WHO IS YOUR CLUB’S GREATEST EVER PLAYER? A nod to Dundee’s greatest, the smooth operator of Tannadice, Mr Dunfermline, East Fife’s Hampden hero and livewire striker who scored for fun at East Kilbride

DUNDEE: ALAN GILZEAN 

By Jim Hendry 

There are 11 legends lauded in Hector Nicol’s Up Wi’ The Bonnets which greets Dundee FC as they prepare to do battle at modern-day Dens Park even if that adjective alongside the decrepit stadium is a contradiction in terms of Champions League proportions.

There can be little argument that the team which won the club’s only top league title in 1962 and which then mesmerised the Continent on their way to the European Cup semi-final was their best ever.

Legendary scholar, commentator and acknowledged football expert Bob Crampsey even went as far as declaring they were Scotland’s best ever club side and he stressed the inclusion of the Lisbon Lions in that judgment.

Whether he would have gone public with that view in this age of keyboard warriors and trial by aggrieved fan base is a question best left unanswered.

 

It would be impolite not to give a name check to ‘the proud boys who wore the Dark Blue of Dundee’, to borrow Hector’s lyrics, and they will still trip off the tongue of many who were around at that time … Liney, Hamilton, Cox, Seith, Ure, Wishart, Smith, Penman, Cousin, Gilzean and Robertson.

Outstanding players all but Gillie was the jewel that shone brightest. His prowess in the air is stuff of legend and many of his 169 goals for the Dark Blues were indeed headers but, boy, could he play on the deck too.

Four second-half goals at Ibrox in a 5-1 win on their way to that title should convince any doubters, or what about his European Cup double in the Heysel Stadium as Dundee dismantled Anderlecht in front of 64,073 fans – a Belgian record crowd to this day and one that will never be surpassed.

Gillie also claimed Scotland Hall of Fame status with a Hampden winner over England in 1964 – yes, it was a header – and later enjoyed an outstanding career with Spurs, where he is also worshipped to this day.

A modest and extremely humorous man, Gilzean has a lounge named in his memory at Dens and a 1980s Fanzine slipped into local dialect to declare ‘Eh Mind O’ Gillie’. That apart, there is also something of a shrine to the local hero in the corner of a well-known Coupar Angus hotel, the Perthshire town of his birth.

There is a link between Gillie and his closest contender Doug Cowie – their careers overlapping when the elder statesman welcomed the young Gilzean into the fold in 1957.

Cowie represented Scotland in two World Cups, in Switzerland 1954 and Sweden ’58. He, too, was modesty personified with a silky touch and leadership qualities that belied his quiet and understated persona. After hanging up his boots Cowie had an eye for a player as he unearthed local talent such as Dave Narey, Davie Dodds and John Holt to the benefit of the club across the road.

There was mutual respect between two consummate pros; the frail and elderly Cowie saluting on the pavement outside his home near Dens Park as his younger friend’s funeral cortège passed en route to the city’s crematorium in 2018.

There were, of course, other contenders from the mists of time going all the way back to Dundee’s only Scottish Cup triumph when they beat Clyde after two replays in 1910. Folklore has it that the club’s Cup chances have been cursed ever since thanks to the grand old trophy being put on display in an undertaker’s window.

The League Cup story is a happier one with back-to-back triumphs in the early 1950s against Rangers and Kilmarnock, Cowie playing in both finals alongside another with a claim to greatness, Billy Steel, who had been signed from Derby County for a Scottish record fee of £23,500.

Steel had magic in his feet and a sharp tongue, his caustic humour not always hitting the mark with under-performing colleagues. But the Dens crowd adored him.

More modern greats include former captain and manager Jim Duffy, playing and managerial legend, Jocky Scott plus his great pal and team-mate Gordon Wallace, scorer of the only goal to beat Celtic in the 1973 League Cup final, the club’s last major honour.

But Gilzean stands head and shoulders above them all. An admirers of Hibs’ Famous Five during his formative years, how fitting that many of his Dark Blue headers came courtesy of inviting crosses from the boot of Easter Road legend Gordon Smith.

If we can excuse the pun, that well worn routine on their way to title glory helps give Gillie the nod as the Greatest Dark Blue of All Time.

DUNDEE UNITED: DAVID NAREY 

By Eddie Isaac

Did anyone epitomise Jim McLean’s Dundee United and the way they shook up the established order in the 1980s better than David Narey?

One of the enigmas of the Scottish game, quiet man Narey played football like a world-class continental defender who had been mysteriously teleported to the unfamiliar environs of Tannadice.

He was a key part of a United team who, under McLean’s dictator-like grip, went toe-to-toe with their New Firm rivals Aberdeen during a golden period that saw Celtic and Rangers given the biggest fright of their lives.

Narey was at the heart of it of all, his defensive partnership with Paul Hegarty as crucial to the unstoppable rise of the Tangerines as Willie Miller and Alex McLeish’s pairing was vital for the Dons.

A standout in a team boasting talents like Paul Sturrock, Ralph Milne and Maurice Malpas, he would savour a title triumph for the ages in 1983, as well as lifting the League Cup on two occasions.

‘Narey could have played for anybody he wanted to, he was a world class player,’ recalled former team-mate Jim McInally.

‘He could run beside the quickest guy in the opposition team and beat him by a yard. Not only could he defend, he would start the game from the back. He was just a terrific player.’

So much so that he became the first Tannadice man to win a Scotland cap.

And perhaps it was a precursor for the way United would make European football sit up and take notice within just a few years when Narey announced his arrival at the World Cup in sensational style in 1982.

His 18th-minute thunderbolt gave the Scots a scarcely believable 1-0 lead over Brazil in Seville, Jimmy Hill hilariously dismissing it as a ‘toe poke’ while Socrates later admitted it was one of the goals of the tournament.

Alas, the only thing that had been poked was the pride of the Brazilians, who would go on to win 4-1, but it seemed fitting somehow that it should be a player from this upstart United outfit who was giving the former world champions a bloody nose.

The Tangerines didn’t just knock Glasgow’s big two off their perch, they did the whole of Scottish football proud by reaching the European Cup semi-finals in 1984 – only to be done in by a cheating Roma side – and the UEFA Cup final in 1987.

Narey was central to their success, a towering figure on that run to the UEFA showpiece that saw McLean’s men topple Barcelona and Borussia Monchengladbach before falling to Gothenburg in a two-legged final.

True, the defender would suffer other big disappointments during a 20-year career at Tannadice which saw him make 872 appearances, including defeat in a number of Scottish Cup finals.

But there would be a glorious career swansong when he left United for Raith Rovers and helped them beat Celtic in the 1994-95 League Cup final.

His legend had been forged at Tannadice, however, and Jim McLean’s admiration for the player was no secret.

‘Of all the players I had over the years, Hegarty, Sturrock, Malpas, Gough, Gray … David Narey was not second to any of them,’ he reflected.

‘Andy Gray was a different player and he was fantastic, but Narey was up there in terms of his importance to the team. His use of the ball was exceptional and his positional sense the best. He was a manager’s dream.’

In a team full of heroes, who could deny that he was the greatest of them all?

DUNFERMLINE: NORRIE McCATHIE 

By Paul Forsyth

Dunfermline Athletic are not short of legendary figures. Charlie Dickson is their all-time leading goalscorer. Willie Callaghan was a cornerstone of their successes, domestic and European, in the 1960s. Roy Barry captained them to the second of their Scottish Cup triumphs.

But sometimes the sheer weight of a player’s personality, his service to the team and his popularity with supporters make him so synonymous with the club that he cannot be equalled. No wonder they call Norrie McCathie Mr Dunfermline.

Long before the tragedy of his death at the age of just 34, which left a club and a town bereft, McCathie had captured their hearts by making a club-record 576 appearances and becoming a pillar of the side that rose through the divisions under Jim Leishman.

McCathie was a leader, an inspiration, a towering presence as both a defender and a person. That he also scored 59 goals for Dunfermline showed another side to his game, one that had been apparent during his teenage years with Cowdenbeath.

He was a striker when he joined Dunfermline in 1981, but the turning point was four years later when Leishman tried him in defence. There, he came into his own, tackling tough, reading the game well and forming the backbone of successive promotions that took Dunfermline all the way to the top flight.

In all, he spent 15 years at the Fife club, interrupted only by a loan spell at Ayr United when he was on the way back from a serious injury. After returning to his parent club, he played in every match for the next two seasons. His proudest moment was leading them out in the 1991 League Cup final at Hampden, having helped them get there with a penalty goal in their semi-final shootout with Airdrie.

McCathie got the most out of himself and his team-mates, which made it all the tougher to see his Dunfermline career – and life – cut short in the most distressing circumstances. Two days after his last appearance, which was away to St Mirren on January 6 1996, the defender and his girlfriend died of carbon monoxide poisoning at his home in Fife.

It was a shocking loss for the club, the community and for Scottish football. His shirt number – four – was retired for the rest of that season, which ended with another promotion to the Premier Division. In December 1998, the South Stand at East End Park was named after him. Down the years, he has been remembered with banners, songs and commemorative shirts, all recognising the scale of his contribution to the club.

Bert Paton, who played for and managed the Pars, spoke for thousands when he said: ‘Norrie epitomised everything that was good about Dunfermline and we will hold his memory in our hearts forever.’

EAST FIFE: HENRY MORRIS 

By Alan Hendry

With Scottish football royalty on either side of him and the Lion Rampant on his shirt, East Fife striker Henry Morris sat proudly for the team photograph on the occasion of his Scotland debut. Rangers captain George Young, the first man to reach 50 caps for Scotland, sat to his left. On his right, was legendary former Dundee and Derby County inside forward Billy Steel.

That an East Fife player would be at ease in such company tells you all you need to know about the Methil club’s standing in the post-war years.

Morris scored a hat-trick in an 8-2 World Cup qualifying win over Northern Ireland, his first goal in that game was also Scotland’s first ever in World Cup qualifying. Incredibly, he was never selected again.

Injuries and stiff competition meant Morris was never seen in a Scotland shirt again. ‘There were lots of good centre forwards in those days,’ the modest hero was quoted as saying later.

Morris and five other Methil stalwarts were capped by their country as the Bayview men enjoyed what can only be described as a golden age between 1938 and 1954, amassing an impressive major trophy haul of three League Cups and one Scottish Cup.

While legends from that period like Charlie Fleming, Willie Finlay and Sammy Stewart all wrote their names into East Fife folklore, none can stake a claim as compelling as Morris.

He played a key role in the League Cup triumphs of 1947-48 and 1949-50, scoring the third goal in the 3-0 Hampden triumph over Dunfermline.

The Dundonian also holds the club record for most league goals scored in a single season, scoring 41 times in season 1947-48. With 188 goals in 171 appearances, he enjoyed a scoring rate of better than a goal a game.

The cup competitions were a speciality for the Fife hero, and he scored 19 goals in 17 Scottish Cup games.

Both centre-half Finlay and full-back Stewart could build their own cases on having played in all three of the Fife club’s League Cup victories (1947-48, 1949-50 and 1953-54) when Hampden Park was a second home for the Methil side.

A former coal miner, Finlay was the rock upon which that legendary team was built, and he can count himself unlucky his reliability and leadership qualities did not translate into a Scotland call up.

A stalwart of the team for a decade, Finlay left Bayview under a cloud after falling out with manager Jerry Dawson. He stayed away from Bayview for many years after his acrimonious departure but, in scenes that would bring a tear to a glass eye, he was afforded a hero’s reception in 2008 when he helped the club unfurl the Third Division championship flag.

Stewart amassed 528 appearances between 1938 and 1961. Incredibly, he scored just two competitive goals for the club: one on his debut and a second 21 years later in 1960, both against East Stirlingshire.

In later years, defender Davie Clarke achieved legendary status with a record 628 appearances between 1968-1987. While future Scotland striker Gordon Durie enjoyed a blistering start to his career in Methil from 1981-84, scoring 26 goals in 81 appearances.

EAST KILBRIDE: JOHN ROBERTSON 

By Alan Hendry

With apologies to BJ Coll, Sean Winter, Adam Strachan and others … our search for the EK GOAT is limited to the time a club has spent in the SPFL. For the K-Park side that boils down to just last season and this – a short sharp sprint for our accolade.

But what a season 2025-26 was, Kilby won 21 of their 36 games to beat Spartans to the title and gain promotion to Scottish League One.

John Robertson was the name on the lips of anyone watching Mick Kennedy’s side last term, tearing up League Two with 32 goals in 45 games.

Who knows where East Kilbride’s SPFL journey will take them? But their scoring sensation wasn’t hanging around to find out and now finds himself just one step from the top-flight after signing for Championship Raith Rovers.

Robertson may have made Rovers fans suffer last summer, scoring an incredible five-minute hat-trick to help East Kilbride to a 4-2 League Cup win in July but they have taken steps to ensure he is doing the damage for them for the foreseeable.

‘I scored a five-minute hat-trick against Raith in the League Cup this season – even though I thought I’d played s**t for the whole game,’ said Robertson when he signed for Dougie Imrie’s side.

‘I’ve always had belief in my own ability, that’s one thing about me. I know I’m the man.

‘I don’t think there’s anyone up there with me. What do I hope to get from it (signing for Raith)? Promotion and maybe another move. I’m looking forward to go and try to rip up the Championship.’

The extrovert forward has an eye for the spectacular and at times last term it seemed like he was running his own goal of the season competition. He will not lack for confidence as he seeks to make his mark with Raith and why would he after a season in which he seemed to score almost at will. His innate ability to find the net is almost matched by his talent for winding up opposition supporters. You suspect he will grab the headlines one way or the other.

Robertson added: ‘Most fanbases hate me to be honest with you because I am a bit of a wind-up merchant. But I didn’t get that from the Raith fans. I can’t wait to get going.’

The future looks bright for Robertson but his impact in one corner of South Lanarkshire won’t be forgotten in a hurry.

Agree or disagree? Get in touch at greatestplayer@dailymail.co.uk and let us know what you think

Part Four features Edinburgh City, Elgin City, Falkirk, Forfar Athletic and Greenock Morton