Dundee Wanderers Football Club was a football club based in Dundee,
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
. They were formed in 1894 as a result of a merger between two local clubs, Johnstone Wanderers and Strathmore. The club was briefly a member of the Scottish Football League (SFL), playing in Division Two during the 1894–95 season, but after finishing second from bottom of the league they failed re-election. In December 1894 the suffered an all-time record SFL defeat, losing 15–1 to Airdrieonians. Their home ground was Clepington Park (now
Tannadice Park
Tannadice Park ( gd, Pàirc Thanachais), usually referred to as Tannadice, is a football stadium in Dundee, Scotland. It is the home ground of Dundee United F.C., who have played at Tannadice since the club was founded as Dundee Hibernian in 1 ...
, the home of
Dundee United
Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...
).
History
Johnstone Wanderers and Strathmore were both members of the Northern League in the 1893–94 season, but, after six matches they both resigned. One week later, 1894 when a new club, Dundonians, was formed by merger between the two, and played its first match under that name against Hibernian that month. As the media often referred to the Dundee club as "the Dundonians", Dundee made a formal objection, and the new club instead used the Wanderers name.
The new club spent the 1894–95 season as members of the Second Division, finishing ninth out of ten. Their performance might well have been worse had they not been awarded two points after Renton failed to fulfil a fixture against the club, with the
Dunbartonshire
Dunbartonshire ( gd, Siorrachd Dhùn Breatann) or the County of Dumbarton is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the west central Lowlands of Scotland lying to the north of the River Clyde. Dunbartonshire borders Pe ...
side instead opting for a glamour friendly against Queen's Park. Wanderers' brief sojourn in the Scottish League did produce one record that still stands, however, with the club's 15–1 away defeat to Airdrieonians remaining the heaviest defeat in Scottish League history.
The club lost the tenancy of Clepington Park during the summer of 1894, as a consequence of which they played the first half of their one season as a League club at East Dock Street. In December they returned to Clepington Park, but failed to secure re-election to the Scottish League for season 1895–96 and went on to join the Northern League.
They became Northern League champions in 1900, but lost the tenancy of Clepington Park again in 1909 to the newly formed Dundee Hibernian (later
Dundee United
Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...
). Rendered homeless, Wanderers had to play all of their matches on the grounds of their opponents the following season and, still unable to find a ground, were forced to resign from the Northern League at the end of it, playing only cup ties and friendly matches during 1910–11. Having secured the tenancy of St Margaret's Park in
Lochee
Lochee () is an area in the west of Dundee, Scotland. Until the 19th century, it was a separate town, but was eventually surrounded by the expanding Dundee. It is notable for being home to Camperdown Works, which was the largest jute production ...
, the club re-joined the Northern League for season 1911–12 but their demise was approaching.
The final national competitive match played by Dundee Wanderers was a
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Arbroath on 7 September 1912, which it lost 8–0. The only record of the club taking the field again was for a Forfarshire Cup semi-final tie at Dens Park, Dundee (against Dundee 'A') on 15 March 1913. Wanderers had received a bye into the semi-final, but lost by six goals to one and the club was formally wound up at the end of that season.
Stadium
The club originally played at Clepington Park. In 1910, after losing the tenancy, the club moved to St Margaret's Park, Lochee.
Colours
The club originally played in red and white jerseys with blue knickers. In 1898 the club changed to the old Wanderers colours of maroon shirts with a blue sash. For its final two seasons the club played in navy blue and gold, leading to a nickname of the Wasps.
Forfarshire Cup
The Forfarshire Cup is a football competition in Scotland competed for by teams in the Forfarshire Football Association from Angus, Dundee and Perth. The name of the competition is often baffling to some, as "Forfarshire" is an archaic and angli ...
:
* 1897–98, 1901–02
;
Dewar Shield
The Dewar Shield is a rugby union competition in Melbourne. It is the professional and semi-professional premier grade for rugby in Victoria. A total of nine teams from the Victorian Rugby Union compete for the trophy. Local TV Channel 31 bro ...