Gary Irvine Player Profile

Biography

Gary Irvine is a Dee-Fiant hero and having been a survivor of the hard times at Dens, deserved as much as anyone to be a SPFL Championship winner and enjoy it to the full and enjoy it he did. He was right next to captain Gavin Rae on the winners’ podium and couldn’t wait to get his hands on the trophy, posing with his beautiful family when he did so. His daughters wore shirts which had a number two, “Daddy” and “White Cafu” on them and at the staff celebration at the Doubletree Hilton at night, Ryan Conroy grabbed the microphone and started singing the “White Cafu” song to great acclaim. Irvine stood up, waved an arm and wore the same huge grin that hadn’t left his face since receiving his medal at 5pm. Winning the league felt good.

It was not the first time Irvine had won the second tier in Scotland for in 2008/09 he was part of the St Johnstone side to win the Scottish League First Division. Gary had joined The Saints from Celtic for £24,000 in 2007 where he had started his career and he had also enjoyed a spell on loan at Ross County where he won the 2006/07 Challenge Cup Final after The Staggies beat Clyde on penalties.

Irvine won it for a second consecutive year in his first season with The Saints when they defeated Dunfermline 3-2 at Dens in the final.

Having played 43 times in his debut year, he then made 38 appearances in the promotion winning year but in his third season at McDiarmid dropped to 21 outings in the top flight and at the end of the season was one of eight players released by the club.

Dundee manager Gordon Chisholm was quick to move for the full back as part of his rebuilding of the Dark Blue squad looking to make a promotion push of their own and Irvine signed for The Dee on July 24th 2010; the same day he made his debut at home to Alloa in the ALBA Cup.

Irvine would go on to make 36 appearances in his first year at Dens but it would be a traumatic season as the club went into administration for a second time in October.

Gary was one of the lucky ones to keep his job and he would become one of the key players for new manager Barry Smith, who took over after Chisholm was released by the administrator as the Dark Blues fought for their very survival. The Scottish League saw fit to dock Dundee 25 points and on the very brink of existence but the club came together like never before and went on a club record 23 game unbeaten run to eventually finish sixth.

Irvine was very much part of the Dee-Fiant spirit that emerged on and off the park and with the squad at full stretch, Gary had to fill in as an emergency midfielder on a couple of occasions.

In one of those games away at Falkirk, Irvine scored his first goal for the club as The Dee came back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 in March to keep the unbeaten run going. Two minutes after Mark Stewart had given Falkirk a 2-0 lead, the Dark Blues bounced straight back and brought themselves into the game with some smart passing and ruthless finishing to make it 2-1. McIntosh and Irvine combined well and worked the ball out wide to Nicky Riley on the right and as Riley fired in a low first time cross, Irvine had continued his run and without breaking stride, smashed a ferocious shot into the Falkirk net from fifteen yards.

Craig Forsyth scored the leveler in front of the noisy away support and once again Barry Smith managed to work out an effective formation and get the players to put in a performance that surpassed expectations. Yet again Dundee showed they just won’t give up and showed a magnificent fighting spirit.

In particular Irvine’s move into midfield had been a masterstroke and his first goal for Dundee was reward for weeks of consistent performances from the nephew of Dundee legend Brian Irvine. After a relatively slow start to his Dundee career earlier in the season, Irvine had now become a key player in the squad and his new found versatility would be important in the coming weeks.

Irvine had originally signed a one year deal but at the end of the Dee-Fiant season was rewarded for his endeavours with a new contract as the club looked to stabilise and move forward. Looking for promotion straight after exiting administration was too much to hope for but the Dark Blues gave it a good go and finished as runners-up to Ross County.

For Irvine, it was a terrific season personally as his consistent performances not only made him a fan favourite but earned him the Player of the Year Award at the end of the campaign when he picked up the Andrew De Vries Memorial Trophy.

Second place however would eventually be enough to get Dundee back into the top tier for after Rangers were liquated and the reformed club placed in the fourth tier by the Scottish Football authorities, the runners-up in each division were bumped up, meaning The Dee were promoted into the SPL.

For Gary it gave him his second crack at the top flight and he made 39 appearances in the ‘Club 12’ season. It was a tough campaign for The Dee however after they had spent the summer preparing for the First Division and eventually finished 12th and dropped back into the second flight.

Now renamed the SPFL Championship with the merger of the SPL and Scottish League and the Dark Blues were the favourites to claim the one promotion slot. Irvine had another good season and after 37 appearances was able to claim his winners medal after the 2-1 win over Dumbarton at Dens on the final day.

New manager Paul Hartley, who had taken over from John Brown in February signed right-back Paul McGinn in the summer but Irvine, who was now vice captain, still maintained his place in the side, often playing on the left side in the Premiership. Just after Christmas, Gary went on an unheralded scoring spree when he scored four goals in seven games and played 30 times as the Dark Blues finished in the top six on their first season back in the top flight.

Irvine featured less at the start of the 2015/16 season and by Christmas had played just seven times and in January was allowed to join Championship side St Mirren in an attempt to get regular first team football.

The last of his 193 appearances for Dundee was a memorable one when he came off the bench in the 2-1 win over Dundee United at Dens.

The affection for Gary at Dens was there for all to see when he returned with St Mirren in the Scottish as not only was he given a warm reception but there was also flag in the Bobby Cox Stand which had ‘The White Cafu’ on it. Gary went over to speak to the Dundee support at the end who were happy to receive him despite his new club just having knocked The Dee out the cup.

Gary returned to Dens Park again in 2019, this time as to assist to interim manager James McPake in the dug out for the final game of the season. By then a player at Forfar, whose season had already finished, he took his own first steps into management in 2021 when he became interim manager himself for The Loons in April and the post was made permanent a month later.

He will forever be remembered as a wholehearted player who gave his all every time pulled on his dark blue shirt in his five and a half years at Dens and the Dundee fans will be forever grateful to all who were part of that immortal Dee-Fiant squad.