Dundee United F.C. is a Scottish football club based in Dundee. Formed on 24 May 1909 as Dundee Hibernian, the club first joined the Scottish Football League (SFL) in 1910. After changing their name to Dundee United in 1923, the club were promoted to the top division of Scottish football for the first time in 1925, but spent most of its first thirty five years in the second tier.
The club came to greater prominence under two long-serving managers, Jerry Kerr (1959–1971) and Jim McLean (1971–1993). Kerr established United in the top flight and led them into European competition for the first time. During the McLean era United won their first major trophies, lifting the Scottish League Cup in 1979 and 1980 and the Scottish Premier Division title in 1983. They were also successful in European competitions, reaching the European Cup semi-finals in 1984 and the UEFA Cup final in 1987.
While that level of success has not been maintained since McLean's retirement, the club has continued to challenge for honours in Scottish football, winning the Scottish Cup in 1994 and 2010.
History
Beginning (1909–1971)
Inspired by the example of Hibernian in Edinburgh, 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 its inaugural game on 18 August, 1909 against Hibernian, a match which ended 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 who then decided to change the club's name to Dundee United to appeal to a wider audience than the Irish Catholic community; the name Dundee City was considered but was objected to by long standing city rivals Dundee F.C.
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.
During WWII, the club was held supported by the club secretary Arthur Cram.
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).
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, gave United their first taste of European football. On 25 August 1966 Dundee United eliminated Barcelona, then holders of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (now known as the UEFA Europa League), beating them 2–1 in Spain, the first Scottish club to win in that country.
Jim McLean era (1971–1993) 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.