THE DUNDEE SPORTSMAN’S DINNER

SOME BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The Dinner was originally established in 1992 when the Dundee-headquartered company, Bett plc, decided to introduce to the city the relatively new concept of a Sportsman's Dinner to raise funds for the benefit of local sports organisations.

Bett PLC owners of Bett Inns, had the ideal venue for such a function in the Invercarse Hotel, with its capacity of 300 seats. Dundee rugby international David Leslie was invited by Iain Bett to become involved in the organising committee because David knew the format intimately - and his connections with well known sports personalities and speakers proved invaluable.

The first "Betts Sportsman's Dinner" took place at the Invercarse Hotel in September 1992 and ran every year until 2001 when the parent company sold its Bett Inns division to Redwood Leisure.

Keen to see the Dinner continue however, Bett PLC offered to sponsor the event for the following year, provided a new committee could be set up to take over the organisation. Redwood Leisure approached Dundee HSFP Rugby Club to become directly involved as they had been among the original supporters and beneficiaries through the involvement of David Leslie.

In September  2002 the first "Dundee Sportsman's Dinner" was sponsored by Bett plc and since then has been sponsored by a number of different local business organisations.

For more information about the Dundee Sportsman’s Dinner please visit www.dundeesportsmansdinner.co.uk/

THE 2009 EVENT

The 2009 Sportsman’s Dinner, held on Wednesday 16 September 2009 in the Invercarse Hotel, was once again a great success, with funds of around £40,000 realised for local sports clubs.

In December 2009 the organising committee decided that the Dundee East Community Sports Club, in only its first year, was to be one of the fortunate beneficiaries of the 2009 Dinner and allocated £1000 towards the DECSC’s endeavours to develop young talent in sport.

It’s a fantastic boost to the work of the DECSC, whose committee wish to publicly acknowledge their gratitude to the organisers of the Dundee Sportsman’s Dinner for this terrific donation.