1987–88 Dundee United F.C. season
Dundee United 1987–88 football season
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).
Match results
Dundee United played a total of 60 competitive matches during the 1987–88 season.[ 1] 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 Skol Cup quarter-finals to rivals Dundee . Czechoslovakian side Vítkovice ensured United wouldn't repeat last season's UEFA Cup run, beating them in the second round.
Legend
All results are written with Dundee United's score first.
Premier Division
Date
Opponent
Venue
Result
Attendance
Scorers
8 August 1987
Rangers
A
1–1
39,120
Beaumont
12 August 1987
Motherwell
H
1–1
6,633
Redford
15 August 1987
Morton
H
3–1
6,641
McInally , Redford , Sturrock
22 August 1987
Hearts
A
1–4
14,548
Ferguson
29 August 1987
Aberdeen
A
1–1
16,000
Redford
5 September 1987
Celtic
H
0–0
16,192
12 September 1987
Hibernian
H
1–2
7,920
Hegarty
19 September 1987
St Mirren
A
0–2
3,807
26 September 1987
Falkirk
H
3–0
6,240
G McLeod , Sturrock (2)
3 October 1987
Dundee
A
1–1
11,497
Ferguson
6 October 1987
Dunfermline
A
0–0
7,558
10 October 1987
Rangers
H
1–0
18,214
Ferguson
17 October 1987
Aberdeen
H
0–0
11,281
24 October 1987
Celtic
A
2–1
31,032
Ferguson , Clark
28 October 1987
Hibernian
A
1–0
9,250
McKinlay
31 October 1987
St Mirren
H
2–3
7,607
Ferguson , Paatelainen
7 November 1987
Motherwell
A
1–2
2,927
Ferguson
14 November 1987
Dunfermline
H
1–0
8,699
Paatelainen
18 November 1987
Hearts
H
0–3
14,258
21 November 1987
Morton
A
1–0
3,000
Ferguson
24 November 1987
Falkirk
A
1–4
4,000
G McLeod
28 November 1987
Dundee
H
1–3
13,625
Clark
5 December 1987
Rangers
A
0–1
41,159
12 December 1987
Motherwell
H
3–1
5,703
G McLeod , Paatelainen , Ferguson
16 December 1987
Hibernian
H
1–2
6,095
Ferguson
19 December 1987
St Mirren
A
1–2
3,517
McPhee
26 December 1987
Celtic
H
1–0
18,458
French
2 January 1988
Aberdeen
A
0–0
21,500
9 January 1988
Falkirk
H
0–0
6,617
16 January 1988
Dundee
A
2–0
13,651
Bannon , Paatelainen
3 February 1988
Hearts
A
1–1
13,710
Redford
6 February 1988
Morton
H
2–0
6,566
Redford (2)
13 February 1988
Dunfermline
A
3–0
7,159
Gallacher (3)
27 February 1988
Rangers
H
1–1
20,846
Paatelainen
5 March 1988
Hibernian
A
0–0
8,401
19 March 1988
Aberdeen
H
0–2
10,403
26 March 1988
Celtic
A
0–0
34,933
30 March 1988
St Mirren
H
5–1
6,294
Bowman , Ferguson , French , Irvine (2)
2 April 1988
Dundee
H
1–0
13,874
French
16 April 1988
Motherwell
A
2–4
3,822
Clark , J McLeod
23 April 1988
Dunfermline
H
2–2
8,263
McInally , Ferguson
30 April 1988
Morton
A
4–0
2,000
Paatelainen (4)
4 May 1988
Falkirk
A
2–1
4,500
Welsh , Gallacher
7 May 1988
Hearts
H
0–0
9,820
Scottish Cup
Date
Opponent
Venue
Result
Attendance
Scorers
30 January 1988
Arbroath
A
7–0
5,905
Malpas , Bannon , Irvine (2), Paatelainen French , Redford
20 February 1988
Airdrieonians
A
2–0
6,727
Hegarty , Bannon
12 March 1988
Dundee
A
0–0
19,355
15 March 1988
Dundee
H
2–2
17,055
Bannon (2)
28 March 1988
Dundee
A
3–0
19,152
Redford , Ferguson , McLeod
9 April 1988
Aberdeen
N
0–0
20,488
13 April 1988
Aberdeen
N
1–1
17,288
Paatelainen
20 April 1988
Aberdeen
N
1–0
19,048
Ferguson
14 May 1988
Celtic
N
1–2
74,000
Gallacher
Skol Cup
UEFA Cup
Player details
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.[ 2]
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.[ 3]
Discipline
During the 1987–88 season, two United players were sent off. Statistics for cautions are unavailable.[ 4]
Team statistics
League table
Source:
Statto Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Transfers
In
The club signed three players during the season with a total public cost of at least £200,000 (one figure unknown).
Out
Four players were sold by the club during the season with a public total of at least £80,000 (some figures unavailable).
Playing kit
The jerseys were sponsored by Belhaven Beers for the first time.
See also
References
External links
Club Home stadium Rivalries Statistics Decades Related articles
Domestic leagues Domestic cups European competitions Related to national team Club seasons
Premier Division First Division Second Division