Sunday 9th May 2010
Last night, ArabTRUST hosted a special event to celebrate United's return to Europe and also the career of Captain Lee Wikie. Euro/Lee4Life had a strong attendance on hand at Club'83, Dundee despite the Scottish Cup Final being just a week away and all of the cost that goes with it.
With DJing duties overseen by ArabTRUST's Chris Bennison, Lee entered to a standing applause whilst a specially made montage of his greatest moments played on the big screen courtasy of Mark McCreery of Dundee United Media. ArabTRUST Chairman Stephen Simpson then welcomed everybody and made a personal address to Lee.
He said, "It's not something I often admit to, but I have been known to go and watch Dundee FC too, and I've followed your career on both sides of the road as well as watching you play for Scotland. I've got great, great memories of you as I'm sure everybody here does.
When I heard that your football career was at an end I, as I know everybody here too, was tremendously sad to know that we would no longer be seeing you play.
But whatever the next step is, I know I represent everybody here when I wish you well and every success with whatever the next step is."
Stephen then presented the guest of honour with a trophy from ArabTRUST as a memento of the evening.
Lee himself then took the mic to make his own address. He said, "Thank you very much to ArabTRUST for organising this night for me. The support and best wishes I've had recently have all been fantastic. Fans of Dundee FC as well as United and just anybody that recognises me have been coming up to me to say 'Good luck' and thank me for what I did on the park."
The disco was then in full swing as those present went up to Lee for a chat and a photograph. Always outgoing and perfectly happy to sign autographs, Lee was never short of conversation all evening and happily chatted with all comers.
After the high jinks of the 'Nearest The Bottle' contest and the raffle (featuring the inevitable accusations of 'fix'!), an auction took place for a return taxi journey to either Aberdeen, Edinburgh or Glasgow airport for United's first Europa fixture abroad.
As the disco continued and the night began to wind down, Lee told arabtrust.co.uk, "As I said before, I really must thank fans from both Dundee FC and United and actually, just everybody that's gotten in touch or even stopped me in the street for 5 seconds just to wish me well.
I'm really enjoying spending time with my family and taking it easy at the moment. My column in the Dundee Evening Telegraph is something I am enjoying and I've also been going to watch the United kids training and taking mental notes on how they are coached, so that's something to perhaps think about for the future but for now I'm in no hurry to choose what my next move will be.
As United Captain, I was always well aware of all the work ArabTRUST do, all of the players are, and I'm grateful that this night has been put on for me by you guys. I've enjoyed all the banter this evening and it's good to know that people enjoyed watching me play. It was nice to have a chance to be able to share stories and have a chat with the fans in a relaxed and informal way."
ArabTRUST would like to thank Lee for giving up his time to come along, and also to Club'83 for hosting the event.
ArabTRUST's Euro/Lee4Life was organised by Board member George Cunningham. Never one to seek praise, yet always quietly making a big contribution with his time and effort, the rest of the Board would like to thank him for all of his hard work and time towards this event.
Click HERE for some photos of the night.
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