The 1987–88 season was the 79th year of football played by Dundee United, and covers the period from 1 July 1987 to 30 June 1988. United finished in fifth place, securing UEFA Cup Winners' Cup football for the following season, despite their Scottish Cup final defeat to Celtic (Celtic qualified for European competition as league winners).

Summary Dundee United played a total of 60 competitive matches during the 1987–88 season. The team finished fifth in the Scottish Premier Division.

In the cup competitions, United lost in the final of the Scottish Cup to Celtic and lost in the Scottish League Cup quarter-finals to rivals Dundee. Czechoslovak side Vítkovice ensured United wouldn't repeat last season's UEFA Cup run, beating them in the second round.

The club signed three players during the season with a total public cost of at least £200,000 (one figure unknown). Four players were sold by the club during the season with a public total of at least £80,000 (some figures unavailable).

The jerseys were sponsored by Belhaven Brewery for the first time.

Fixtures and results

All results are written with Dundee United's score first.

Scottish Premier Division

DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 8 August 1987 RangersA1–139,120Beaumont 12 August 1987 MotherwellH1–16,633Redford 15 August 1987 Greenock MortonH3–16,641McInally, Redford, Sturrock 22 August 1987 Heart of MidlothianA1–414,548Ferguson 29 August 1987 AberdeenA1–116,000Redford 5 September 1987 CelticH0–016,192 12 September 1987 HibernianH1–27,920Hegarty 19 September 1987 St MirrenA0–23,807 26 September 1987 FalkirkH3–06,240G McLeod, Sturrock (2) 3 October 1987 DundeeA1–111,497Ferguson 6 October 1987 Dunfermline AthleticA0–07,558 10 October 1987 RangersH1–018,214Ferguson 17 October 1987 AberdeenH0–011,281 24 October 1987 CelticA2–131,032Ferguson, Clark 28 October 1987 HibernianA1–09,250McKinlay 31 October 1987 St MirrenH2–37,607Ferguson, Paatelainen 7 November 1987 MotherwellA1–22,927Ferguson 14 November 1987 Dunfermline AthleticH1–08,699Paatelainen 18 November 1987 Heart of MidlothianH0–314,258 21 November 1987 Greenock MortonA1–03,000Ferguson 24 November 1987 FalkirkA1–44,000G McLeod 28 November 1987 DundeeH1–313,625Clark 5 December 1987 RangersA0–141,159 12 December 1987 MotherwellH3–15,703G McLeod, Paatelainen, Ferguson 16 December 1987 HibernianH1–26,095Ferguson 19 December 1987 St MirrenA1–23,517McPhee 26 December 1987 CelticH1–018,458French 2 January 1988 AberdeenA0–021,500 9 January 1988 FalkirkH0–06,617 16 January 1988 DundeeA2–013,651Bannon, Paatelainen 3 February 1988 Heart of MidlothianA1–113,710Redford 6 February 1988 Greenock MortonH2–06,566Redford (2) 13 February 1988 Dunfermline AthleticA3–07,159Gallacher (3) 27 February 1988 RangersH1–120,846Paatelainen 5 March 1988 HibernianA0–08,401 19 March 1988 AberdeenH0–210,403 26 March 1988 CelticA0–034,933 30 March 1988 St MirrenH5–16,294Bowman, Ferguson, French, Irvine (2) 2 April 1988 DundeeH1–013,874French 16 April 1988 MotherwellA2–43,822Clark, J McLeod 23 April 1988 Dunfermline AthleticH2–28,263McInally, Ferguson 30 April 1988 Greenock MortonA4–02,000Paatelainen (4) 4 May 1988 FalkirkA2–14,500Welsh, Gallacher 7 May 1988 Heart of MidlothianH0–09,820

Scottish Cup

DateRoundOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 30 January 1988 Third round ArbroathA7–05,905Malpas, Bannon, Irvine (2), PaatelainenFrench, Redford 20 February 1988 Fourth round AirdrieoniansA2–06,727Hegarty, Bannon 12 March 1988 Quarter–finals DundeeA0–019,355 15 March 1988 Quarter–finals replay DundeeH2–217,055Bannon (2) 28 March 1988 Quarter–finals 2nd replay DundeeA3–019,152Redford, Ferguson, McLeod 9 April 1988 Semi–finals AberdeenN0–020,488 13 April 1988 Semi–finals replay AberdeenN1–117,288Paatelainen 20 April 1988 Semi–finals 2nd replay AberdeenN1–019,048Ferguson 14 May 1988 Final CelticN1–274,000Gallacher

Scottish League Cup

DateRoundOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 19 August 1987 Second round Partick ThistleH2–06,075McPhee, Ferguson, Gallacher, Sturrock 25 August 1987 Third round Raith RoversA2–16,500Sturrock, Malpas 2 September 1987 Quarter–finals DundeeA1–219,817Ferguson

UEFA Cup

DateRoundOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 16 September 1987 First round 1st leg ColeraineA1–06,500Sturrock 30 September 1987 First round 2nd leg ColeraineH3–18,430Clark, Gallacher, Sturrock 21 October 1987 Second round 1st leg VítkoviceH1–28,938Ferguson 4 November 1987 Second round 2nd leg VítkoviceA1–112,549Clark

Player statistics During the 1987–88 season, United used 31 different players comprising four nationalities. Maurice Malpas featured in all but one of United's 60 matches. The table below shows the number of appearances and goals scored by each player.

Goalscorers United had 19 players score with the team scoring 83 goals in total. The top goalscorer was Iain Ferguson, who finished the season with 16 goals. NameLeagueCupsTotal115 1692 1162 834 733 632 514 531 422 430 330 320 211 211 211 202 210 110 110 110 1

Discipline During the 1987–88 season, two United players were sent off. Statistics for cautions are unavailable. NameDismissals 1 1

Competitions League table

Transfers

In Date Player From Fee August 1987 Forfar Athletic Unknown August 1987 Liverpool £100,000 30 October 1987 FC Haka £100,000

Out Date Player To Fee September 1987 rowspan=2| Dunfermline Athletic Unknown September 1987 Unknown 11 February 1988 Shrewsbury Town £80,000 February 1988 Motherwell Unknown

See also 1987–88 in Scottish football

References

External links Glenrothes Arabs 1987–88 season review