After the return to football in the aftermath of the Second World War, the club experienced a revival in the late 1940s and 1950s under George Anderson with another runners-up finish and consecutive Scottish League Cup wins in 1952 and 1953.

[4][5] The club's most successful era was in the 1960s when, under the management of Bob Shankly, Dundee won the Scottish Football League title in 1962, before reaching the semi-finals of the 1962–63 European Cup the following season.

[9] Matches between the two are called the Dundee derby, and games are fiercely contested and are often considered one of the most exciting fixtures in Scottish football.

was formed in 1893 by the merger of two local clubs, East End and Our Boys, with the intention of gaining election to the Scottish Football League (SFL).

Their application was successful and they played their first League game on 12 August 1893 at West Craigie Park, securing a 3–3 draw against Rangers.

Carolina Port also hosted the first international football match held in Dundee on 21 March 1896 when Scotland defeated Wales 4–0.

Dundee's goalkeeper Frank Barrett, midfielder Sandy Keillor and inside-forward Bill Thomson were all capped for Scotland during this early period of the club's history.

Dave Halliday had played on the left wing for his previous clubs – St Mirren and his hometown side Queen of the South.

With Halliday, Dundee reached the 1924–25 Scottish Cup final, en route eliminating the holders, the Airdrieonians side of Hughie Gallacher.

He then moved south to set scoring records in England, where other teams profited from Dundee's decision to convert Halliday to centre-forward.

Silverware was not far away; after spending a world record transfer fee of £23,500 on Billy Steel (much to the chagrin of some supporters of the club – who resented the aspect of finance in football, and instead wished for 'homegrown' talent), they won the Scottish League Cup in 1951 in one of the most exciting finals Hampden has ever seen.

The Dark Blue side of the era included players such as Bill Brown, Tommy Gallacher, Doug Cowie, Alfie Boyd, Bobby Flavell and Billy Steel.

Gordon Smith earned the distinction of being the only player to win the Scottish football championship with three clubs (Hibs, Hearts and Dundee), none of them either half of the traditionally dominant Old Firm.

[11] In 1973, under the management of David White and captaincy of Tommy Gemmell, the Scottish League Cup returned to Dens following a 1–0 win against Celtic.

In 1986, Dundee secured a 2–0 victory over Hearts at Dens Park on the final day of the season to deny the Edinburgh club their first league title in 26 years.

Hearts had managed to stay unbeaten in the league since 28 September 1985, and simply had to continue this run for one more game to finish top of the table ahead of their closest challengers Celtic; however, two late goals from substitute Albert Kidd, coupled with Celtic's 5–0 victory at St Mirren, ensured that the league championship went to Glasgow.

This was achieved firstly under the managership of Ivano Bonetti (who also made a short but notable playing contribution, linking up well with Caniggia) and then under Jim Duffy.

Before Dundee entered financial trouble, the team knocked out Glasgow side Partick Thistle 2–0 away from home in the third round of the Scottish Cup in 2003.

That year, due to the club's failure to sell on players as anticipated, insufficient income was raised to fund the large wage bill under owners Peter and James Marr, resulting in a £23m debt which meant they were forced to go into administration with many players such as Fabian Caballero, Craig Burley and Georgian captain Georgi Nemsadze leaving in 2005.

In 2007, James and Peter Marr severed some of their ties with Dundee, stepping down as chairman and Chief Executive respectively, when their company P&J Taverns was forced into administration.

On 10 December 2010 the Dark Blues Business Trust was set up by former Dundee owner Peter Marr and former director Steve Martin to help the club recover from their financial situation.

A 3–0 win at Alloa for The Dark Blues and a 4–1 loss to Dumbarton for Hamilton Academical meant that Dundee were in the driving seat when it came to the finale.

Paul Hartley was quick in the transfer window for the following season, bringing in no fewer than twelve new players, to rebuild the squad for top-flight football, having already signed Greg Stewart on a pre-contract from Cowdenbeath and Philip Roberts who joined before the end of May.

A number of first team players departed, namely Christian Nadé and Ryan Conroy, who both went on to join Raith Rovers, Gavin Rae who retired from playing and player-coach Matt Lockwood.

[32][33] After an underwhelming return to the Premiership which again resulted in relegation, Dundee finished the 2022–23 Scottish Championship as champions under one-season manager Gary Bowyer.

[34] In January 2024, Dundee announced a strategic partnership with ALK Capital, the majority owners of English club Burnley with the focus of a pathway for players to develop for both sides.

Uniquely, the stadium shares part of the same road (Sandeman Street) as Tannadice Park, which is the home of city rivals Dundee United.

In 2002, plans were drawn up for a new stadium to be built in the city as part of Scotland's joint bid to host the 2008 European Football Championship.

[38] In April 2015, Colvin announced that negotiations were taking place to buy back the Stadium from current owner John Bennett and his company Sandeman Holdings.

[39] In August 2016, club owners Tim Keyes and John Nelms were reported to have bought land in the Camperdown area of Dundee, next to the city's Ice Arena.