2023–24 Dundee F.C. season

The 2023–24 season was Dundee's first season back in the top flight of Scottish football since 2021–22, after winning the previous season's Scottish Championship at the first time of asking. Dundee also competed in the League Cup, exiting at the group stage, and in the Scottish Cup, exiting in the fourth round.

Dundee would enjoy a successful league season, confirming a finish in the top six in April 2024 for the first time since the 2014–15 season.

Season summary

Pre-season

Despite having led Dundee to the Scottish Championship title and winning the SPFL Championship Manager of the Year award, manager Gary Bowyer and his assistant Billy Barr were released by the club in May 2023 following a fallout with managing director John Nelms and technical director Gordon Strachan. On 29 May, Dundee announced that Tony Docherty would be the new manager of the club. Dundee's pre-season schedule would include a week-long camp in Ireland and playing Bray Wanderers and Fleetwood Town while there, as well as two visits to local Angus teams in Brechin City and Arbroath, followed by an away game against Cove Rangers.

July

After winning all of their pre-season games, Dundee began their competitive campaign in the Scottish League Cup group stage with a gritty away win over Bonnyrigg Rose, with Zak Rudden scoring the only goal. They would receive a sharp wake-up call a few days later however, losing to Scottish Championship side Airdrieonians via a late penalty after Lyall Cameron missed a penalty for Dundee earlier in the game. The Dees got back to winning ways on the following Wednesday, defeating Dumbarton comfortably at home. Going into their final game, Dundee knew they needed to defeat Inverness Caledonian Thistle by 2 or more goals in order to qualify over Raith Rovers for the second round. Despite managing a 1–0 win over their historical bogey team, Dundee would exit the League Cup in the group stage for the first time since the 2016–17 season via goals scored.

August

On their flag-raising day returning to the top tier, Dundee would come back from behind through a Lyall Cameron goal to draw with Motherwell at a rain-drenched Dens Park. A dreadful first half in Paisley however was too much to recover from the next week, and saw Dundee lose to St Mirren. After a two-week hiatus, Dundee grabbed their first win of the league season at home to Hearts through a Luke McCowan chip over Zander Clark from distance.

September

Despite a strong performance for most of the game, a late collapse away to St Johnstone left Dundee with a very disappointing point. After the international break, a brave effort from the Dee at Celtic Park was undone by an early second half blitz from Celtic and led to a 3–0 defeat. In a drama-filled game which Dundee were down a man for most of the game, Zak Rudden's late goal clinched a point at home to Kilmarnock. The following week saw a very impressive defensive performance at Easter Road as they kept free-scoring Hibernian to a goalless draw.

October

After three and a half weeks without a game due to international breaks and postponements caused by a waterlogged pitch and Storm Babet, Dundee played Ross County to a scoreless draw at home in a game that was plagued by rustiness from both sides. After an uneventful first half and controversial second half, two late Joe Shaughnessy goals pushed Dundee past Livingston at Almondvale Stadium and into the top six.

November

Dundee's unbeaten streak at home would fall apart after a mauling by Rangers in a game marred by controversial behaviour from the away supporters. They would quickly rebound with a second win over Livingston in a week thanks to a beautiful free kick from Luke McCowan. Dundee would then batter high-flying St Mirren in a commanding performance to rise up to 5th in the league before the international break. They would return from the hiatus with a frustrating loss at home to Hibs where they failed to complete the comeback.

December

For the second time in the season, an impressive Dundee away performance was undone by a last-second equaliser, this time from ten-man Motherwell. An early lead at Ibrox turned into an expected defeat to Rangers, marking the third straight game Dundee failed to capitalise on having a man advantage. Dundee would finally enjoy a late goal once again as captain Joe Shaughnessy snatched all 3 points away to Ross County in a game which losing manager Derek Adams controversially claimed was "one of the worst games I've ever seen." For the second time in the season, Dundee had a game against Aberdeen postponed, this time due to a waterlogged pitch, a decision which the club fully disagreed with. The pitch was fine however on Boxing Day with Celtic visiting, and despite keeping a clean sheet in the first half Dundee once again capitulated to a standard home defeat to the Hoops. Dundee would end the year in a typically ridiculous fashion, starting brilliantly away to Kilmarnock before capitulating once more at the end, before being bailed out once again by captain Shaughnessy to take home a point.

January

The new year would start with early frustrations, as Dundee lost standout loan player Owen Beck to an early recall from Liverpool, and the Dens Park drainage failed the club again the following day, leading to their match against St Johnstone being postponed. After a lengthy winter break, Dundee returned to action in a sluggish state, gifting two goals in the first three minutes to Kilmarnock and sank out of the Scottish Cup in usual disappointing fashion, eclipsing Hibernian's infamous 114-year long wait for a major team to lift the cup. The underwhelming start to 2024 continued midweek at Tynecastle, where a strong 0–2 lead at half time would evaporate into a Hearts win in yet another blown lead which resulted in no points, and also marked the first loss of back-to-back games in the season. Despite starting off scrappily at Almondvale Stadium, Dundee responded with an emphatic away win over bottom side Livingston, with new boy Michael Mellon coming off the bench and netting a goal and two assists in a 1–4 win. Dundee would end the month by finally playing Aberdeen for the first time of the season, and a Lee Ashcroft headed goal off a corner from the returning Owen Beck was enough to earn a point at Pittodrie.

February

Dundee would commemorate Groundhog Day by marking the day following the holiday by again leading Hearts at half-time with a good performance before handing away another three points for the second time in under 2 weeks. They would fail to turn their momentum around in Paisley, with a flat performance resulting in a defeat away to St Mirren. Despite a slow start, a Luke McCowan penalty and a Jordan McGhee header provided a much-needed comeback win to consolidate Dundee's position in the top 6 at home against St Johnstone. Dundee would continue this positive momentum the following week against Ross County, with a double from Scott Tiffoney proving the difference. The momentum would end at Easter Road, where despite nearly grabbing something late on the Dee were second-best to Hibernian throughout and gave up a lot of ground they had on their rivals for the top 6. The month ended in harrowing fashion, with Dundee shipping 6 goals in the first half to a rampant Celtic in a nightmare evening in Glasgow.

March

The Dee would again play an evenly-matched game against Europe-chasing Kilmarnock, and despite leading late against ten men they again dropped points in stoppage time in a third consecutive 2–2 draw against the Ayrshire side. After an extended break, Dundee returned in solid form despite injuries and comfortably defeated managerless Aberdeen through a Luke McCowan penalty, lifting the Dees back into the top six after keeping their first clean sheet against the Dons in almost 20 years. Dundee's pitch issues would rear their head once again a few days later, with heavy rainfall creating a waterlogged pitch at Dens Park which would get their match against Rangers postponed. After the international break, Dundee returned with a vengeance to McDiarmid Park, and despite looking second best to St Johnstone in large parts they brought home all 3 points through two clinical strikes. After an unbeaten and very successful March, manager Tony Docherty was awarded the Premiership Manager of the Month by the SPFL.

April

After much controversy regarding the playability of Dens Park's pitch, Dundee would take on Motherwell in a chaotic affair, with a 2-goal lead in the second half not being good enough for the fourth time this season as the visitors snatched all three points late and denied the Dee from securing a top six place. The scrutiny on Dundee's pitch would increase even more for the rearranged midweek game against Rangers, which would be called off for yet another waterlogged pitch. Though a strong 2nd half showing at Pittodrie was not enough to break a goalless deadlock against Aberdeen (their first clean sheet against the Dons since December 2004), a late equaliser for Motherwell over Hibs ensured that Dundee's point would be enough for them to secure top six football with a game to spare. After much scrutiny and both the SPFL and UEFA getting involved surrounding potential relocation options, Dundee finally played Rangers on the midweek, and held the title contenders to a goalless draw, their first clean sheet against the side since December 2001, to bring the Dark Blues closer to St Mirren and a potential European spot in 5th place. Dundee began their post-split fixtures on 28 April with a close-fought game against league leaders Celtic which ended in a narrow defeat.

On 18 April, Dundee received a £186,429.60 fine from the SPFL, of which £120,000 was suspended, for "breaches of the SPFL rules" regarding the number of postponements and for the SPFL to recoup costs owed to Sky Sports. The club responded as being "deeply disappointed" with the severity of the fine and the warning of a single postponement the following season triggering the remainder of the fine to be immediately payable, and announced they were seeking legal advice regarding an appeal. Dundee's successful season was recognised by PFA Scotland, as Lyall Cameron was nominated for Young Player of the Year and manager Tony Docherty was nominated for Manager of the Year. Luke McCowan was also named as the Scottish Premiership Player of the Month for April.

May

In a massive game with a spot in the UEFA Conference League potentially on the line, Dundee were outclassed by a rampant St Mirren side at Dens in a disappointing defeat which would all but cement Dundee's ceiling being 6th place. Lyall Cameron and Tony Docherty were again recognised, this time by the Scottish Football Writers' Association, whom nominated the two for their Young Player of the Year and Manager of the Year awards respectively. Dundee would again serve up another toothless performance in a scorcher at Tynecastle as they were battered away by Hearts. In the penultimate game of the season, despite two quickfire goals to give great hope at Ibrox, Dundee once again turned a multiple goal lead into a defeat and officially saw themselves eliminated from European qualification. On a glorious sunny May day at Dens, Dundee ended their season with yet another draw against Kilmarnock as the home side couldn't find a winner against 10 men.

Competitions

  Win   Draw   Loss   Postponed

All times are in British Summer Time (BST).

Pre-season and friendlies

Scottish Premiership

Dundee played against Aberdeen, Celtic, Heart of Midlothian, Hibernian, Kilmarnock, Livingston, Motherwell, Rangers, Ross County, St Johnstone and St Mirren in the 2023–24 Premiership campaign. The format consisted of playing each team three times, twice at home and once away against half of the teams, and once at home and twice away against the other half. Following this, they are split into either a top or bottom group of six depending on their position after 33 games, where they play each team in their group once.

League table

Results by round

Scottish Cup

Dundee competed in the Scottish Cup, entering in the fourth round.

Scottish League Cup

Dundee were a top seed in the group stage draw that will take place on 8 June 2023 at 13:00 on Viaplay and the SPFL's YouTube channel. Dundee were drawn into Group E along with Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Airdrieonians, Dumbarton and Bonnyrigg Rose.

Group stage

Group E table

Squad statistics

As of 18 May 2024

Transfers

Summer

Winter

End of season

End of season awards

Club Player of the Year awards

• Andrew De Vries Player of the Year: Luke McCowan
• Isobel Sneddon Young Player of the Year: Lyall Cameron
• Players' Player of the Year: Luke McCowan

National awards

Scottish Professional Football League

• Scottish Premiership Player of the Month (April 2024): Luke McCowan

PFA Scotland

• Scottish Premiership Team of the Year: Owen Beck
• Young Player of the Year nominee: Lyall Cameron
• Manager of the Year nominee: Tony Docherty

Scottish Football Writers' Association

• Young Player of the Year nominee: Lyall Cameron
• Manager of the Year nominee: Tony Docherty

See also

• List of Dundee F.C. seasons

References