Dundee travel to second placed Aberdeen today with the home side needing a win to keep the pressure up on leaders Hibs.
A full house is expected at Pittodrie today as the home side hope to end Dundee’s unbeated run in the granite city which stretches back 17 years, long before the Old Firm departed the SPL for mid table mediocrity in the English Championship.
This will be the last game at Pittodrie between the sides as Aberdeen move next season to a 30,000 capacity stadium on the outskirts of the city. The new stadium will rival that of the Edinburgh clubs who share a stadium the same size at Riccarton and is based on the 20,000 seater shared by the resurgent Dundee clubs.
Hibs are now the best supported team in Scotland with average attendances of 24,000 as they chase the championship.
The forward thinking SPL steering committee have got it just right with the insistence that kids go free to all SPL games when accompanied by an adult. They also did very well agreeing a TV deal that involves all clubs equally and promotes the league and country across Europe. Its believed other small European countries are hoping to follow suit in the near future.
The cross border British Cup will need to be tweaked a little as fans have found it a secondary competition while Hibs, Hearts, Aberdeen and Dundee are still in Europe. Current holders Dundee Utd defeated Leeds Utd in last years final at Old Trafford but narrowly missed out on European competition this year. This means they will be hoping to defend their trophy but have a tough first round draw at Sunderland.
The chairmen of Celtic and Rangers have asked for a meeting with the SPL committee with a view to returning. Both clubs are in serious financial difficulty after crowds plummeted when they moved from the Scottish set up. Failure to even come close to promotion to the EPL has cost them dearly with crowds of less than 20,000 for home games. Rioting between the two sets of fans in Glasgow after the recent Old Firm relegation battle means the next two matches must be behind closed doors, meaning a surreal atmosphere when the clubs next meet.
The SPL committee are currently pondering on the idea but seem in no rush to welcome the former giants back into the fold.
Next week the Dark Blues host fellow ground sharers Dundee United at the City Stadium. The atmosphere is sure to be electric as the teams emerge from their own halves of the community funded ground. With the dark blue seats at one end and the tangerine seats at the other the contrast is stark with only the silver coloured seats in between as neutral territory.