CHAIRMAN’S WELCOME

Dundee United Chairman Eddie Thompson welcomes users to the new official website and provides some exclusive comments on recent reports regarding a new stadium. “Welcome to the new Dundee United website. All of us at the Club are committed to improved communications with our supporters and electronic communications tools are clearly very important in this respect. I won’t pretend that I’m an expert in this area but I was happy to accept the results of our ongoing consultation exercise which identified that improvements were required. Over the last few months, a team led by Dundee United Director Derek Robertson has worked hand in hand with Avian Communications to develop a much improved website with many new features. I would like to thank Riki Grauer, Lorraine Sheriff, George Gall and all the staff at Avian for their hard work, time and effort in getting us to this stage already. I would also like to thank Joe Rice, Stuart Mill, Stevie Thomson, Bryan Orr and Kara Griffiths for agreeing to comprise a “users' group” to help guide the current and ongoing development of the site. Thanks are also due to Steve Gracie, Mike Watson, Pat Kelly, Tom Cairns, DC Thomson & Son Ltd. and Fotopress. "In welcoming you to the website, it is perhaps appropriate to update you on recent events with regard to exaggerated comments which implied that we had first of all agreed to move to a new shared stadium, then somehow “ruined” these plans by withdrawing. The fact is that we were asked to consider the possibility of a new shared stadium at Dunsinane around a year ago but matters did not proceed because of the cost implications. We were asked to look at fresh, but essentially similar, proposals on Monday 29 March. The revised proposals included an indoor sports facility, which may have attracted some Scottish Executive funding and for which funding applications had to be submitted by 31 March. We agreed to support the application in principle, subject to the financial viability of the entire project. We were dismayed when, less than 24 hours later, it was ‘leaked’ that we had agreed to such a move. "It must be remembered that we do not need, or have any great desire, to move from Tannadice unless there is a benefit to be gained. We were prepared to look at the latest proposals as there would have been a community benefit. However, it was not clear how the total cost could be funded and we were certainly not prepared to put the club further into debt to build a stadium which we do not need. "We are sorry if this disappoints some people, however it is best not to raise false hopes, particularly at such an emotive time for some. We certainly don’t think we should be criticised for taking this decision. Ask yourself this: if you were living in your own house, in which you were perfectly content and which suited your every need, would you expect to be criticised for turning down the opportunity of moving to a brand new (but as yet unspecified) house, which was smaller than your existing one, which you had to share with another party, which was going to cost around double the value of your existing one and which was going to cost you a sum you simply could not afford or ever afford to borrow? "With the derby game imminent, we have been disappointed to read certain comments from unidentified parties which seem aimed at causing friction between the two sets of fans. Neither club wishes to see this. There has always been a healthy rivalry between United and Dundee fans and Dundee derbies are invariably the best and most eagerly anticipated games of the season. We want this to continue. We welcome and echo Jim Duffy’s recent comments in this regard. We are sorry for Dundee FC’s plight, but we are not responsible for it. Indeed, many United fans have quite generously donated to the Dee4Life campaign. We all want to see the two city clubs thrive and prosper and bring credit to the city. We are willing to assist if required, but are not forcing any issues whatsoever. My first priority is, and always will be, to look after the best interests of Dundee United Football Club.”