Dundee FC Secure Crucial Scottish Cup Victory

Dundee FC Secure Crucial Scottish Cup Victory Over Kilmarnock

January 22, 2026

Dundee Football Club produced a resilient performance to advance in the Scottish Cup with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Kilmarnock at Rugby Park. The win marks an important step forward for the Dark Blues as they continue their push in both domestic cup competitions and the William Hill Premiership.

The match got off to a difficult start for Dundee when Kilmarnock took an early lead, putting the visitors under immediate pressure. However, Simon Murray's side showed character and composure, gradually taking control of proceedings. Their persistence paid off before halftime as they leveled the score through a well-worked goal that shifted the momentum firmly in their favor.

After the break, Dundee dominated large periods of play. They restricted Kilmarnock to few clear chances while creating several opportunities of their own. The decisive moment came late in the game when a clinical finish secured the 2-1 lead. The defense stood firm in the closing stages to protect the advantage and book their place in the next round.

Manager Simon Murray praised his team's mentality after the match. "The players showed real belief and quality today," he said. "Coming from behind away from home in a cup tie is never easy, but we stuck to our game plan and got our rewards. This group is growing in confidence with every performance."

The victory follows a mixed run of results in the league, where Dundee have shown improvement but remain focused on climbing the table. Recent additions to the squad, including the loan signing of midfielder Joel Cotterill from Swansea City, have bolstered the options available to Murray. Cotterill, a Wales under-21 international, has already linked up well with familiar faces at Dens Park.

Off the field, the club confirmed the departure of defender Plamen Galabov by mutual consent earlier this week. Galabov, who joined in the summer of 2025, made a number of appearances but the decision was taken for both parties to move on.

Looking ahead, Dundee face a tough test with an away trip to Rangers at Ibrox on January 25. That fixture will provide another opportunity to measure progress against top opposition. Following that, attention turns to the Scottish Cup fifth round draw, where the Dark Blues will travel to Celtic Park on February 7 for a high-profile clash live on Premier Sports.

Fans will be encouraged by the signs of progress under Murray. With key players returning to form and new signings settling in, there is optimism that Dundee can build on this cup success and mount a stronger challenge in the second half of the season.

The club continues to emphasize unity and hard work as they aim to deliver memorable moments for supporters at Dens Park and beyond.

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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.