enclosing the new pitch, now situated on approximately its modern alignment, the club built a modest grandstand, a simple uncovered wooden structure with bench seating. It probably housed no more than 500 spectators. In January 1894 Johnstone Wanderers merged with another local club, Strathmore, to form Dundee Wanderers. The new combination successfully applied for Scottish Football League membership and Clepington Park staged its first Scottish League fixture against Motherwell on 25 August 1894. Wanderers struggled at national level, however, and were not re-elected at the end of the season, dropping down to the Northern League. From 1899, Wanderers had to contend with considerable competition for local support with the opening of Dens Park, the new Dundee F.C. ground. This was situated almost opposite Clepington, where the extended Tannadice Street met Sandeman Street at an angle. The two grounds are approximately 200 yards apart, which is the shortest distance between two senior football grounds in Britain. Only the grounds of two clubs in Budapest, MTK and BKV Elore, are closer together than Dens and Tannadice in the whole of Europe, as their grounds back onto each other. New owners (1909) 1909 saw the formation of Dundee Hibernian, a new club representing the city's Irish community, which had previously supported Dundee Harp. As much of the local Irish population was concentrated in the Lochee district, it was assumed the Hibs would seek to set up home in that area. However, rather than building a new ground from scratch, the new club's secretary Pat Reilly took the controversial step of approaching the landlord of Clepington Park to secure a ready-made venue. The Hibs committee made an offer to the landlords which exceeded what Wanderers were paying; as a result, the established tenants were informed that their lease would not be renewed for the coming season. The extent of Wanderers' anger at this development is evident from their decision to effectively dismantle Clepington's fixtures and fittings. The grandstand, changing rooms, fencing and even the goalposts were removed, leaving Hibs with an open field rather than the ready-made ground they had envisaged. Nevertheless, the new club took over the lease, and a decision was taken to emphasise the new era by changing the name of the ground, Tannadice Park being adopted from the name of the street on which the ground's main entrance would be situated. Hibs' first priority was to re-equip Tannadice for the