UNITED ANNOUNCE INAUGURAL HONORARY CLUB PATRONS

Dundee United Football Club is pleased to announce national icons Lorraine Kelly, Andy Nicol, Ricky Ross and Brian Taylor have each accepted the position of Honorary Club Patron.

Chairman Mike Martin said, "We are delighted that Lorraine, Andy, Ricky and Brian have each agreed to become our inaugural Honorary Club Patrons. Their passion for Dundee United is well-known, and in their patron capacity they will help raise the profile of the Club as well as personally contributing to a variety of current and planned initiatives here at Tannadice".

Lorraine Kelly, OBE is an avid Dundee United supporter as well as the host of her own ITV show “Lorraine”. Born in Glasgow, Lorraine joined her local weekly newspaper The East Kilbride News aged seventeen. In 1983, she joined BBC Scotland as a researcher, and a year later she became TVam's Scottish correspondent covering stories like the Piper Alpha disaster and the Lockerbie bombing. She went on to co-host TVam and GMTV. In 2012, Lorraine was awarded the OBE by HM The Queen for services to charity and the armed forces at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh. She was Hon Colonel of the Black Watch Cadets and a former Rector of Dundee University. She is a patron of Help For Heroes. Lorraine lives in Buckinghamshire with her husband Steve, daughter Rosie and new puppy Angus.

Former Scotland rugby Internationalist and keen Dundee United fan Andy Nicol currently works as a commentator for BBC and BT Sport as well as a columnist for the Scottish Daily Mail. Well-known on the after-dinner circuit, Andy regularly hosts dinners, conferences and business seminars. He was educated at High School of Dundee and Dundee Institute of Technology (Now Abertay University) where he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in 2013. Andy won 23 caps for Scotland, famously captaining Scotland in 2000 when they beat the auld enemy England 19-13 at a rain-soaked Murrayfield. Andy was also the first British player to lift the Heineken Cup when his Bath team defeated Brive in 1998. In 2012, Andy fulfilled a long-held ambition to run his own business and is now CEO of ABSTRACT - a business consultancy specialising in people development.

Ricky Ross formed musical icons Deacon Blue over 30 years ago and currently Presents Another Country and Sunday Morning With for BBC Radio Scotland and New Tradition for BBC Radio 2. During Deacon Blue's peak, the band went on to success with 12 UK Top 40 singles and two No.1 albums to their credit. When a five-year break came for the group, Ricky pursued his solo act and songwriting ambitions producing two albums and wrote for artists including James Blunt, Ronan Keating, Jamie Cullen and Nanci Griffith. Ricky first attended Tannadice in 1968 and recalls, sadly, all the losing cup finals before celebrating the 1994 cup final triumph.

Brian Taylor is BBC Scotland's Political Editor, primarily covering politics for all outlets, including network. He has worked for the BBC since 1985 after a career as a member of the written press. Married with two sons, the Dundee-born fanatical United supporter has written two books, co-written many more and has compiled several documentaries. A graduate of the University of St Andrews (MA Hons in English), Brian has lectured on politics and identity across the world.