Dundee FC News

Dundee Held to Frustrating Draw by Livingston as Winless Run Continues

17 February 2026 | Dens Park, Dundee

Dundee's search for a first league win since early January continued on Saturday as they were held to a 2-2 draw by bottom-of-the-table Livingston at Dens Park.

Simon Murray gave the Dark Blues the perfect start with two goals inside the opening 12 minutes, capitalising on defensive lapses to put his side firmly in control. The home crowd sensed a much-needed victory after a run of poor results that has seen Dundee slip down the cinch Premiership table.

However, Livingston staged a remarkable comeback in a frantic opening 20 minutes that saw four goals in total. Lewis Smith's strike reduced the deficit before the visitors equalised through a well-worked team move finished off by their in-form forward, leaving the game level at 2-2 with plenty of football still to play.

The second half was a more cagey affair, with Dundee dominating possession but struggling to break down a resilient Livingston defence. Manager Tony Docherty introduced substitutes including recent signing Scott Wright from the bench, but clear chances were few and far between as both sides cancelled each other out.

Dundee pushed hard in the closing stages, with Lewis Montsma — who joined on a six-month deal from Lincoln City earlier this month — going close with a header from a corner. However, they were unable to find a winner, and the points were shared in a result that will frustrate the home supporters.

The draw leaves Dundee in ninth place with 24 points from 26 games, just above St Mirren but well adrift of the top six. It extends their winless league run to five matches, following defeats to Rangers and Falkirk, and draws against St Mirren and now Livingston.

"It's disappointing not to win the game after such a strong start," Docherty said post-match. "We scored two excellent goals early on and had the game in our grasp, but we switched off defensively and allowed Livingston back into it. The character was there to keep pushing, but we lacked that bit of quality in the final third today. Simon's brace was brilliant, and we created enough to win it, but credit to Livingston for fighting back."

The result is a valuable point for Livingston in their battle against relegation, moving them eight points behind second-bottom Kilmarnock, though they remain rooted to the foot of the table.

Dundee now face a crucial run of fixtures as they bid to climb away from danger and push for a top-six finish before the split. Next up is a trip to Pittodrie to take on Aberdeen on Saturday 21 February, followed by a home clash with Hibernian. With recent additions like Montsma adding defensive solidity and Wright offering flair on the wing, Docherty will be hoping his side can rediscover their scoring touch and turn draws into wins.

The Dark Blues' home form remains a concern, with only one league victory at Dens Park in their last eight attempts. Fans will be desperate for a positive result against Aberdeen to lift spirits and reignite their season.

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Home of Dundee FC

Opened 1899

Capacity 11,506

History (from Wikipedia)

Dundee moved to "Dens" from their first stadium at Carolina Port in 1899.

Following Dundee's successful league campaign during the 1998–99 season, Dens park had to be redeveloped to adhere to the new Scottish Premier League seat-capacity guidelines. Dundee were therefore required to redevelop the East and West terraces. Barr Stadium Construction were charged with the task of removing the existing concrete terraces and the construction of two 3,000-seat stands. The stands were built in a record time of 82 days for the start of the 1999–00 season. The two near-identical single-tier Bobby Cox and Bob Shankly Stands sit at either end of the ground. The former usually houses home supporters while the latter houses the away supporters. A new Club Shop and ticket office were also built. Dens Park was the first stadium in Dundee to have its floodlights upgraded in the twenty-first century. Undersoil heating was installed in 2005.

Dens Park has hosted two Scottish League Cup finals and, on 25 November 2007, hosted its first Scottish Challenge Cup final. Dens also has the distinction of being one of only two stadia within Dundee to have held full Scottish Internationals, having held the event thrice. The other Dundee ground to have held an international was Carolina Port. Dens Park was named best pitch in Division 1 in 2008. The record attendance at Dens Park is 43,024, which was set in 1953 when Dundee played host to Rangers in the Scottish Cup.

Also in 2007, Dens Park along with McDiarmid Park in Perth, hosted group 4 UEFA European Under-19 Championship Elite Round games. Scotland, Portugal, Turkey and Georgia faced off against each other in April between the 23rd and 28th in a bid to qualify for 2007 UEFA European Under-19 Championship. Dundee's own Kevin McDonald played in Scotland's campaign which attracted the Dundee crowd. A few of the youngsters that played in these games went on to become big names in football including: Fábio Coentrão, Rui Patrício, Daniel Carriço, Ross McCormack and Onur Kıvrak. Portugal won with seven points (two wins and one draw against Georgia) the group so advanced to the finals.

Future[edit]

In 2002, plans were drawn up for a new stadium to be built in the city as part of Scotland's bid to host the 2008 European Football Championship. This stadium would have been shared by Dundee and near-neighbours Dundee United, which would have required the two to leave their historic grounds at Dens Park and Tannadice Stadium respectively. The stadium was planned for construction on a new site at Caird Park. Scotland was not successful in their bid, however, and so these plans were postponed. They could be resurrected should Scotland launch a successful bid for future European Championships. Both clubs strongly oppose a ground sharing agreement but were interested in a new ground sharing arrangement that would have taken place if Ukraine and Poland had failed to meet UEFA's expectations for hosting Euro 2012.[4]

In late 2007, Dundee announced plans to sell much of the land south of the pitch to a real-estate developer. As part of the plans, new flats/houses would be constructed on the presently unused portion of the land and a new southern stand would be freely constructed alongside the pitch. This would significantly increase the capacity of the stadium and would upgrade facilities at the club. In early 2008, Dundee's Chief Executive Officer Dave MacKinnon announced that the club should have "positive news" regarding the project. However, nothing more was heard on the matter and at present there are no plans to make any changes to the ground.

In May 2009, it was reported that the stadium is owned by local businessman John Bennett who, despite having invested heavily in Dundee, has rejoined the Dundee United board, where he had previously been a director until September 2008.

In October 2014, Dundee Supporter's Society announced they have put forward plans to then club Chairman, Bill Colvin which may allow the club to buy back the stadium from current owner John Bennett. They also expressed, this was not a plan to enable the Supporter's Society to own the Stadium but for the club themselves, they said they will "simply administer the scheme".[5]

In April 2015, Colvin announced that negotiations were taking place to buy back the Stadium from current owner John Bennett and his company Sandeman Holdings.[6]

In August 2016, club owners John Nelms and Tim Keyes were reported to have bought land in the Camperdown area of Dundee, next to the city's Ice Arena.[7] It was then made clear in February 2017 that the plan for this land was to develop a new stadium for the club due to the increasing maintenance costs of Dens Park, although plans for a move were described by Nelms as being "early doors" in a video interview published on the club's website.[8] Documents related to the proposed new stadium were submitted in August 2017, ahead of a formal planning application.[9]

Things to do nearby.