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Dundee United F.C.

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   Dundee United F.C.
   Image:Dufc.gif
   Full name Dundee United
   Football Club
   Nickname(s) The Terrors
   The Tangerines
   The Arabs
   Founded 1909 (as Dundee Hibernian)
   1923 (as Dundee United)
   Ground Tannadice Park, Dundee
   Capacity 14,209
   Chairman Scotland Eddie Thompson
   Manager Scotland Craig Levein
   League Scottish Premier League
   2005-06 Scottish Premier League, 9th


   Team colours Team colours Team colours
   Team colours
   Team colours
   　
   Home colours

                                         Team colours Team colours Team colours
                                         Team colours
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                                         Away colours

   Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish football club located in
   Dundee. Officially, United are nicknamed The Terrors and the supporters
   known as The Arabs, though the latter term has been applied equally to
   the club in recent times by the sporting media. The Tangerines is
   another term used to describe the club.

   United currently play in the Scottish Premier League and following the
   departure of Craig Brewster on October 29, 2006, Craig Levein has been
   appointed as the new manager. Eddie Thompson, chairman since September
   2002, is the majority shareholder of Dundee United, whilst the
   supporters - under the guise of ArabTRUST - own the second majority. 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 third best-represented
   team, competing 22 seasons in Europe, in a total of 104 European
   matches (five more than Aberdeen). During the club's many European
   competition runs in the late 20th century, English-based media
   sometimes incorrectly called the team Dundee - the name of their city
   rivals. This still occasionally happens today.

History

Beginning

   Inspired by the examples of Hibernian in Edinburgh and 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 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 city rivals Dundee.

   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: Orjan
   Persson, Finn Seemann, Lennart Wing, Finn Døssing and Mogens Berg.
   These players also helped give United their first taste of the European
   scene, where they sensationally eliminated Barcelona in 1966, who were
   the then-holders of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (now known as the UEFA
   Cup).

Jim McLean

   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's best season came in 1982-83 when they won the Scottish
   Premier Division title for the first time in the club's history, 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 impressive 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.

   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 earlier 1966 feat of again
   eliminating FC Barcelona then managed by Terry Venables and featuring
   British players Gary Lineker, Mark Hughes and Steve Archibald, with
   victories home and away. United are the only British side 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 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

   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, sparking
   headlines of 'seventh heaven' in various newspapers.

   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.
   This 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, thus becoming the only club to be promoted
   through this short-lived play-off system.

   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.

Colours and badge

          The jerseys below are meant to reflect either a change in colour
          or prominent design. Please see the discussion page for more on
          this.


   Team colours Team colours Team colours
   　
   1914 home

   Team colours Team colours Team colours
   　
   1930s home

   Team colours Team colours Team colours
   　
   1960s home
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   1969/70 home
   Team colours Team colours Team colours
   　
   1980s home
   Team colours Team colours Team colours
   　
   1993/94 home

   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 (presumably adopted as a symbol of
   Scottish patriotism) 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.

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 just yards away from Dens Park, home of Dundee F.C.; the
   two grounds are the closest senior football grounds 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.

   The possibility of both clubs moving to a new, purpose-built shared
   stadium has been suggested on occasion. The most 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 forbade SPL teams from groundsharing. Following
   Scotland's failed bid to host the tournament, the scheme was shelved.

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. It was so bad 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 covering snow
   and ice. Not only did this work but removed the grass, too. Several
   lorry loads of sand were ordered and spread across the barren surface
   with the regulation playing lines 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 new surface 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 1st
   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. Other
   famous Arabs include:
     * George Galloway
     * Geoffrey Hayes
     * Billy Kay
     * Lorraine Kelly
     * Liz McColgan
     * Ricky Ross
     * Lord Watson

Players

Current squad


   No.                     Position         Player
   1   Scotland            GK       Derek Stillie
   2   Norway              DF       Christian Kalvenes
   3   Scotland            DF       David McCracken
   4   Scotland            DF       Lee Wilkie
   5   Scotland            DF       Lee Mair
   6   Scotland            DF       Alan Archibald
   7   Scotland            MF       Mark Kerr
   10  Republic of Ireland FW       Noel Hunt
   11  Scotland            MF       Barry Robson (captain)
   12  Scotland            MF       Stuart Duff
   14  Scotland            MF       Steven Robb
   15  Scotland            MF       Craig Conway

   No.                     Position          Player
   17  Scotland            MF       Greg Cameron
   18  Scotland            DF       Garry Kenneth
   19  Scotland            DF       Ross Gardiner
   20  Trinidad and Tobago FW       Collin Samuel
   21  Scotland            GK       Euan McLean
   23  Scotland            MF       William Easton
   24  Scotland            MF       Barry Callaghan (on loan)
   25  Scotland            MF       David Robertson
   26  Scotland            FW       David Goodwillie
   27  Scotland            MF       Gregg Burnett
   28  Scotland            MF       David Proctor
   30  Scotland            MF       Grant Smith

Notable past players

          Players are ordered by year of United debut. For a list of
          former players since 2000, see Dundee United FC former players.

   Pre-1980

     * 1957 Scotland Ron Yeats
     * 1964 Denmark Finn Døssing
     * 1964 Sweden Örjan Persson
     * 1965 Sweden Lennart Wing
     * 1966 Scotland Walter Smith
     * 1969 Scotland Hamish McAlpine
     * 1973 Scotland Andy Gray
     * 1973 Scotland Dave Narey
     * 1974 Scotland Paul Hegarty
     * 1974 Scotland Paul Sturrock
     * 1976 Scotland Davie Dodds
     * 1979 Scotland Eamonn Bannon
     * 1979 Scotland Ralph Milne

   1980s

     * 1981 Scotland Richard Gough
     * 1981 Scotland Maurice Malpas
     * 1982 Scotland John Clark
     * 1984 Scotland Billy Thomson
     * 1985 Scotland Kevin Gallacher
     * 1986 Scotland Dave Bowman
     * 1986 Scotland Jim McInally
     * 1986 Scotland Billy McKinlay
     * 1987 Finland Mixu Paatelainen
     * 1988 Scotland Alex Cleland
     * 1988 Scotland Darren Jackson
     * 1988 SFR Yugoslavia Miodrag Krivokapić
     * 1989 Scotland Paddy Connolly
     * 1989 Scotland Ray McKinnon
     * 1989 Northern Ireland Michael O'Neill
     * 1989 Netherlands Freddy van der Hoorn

   1990s

     * 1990 Scotland Christian Dailly
     * 1990 Scotland Duncan Ferguson
     * 1993 Scotland Craig Brewster
     * 1993 Yugoslavia Gordan Petrić
     * 1994 Scotland Robbie Winters
     * 1995 Scotland Steven Pressley
     * 1996 Sweden Kjell Olofsson
     * 1996 Norway Erik Pedersen
     * 1996 Sweden Lars Zetterlund
     * 1997 Scotland Craig Easton
     * 1997 Iceland Siggi Jónsson
     * 1997 Scotland Steven Thompson
     * 1998 Scotland Billy Dodds
     * 1998 Scotland Jason de Vos

   2000s

     * 2000 Scotland Paul Gallacher
     * 2000 Scotland Charlie Miller
     * 2002 Scotland Mark Wilson

Managers

     * Ireland Pat Reilly (1909-15)
     * England Herbert Dainty (1915-17)
     * Ireland Pat Reilly (1917-22)
     * Scotland Peter O'Rourke (1922-23)
     * Scotland Jimmy Brownlie (1923-31)
     * Scotland Willie Reid (1931-34)
     * Scotland Jimmy Brownlie (1934-36)
     * Scotland George Greig (1936-38)
     * Scotland Jimmy Brownlie and Northern Ireland Sam Irving (1938-39)
     * Scotland Bobby McKay (1939)
     * Scotland Jimmy Allan (1939-40)*

     * Scotland Arthur Cram (1941-44)
     * Scotland Jimmy Littlejohn (1944)
     * Scotland Charlie McGillivray (1944-45)
     * Scotland Willie MacFadyen (1945-54)
     * England Reggie Smith (1954-57)
     * Scotland Ally Gallacher (1957)
     * Scotland Tommy Gray (1957-58)
     * Scotland Andy McCall (1958-59)
     * Scotland Jerry Kerr (1959-71)
     * Scotland Jim McLean (1971-93)

     * Yugoslavia Ivan Golac (1993-95)
     * Scotland Billy Kirkwood (1995-96)
     * Scotland Tommy McLean (1996-98)
     * Scotland Paul Sturrock (1998-2000)
     * Scotland Alex Smith (2000-02)
     * Scotland Paul Hegarty (2002-03)
     * Scotland Ian McCall (2003-05)
     * Scotland Gordon Chisholm (2005-06)
     * Scotland Craig Brewster (2006)
     * Scotland Craig Levein (2006-present)

   *Club closed for 1940/41 season

Achievements

   After their only Premier Division championship win, the team reached
   the resulting semi-final of the European Cup in 1984. After a marathon
   season in 1986-87, the team lost in both the Scottish Cup and UEFA Cup
   finals in the space of a few days. The Arabs won the first-ever FIFA
   Fair Play Award for their sporting behaviour after this UEFA Cup final
   defeat.
     * UEFA Cup:
          + Runners-up (1): 1986-87

     * European Cup:
          + Semi-finalists (1): 1983-84

     * Scottish League Premier Division:
          + Winners (1): 1982-83

     * Scottish League Division Two:
          + Winners (2): 1924-25, 1928-29
          + Runners-up (2): 1931-32, 1959-60

     * Scottish League First Division:
          + Runners-up (1): 1995-96

     * 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 (3): 1981-82, 1984-85, 1997-98

     * Scottish League Challenge Cup:
          + Runners-up (1): 1995-96

     * City of Discovery Cup:
          + Winners (1): 2005

Club records

     * Biggest win: 14-0 v Nithsdale Wanderers, Scottish Cup 1st Round,
       January 17 1931
     * Biggest league win: 12–1 v East Stirlingshire, Scottish Football
       League Division Two, April 13 1936
     * Worst defeat: 1-12 v Motherwell, Scottish Football League Division
       Two, January 23 1954
     * Highest home attendance: 28,000 v CF Barcelona, European Fairs Cup
       2nd Round 2nd Leg, November 16 1966
     * Most capped player: Maurice Malpas (55 for Scotland)
     * Most League appearances: Maurice Malpas (617, 1981-2000)
     * Most League goals: Peter McKay (158, 1947-1954)
     * Most League goals in one season: Johnny Coyle (43 in 1955-56)
     * Transfer fee paid: £750,000 for Steven Pressley from Coventry City,
       July 1995
     * Transfer fee received: £4 million for Duncan Ferguson to Rangers,
       July 1993
     * Most team goals (league): 108 in Division Two, 1935/36 (average of
       3.2 goals per match, also a club record)
     * Most wins in succession: 10 - The last five matches of the 1982-83
       season and the first five of the 1983-84 season
     * Most league wins in a season: 24 from 36 games (1928-29 and
       1982-83)
     * Youngest player: Ian Mitchell aged 16 years and four months
       (against Hibernian in Division One in September 1962).
     * Youngest SPL player: Greg Cameron, aged 16 years (against
       Kilmarnock in the SPL in December 2004).
     * Youngest scorer: David Goodwillie, aged 16 years and 11 months
       (against Hibernian on 4 March 2006; also the SPL's youngest scorer)
     * Oldest player: Jimmy Brownlie, aged 40 years and eight months
       (against Hearts at Tynecastle in February 1926, as an emergency
       goalkeeper)
     * Fastest goal: Finn Dossing, after 14 seconds into the Division One
       match against Hamilton Academical at Tannadice on October 16, 1965
     * Largest crowd involving Dundee United: in excess of 100,000 against
       Selangor for the formal opening of the Shah Alam Stadium, Selangor,
       Malaysia, in July 1994

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