Hearts and Hibs’ Scottish Premiership rivals move cup games due to pitch issue
Dundee FC have invested heavily in a new playing surface after a series of postponements last term
Scottish Premiership side Dundee FC have confirmed that they will be playing their Premier Sports Cup home games at the Carnegie Fuels Stadium at Glebe Park, the home of Brechin City.
The decision has been made to allow their new pitch additional time to bed in before the start of the 2024/25 Scottish Premiership season. The club say that they have invested heavily in a new playing surface and draining system with 200 tonnes of rootzone to provide a fresh new playing surface.
The decision comes after a series of postponements that were caused by waterlogged pitches at the end of last season. After admitting to five breaches of SPFL rules last term, they lost an appeal against a £66,000 fine and were also hit with a further £120,000 suspended until the end of the upcoming season.
A club statement confirmed that the pitch is ‘progressing well’ and added that it will be ready to be used for this season’s opening home game against Hearts on Saturday 10 August.
Paul Murray Dundee FC’s Head Groundsman said, “Firstly I would like to thank the club for their continued backing throughout the entire renovation process. The renovation has not been without its challenges, but with the club's full support, we have managed to overcome these issues to help the process run as smoothly as possible.
“We have taken the decision to move the two home Premier Sports Cup games based on the short amount of time between completing the renovation and the aforementioned fixtures.
“With the pitch being seeded less than four weeks ago, and with so much sand and rootzone going into the drainage lines and onto the pitch surface, I was concerned for the overall stability of the pitch. Moving the two home games gives us another 18 days to have the pitch in optimum condition for the start of the league campaign.”
As part of the agreement with Dundee B will also play their SPFL Trust Trophy First round match against Formartine United at The Carnegie Fuels Stadium at Glebe Park on Saturday 30 August.
Dundee finished sixth in the Scottish Premiership last season in their first season back in the top-flight after winning the Championship title under Tony Docherty. They begin the season with an away trip to take on city-rivals Dundee United on 4 August before playing host to Steven Naismith’s Hearts on 10 August.
Dundee will then make the trip to Easter Road to face Hibs two weeks later on 24 August.