The 1996–97 season was the 88th year of football played by Dundee United, and covered the period from 1 July 1996 to 30 June 1997. United finished in third place in the league following their promotion from the First Division and qualified for the UEFA Cup in the process. The club lost in the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup after a replay and were knocked out of the League Cup in a third round penalty shootout by rivals Dundee.
Summary United finished the Scottish Premier Division 1996–97 season in third place with 60 points, in the first season back in the top flight after the single season in the First Division. Despite taking just one point from the first six games, United finished third, with the appointment of Tommy McLean starting an immediate six-game unbeaten run, bettered later by a thirteen-game unbeaten succession, which included eight straight league wins.
Dundee United played a total of 44 competitive matches during the 1996–97 season. The team finished third in the Premier Division.
The cup campaigns saw a 3rd round League Cup penalty shootout defeat to rivals Dundee and a semi-final Scottish Cup defeat (after a replay) to eventual winners Kilmarnock.
Off the pitch, United started a four-year successive run of 'Premier League Programme of the Year'.
The club signed twelve players during the season with approximately £650k spent on transfer fees. In addition, three players were promoted from youth contracts: Paul Black, Craig Easton, Steven Thompson, with all three featuring at least once during the season.
Ten players left the club during the season, with the club receiving over £1.35m in transfer sales, representing an overall transfer profit of around £700k.
The jerseys were sponsored for the first time by Telewest.
Fixtures and results
All results are written with Dundee United's score first.
Scottish Premier Division
DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 10 August 1996 MotherwellH1–18,127McSwegan 17 August 1996 HibernianH0–18,589 24 August 1996 RangersA0–148,285 7 September 1996 Heart of MidlothianA0–111,858 14 September 1996 CelticH1–212,152McSwegan 21 September 1996 Raith RoversA2–35,077McSwegan, Hannah 28 September 1996 AberdeenH1–010,359McSwegan 12 October 1996 KilmarnockH0–07,365 19 October 1996 Dunfermline AthleticA1–16,982Winters 26 October 1996 Heart of MidlothianH1–09,353Winters 2 November 1996 MotherwellA3–15,814Olofsson, McKinnon, Winters 16 November 1996 AberdeenA3–313,800McLaren, Winters, Olofsson 23 November 1996 Raith RoversH1–28,028Duffy 30 November 1996 Dunfermline AthleticH1–17,646Winters 7 December 1996 KilmarnockA2–05,814Olofsson (2) 10 December 1996 RangersH1–012,529Gough 14 December 1996 HibernianA1–18,250McLaren 21 December 1996 CelticA0–146,590 26 December 1996 MotherwellH2–08,072McSwegan, Hannah 28 December 1996 Raith RoversA1–05,762Olofsson 1 January 1997 AberdeenH4–09,736Winters, Pressley (2), Olofsson 4 January 1997 KilmarnockH2–08,508Malpas, McKinnon 11 January 1997 Dunfermline AthleticA3–17,698Olofsson (2), McInally 18 January 1997 Heart of MidlothianA2–112,777Olofsson, McKinnon 1 February 1997 CelticH1–012,600McSwegan 8 February 1997 HibernianH0–09,219 22 February 1997 KilmarnockA3–26,054McKinnon (3) 1 March 1997 Dunfermline AthleticH2–18,160McLaren, Olofsson 12 March 1997 RangersA2–049,192Winters, Olofsson 15 March 1997 AberdeenA1–113,645Olofsson 22 March 1997 Raith RoversH2–16,387Winters (2) 5 April 1997 HibernianA0–211,010 19 April 1997 MotherwellA1–15,500Zetterlund 3 May 1997 Heart of MidlothianH1–07,405McSwegan 7 May 1997 RangersH0–112,180 10 May 1997 CelticA0–346,758
Scottish Cup
DateRoundOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 25 January 1997 Third round Stirling AlbionA2–03,300Winters, McSwegan 16 February 1997 Fourth round Heart of MidlothianA1–114,833McManus 25 February 1997 Fourth round replay Heart of MidlothianH1–012,283Winters 8 March 1997 Quarter–finals MotherwellH4–112,283McLaren (2), Winters, Olofsson 14 April 1997 Semi–finals KilmarnockN0–012,391 22 April 1997 Semi–finals replay KilmarnockN0–19,225
Scottish League Cup
DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 13 August 1996 Second round Stirling AlbionA2–11,683Winters, Coyle 3 September 1996 Third round DundeeH2–211,839Coyle, McSwegan Dundee beat United 4–3 on penalty kicks
Player statistics During the 1996–97 season, United used 31 different players comprising five nationalities. The table below shows the number of appearances and goals scored by each player.
Goalscorers United had 12 players score with the team scoring 58 goals in total. The top goalscorer was Kjell Olofsson, who finished the season with 13 goals. NameLeagueCupsTotal121 1384 1272 96 632 521 32 22 22 21 11 11 11 1
Discipline United had three players sent off and seventeen players received at least one caution. In total, the team received three red cards and NameCautionsDismissals 4 1 1 1 1 7 4 4 3 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1
Note: disciplinary statistics are missing for Coca-Cola match vs Dundee and Scottish Cup matches vs Kilmarnock
Competitions League table
Transfers
In Date Player From Fee 26 July 1996 Sheffield Wednesday Free 1 August 1996 Dundee Unknown 1 August 1996 MVV Maastricht Free 3 October 1996 Raith Rovers Unknown 30 October 1996 Örebro SK £100,000 1 November 1996 Moss FK £400,000 1 November 1996 Viking Unknown 4 December 1996 Queen's Park Rangers £50,000 7 January 1997 Motherwell Swap 1 January 1997 Malmö FF Loan 31 January 1997 Millwall £90,000 19 March 1997 Aberdeen Free
Out Date Player To Fee 1 July 1996 Ionikos Free 7 August 1996 Hibernian £200,000 12 August 1996 Derby County £500,000 6 September 1996 Preston North End £30,000 20 October 1996 Hibernian Unknown 28 December 1996 Celtic £650,000 7 January 1997 Motherwell Swap 19 January 1997 Falkirk Unknown 14 March 1997 Sheffield United Free
References
External links Glenrothes Arabs season review