Rivals Dundee United and Dundee last night vowed to work together to bring the Sportscotland National Performance Centre for Sport to the City of Discovery.The two clubs have put their factions aside to throw their full weight behind Dundee’s bold bid which they hope will see off fellow competitors Stirling and Edinburgh. Tannadice chairman Stephen Thompson and Dark Blues chief executive Scot Gardiner have spent the past nine months locked in ongoing talks with various key players including Dundee City Council, University of Dundee and NHS Tayside in their quest to land the prestigious prize. Plans are already well under way to host the centre at the city’s plush Camperdown Country Park where athletes from all sports will have access to state-of-the-art indoor and outdoor facilities. Gardiner believes the universal support within the city can help them turn their dream into a reality. He said: “I’ve been going to a lot of council meetings and there’s never a cross word about things. They’re all signing from the same hymn sheet. There is a ‘can do’ attitude which is rare for anything. We’re speaking about building another hotel for example. If there is any obstacle we’ll get over it. We must get this here to Dundee. That’s the bottom line. Every national sports body has been contacted. We’ve asked them if they want to be involved in this by having their headquarters here. While football is the main sport which will have its residence there, there are other sports, beach volleyball for starters. It’s critical for any bid not just to be about football. It’s for all sports for the community.Dundee is the only city doing a bespoke plan so there’s more opportunity for things to work well. That’s the advantage the Dundee group has.” A final decision is expected in late August or early September and the City of Discovery duo believe they’re in a perfect position.
Posted on: Thu, 01 Aug 2013 10:53:32 +0000
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