Obituary - Alan Gilzean

We were saddened to hear of the death of one of the Club’s all-time greats, Alan Gilzean, on Sunday. He passed away following a short illness. He was 79.

One of the greatest strikers of his generation, Alan scored 133 goals in 439 appearances in all competitions for us between 1964-1974.

Signed from Dundee on 12 December 1964, ‘Gilly’ helped us win the FA Cup in 1967, the League Cup in 1971 and 1973 and the UEFA Cup in 1972.

Inducted into our Hall of Fame in December, 2013, Alan remains ninth in our all-time goalscoring list and seventh in terms of appearances for the Club.

Born at Perth on October 22, 1938, Alan John Gilzean attended Coupar Angus primary and secondary schools.

He played for - and was secretary of - Coupar Angus City Boys prior to signing provisional forms for Dundee on January 21, 1956.

After a single appearance for their youth team Dundee Violets, Alan returned to play for Coupar Angus. He worked as a despatch clerk for Coates & Co, a carpet manufacturers at Perth, before signing professional forms for Dundee on February 2, 1957.

Alan spent his National Service as a clerk with the Royal Army Service Corps at Farnborough, Hampshire, turning out for Aldershot in their reserve and A teams. He made his senior debut for Dundee in a League Cup tie against Motherwell during August, 1959 whilst still based at Farnborough.

Dundee won the Scottish title in 1961-62, reached the European Cup semi-finals the following season and were runners-up in the 1964 Scottish Cup.

Alan scored 165 goals in 185 senior games - including 113 in 134 top flight appearances - before joining us for a £72,500 fee on December 12, 1964. He made his debut against Everton a week later.

An FA Cup winner in 1967, he also featured in both of our Football League Cup triumphs and the inaugural UEFA Cup success in 1972. His last competitive game for us was against Newcastle United on May 11, 1974.

Alan had a three-month spell in South Africa with Highlands Park before being awarded a testimonial match against Red Star Belgrade on 27 November, 1974. He served the old Stevenage Athletic club as manager from May, 1975 until August, 1976.

Alan gained the first of 22 full caps for Scotland versus Norway on 7 November 1963 and his last against Portugal on 21 April, 1971. He scored 12 goals on international duty.

One of his sons, Ian, played for our youth and reserve teams between 1985 and 1992 before joining Dundee.

A keen golfer and cricketer, Alan was inducted into the Dundee Hall of Fame during April, 2009 and into the Scottish Football Hall of Fame on 21 November 21, 2009.

Alan was a regular member of our legends’ hospitality team in recent seasons and will be sadly missed.

We extend our condolences to the Gilzean family and his friends at this sad time.