This afternoon Hibs host Dundee United who were previously known as Dundee Hibernian.
There are rumours that David Gray’s men will wear a replica hooped jersey as worn by the players in 1876 to mark the occasion.
Today the Edinburgh Reporter looks back at a historic fixture between the teams
At the start of the 1909/10 season, Hibernian travelled to Tayside to play a friendly match against Dundee Hibernian who had recently been formed by members of the local Irish community following the earlier demise of Dundee Harp FC.
‘The Harp’ had been established in 1879 inspired by the success of Hibernian who had been formed in Edinburgh four years previously however they were briefly suspended by the SFA after failing to meet visiting teams’ guarantees and within a few short years, the club would go out of business.
Although playing mainly in local competitions, Dundee Harp’s main claim to fame had been in recording a 35-0 victory over Aberdeen Rovers in the first round of Scottish Cup in 1885, ironically on the very same day as Arbroath’s now historic record breaking 36-0 victory over another Aberdeen side, Bon Accord.
As much of Dundee’s local Irish population was concentrated in the Lochee district, it was assumed the new club would seek to set up home in that area but instead Patrick Reilly, the secretary of the Dundee Hibernian approached the landlords of Clepington Park and secured the stadium for his club.
The ground which had its own small grandstand complete with changing rooms had been the home of Dundee Wanderers for the previous fifteen years, but they were ejected when the superior offer was received.
This underhand action naturally infuriated the Wanderers, who later returned to completely dismantle the ground, taking the fences enclosing the pitch, disassembling the small grandstand and changing rooms, and even taking the goalposts, leaving nothing but the open field.
Not to be fazed, the Dundee Hibernian committee started a rebuilding project which was described in a report from the city’s Evening Telegraph on 21 July 1909 which read: ‘The pavilion is a splendid two-storey structure built of brick, containing two large dressing-rooms, two committee rooms, press box and referee’s room. The pavilion will be lit by electricity. The stand on the road-side will be the whole length of the field and will seat about 1,000 people.’
The name of the ground was also changed to ‘Tannadice’ after one of the surrounding streets.
The inaugural game against Edinburgh Hibernian had been advertised rather grandly as a Gala Football Match, with pre-match entertainment provided by the band from the Mars Training Ship which was a local landmark anchored on the nearby River Tay since 1869 where more than 6,500 homeless and destitute boys had able to learn new skills.
With both clubs registering similar dark green colours, Edinburgh Hibernian took to the field wearing black and white hooped jerseys that had been borrowed from near neighbours Leith Athletic especially for the occasion.
The ceremonial kick-off was performed by the Dundee Lord Provost Sir James Urquhart who passed the ball to Dundee Hibs’ inside forward Docherty rather than indulging in a ‘mighty kick’ as often happened at such events.
Around 7,000 spectators paid to watch the highly anticipated match but in the opening period, both sets of forwards were ‘rash’ in front of goal and the first half ended goalless.
Edinburgh Hibernian eventually took the lead in the second half when John O’Hara’s terrific drive flew past Dundee’s goalkeeper John Brady.
That goal gave the Dundee players the necessary enthusiasm and their forwards worked more in unison.
Dundee’s left winger ‘Henny’ Brown came out of his shell after spending the previous two days in bed through illness and it was considered plucky of him to even turn out for the game.
The old Kircaldy winger fired the ball over from near the corner flag and to quote the local newspaper “The ball fell like a disabled aeroplane at the foot of Jamie Docherty who scored.”
One famous old ‘wearer of the green’ in the Pavilion could scarcely contain himself when Dundee scored and shouted ‘These are the bhoys’ before ‘patting’ a reporter so hard on the back that he had difficulty typing his match report.
Considering that this was the first occasion that the Dundee Hibernian players had played together they were deservedly given great credit for their performance.
Secretary Patrick Reilly, a local bicycle shop owner who had played a prominent part in the formation of the Dundee side, had promised a brand-new bicycle to the first player to score on the new pitch and the honour was claimed by the Easter Road wing-half O’Hara.
After the presentation, Provost Holder said that O’Hara was better at shooting goals than making speeches and on behalf of the Hibernian wing back and his team-mates he wished all success to the new Dundee team.
Docherty received a gold medal from the club after becoming the first home player to score at Tannadice Park.
During their inaugural season, Dundee Hibernian would play their games in the Northern League, but by the start of the following campaign they had been elected into the then 12-team Scottish Second Division in place of Ayr Parkhouse, managing to finish in a credible mid-table position.
With the reinstatement of the Second Division in 1921, Dundee Hibernian were readmitted back into league football, but the season was not a success and after finishing second bottom of the table, the club decided to resign completely from the league.
By this time, Dundee Hibernian was in serious financial trouble however the club was saved from oblivion by a group of Dundee businessmen. Reinstated once more into the Second Division, they started the 1923/24 season as Dundee Hibernian before a change in name weeks later.
In an attempt to broaden the clubs appeal, Dundee Hibernian initially changed their name to Dundee City, however, a complaint from near neighbours Dundee meant another transition to Dundee United.
The teams that took part in the historic ‘Gala’ match are listed below.
Dundee Hibernian: Brady, Hannan, Gallocher, Strachan, Ramsay, Boland, Flood, McDermott, Docherty, Dailly, Brown.
Edinburgh Hibernian: W. Allan, Main, S. Allan, O’Hara, Patterson, Weir, Murray, Peggie, Sharp, Moran, Smith.
On the occasion of the Dundee club’s centenary in 2009, the Hibernian Historical Trust marked the milestone by gifting a copy of a photograph which featured the players and officials of both teams on that day in 1909.
