Dundee United F.C.
2008/9 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Sports teams
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| Full name | Dundee United Football Club | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nickname(s) | The Terrors The Arabs (supporters) |
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| Founded | 1909 (as Dundee Hibernian) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ground | Tannadice Park, Dundee ( Capacity: 14,209) |
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| Chairman | Eddie Thompson | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Manager | Craig Levein | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| League | Scottish Premier League | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2007-08 | Scottish Premier League, 5th | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Current season |
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Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club located in the city of Dundee. Traditionally, United are nicknamed The Terrors and the supporters known as The Arabs, though the latter has been applied equally to the club in recent times by the sporting media, in favour of the former. The Tangerines (or Tangerine Terrors) is another term occasionally used to describe the club.
United currently play in the Scottish Premier League and have been managed by Craig Levein since late October 2006. Eddie Thompson, chairman since September 2002, is the majority shareholder of Dundee United, whilst the supporters, under the guise of ArabTRUST, own the second largest shareholding. In 2005-06, Tannadice attracted an average attendance of 8,197, the sixth-highest average in the SPL.
In European competition, United are Scotland's fourth most experienced team, having played 104 matches (six fewer than Aberdeen) over 22 seasons in Europe.
History
Beginning (1909-1971)
Inspired initially by the example of Hibernian in Edinburgh and later by Celtic in Glasgow, the Irish 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 their inaugural game on 18 August 1909 against Hibernian, with the match ending in a 1-1 draw. 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. They 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 protested by long standing city rivals Dundee FC.
United won promotion to the First Division for the first team in 1924-25 when they won the Second Division title, although they were relegated back down within two seasons. 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 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 through finishing second in the Second Division. Some notable players from this period included forwards Dennis Gillespie and Jim Irvine, and defenders Doug Smith and Ron Yeats (who went on to captain Liverpool in the 1960s).
In the following season, United finished in the top half of the league (one place above city rivals Dundee), where the club would stay with few exceptions for the next 35 years. The sixties were highlighted by the playing skills of the some notable imports from Scandinavia: Örjan Persson, Finn Seemann, Lennart Wing, Finn Døssing and Mogens Berg. These players also helped give United their first taste of European football, where they eliminated Barcelona in 1966, who were the then-holders of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (now known as the UEFA Cup). The team were the first Scottish club to win in Spain with the 2-1 result on August 25. Jerry Kerr had successfully established Dundee United and the impending arrival of Jim McLean would enhance their reputation further.
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. Up until this point, United was the smaller and less successful of the two Dundee-based football clubs. However, this would change as 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 1978 then again in 1979, before guiding the side to several major honours; the first by winning the Scottish League Cup in 1979-80, with the trophy being retained the following season. McLean's use of youth was seen as key in the club's success for the next two decades.
Dundee United won the Scottish Premier Division title for the first time in the club's history in 1982-83, 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 A.S. Roma. After winning the first leg 2-0, United lost 3-0 away, although the Italian side were later fined for attempting to bribe the referee. In 1986, a year's suspension was dealt by UEFA to the Italians alongside a four-year ban for president Dino Viola, due to the bribery attempt.
The pinnacle of their achievements in Europe came later in 1986-87 when United became the first Scottish club to reach the final of the UEFA Cup. Along the way, United repeated their 1966 feat of eliminating FC 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. Although they failed to beat IFK Göteborg 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.
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. As Dundee F.C. were not always in the top flight at that time, the New Firm derby had 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. However, after nearly 22 years at the helm he relinquished the position in the June 1993, whilst remaining chairman of the club.
After McLean (1994 onwards)
Filling his shoes was the first continental to be appointed manager of a Scottish club - Ivan Golac. 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. According to one source, United had already turned down £3million 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. 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 playoff 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.
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 CIS Cup final on penalties, under manager Craig Levein and miss out on a UEFA Cup place in the last two matches of the season.
Colours and badge
United's playing kit is distinct: tangerine in colour, first used when the team played under the Dallas Tornado moniker in the United Soccer Association competition of 1967, which they were invited to participate in after their first European excursion had created many headlines in the football world. After persuasion by the wife of manager Jerry Kerr, the colour would soon be adopted as the club's own in 1969 to give the club a brighter, more modern image. The new colour was paraded for the first time in a pre-season friendly against Everton in August.
When originally founded as Dundee Hibernian, they had followed the example of other clubs of similar heritage by adopting the traditionally Irish colours of green shirts and white shorts. By the time the club became Dundee United in 1923, the colours had been changed to white shirts and black shorts as they sought to distance themselves from their Irish origins. These colours persisted in various forms up until 1969, sometimes using plain shirts, but also at various times including Celtic-style broad hoops, Queen's Park-style narrow hoops and an Airdrie-style "V" motif.
The present club badge was introduced in 1993, and saw the previous Lion Rampant design rebranded in a new circular logo incorporating the club colours. Previously, the lion had been represented on a simpler shield design. Although this "classic" version had been used as the club crest on the cover of the matchday programme as early as 1956, it had never appeared on the players' strip prior to 1983. Since 1959, various other designs had been worn on the shirts, incorporating either the lion rampant or the letters DUFC, often on a circular badge.
The club first introduced shirt sponsorship in the 1985-86 season when future chairman Eddie Thompson's VG chain sponsored the club in the first of a two-year deal. A six-year associate with Belhaven then ensued with a sponsorless 1993-94 season. Rover began a two-year deal early in time for the 1994 Scottish Cup final, sponsoring the club until the end of the 1995-96 season. Telewest took over sponsorship from 1996 for six years until Eddie Thompson's Morning, Noon and Night started sponsoring the club in 2002. This association continued until 2006 when Anglian Home Improvements began a two-year deal with an optional third year. At the same time, Ole International became the first shorts sponsors. JD Sports' Carbrini brand sponsor the club as from season 2008-09.
Stadium
Dundee United's home ground throughout their history has been Tannadice Park, located on Tannadice Street in the Clepington area of the city. It is situated a mere 170 yards (160 m) away from Dens Park, home of rivals Dundee F.C.; the two stadia are the closest senior football grounds anywhere in the United Kingdom.
The club have only ever played one home fixture at another venue. This was a League Cup tie against Rangers in March 1947, when despite snow rendering Tannadice unplayable, the match was able to go ahead across the road at Dens Park.
The comparative age and proximity of their stadia has led to the possibility of both clubs moving to a new, purpose-built shared stadium being discussed on various occasions. The most recent and serious proposal for this was put forward as part of Scotland's bid to joint-host the 2008 European Football Championship, with several clubs seeking to benefit from a new stadium with planning permission given to a proposed site at Caird Park. Special dispensation was requested to proceed with the proposal, as rules at the time forbade SPL teams from groundsharing. Following Scotland's failed bid to host the tournament, the scheme was shelved for the time being, although the plan was raised again in June 2008 following doubts about joint-host Ukraine's ability to stage Euro 2012 with the SFA keen as alternative hosts.
Supporters
There have been several stories regarding the origins of the 'Arabs' term. The most popular view is that the name was coined during the severe winter of the 1962-63 season. The weather was so bad, with heavy snow that refused to thaw, that between December and March, Dundee United were able to play only three times. One of these was a Scottish Cup tie against Albion Rovers, for which the management, in a desperate attempt to get Tannadice playable, hired an industrial tar burner to melt the several inches of snow and ice from the pitch. Not only did it do this, but it also removed the grass. Several lorry loads of builders' sand were ordered and spread across the barren surface, and the regulation pitch markings painted on top. United adapted well to this playing surface and won the game 3-0, prompting observers to comment that they had taken to the sand like Arabs. Other sources point to earlier usage, with a "1950s sandtrap" used as one such reference. The fans, however, used the term to describe themselves. The term was then later resurrected during the early 1990s through the pages of the popular Dundee United football fanzine, The Final Hurdle, with supporters soon declaring that they were 'Proud To Be An Arab'. Deacon Blue singer and long-time Dundee United supporter Ricky Ross even wrote a song declaring this fact. By then, even the official club souvenir shops were selling replica keffiyehs in tangerine and black. The term was now firmly connected with Dundee United.
The former Dundee United Supporters Association (DUSA) is now known as the Federation of Dundee United Supporters' Clubs, whilst on 1 February 2003, the Dundee United Supporters Society - ArabTRUST - was officially launched, and after regular share purchase and investment into the Club, ArabTRUST not only hold the largest shareholding in the club behind the Thompson family, but were also granted an Associate Directorship in the Club in early 2004. The official club weekly email newsletter is known as ArabNeWS, and the club website has an ArabFORUM. Various supporters clubs and fan websites have 'Arab' in their names too. Elsewhere, the football media tend to refer to the club mostly as The Arabs, although the official website confirms this refers to the fans and the club nickname is The Terrors. In a BBC online poll in March 2006, Dundee United fan Zippy was named as Britain's favourite sporting celebrity by a landslide margin.
Dundee United supporters were awarded the inaugural FIFA Fair Play Award for their sportsmanship after the UEFA Cup final defeat to IFK Gothenburg in 1987.
| Awards | ||
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| Preceded by None |
FIFA Fair Play Award Winners 1987 |
Succeeded by Frank Ordenewitz |
Current squad
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International players
- A list of former and current players who have played at full international level while with the club are ordered by nationality and year of United debut below. Where the year is in brackets, this indicates a player who didn't play in any first team matches; in these cases, the year given is for when they signed for the club.
- For a full list of former/current players with articles, see Category:Dundee United F.C. players.
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Hall of Fame
Seven players were inducted into the inaugural club Hall of Fame in 2008:
Dennis Gillespie- Doug Smith
- Jimmy Briggs
Finn Døssing- Dave Narey
- Maurice Malpas
- Paul Hegarty
Managers
List of prominent and recent managers, as of 2008- 03-17. Only competitive matches are counted.
| From | To | Name | P | W | D | L | F | A | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1959 | 1971 |  Jerry Kerr |
566 | 247 | 123 | 196 | 1059 | 942 | 43.6 |
| 1971 | 1993 | Jim McLean |
1094 | 527 | 266 | 301 | 1722 | 1128 | 48.2 |
| 1993 | 1995 |  Ivan Golac |
72 | 25 | 22 | 25 | 114 | 113 | 34.7 |
| 1995 | 1996 | Billy Kirkwood |
56 | 25 | 13 | 18 | 108 | 66 | 44.6 |
| 1996 | 1998 | Tommy McLean |
93 | 36 | 27 | 30 | 134 | 107 | 38.7 |
| 1998 | 2000 | Paul Sturrock |
85 | 27 | 19 | 39 | 97 | 119 | 31.8 |
| 2000 | 2002 | Alex Smith |
99 | 31 | 23 | 45 | 107 | 146 | 31.3 |
| 2002 | 2003 | Paul Hegarty |
18 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 20 | 33 | 22.2 |
| 2003 | 2005 | Ian McCall |
92 | 28 | 24 | 40 | 116 | 149 | 30.4 |
| 2005 | 2006 | Gordon Chisholm |
36 | 10 | 10 | 16 | 40 | 54 | 27.8 |
| 2006 | 2006 | Craig Brewster |
30 | 3 | 11 | 16 | 28 | 59 | 10.0 |
| 2006 | Present | Craig Levein |
66 | 28 | 16 | 22 | 91 | 79 | 42.4 |
Achievements
League
The club's first trophy came in 1925, when they won the 1924-25 Division Two championship. After two seasons in the top tier, the club were relegated, but they won the Division Two title for a second time in 1928-29. Immediate relegation followed and the club finished runners-up in 1931-32. Another runners-up spot was claimed in 1959-60, in manager Jerry Kerr's first season, and it was from here that the club would remain in the top division for the next thirty-five years. Under Jim McLean's management, the club clinched the Premier Division title for the first time in 1982-83, resulting in European Cup football the following season. The title win was the last league success for the club, although they finished runners-up in the First Division in 1995-96 following relegation the previous season, and in third place in their first season back in the Premier Division. Since the SPL's conception in 1998, United have finished in the top half twice, in 2003-04 and 2007-08.
Cups
The club had to wait several decades before the first chance at cup silverware, when they began the first of a six-game losing streak of Scottish Cup Final appearances in 1973-74, losing 3-0 to Celtic. Towards the end of the 1970s, things began to change, with three successive appearances in the League Cup Final. First, a win in 1979-80 with a 3-0 replay victory over Aberdeen. The following season, the club reached the Scottish Cup final too, and while they were successful in defending the League Cup against rivals Dundee (3-0), lost out again in the Scottish Cup with a replay defeat to Rangers. The following season, in 1981-82, United failed to make it a hat-trick of successive League Cup wins when they lost 2-1 to Rangers.
United then suffered the agony of reaching three out of four Scottish Cup finals in the mid-1980s, only to lose them all by a single goal. First came a 2-1 defeat to Celtic in 1984-85, compounded by a 1-0 League Cup final loss to Rangers in the same season; then a 1-0 defeat in extra time to St Mirren in 1986-87; and finally, a last-minute 2-1 loss against Celtic the following year, despite being a goal ahead. A three year gap ensued before the 1990-91 Scottish Cup final, which pitted Jim McLean against his brother Tommy, at Motherwell. The final was won 4-3 by 'Well, with United again losing in extra time. The sixth Cup Final loss was also the club's fifth final appearance in eleven years. Fortunately, United finally reversed the trend and clinched the Cup when Craig Brewster's goal defeated Rangers in 1993-94 for a 1-0 win. Eleven years passed until the next, and most recent, Scottish Cup final appearance, when United lost 1-0 to Celtic. Sandwiched in the middle of these appearances was a defeat on penalties to Stenhousemuir in the Scottish Challenge Cup (when United failed to concede in the whole competition) and a 3-0 defeat to Celtic in the 1997-98 Scottish League Cup Final. In July 2005, United won the inaugural City of Discovery Cup, a pre-season tournament held in Dundee.
Six of United's eight Scottish Cup finals have been against the Old Firm, and of the club's last five losses, all have been by a single goal. Overall, United have reached thirteen domestic finals, and won three; the record of winning one of eight Scottish Cup finals is the worst ratio of any Cup winner. United twice reached both cup finals in the same season (1980-81 and 1984-85), winning just one of the four. United most recently lost the 2008 CIS league cup final on penalties to Rangers. This happened after the match had finished 2-2 after extra time.
Europe
The club's first experience of Europe came in 1966-67 when, helped by the clutch of Scandinavian players, United defeated Fairs Cup holders F.C. Barcelona both home and away. Although Juventus proved too strong in the next round with a 3-1 aggregate victory, United made headlines and were asked to compete as Dallas Tornado in the United Soccer Association league in North America during the summer of 1967. After their only Premier Division championship win, the team reached the resulting semi-final of the European Cup in 1984, losing 3-2 on aggregate to Roma. In 1987, the club went one better, reaching the final of the UEFA Cup. Despite the 2-1 aggregate loss to IFK Göteborg, the Arabs won the first-ever FIFA Fair Play Award for their sporting behaviour after the final defeat.
List
- UEFA Cup:
- Runners-up (1): 1986-87
- European Cup:
- Semi-finalists (1): 1983-84
- Scottish League Premier Division:
- Winners (1): 1982-83
- Scottish League First Division:
- Runners-up (1): 1995-96
- Scottish League Division Two:
- Winners (2): 1924-25, 1928-29
- Runners-up (2): 1931-32, 1959-60
- Scottish Cup:
- Winners (1): 1993-94
- Runners-up (7): 1973-74, 1980-81, 1984-85, 1986-87, 1987-88, 1990-91, 2004-05
- Scottish League Cup:
- Winners (2): 1979-80, 1980-81
- Runners-up (4): 1981-82, 1984-85, 1997-98, 2007-08
- Scottish Challenge Cup:
- Runners-up (1): 1995-96
- Forfarshire Cup:
- Winners (8): 1910-11, 1919-20, 1950-51, 1964-65, 1971-72, 1975-76, 1979-80, 1987-88, 2005-06
- City of Discovery Cup:
- Winners (1): 2005