1988–89 Dundee United F.C. season explained

Club:	Dundee United
Season:	1988–89
Manager:	Jim McLean
Chairman:	Jim McLean
League:	Scottish Premier Division
League Result:	4th W16 D12 L8 F44 A26 P44
Cup1:	Tennent's Scottish Cup
Cup1 Result:	Quarter-finals
Cup2 Result:	Semi-finals
Cup3 Result:	Second round
League Topscorer:	Mixu Paatelainen (10)
Season Topscorer:	Mixu Paatelainen (17)
Highest Attendance:	20,071 (vs Rangers, 27 September)
Lowest Attendance:	5,957 (vs St Mirren, 17 February)
Prevseason:	1987–88
Nextseason:	1989–90

The 1988–89 season was the 80th year of football played by Dundee United, and covers the period from 1 July 1988 to 30 June 1989. United finished in fourth place, securing UEFA Cup football for the following season.

Match results

Dundee United played a total of 50 competitive matches during the 1988–89 season.^[1] The team finished fourth in the Scottish Premier Division.

In the cup competitions, United lost in the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup to eventual runners-up Rangers and lost in the Skol Cup semi-finals to Aberdeen, who also finished as losers in the final. Romanian side Dinamo Bucharest knocked United out of the Cup Winners' Cup in the second round.

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

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

Premier Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
13 August 1988	St Mirren	A	1–0	5,832	Clark
20 August 1988	Celtic	H	1–0	18,769	Gallacher
27 August 1988	Aberdeen	H	2–2	13,128	Clark, Meade
3 September 1988	Dundee	A	3–0	14,927	Paatelainen (2), Gallacher
17 September 1988	Hibernian	H	1–1	11,017	Paatelainen
24 September 1988	Motherwell	A	2–1	3,559	Redford (2)
27 September 1988	Rangers	H	0–1	20,071
1 October 1988	Hearts	H	0–0	10,838
8 October 1988	Hamilton	A	4–0	3,538	Meade, Paatelainen (2), McPhee
12 October 1988	Celtic	A	0–1	36,870
22 October 1988	St Mirren	H	0–1	7,618
29 October 1988	Motherwell	H	1–1	6,266	Paatelainen
2 November 1988	Hibernian	A	1–1	10,000	Meade
5 November 1988	Dundee	H	2–0	14,882	Meade, Paatelainen
12 November 1988	Aberdeen	A	1–1	15,000	Preston
19 November 1988	Hearts	A	0–0	10,121
26 November 1988	Hamilton	H	1–0	6,357	Bowman
3 December 1988	Rangers	A	1–0	39,200	Beaumont
10 December 1988	Hibernian	H	4–1	9,963	Mitchell, French, Gallacher, McKinlay
17 December 1988	Celtic	H	2–0	18,745	Paatelainen, Baillie
31 December 1988	St Mirren	A	1–0	7,762	Gallacher
3 January 1989	Aberdeen	H	1–1	17,952	French
7 January 1989	Dundee	A	1–0	16,332	French
14 January 1989	Hamilton	A	5–0	4,000	McInally, Gallacher (3), Paatelainen
21 January 1989	Hearts	H	0–0	13,674
11 February 1989	Rangers	H	1–1	20,013	Stevens
11 March 1989	St Mirren	H	1–4	8,320	Malpas
14 March 1989	Motherwell	A	2–1	3,545	Krivokapic, Gallacher
25 March 1989	Celtic	A	0–1	36,870
1 April 1989	Aberdeen	A	0–1	16,700
8 April 1989	Dundee	H	2–1	11,910	Sturrock, Gallacher
22 April 1989	Motherwell	H	1–1	6,301	Hegarty
29 April 1989	Hibernian	A	2–1	7,700	Irvine, Paatelainen
2 May 1989	Rangers	A	0–2	39,058
6 May 1989	Hearts	A	0–0	8,613
13 May 1989	Hamilton	H	0–1	11,503

Scottish Cup

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
28 January 1989	Dundee	A	2–1	18,117	Bowman, Meade
18 February 1989	Aberdeen	A	1–1	23,600	Paatelainen
22 February 1989	Aberdeen	H	1–1	18,756	Paatelainen
27 February 1989	Aberdeen	H	1–0	21,095	Paatelainen
21 March 1989	Rangers	A	2–2	42,177	Gallacher, Paatelainen
27 March 1989	Rangers	H	0–1	21,872

Skol Cup

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
16 August 1988	Partick Thistle	A	2–0	4,500	Paatelainen (2)
24 August 1988	St Mirren	A	3–1	5,970	Paatelainen, Gallacher, Meade
31 August 1988	Celtic	H	2–0	21,178	Gallacher, Redford
20 September 1988	Aberdeen	N	0–2	18,481

Cup Winners' Cup

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
6 September 1988	Floriana	A	0–0	4,000
5 October 1988	Floriana	H	1–0	9,138	Meade
26 October 1988	Dinamo Bucharest	H	1–1	10,594	Beaumont
9 November 1988	Dinamo Bucharest	A	0–1	18,000

Player details

During the 1988–89 season, United used 31 different players comprising four nationalities. Maurice Malpas was the only player to play in every match. The table below shows the number of appearances and goals scored by each player.^[2] |}

Goalscorers

United had 17 players score with the team scoring 60 goals in total. The top goalscorer was Mixu Paatelainen, who finished the season with 17 goals.^[3]

Name	League	Cups	Total
	10	7	17
	9	3	12
	4	3	7
	3	0	3
	2	1	3
	3	0	3
	2	0	2
	1	1	2
	1	1	2
	1	0	1
	1	0	1
	1	0	1
	1	0	1
	1	0	1
	1	0	1
	1	0	1
	1	0	1
	1	0	1

Team statistics

League table

Transfers

In

The club signed four players during the season with a total public cost of at least £450,000 (one figure unknown).

Date	Player	From	Fee (£)
3 August 1988			£0,250,000^[4]
3 August 1988		Unattached	Free^[5]
16 December 1988			£0,200,000^[6]
April 1989			Unknown

Out

Seven players were sold by the club during the season with a public total of at least £1.1m (some figures unavailable). One player also retired.

Date	Player	To	Fee
13 July 1988			£0,225,000^[7]
July 1988			£0,320,000^[8]
November 1988			Unknown
14 November 1988			£0,200,000^[9]
16 November 1988			£0,100,000^[10]
12 January 1989			£0,150,000^[11]
1989			Unknown
April 1989			£0,150,000
13 May 1989		Retired	N/A

Playing kit

The jerseys were sponsored by Belhaven for a second season.

Trivia

• All four of United's matches against Hearts finished 0–0.

See also

• 1988–89 in Scottish football

External links

• Glenrothes Arabs 1988–89 season review

Notes and References

1. Web site: Match results 1988/1989. Arab Archive. 24 June 2018.
2. Web site: 1988–89. Glenrothes Arabs. 4 February 2008.
3. Web site: 1988–89. Glenrothes Arabs. 5 February 2008.
4. Web site: Player A to Z: Miodrag Krivokapic. Glenrothes Arabs. 5 February 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080828230412/http://www.dirtyarab.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Player%20a-z/Krivokapic%20M.htm . 28 August 2008. dead.
5. Web site: Player A to Z: Raphael Meade . https://web.archive.org/web/20080120091809/http://www.dirtyarab.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Player%20a-z/Meade%20R.htm . dead . 20 January 2008 . Glenrothes Arabs . 5 February 2008 .
6. Web site: Player A to Z: Darren Jackson. Glenrothes Arabs. 5 February 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20081012180811/http://www.dirtyarab.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Player%20a-z/Jackson%20D.htm . 12 October 2008. dead.
7. Web site: Player A to Z: Eamonn Bannon. Glenrothes Arabs. 6 February 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080828223813/http://www.dirtyarab.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Player%20a-z/Bannon%20E.htm . 28 August 2008. dead.
8. Web site: Player A to Z: Iain Ferguson. Glenrothes Arabs. 6 February 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080828223947/http://www.dirtyarab.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Player%20a-z/Ferguson%20I.htm . 28 August 2008. dead.
9. Web site: Player A to Z: Ian Redford. Glenrothes Arabs. 5 February 2008.
10. Web site: Player A to Z: Gordon McLeod. https://archive.today/20070803184334/http://www.dirtyarab.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Player%20a-z/McLeod%20G.htm. dead. 3 August 2007. Glenrothes Arabs. 5 February 2008.
11. Web site: Player A to Z: Dave Beaumont. Glenrothes Arabs. 5 February 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080828225438/http://www.dirtyarab.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Player%20a-z/Beaumont%20D.htm . 28 August 2008. dead.