Dundee United started life in 1909 as Dundee Hibernian, formed by Dundee cycle shop owner Pat Reilly in similar circumstances to clubs such as Celtic or (Edinburgh) Hibernian - as a focus for the sizeable local Irish community. In 1923, the club were anxious, in the face of falling gates, to remove the possibility of football fans not making the trip to Tannadice due to a lack of identity with the Catholic reliigion, and switched the club's name to Dundee United. This set the pattern for the rest of the century, and today, despite Dundee FC (United's city rivals) being the more "establishment" (and therefore nominally Protestant) club in the city, city derbies are thankfully free from the bigotry and religious hatred surrounding their Glasgow, and to a lesser extent Edinburgh, counterparts.
The club led a somewhat everyday existence for the first half of the century, never establishing themselves in the old Division One. They did, however, reach the final of the Wartime Cup (the 1939-45 substitute for the Scottish Cup) in 1940, and in 1949 Dundee United produced one of the most famous Scottish Cup upsets in history, defeating Glasgow giants Celtic 4-3, despite being a lowly Second Division outfit and having three goals disallowed during the match! The 1960s saw the start of the rise of Dundee United, and the first double victory - home and away - over Barcelona, in the Fairs Cup. In 1974, United reached their first Scottish Cup Final, losing 3-0 to Celtic. Under new manager Jim McLean, the club gained a place in the Premier League on its conception in 1975, and conslidated their position before steadily improving matters on the park. A first trophy win followed - the 1979-80 League Cup - after a 3-0 defeat of Aberdeen, and a year later United repeated the feat with a 3-0 derby victory over Dundee.
The 80's were characterised by a string of memorable European campaigns, defeating giants such as Rapid Vienna, Borussia Moenchenladbach (in 1982-83 and 1986-87), Barcelona and AS Monaco, and the club reached the UEFA Cup final in 1987, albeit losing 2-1 on aggregate to IFK Gothenburg. The league title was won for the one and only time in 1983 on a thrilling last day three-way scenario. However the one trophy which eluded United throughout that glorious decade was the Scottish Cup; between 1974 and 1991 the team lost 6 finals, against Celtic (3 times), Rangers, St Mirren and Motherwell.
In 1993, Jim McLean, Britain's then longest serving manager, announced his retirement; his relatively unknown replacement, Ivan Golac, brought the trophy back to Tannadice in his first season in charge after a brilliant cup final display, upsetting favourites Rangers 1-0. However that trophy win masked increaingly poor league form, and in 1995 the team were relegated, an ignominious departure for which Golac paid with his job. The new man, Billy Kirkwood, brought United back up in his first season in charge, albeit only in a promotion/relegation play off against Partick Thistle following a 90th minute equaliser forcing extra time, followed by a 115th minute winner.
Kirkwood himself was sacked after a poor start to the next season, and was replaced by Tommy McLean, who by amazing coincidence is the brother of none other than Jim McLean, ex-manager and now chairman and managing director of the club. After an excellent first season, acheiving 3rd place and a UEFA cup spot, 1997-98 ultimately proved a disappointment, despite reaching the Coca Cola Cup final in November; United only secured their Premier League status on the penultimate day of the season, two late Olofsson goals sending Hibernian down instead.
However, United's dismal run showed no signs of letting up as the new season got underway. An ignominious exit of the League Cup at the hands of Ross County was closely followed by a 1-0 televised defeat at Motherwell - the result flattering United after a truly woeful display. For the good-sized travelling support this proved the final straw and prompted angry demonstrations throughout the second half. The inevitable occurred - after just 2 league wins in the first 8 months of 1998, Tommy left, with or without a helping hand from his brother.
This paved the way for fans' favourite Paul Sturrock to take over. He quickly made some astute moves in the transfer market, bringing in Jason Devos and Billy Dodds while offloading unsettled players such as McSwegan and Winters. Progress was made in the Cup, where United reached the semi final before a poor display saw a 2-0 loss to Celtic. However, his immediate task was always going to be survival, and this was achieved with two games to spare.
Next season will be the real test for "Luggy", as a major clearout is promised in the summer. The former Tannadice playing legend took time to discover the winning formula at St Johnstone, and Arabs have high hopes that he can return our club to at least a little of the glories of his playing days.
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