DUNDEE FC COMMUNITY TRUST RECEIVE SPECIAL EUROPEAN LEGEND CARDS AS PART OF UEFA EURO 2020 LEGACY PROJECT

Dundee FC’s Community Trust has received a boost to its resources for the Football Memories project in conjunction with Alzheimer’s Scotland. The specially devised European Legends cards will be used in the Football Memories sessions, which support those with dementia, memory loss, poor mental health or social isolation.

As a result of Glasgow being a UEFA EURO 2020 host city, legacy packs were created to provide key resources to more than 250 Football Memories groups across Scotland, including Dundee FC’s Community Trust group.

To mark the 60^th anniversary of the European Championship, the 60 special cards, including players and managers who participated in the tournament from 1960-1990, can be used by Football Memories groups to stimulate memories and aid discussions of the international greats of European football.

The deck includes two former Scotland internationals, the 55-times capped Denis Law, who remains the country’s joint-top goalscorer with 30 goals, and Danny McGrain, the Celtic legend who earned 62 caps during his playing career. Other famous names featured include the likes of Johann Cruyff, Michel Platini, Lothar Matthäus and Sir Bobby Charlton.

Dundee FC’s Football Memories group is just one of the clubs to benefit from this legacy project and have used the cards to create a personalised Hall of Fame, select a ‘Legends XI’ team and simply reminisce about a golden age of football.

Formed in 2017, the Dundee group usually meet in person twice a month but due to the pandemic, these meetings have been moved online. The Community Trust provided participants with devices and internet free of charge to ensure participants could still find a way to connect and celebrate the EUROs together.

Speaking about the new resources, Greg Fenton, Community Manager at Dundee FC’s Community Trust, said: “Our participants with dementia benefit so much from our meetings, so when the pandemic hit, we had to find a way to keep ourselves connected to boost morale and stay positive through these difficult times. Scotland qualifying for the EUROs really lifted us all, and when we received these special European Legends cards, it provided a brilliant and engaging way for us to get excited about the tournament whilst also stimulating some long-lost memories about Scotland’s performance in previous years. We’re really looking forward to continue using these cards once we can all hopefully get back together in person soon.”

The Football Memories Scotland project, the world’s oldest national football reminiscence programme is headquartered at Hampden Park in Glasgow. It is a partnership between Alzheimer Scotland and the Scottish Football Museum, supporting volunteers to spend time with football fans who are living with dementia, other forms of memory loss or who are experiencing loneliness, depression and social isolation.

You can discover more about the European Legends cards as part of the suite of legacy projects for UEFA EURO 2020 Glasgow and select your own dream team online here: https://euro2020.scottishfa.co.uk/european-legends/