1985–86 Dundee United F.C. season explained

Club:	Dundee United
Season:	1985–86
Manager:	Jim McLean
Chairman:	George Fox
Stadium:	Tannadice Park
League:	Scottish Premier Division
League Result:	3rd
Cup1:	Scottish Cup
Cup1 Result:	Semi-finals
Cup2 Result:	Semi-finals
Cup3 Result:	Third round
Prevseason:	1984–85
Nextseason:	1986–87

The 1985–86 season was the 77th year of football played by Dundee United, and covers the period from 1 July 1985 to 30 June 1986. United finished in third place, securing UEFA Cup football for the following season.

Match results

Dundee United played a total of 52 competitive matches during the 1985–86 season.^[1] The team finished third in the Scottish Premier Division.

In the cup competitions, United lost in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup to Hearts and to Aberdeen in the same round of the Skol Cup. Swiss side Neuchâtel Xamax eliminated United in the third round of the UEFA Cup.

Legend

Win	Draw	Loss

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

Premier Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
10 August 1985	Rangers	A	0–1	28,870
17 August 1985	Aberdeen	H	1–1	14,339	Sturrock
24 August 1985	Dundee	H	2–0	13,736	Beedie, Sturrock
31 August 1985	Motherwell	A	1–0	3,327	Clark
7 September 1985	Clydebank	H	2–1	5,336	Sturrock, Milne
14 September 1985	Hearts	A	0–2	7,617
28 September 1985	St Mirren	A	0–1	4,408
5 October 1985	Hibernian	H	2–2	6,951	Malpas (2)
12 October 1985	Rangers	H	1–1	16,657	Dodds
19 October 1985	Aberdeen	A	2–3	15,748	Sturrock, Redford
26 October 1985	Celtic	A	3–0	25,976	Dodds, Bannon (2)
2 November 1985	Hearts	H	1–1	10,142	Gough
9 November 1985	Motherwell	H	3–0	5,493	Hegarty, Gough, Dodds
16 November 1985	Dundee	A	3–0	11,736	Hegarty (2), Kirkwood
23 November 1985	Clydebank	A	2–1	1,839	Milne, Dodds
14 December 1985	Rangers	A	1–1	16,657	Dodds
21 December 1985	Aberdeen	H	2–1	9,990	Bannon, Sturrock
23 December 1985	Celtic	H	1–0	15,894	Bannon
28 December 1985	Dundee	H	0–0	14,869
4 January 1986	Celtic	H	4–2	16,668	Dodds (2), Bannon, Gallacher
11 January 1986	Hearts	A	1–1	19,043	Bannon
18 January 1986	Clydebank	H	4–0	6,214	Bannon, Dodds, Hegarty, Redford
1 February 1986	St Mirren	A	1–1	4,221	Hegarty
8 February 1986	Hibernian	H	4–0	8,504	Bannon, Coyne (2), Gallacher
22 February 1986	Rangers	H	1–1	14,644	Dodds
26 February 1986	Hibernian	A	1–0	7,137	Bannon
11 March 1986	Motherwell	A	0–2	2,823
15 March 1986	Celtic	A	1–1	20,965	Dodds
22 March 1986	Motherwell	H	4–0	5,710	Sturrock (2), Bannon, Dodds
29 March 1986	Dundee	A	1–0	15,079	Gough
8 April 1986	St Mirren	H	5–0	6,347	Sturrock, Dodds (2), Galaacher, Gough
12 April 1986	Hearts	H	0–3	19,878
16 April 1986	Aberdeen	A	1–0	7,278	Gough
19 April 1986	Clydebank	A	1–1	1,534	Redford
26 April 1986	St Mirren	H	1–2	4,986	Redford
3 May 1986	Hibernian	A	2–1	3,513	Fulton, Beedie

Scottish Cup

Date	Rd	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
25 January 1986	R3	Morton	H	4–0	6,938	Coyne (2), Redford, Bannon (penalty)
15 February 1986	R4	Kilmarnock	H	1–1	6,610	Sturrock
19 February 1986	R4r	Kilmarnock	A	1–0	9,054	Sturrock
8 March 1986	QF	Motherwell	A	1–0	6,822	Gough
5 April 1986	SF	Heart of Midlothian	N	0–1	30,872

Skol Cup

Date	Rd	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
21 August 1985	R2	Alloa Athletic	A	2–0	2,010	Bannon, Gough
28 August 1985	R3	Clydebank	H	2–0	5,870	Gough, Redford
4 September 1985	R4	St Mirren	H	2–1	7,682	Milne (2)
25 September 1985	SF 1	Aberdeen	A	0–1	12,585
9 October 1985	SF 2	Aberdeen	H	0–1	20,119

UEFA Cup

Date	Rd	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
18 September 1985	R1 1	Bohemians	A	5–2	4,185	Sturrock (3), Bannon (2)
2 October 1985	R1 2	Bohemians	H	2–2	7,550	Milne, Redford
23 October 1985	R2 1	Vardar	H	2–0	9,129	Redford, Gough
6 November 1985	R2 2	Vardar	A	1–1	30,000	Hegarty
26 November 1985	R3 1	Neuchâtel Xamax	H	2–1	10,663	Dodds, Redford
10 December 1985	R3 2	Neuchâtel Xamax	A	1–3	21,821	Bannon

Transfers

In

The club signed one player during the season with a total public cost of £70,000. Two other players joined before the following season.

Date	Player	From	Fee (£)
15 August 1985			£0,070,000^[2]
16 May 1986			£0,140,000*^[3]
16 May 1986			£0,140,000*^[4]

Out

Three players were sold by the club during the season.

Date	Player	To	Fee
11 April 1986			Free^[5]
May 1986			Unknown^[6]
May 1986			Unknown^[7]

Loans out

Playing kit

The shirts were sponsored for the first time – future chairman Eddie Thompson's VG Foodstores were the inaugural sponsors.

Trivia

Undersoil heating was used for the first time on 27 November 1985 in the UEFA Cup match against Neuchâtel Xamax^[8]

Notes and References

Web site: Match results 1985/1986. Arab Archive. 14 November 2016.
Web site: Player A to Z: Ian Redford. Glenrothes Arabs. 15 February 2008.
Web site: Player A to Z: Dave Bowman. Glenrothes Arabs. 8 February 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080828224958/http://www.dirtyarab.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Player%20a-z/Bowman%20D.htm . 28 August 2008. dead.
Web site: Player A to Z: Jim McINally. Glenrothes Arabs. 8 February 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20081015114947/http://www.dirtyarab.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Player%20a-z/McInally%20J.htm . 15 October 2008. dead.
Web site: Player A to Z: Hamish McAlpine. Glenrothes Arabs. 15 February 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080905050820/http://www.dirtyarab.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Player%20a-z/McAlpine%20H.htm . 5 September 2008. dead.
Web site: Player A to Z: Stuart Beedie. Glenrothes Arabs. 15 February 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080828230236/http://www.dirtyarab.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Player%20a-z/Beedie%20S.htm . 28 August 2008. dead.
Web site: Player A to Z: Billy Kirkwood. Glenrothes Arabs. 15 February 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080828225920/http://www.dirtyarab.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Player%20a-z/Kirkwood%20B.htm . 28 August 2008. dead.
Web site: Dundee United A-Z (U) . Dundee United F.C. . 15 February 2008 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20071025040844/http://www.dundeeunitedfc.co.uk/index.asp?pg=303 . 25 October 2007 .