Dundee United Legends - Week Ten - Finn Døssing The first non-Scottish player in our series of Dundee United legends, Finn Døssing is one of the all-time Tannadice greats. He may have spent less than four seasons on Tayside but in that time the Danish striker made a lasting impression on the city and would remain fondly remembered by Arabs for decades to come. During the mid-1960s Scottish Football was hit by an influx of players arriving from countries like Norway, Denmark and Sweden. Unsurprisingly, this period was dubbed The Scandinavian Invasion. Both Morton and Dundee United had five Scandinavians on their playing staff, but arguably the pick of the bunch was Uniteds prolific centre-forward Finn Døssing. Dundee United manager Jerry Kerr was ahead of his time in many ways and in the mid-60s he was a pioneer in bringing in foreign players to fine-tune is Tannadice machine. In the winter of 1964, Jerry Kerr signed Danish striker Finn Døssing from Viborg at the same time as signing Swedish international midfielder Örjan Persson from Örgryte IS, for a combined fee of £10,000. Døssing was powerfully built striker, standing at 61 and weighing 12st 4lb, he adapted easily to the physical nature of the Scottish game. When he signed at Tannadice the club were lying in the lower reaches of the First Division facing the threat of relegation but with the help of their new Danish no.9 United not only avoided the drop but managed to finish 9th in a league of 18. Døssing netted an extraordinary 31 goals in 29 appearances. Finn Døssing may have one of the greatest goal scoring records in the history of Dundee United, but he is mainly remembered for one match played in September 1965. The Dens Park Massacre of 65 is still to date the biggest win United have ever recorded over the wee team across the road - although we came close to breaking it last week! It was a devastating performance by United but the star of the show was Finn Døssing who scored a glorious hat-trick. That one game alone secured the Great Danes status as a Tannadice Legend. Picking up where he left off at the end of the 1964/65 season, Døssing hit 27 goals in 41 appearances in the 1965/66 season which helped the club finish 5th in the First Division and secure European Football for the first time in the clubs long history. The following season Døssing missed both of Uniteds famous victories over Barcelona however he did play in the tie against Italian giants Juventus. United lost the away leg 3-0 but Døssing scored a stunning overhead kick in the second leg at Tannadice to secure a memorable 1-0 win over the Italians, although it wasnt enough to rescue the tie. In the 1966/67 season the Dane only managed 16 goals in 37 appearances and the following season he left Scotland to return home to Denmark. In 115 appearances for Dundee United, Finn Døssing scored an incredible 76 goals. Finn was top scorer in his first two seasons with United and scored one of the most famous hat-tricks in the clubs history when he hit three against the Dees in the Massacre of 65. Finn also holds the record for the fastest goal scored by a United player, netting after just 14 seconds against Hamilton Academical on 16th October 1965. The Great Dane remains a revered figure at Tannadice and is fondly remembered by all Arabs, for example the Argyll Arabs named their Supporters Club after the ex-goal king of Tannadice. A prolific goal scorer and Tannadice cult-hero, Finn Døssing is a true Dundee United Legend.
Posted on: Mon, 05 Jan 2015 18:19:46 +0000
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