History of Dundee United F.C.

Dundee United F.C. has a long and illustrious history. Formed on 24 May 1909, as Dundee Hibernian, the club grew into one of the most successful sides in Scottish football. The club changed to the present name in 1923.^[1]

This article tells the story of the club from its beginnings to the 1982-83 Scottish Premier Division championship success and the 1986–87 UEFA Cup campaign, when United became the first Scottish club to reach the final of the UEFA Cup,^[2] which caused the New Firm rivalry with Aberdeen.

History

Beginning (1909–1971)

Inspired by the example of Hibernian in Edinburgh the Irish Catholic community in Dundee formed a new football club in 1909, following the demise of Dundee Harp. Originally called Dundee Hibernian, the club took over Clepington Park (renamed Tannadice Park) from Dundee Wanderers and played its inaugural game on 18 August, 1909 against Hibernian, a match which ended in a 1–1 draw.^[3] The following year, the club was voted into the Scottish Football League. The club was saved from going out of business in October 1923 by a group of Dundee businessmen who then decided to change the club's name to Dundee United in order to attract a wider appeal; the name Dundee City was considered but was objected to by long standing city rivals Dundee F.C..^[4]

United won promotion to the First Division for the first time in 1924–25 when they won the Second Division title, although they were relegated back down within two seasons.^[4] Despite another title win (and immediate relegation), for many years, the club languished in the lower reaches of the Scottish league, competing in the top division for only four seasons, until the appointment of Jerry Kerr as manager in 1959. Kerr ended the club's 28-year absence from the First Division in his first season in charge, winning promotion by finishing second in the Second Division. Some notable players from this period include forwards Dennis Gillespie and Jim Irvine, and defenders Doug Smith and Ron Yeats (who went on to captain Liverpool in the 1960s).^[5]

In the following season, United finished in the top half of the league (one place above city rivals Dundee), where the club stayed with few exceptions for the next 35 years. A strengthened playing squad during the 1960s, which included imports from Scandinavia such as Örjan Persson, Finn Seemann, Lennart Wing, Finn Døssing and Mogens Berg,^[5] gave United their first taste of European football. On 25 August 1966 Dundeee eliminated Barcelona, then holders of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (now known as the UEFA Cup), beating them 2–1 in Spain, the first Scottish club to win in that country.

Jim McLean era (1971–1994)

Jim McLean, who was a coach at city rivals Dundee F.C. at the time, took over from Jerry Kerr in 1971 and the most successful era in the club's history began. Until then, United was the smaller and less successful of the two Dundee-based football clubs, but McLean (and for a time, with assistant manager Walter Smith) took United to their first ever Scottish Cup final in 1973–74. They achieved a record high of third place in the Scottish Premier Division in 1977–78 then again in 1978–79, before guiding the side to several major honours; the first by winning the Scottish League Cup in 1979–80, retaining the trophy in the following season. McLean's use of youth was seen as key in the club's success for the next two decades.^[2]

Dundee United won the Scottish Premier Division title for the first time in the club's history in the 1982–83 season, with what was then a record number of points and record number of goals scored. By then, United had already established a reputation in Europe with wins over sides like AS Monaco, Borussia Mönchengladbach, PSV Eindhoven, Anderlecht and Werder Bremen. In the resulting European Cup, United reached the semi-final stage in their first run, only to be narrowly eliminated by AS Roma. After winning the first leg 2–0, United lost 3–0 away, although the Italian side was later fined for attempting to bribe the referee.^[6] In 1986, a year's suspension was imposed by UEFA on the Italians alongside a four-year ban for president Dino Viola, due to the bribery attempt.^[7]

The pinnacle of Dundee United's achievements in Europe came later in 1986–87, when United became the first Scottish club to reach the final of the UEFA Cup.^[2] Along the way, United repeated their 1966 feat of eliminating Barcelona, this time managed by Terry Venables and featuring British players Gary Lineker, Mark Hughes, and Steve Archibald. United defeated Barcelona home and away; they remain the only British side to date to achieve this in any European competition, with a record of four wins from four games.^[8] Although they failed to beat IFK Gothenburg in the two-legged final, there was glory in defeat as FIFA awarded a first-ever Fair Play Award to the club for the sporting behaviour of the fans on a memorable night at Tannadice Park.^[9]

During those years, Dundee United and Aberdeen broke the traditional dominance of the Old Firm in Scottish football, and the two clubs became known in the press as the New Firm,^[10] or sometimes, with the inclusion of Hearts, the Small Firm.^[11] As Dundee F.C. were not always in the top flight at that time, the New Firm derby superseded the Dundee derby. Dundee United had come a long way under McLean, progressing from comparative obscurity to become one of Scotland's foremost clubs. In June 1993, after nearly 22 years at the helm, McLean relinquished his position as manager, remaining as club chairman, having combined both roles since 1989.^[12]

After McLean (1994 onwards)

SPL season-by-season summary^[13]

Filling McLean's shoes was the first non-British and non-Irish manager of a Scottish club - Ivan Golac.^[14] He inherited a healthy legacy with some of Scotland's finest young talent, though his first action was to sell Duncan Ferguson to Rangers for a fee of £4 million, breaking the record transfer fee involving two British clubs.^[15] According to one source,^[16] United had already turned down £3 million bids from Bayern Munich, Leeds United and Chelsea before accepting Rangers' record bid. In Golac's first season, he brought the Scottish Cup to Tannadice Park for the first time in 1994 after six previous failures, thus completing the full set of domestic honours for the club.^[12] United beat Rangers 1–0 with Craig Brewster scoring the winner from close range. However, the club's fortunes took a turn for the worse after this, as despite enjoying a relatively average campaign in season 1994–95, a late run of defeats, culminating in a 1–0 defeat at home to Celtic on the last day, saw them relegated to the First Division. Despite being title favourites at the lower level, they eventually finished second, which left them facing a two leg play-off against Partick Thistle for the right to play in the Premier Division in the 1996–97 season. Dundee United won 3–2 on aggregate, with Owen Coyle scoring the extra-time winner.^[12]

In recent years the club has struggled to maintain such success, much like the previous provincial powers of Scottish football. In 1997–98, United reached the League Cup final, but lost 3–0 to Celtic. United reached their first Scottish Cup final for eleven years in 2004–05, only to be beaten by Celtic again, 1–0. Since the SPL's conception in 1998, United have finished in the top half on only two occasions (2003–04, and 2007–08). They finished 9th for three consecutive seasons, between 2005 and 2007. However the purchase of the club by long-time supporter Eddie Thompson in 2002 brought a period of sustained investment in playing staff and managers. the 2007–08 season saw United narrowly lose the League Cup final on penalties, under manager Craig Levein and miss out on a UEFA Cup place in the last two matches of the season.

In October 2008, chairman Eddie Thompson died from prostate cancer,^[17] six years after a protracted battle to gain control of the club from former manager Jim McLean.^[18]

References

1. ^ "Dundee United - Beginnings". Dundee United FC. http://www.dundeeunitedfc.co.uk/index.asp?tm=136. Retrieved 29 September 2009. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} "History". Dundee United FC. http://www.dundeeunitedfc.co.uk/index.asp?pg=441. 
3. ^ Inglis, Simon (1987). The Football Grounds of Great Britain (2nd ed.). London: Collins Willow. p. 328. ISBN 0-00-218249-1. 
4. ^ ^{a b} "History - The Early Days". Dundee United FC. http://www.dundeeunitedfc.co.uk/index.asp?pg=439. 
5. ^ ^{a b} "History - 50s & 60s". Dundee United FC. http://www.dundeeunitedfc.co.uk/index.asp?pg=440. Retrieved 29 September 2009. 
6. ^ "Dundee United A - Z (I)". Dundee United FC. http://www.dundeeunitedfc.co.uk/index.asp?pg=287. Retrieved 26 September 2006. 
7. ^ Keir Radnedge. "A potted guide to corruption in football". http://www.sportsjournalists.co.uk/blog/?p=17. Retrieved 29 September 2009. 
8. ^ Moffat, Colin (2007-07-24). "Barca out to end Dundee Utd jinx". BBC Sport website. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/d/dundee_utd/6913295.stm. 
9. ^ "Fair Play Awards". FIFA. http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/worldwideprograms/footballforhope/fairplay/awards.html. Retrieved 29 September 2009. ^{[dead link]}
10. ^ "The New Firm and the Dons' Cup-Winners' Cup glory in 1983". A Sporting Nation. The BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/sportscotland/asportingnation/article/0081/. Retrieved 29 September 2006. 
11. ^ Goldblatt, David (2007). The Ball is Round: A Global History of Football. London: Penguin. p. 567. ISBN 978-0-14-101582-8. 
12. ^ ^{a b c} "History - 90s". Dundee United FC. http://www.dundeeunitedfc.co.uk/index.asp?pg=442. Retrieved 29 September 2009. 
13. ^ "Attendance". SPL Official website. http://www.scotprem.com/content/default.asp?page=home_Statistics. Retrieved 29 September 2009. 
14. ^ "The new Wenger ready to take Rangers by storm". The Independent. 29 July 2006. http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/scottish/the-new-wenger-ready-to-take-rangers-by-storm-409637.html. Retrieved 29 September 2009. 
15. ^ "From £250,000 to £29.1m". Observer Sport Monthly. 2006-03-05. http://observer.guardian.co.uk/osm/story/0,,1720979,00.html. 
16. ^ Kenrick, Michael (May 2006). "Duncan Ferguson". ToffeeWeb. http://www.toffeeweb.com/players/past/Ferguson.asp. Retrieved 26 September 2006. 
17. ^ "Dundee Utd chairman Thompson dies". BBC Sport. 15 October 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/d/dundee_utd/7670895.stm. Retrieved 29 September 2009. 
18. ^ "Dundee Utd takeover complete". BBC Sport. 26 September 2002. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/d/dundee_utd/2271899.stm. Retrieved 29 September 2009. 

External links

• Official club website history
• Scottishleague.net