And, as part of the plan, any money raised from the sale of shares — it could be as much as £500,000 — will go straight back into Dundee’s coffers.

The move will effectively end their nine-year tenure at the helm of the Dark Blues, though, by retaining just over a quarter of the shares, they can still have a big say in future developments.

Any major changes to the way Dundee operate requires the backing of 75% of shareholders, so, while it is possible someone else could end up owning a big chunk of the club, they would still need the backing of the Marrs on key issues.

Peter Marr, in particular, believes the way forward is for widespread ownership, with fans’ groups and members of the local business community, who want to invest, all getting a say in the decision-making process. It could be, however, that some potential investors stay away, because he and his brother have retained such a sizeable shareholding.

Only time will tell on that, and the feeling at Dens today was one of cautious optimism about the future. In the space of the couple of months it has taken to finalise this deal with bankers HBOS, they believe they have gone from battling for survival to providing a foundation for a real crack at returning to the SPL in a year’s time.

With the fine points of the restructuring still to be finalised, Dundee were only willing to make limited comment today, but, in a statement released at noon, they did outline the plan that should be in place for the start of the new campaign.

It read: “The Board of Dundee Football Club is currently working with its advisers, financiers and majority shareholders to effect a comprehensive corporate restructuring. It is anticipated that, when this is concluded, by the start of season 2006/7, the following will have been undertaken:

Major shareholders Peter and Jimmy Marr will offer the majority of their controlling shareholding for sale.

The proceeds of the sale of these shares will go directly back into Dundee FC and not to Peter and Jimmy.

The goal will be to raise up to £500,000 of new capital for the benefit of Dundee Football Club.

Once the sale of all of the shares has been achieved, Peter and Jimmy Marr will hold approximately 26% of the ordinary shares.

The current debt to Bank of Scotland Corporate will be restructured and removed completely from the balance sheet of Dundee FC.

Dens Park will be owned by a charitable trust against which the club will hold a secure 30-40 year lease on commercial terms.

Peter Marr will end his tenure as Dundee FC chief executive, but will remain a director.

The club will appoint Dave MacKinnon as chief executive.

The board, with the assistance of the chief executive, will progress the appointment of a new manager.

“Under the new ownership structure, it is imperative that the club is able to operate on a cash break-even basis. In order to do so, it, more than ever, needs the support of all Dundee fans, both financially and emotionally. It will also be necessary for the club to renegotiate various player contracts. These discussions will commence as soon as possible.

“The board would ask that fans stay patient while this process is concluded and purchase season tickets in the understanding that, when these changes are brought to a successful conclusion, this will provide a solid platform of stability for the future.”

There is a chance Dave MacKinnon’s arrival could see Rangers midfielder Alex Rae appointed player/manager. Rae is known to be keen to get into coaching or management and former club Millwall have been showing an interest in giving him a role on their backroom staff.

It will be a busy start in his new job for McKinnon and, as well as leading the search for a new team boss, he is expected to represent Dundee at breakaway talks being held by First Division clubs at Clyde’s Broadwood Stadium on Friday.

There is dismay among some at the lack of an SFL sponsorship or TV deal for next season and, if the matter is not resolved, there could even be moves to try to join up with the SPL and form a second tier of their league.

The changes will also see the Marr brothers put most of their shares up for sale and new investors sought.

Peter believes that can pave the way for an SPL return and that signs of the improving state of the club will quickly become apparent.

“I am a bit sad about this, but I feel there is exciting news to come out of Dens Park between now and the end of the month, and it’s for the good of the club,” he said.

He was also more than happy for any money raised from his shareholding to be ploughed back into Dens.

“The fans here have been tremendous in the way they have supported us financially and, hopefully, this can help.

“I also hope they see these moves are to strengthen the club.”

The fact the restructuring has still to be signed and sealed with bankers HBOS, limited discussion over the elimination of the £7 million Dens debt and even the nature of the transfer of ownership of the stadium.

However, first choice for the ground is that it will be owned by a Charitable Trust and rented back on a 40-year lease, though it may be that a company has to be set up instead.

For MacKinnon, who will also be joining the board of directors, the first priority will be the appointment of a manager who can set about building a squad capable of securing that much-sought-after SPL return.

He confirmed Alex Rae as a candidate and is likely to interview three or four potential bosses with a view to having the new man in place by the end of this month.

The securing of a shirt sponsor and player-contract negotiations will also be high on his list of priorities and the new man is looking forward to the challenges ahead.

“This club is SPL worthy — Peter has shown me the facilities and they are great. I see this as a great opportunity for me. I was a player here 30 years ago and I know the club and I know the support. I know, too, there are strong people here.”

A season ticket package will be put together shortly and the new chief executive will be looking for fans to back it by booking their seats for next season.

His role as Scotland Under-21 manager has not delayed his appointment and he was unveiled as the new Fir Park boss at lunchtime today.

Hegarty is now odds-on to be the new No. 2 at Fir Park. That will represent a role-reversal for the pair, who were caretaker manager and assistant for a spell at Tannadice shortly after Eddie Thompson took over.

They were also, of course, linchpins of the United side that won the league in 1983 then reached the UEFA Cup Final four years later, while Malpas then skippered the Tangerines to their Scottish Cup success in 1994.

Motherwell moved to promote him after Butcher signed a two-year contract to coach the Aussie A-League champions.

He has spent the last five days Down Under looking at facilities and speaking with officials and will take control of the team on July 10, after radio commitments at the World Cup.

“It is a wonderful opportunity,” he said. I had four wonderful years at Motherwell and I leave Scotland with good memories, but football in Australia is taking giant leaps forward and I am looking forward to being a part of it.”

“I have seen the club’s facilities and they are top class. The squad is very talented and I have been impressed by the ambition of the club since arriving here last week.”

Back at Tannadice, it has emerged newly-promoted Partick Thistle would like to take old boy Alan Archibald back to Firhill in time for their return to the First Division next season.

Archibald spent seven seasons with the Jags before moving to United three years ago. Although he was dropped for a spell after Craig Brewster took over as manager, there has been no indication he is not part of the plans for next term.

The fact he can play left-back as well as in the centre of the defence could make him too valuable a member of the squad to part with.

Regarding moves in the other direction, although United remain confident of securing at least a couple of their Inverness Caley Thistle targets, Ian Black, Darren Dods and David Proctor, they will be looking to pay a five-figure sum and not the £100,000-plus the Highlanders have been talking about.

As well as new signings, the manager has been working towards doing a deal with St Andrews University to secure training facilities there from next season onwards.

Back with the Under 21s, and coach Malpas felt a refereeing error had cost his side the game 1-0 in the friendly against their Northern Ireland counterparts in Drumahoe last night.

He felt Anthony Buttimer should have waved play on as Kirk Broadfoot had directed the ball back to goalkeeper David Marshall with his knee.

As it was, Thomas Stewart’s controversial winner came after the hotly-disputed indirect free-kick by Bryan Gilfillan inside the area was played to him.

It was a goal that extended the province’s unbeaten run to 12 matches.

Malpas said, “The referee made a howler. There’s nothing we can do about that now.”