lit a candle 4h agoMy uncle in Dundee used to send me the match programmes every season and Gibby Haggart's name was always in there somewhere, director, board member, whatever the year called for. I never followed the football close enough to know him as anything but a name attached to Tannadice, but my uncle always said he was the funny one on the board, the one who'd say what everyone else was thinking. Heard about it this morning over coffee, feels strange to read about someone you only ever knew through a relative's letters. Thinking of Val and the family.
Their story
Gilbert Bruce Haggart, known as Gibby, was a Carnoustie businessman, independent financial adviser and long serving executive director of Dundee United Football Club. He spent eleven years on the Tannadice board through an ownership change and a Scottish Cup win, and was remembered by those who knew him around the…
Gilbert Bruce Haggart, known as Gibby, was a Carnoustie businessman, independent financial adviser and long serving executive director of Dundee United Football Club. He spent eleven years on the Tannadice board through an ownership change and a Scottish Cup win, and was remembered by those who knew him around the club as feisty and funny.
Born at the family home at 37 Smeaton Street, Carnoustie, on 23 January 1946, he was the eighth of nine children of Peggy and Chay Haggart and arrived shortly before his twin sister Gillian. He attended the former Kinloch School in Carnoustie and left at fifteen for a joinery apprenticeship with Robert Reid Joiners. From the building trade he moved into financial services with Refuge Assurance and later the TSB Trust Company, before working as a self employed independent financial adviser.
He met Val at a local dance in Carnoustie in 1964. They married at St Stephen's Church, Carnoustie, on 5 October 1968, held their reception at the Bruce Hotel and honeymooned in Blackpool. Their marriage lasted more than six decades. Sons Keith (1972) and Ross (1974) followed. Gibby built the family's first home in Lochty Street himself; they later lived in Terrace Road and Kirkton Terrace before returning in 2003 to the Lochty Street house, which had belonged to Val's parents, former Dundee United chairman George Fox and Violet Fox, in the years between.
Haggart joined the Dundee United board in January 2002, following his father in law George Fox into the boardroom. When Eddie Thompson took control he stayed on as an executive director for operations and administration. Over eleven years he oversaw projects including the club shop premises, new floodlights, new seating in the Jerry Kerr Stand and the opening of the Hegarty Suite. His tenure included United's 2010 Scottish Cup final win over Ross County at Hampden. He stepped down in 2013. Courier columnist Jim Spence later recalled him as good company, forthright and entertaining in the stands and corridors of Tannadice.
Away from business and football he was an avid golfer and a long time member of Carnoustie Golf Club. He died at home in Carnoustie on Sunday 25 October 2026, aged 80, following an illness. Dundee United announced his death the next day. He is survived by Val, sons Keith and Ross, granddaughters Maisie, Evie, Brooke and Robyn, sister Jenny and brother Raymond. A funeral service was arranged for Parkgrove Crematorium, Friockheim, on 6 November 2026.
Biography adapted from The Courier obituary by Michael Alexander (6 November 2026) and Dundee United F.C. statements.
Photos
1Gibby Haggart
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