Club VI | Dundee United FC
Dundee United Football Club are a familiar club to those in Scotland & the rest of the UK, but those further afield may know little or nothing about the club. Some football fans of a certain age on continental Europe may remember Dundee United from their European adventures in the 1960s, 1970s & 1980s, which we will come to later.
But let's start at the beginning.
What we know today as Dundee United Football Club was founded in 1909, but under a different name. Dundee Hibernian was founded with a very similar founding story to that of Hibernian FC & Celtic FC.
Throughout the late 1800s & early 1900s emigration from Ireland to Scotland was at an all-time high with tens of thousands of Irish relocating across the Irish Sea in search of a better life. Most settled in Glasgow & Edinburgh, but inevitably some ended up further east in Dundee as well.
As with the formations of Hibernian Football Club in Edinburgh in 1875 & Celtic Football Club in Glasgow in 1888, the clubs came about to satisfy the need for a past-time for the growing Irish population in the city. This was the case too for Dundee Hibernian in 1909.
Dundee Hibernian & Edinburgh Hibernian players pose for a photo prior to a game in 1909 | Photo Credit
For the first fourteen years of the club’s existence they wore green & white, just like Hibs & Celtic. In 1923 in an attempt to broaden the club’s appeal they changed their name to Dundee United & changed the kit to black & white.
The club’s official name has not been altered since. But something that pre-dates the name “Dundee United Football Club” is the ground at which they play at; Tannadice Park.
Tannadice has been the one & only home of Dundee Hibernian & Dundee United. Nowadays it is an all-seater stadium with a capacity of over 14,000 but as is the case with many older stadiums around the world, there was once a time when a lot more fans packed into these arenas. For the visit of Barcelona in 1966, Tannadice was reported to have had around 28,000 fans in attendance.
The other very interesting thing about Tannadice, which has become almost pub quiz trivia to your average football fan, is its proximity to New Dens Park, home of city-rivals Dundee Football Club.
The two closest professional football clubs in British football | Photo Credit
People use the term “a stone’s throw” to exaggerate a close distance. Well Tannadice & New Dens Park are literally that close. So close that they hold the pub quiz trivia fact of being the two closest professional football clubs in British football; 0.17 miles apart as the crow flies.
The Dundee derby can be likened to the Merseyside derby in that there are instances of different family members supporting opposing sides, leaving an absence of a vicious or violent hatred between the fans of both clubs.
Both Dundee clubs have won five major honours in Scottish football (the First Division, Scottish Cup, Scottish League Cup), but it is Dundee United who have the upper hand in the head-to-head of the derby. United boast 80 wins over their neighbours, compared to Dundee FC’s 49 wins.
A major change in the identity of Dundee United came about in the 1960s, from a very unexpected source.
In 1967 Dundee United were invited to play in a summer tournament against Texas-based club Dallas Tornado. The same invite was again extended United’s way in 1969. Dallas Tornado at the time wore a tangerine orange strip & as a thank you & a show of appreciation to the Texans, Dundee United changed the colour of their home strip to the same shade of tangerine orange.
The Dallas Tornado squad in 1968 in their familiar tangerine-coloured strip | Photo Credit
The home kit has remained unchanged since the 1960s & such is the strong affiliation with the colour, Dundee United are affectionately referred to as “The Tangerines”.
The late 1960s also was the start of a chapter in Dundee United’s history where many memorable European adventures saw United travel the continent & welcome some of Europe’s biggest names to Tannadice.
United entered the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in the 1966/67 season & announced themselves by beating holders Barcelona home & away. They played Juventus in the next round which proved a bridge too far for the Tangerines, but they received much admiration for the attractive style of attacking football that they played.
The rest of the 1960s & 1970s saw United regularly compete in European competition & lock horns with the likes of Newcastle United, FC Porto & AS Anderlecht, but it was in the 1980s that Dundee United really made their mark on Europe.
On the domestic front Dundee United & Aberdeen FC had particularly strong sides in the early 1980s, so much so that they both regularly challenged Celtic & Rangers for domestic honours, earning them the nickname the “New Firm”.
United won back-to-back Scottish League Cups in 1979 & 1980, followed by their one & only Scottish First Division title in 1983. What made the victory extra sweet? Winning the Dundee derby on the final day of the season to clinch the title.
Dundee United players celebrate their 1982/1983 Scottish First Division success | Photo Credit
However this bit of domestic success was arguably overshadowed by what United did on the European stage right throughout the 1980s.
The 1981/82 & 1982/83 UEFA Cup campaigns saw Dundee United reach the quarter finals on both occasions, beating the likes of AS Monaco, Borussia Mönchengladbach, PSV Eindhoven & Werder Bremen along the way.
Off the back of winning the Scottish First Division in 1983 they entered the 1983/84 European Cup & beat Hamrun Spartans FC, Standard Liege & SK Rapid Vienna en-route to a semi-final meeting with AS Roma. United had one foot in the final following a 2-0 win at Tannadice before Roma came back to turn the tie on its head, winning 3-0 in Rome to knock United out. A brave & valiant effort that had the rest of Europe really sit-up & take notice of the Scottish side.
Dundee United & Roma in action at Tannadice in 1984 | Photo Credit
The 1984/85 & 1985/86 UEFA Cup campaigns saw United exit at the Round 3 stage but they were back with a vengeance in the 1986/87 edition of the same competition.
They successfully navigated five two-legged ties, beating RC Lens, KS Cracovia, HNK Hajduk Split, FC Barcelona & Borussia Mönchengladbach in that order to set up a final versus IFK Göteborg. A 1-0 loss in Sweden was followed by a 1-1 draw at Tannadice & the dream of lifting a European trophy was dashed.
Another bit of fascinating & incredible trivia that has to be highlighted is Dundee United’s competitive record versus FC Barcelona.
Dundee United have won all four competitive European meetings between the two, all wins coming in the form of two-legged ties from 1966 & 1987, with an aggregate score of 7-2; 2-1, 2-0, 1-0, 2-1. The 1987 wins were particularly special seeing as Barca were managed by Englishman Terry Venables & had players such as Gary Lineker & Mark Hughes in their ranks.
The iconic image of the scoreboard at the Nou Camp at full-time in 1987 | Photo Credit
In the years following the 1986/87 final loss to IFK Göteborg, Dundee United still qualified for Europe year in, year out but from the 1987/88 - 1990/91 seasons they never made it past the second qualifying round. The Dundee United European glory years were over.
The last thirty years have been a bit of a rollercoaster ride for Dundee United, with huge highs & crushing lows. They added to their trophy cabinet with two Scottish Cups in 1994 & 2010, but also suffered relegation to Scotland’s second-tier in 2016. They spent four seasons battling to get back to the top table of Scottish football, eventually succeeding in 2020 when they were awarded the Scottish Championship title based on their average points per game due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Thousands of Dundee United fans packed into Hampden Park for the 2010 Scottish Cup Final versus Ross County | Photo Credit
As is the case with all Scottish teams, anytime a player puts together a string of fine performances for United they generally catch the eye of Celtic & Rangers or clubs in the English Championship. Dundee United, along with the vast majority of clubs on the planet, would be seen as a “selling club”.
Some notable transfers of players away from Dundee United in recent years include;
Blackburn Rovers’ signing of David Goodwillie for €3.4m in 2011.
Derby County’s signing of Johnny Russell for €900,000 in 2013.
Celtic’s signing of Stuart Armstrong for €600,000 in 2015, who later moved to Southampton for a fee of €7.95m.
And arguably Dundee United’s greatest ever ex-player is one Andrew Robertson who left United for Hull City after just one season for €3.6m in 2014. Robertson went on to sign for Liverpool in 2017 for €9m & during his time on Merseyside he has won the Premier League, Champions League & has gone on to captain Scotland.
Andy Robertson during his time as a Tangerine | Photo Credit
From humble beginnings to unexpected kit changes, from European adventures punching well above their weight to relegation & Scottish second-tier heartbreak; Dundee United Football Club have seen it all & bought the postcard.