The 1986–87 season was the 78th year of football played by Dundee United, and covers the period from 1 July 1986 to 30 June 1987. United finished in third place, securing UEFA Cup football for the following season.

Summary Dundee United played a total of 67 competitive matches during the 1986–87 season. The team finished third in the Scottish Premier Division.

They reached the Scottish Cup final, only to lose after extra-time to St Mirren. The season is most notable for the club's run to the UEFA Cup Final, knocking out Barcelona, Borussia Mönchengladbach and Universitatea Craiova en route. United lost 2–1 on aggregate to IFK Göteborg in the final.

In the cup competitions, United lost in the final of the Scottish Cup to St Mirren and lost in the Scottish League Cup semi-finals. Swedish side IFK Göteborg defeated United in the final of the UEFA Cup over two legs.

The club signed five players during the season with a total public cost of at least £300,000 (some figures unknown). Two other players joined before the following season. Four players were sold by the club during the season with a public total of nearly £1,000,000. One player retired due to injury.

The club's playing kits were sponsored by future chairman Eddie Thompson's VG Foodstores for a second season.

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

Scottish Premier Division

DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 9 August 1986 AberdeenH2–110,910Gough, Redford 13 August 1986 ClydebankA0–01,612 16 August 1986 RangersA3–243,995Gallacher, Redford 23 August 1986 Heart of MidlothianH1–011,068Hegarty 30 August 1986 St MirrenH3–06,168Ferguson, Gallacher, Bannon 6 September 1986 DundeeA2–012,079Milne, Bannon 13 September 1986 CelticH2–219,792Ferguson, Gallacher 20 September 1986 Hamilton AcademicalA5–12,876Hegarty (2), Ferguson (2), Sturrock 27 September 1986 HibernianA1–15,407Redford 4 October 1986 FalkirkH2–05,957Ferguson (2) 8 October 1986 MotherwellH4–05,740Philliben, Ferguson, Wishart, Coyne 11 October 1986 AberdeenA0–214,922 18 October 1986 ClydebankH2–05,314Auld, Bannon 25 October 1986 Heart of MidlothianA2–214,320Sturrock (2) 29 October 1986 RangersH0–020,171 1 November 1986 St MirrenA1–03,930Ferguson 8 November 1986 DundeeH0–311,733 15 November 1986 CelticA0–134,319 19 November 1986 Hamilton AcademicalH3–04,280Clark, Ferguson, Sturrock 22 November 1986 HibernianH1–06,862Bannon 29 November 1986 FalkirkA1–24,500Redford 3 December 1986 MotherwellA2–02,312Page, Redford 6 December 1986 AberdeenH0–010,242 13 December 1986 ClydebankA2–11,396Ferguson, Bannon 20 December 1986 Heart of MidlothianH3–111,749Sturrock, Bannon, Ferguson 27 December 1986 RangersA0–242,165 6 January 1987 St MirrenH2–05,798Redford, Sturrock 10 January 1987 CelticH3–219,020Ferguson, Gallacher, Bannon 24 January 1987 HibernianA2–07,398Gallacher, McInally 7 February 1987 FalkirkH2–18,804Ferguson, Gallacher 14 February 1987 MotherwellH2–09,902Gallacher, Ferguson 28 February 1987 AberdeenA1–012,850Bannon 7 March 1987 ClydebankH1–15,541Hegarty 10 March 1987 DundeeA1–111,615Gallacher 21 March 1987 RangersH0–121,278 28 March 1987 DundeeH1–112,220Glennie 4 April 1987 St MirrenA1–22,538Redford 14 April 1987 HamiltonA0–02,062 18 April 1987 CelticA1–123,798Clark 25 April 1987 FalkirkA2–14,930Ferguson (2) 28 April 1987 HamiltonH2–17,244Bannon, Clark 2 May 1987 HibernianH2–19,301Gallacher, Redford 9 May 1987 MotherwellA0–12,340 11 May 1987 Heart of MidlothianA1–16,779Kirkwood

Scottish Cup

DateRoundOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 31 January 1987 Third round AirdrieoniansH1–19,169Gallacher 9 February 1987 Third round replay AirdrieoniansA2–15,000Ferguson, Gallacher 12 February 1987 Fourth round Brechin CityA1–019,355Gallacher 14 March 1987 Quarter-finals Forfar AthleticH2–27,985Malpas, Ferguson 24 March 1987 Quarter-finals replay Forfar AthleticA2–08,139Holt, Ferguson 11 April 1987 Semi-finals DundeeN3–213,913Ferguson (2), Hegarty 16 May 1987 Final St MirrenN0–151,782

Scottish League Cup

DateRoundOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 20 August 1986 Second round Queen of the SouthA1–04,212Gallacher 27 August 1986 Third round Ayr UnitedA3–03,680Ferguson (2), Gallacher 3 September 1986 Quarter-finals HibernianA2–09,212Ferguson (2) 24 September 1986 Semi-finals RangersA1–245,249Ferguson

UEFA Cup

DateRoundOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 17 September 1986 First round 1st leg LensA0–111,330 1 October 1986 First round 2nd leg LensH2–011,645Milne, Coyne 22 October 1986 Second round 1st leg Universitatea CraiovaH3–010,728Redford (2), Clark 5 November 1986 Second round 2nd leg Universitatea CraiovaA0–135,000 26 November 1986 Third round 1st leg Hajduk SplitH2–011,569McInally, Clark 10 December 1986 Third round 2nd leg Hajduk SplitA0–026,000 4 March 1987 Quarter-finals 1st leg BarcelonaH1–021,322Gallacher 18 March 1987 Quarter-finals 2nd leg BarcelonaA2–142,000Clark, Ferguson 8 April 1987 Semi-finals 1st leg Borussia MönchengladbachH0–015,789 22 April 1987 Semi-finals 2nd leg Borussia MönchengladbachA2–033,500Ferguson, Redford 6 May 1987 Final 1st leg IFK GöteborgA0–150,053 20 May 1987 Final 2nd leg IFK GöteborgH1–120,911Clark

Player statistics During the 1986–87 season, United used 29 different players comprising four nationalities. Billy Thomson was the only player to feature in every match of United's UEFA Cup run. The table below shows the number of appearances and goals scored by each player.

Goalscorers United had 15 players score with the team scoring 97 goals in total. The top goalscorer was Iain Ferguson, who finished the season with 28 goals. NameLeagueCupsTotal1612 28106 1683 1190 934 760 641 530 311 211 211 210 110 110 101 101 1

Discipline During the 1986–87 season, one United players was sent off. Statistics for cautions are unavailable. NameDismissals 1

Competitions League table

Transfers

In Date Player From Fee 22 August 1986 Rangers £145,000 September 1986 Bournemouth Unknown Dumbarton Unknown 25 November 1986 Elgin City £8,000 January 1987 Hibernian Unknown 18 June 1987 Keith £10,000 June 1987 Crystal Palace £100,000

Out Date Player To Fee 1 August 1986 Tottenham Hotspur £750,000 13 December 1986 Dundee £75,000 January 1987 Charlton Athletic £125,000 Blackburn Rovers £15,000 Retired

Loans out Date Player To Duration Blackburn Rovers Unknown

See also 1986–87 in Scottish football

References

External links BBC's 'A Sporting Nation' review of the UEFA Cup run Glenrothes Arabs 1986–87 season review