team. This will bring success to Dundee Football Club on and off the park. Welcome to the club, Steven, and we are looking forward to many successful campaigns.' Dundee have also appointed David Longwell as their technical manager. The 51-year-old Scot was academy manager at St Mirren before being promoted to the role of assistant and he has since had academy roles at Orlando, New York, Shrewsbury and Burnley. His most recent posting was as assistant manager at Fylde earlier this year. 'We are also excited to welcome David Longwell as the new technical manager of Dundee Football Club,' added Nelms. 'David comes to us with a long and productive history in the development of players both north and south of the border. 'Player development has always been at the forefront of our club, and with the amount of young emerging talent, it is important that the restructuring of the football department will emphasise this even more. 'His main role will be working alongside technical director Gordon Strachan and head coach Steven Pressley to ensure the concentrated development of the individual player. David will also have additional roles within the first-team set-up.' Dundee are set to announce further additions to the footballing department in due course.
Rhyl Journal
02-06-2025
- Sport
- Rhyl Journal
Steven Pressley appointed Dundee head coach
The 51-year-old former Falkirk, Coventry, Fleetwood and Carlisle boss will take the reins after leaving his role as head of individual player development at Brentford last week. It represents a surprise appointment by the Dark Blues, with his name having barely been mooted since the sacking of Tony Docherty a fortnight ago, although he did play under Dundee technical director Gordon Strachan at Celtic. Pressley has not managed in Scotland since leaving Falkirk in 2013. Steven Pressley is our new Head Coach Dundee Football Club are today delighted to announce the appointment of Steven Pressley as the club's new Head Coach. Welcome to The Dee, Steven 💙 Click to read more ⬇️ — Dundee Football Club (@DundeeFC) June 2, 2025 Managing director John Nelms told the club's official website: 'We are delighted to welcome Steven Pressley as the new head coach of Dundee Football Club. Steven has spent the last four years at English Premier League club Brentford and brings with him a shared core value of player development and a rounded approach to winning football. 'Steven will be installing a framework that delivers on the messaging that the senior players and the development players are one effective team. This will bring success to Dundee Football Club on and off the park. Welcome to the club, Steven, and we are looking forward to many successful campaigns.' Dundee have also appointed David Longwell as their technical manager. The 51-year-old Scot was academy manager at St Mirren before being promoted to the role of assistant and he has since had academy roles at Orlando, New York, Shrewsbury and Burnley. His most recent posting was as assistant manager at Fylde earlier this year. 'We are also excited to welcome David Longwell as the new technical manager of Dundee Football Club,' added Nelms. 'David comes to us with a long and productive history in the development of players both north and south of the border. 'Player development has always been at the forefront of our club, and with the amount of young emerging talent, it is important that the restructuring of the football department will emphasise this even more. 'His main role will be working alongside technical director Gordon Strachan and head coach Steven Pressley to ensure the concentrated development of the individual player. David will also have additional roles within the first-team set-up.' Dundee are set to announce further additions to the footballing department in due course.
