| Club: | Dundee United |
| Season: | 1989–90 |
| Manager: | Jim McLean |
| Chairman: | Jim McLean |
| League: | Scottish Premier Division |
| League Result: | 4th W11 D13 L12 F36 A39 P35 |
| Cup1: | Tennent's Scottish Cup |
| Cup1 Result: | Semi-finals |
| Cup2 Result: | Third round |
| Cup3 Result: | Second round |
| League Topscorer: | Darren Jackson, Mixu Paatelainen (7) |
| Season Topscorer: | Mixu Paatelainen (9) |
| Highest Attendance: | 16,635 (vs Celtic, 13 January) |
| Lowest Attendance: | 5,957 (vs St Mirren, 17 February) |
| Prevseason: | 1988–89 |
| Nextseason: | 1990–91 |
The 1989–90 season was the 81st year of football played by Dundee United, and covers the period from 1 July 1989 to 30 June 1990. United finished in fourth place, securing European football on the final day of the season.
Dundee United played a total of 47 competitive matches during the 1989–90 season.[1] The team finished fourth in the Scottish Premier Division.
In the cup competitions, United lost in the semi-final of the Tennent's Scottish Cup to eventual winners Aberdeen and lost in the Skol Cup third round to Hamilton.
| Win | Draw | Loss |
All results are written with Dundee United's score first.
| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 August 1989 | Motherwell | H | 1–1 | 8,596 | French | |
| 19 August 1989 | Dundee | A | 3–4 | 13,616 | Malpas, M O'Neill, Paatelainen | |
| 26 August 1989 | Dunfermline | H | 2–1 | 9,158 | Van der Hoorn, M O'Neill | |
| 9 September 1989 | Hibernian | A | 0–2 | 7,000 | ||
| 16 September 1989 | Celtic | H | 2–2 | 16,624 | Van der Hoorn, French | |
| 23 September 1989 | Hearts | A | 1–1 | 14,008 | McInally | |
| 30 September 1989 | St Mirren | H | 0–0 | 6,643 | ||
| 4 October 1989 | Aberdeen | H | 2–0 | 11,879 | McInally, Malpas | |
| 14 October 1989 | Rangers | A | 1–2 | 36,062 | M O'Neill | |
| 21 October 1989 | Motherwell | A | 2–3 | 8,100 | M O'Neill (2) | |
| 28 October 1989 | Dundee | H | 0–0 | 11,529 | ||
| 4 November 1989 | Dunfermline | A | 1–1 | 10,804 | Paatelainen | |
| 8 November 1989 | Hibernian | H | 1–0 | 8,247 | Jackson | |
| 18 November 1989 | Celtic | A | 1–0 | 35,350 | Gallacher | |
| 25 November 1989 | Hearts | H | 2–1 | 12,201 | Bowman, Paatelainen | |
| 9 December 1989 | Aberdeen | A | 0–2 | 15,500 | McInally, Malpas | |
| 13 December 1989 | St Mirren | A | 0–1 | 2,800 | ||
| 16 December 1989 | Rangers | H | 1–1 | 15,947 | Paatelainen | |
| 23 December 1989 | Motherwell | H | 1–1 | 6,169 | Paatelainen | |
| 30 December 1989 | Dundee | A | 1–1 | 12,803 | Jackson | |
| 3 January 1990 | Dunfermline | H | 1–0 | 11,148 | Jackson | |
| 6 January 1990 | Hibernian | A | 0–0 | 6,500 | ||
| 13 January 1990 | Celtic | H | 2–0 | 16,635 | Connolly (2) | |
| 27 January 1990 | Hearts | A | 2–3 | 13,083 | Connolly, Paatelainen | |
| 3 February 1990 | Rangers | A | 1–3 | 39,058 | Clark | |
| 10 February 1990 | Aberdeen | H | 1–1 | 10,533 | McInally | |
| 17 February 1990 | St Mirren | H | 2–0 | 5,957 | Jackson, Connolly | |
| 3 March 1990 | Celtic | A | 0–3 | 23,541 | ||
| 10 March 1990 | Motherwell | A | 1–0 | 4,697 | Jackson | |
| 24 March 1990 | Dundee | H | 1–2 | 11,918 | Connolly | |
| 31 March 1990 | Dunfermline | A | 1–0 | 6,945 | Jackson | |
| 7 April 1990 | Hibernian | H | 1–0 | 6,633 | Paatelainen | |
| 18 April 1990 | Aberdeen | A | 0–1 | 10,000 | ||
| 21 April 1990 | Rangers | H | 0–1 | 15,996 | ||
| 28 April 1990 | Hearts | H | 1–1 | 7,679 | Jackson | |
| 5 May 1990 | St Mirren | A | 0–0 | 4,312 |
| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 January 1990 | A | 0–0 | 14,176 | |||
| 23 January 1990 | H | 1–0 | 16,228 | Clark | ||
| 24 February 1990 | Queen of the South | H | 2–1 | 5,948 | Connolly, Paatelainen | |
| 17 March 1990 | Hibernian | H | 1–0 | 13,874 | Jackson | |
| 14 April 1990 | Aberdeen | N | 0–4 | 16,581 |
| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 August 1989 | Partick Thistle | H | 1–0 | 7,043 | M O'Neill | |
| 23 August 1989 | Hamilton | A | 1–2 | 2,600 | Hinds |
| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 September 1989 | Glentoran | A | 3–1 | 8,000 | Cleland, McInally, Hinds | |
| 27 September 1989 | Glentoran | H | 2–0 | 9,340 | Clark, Gallacher | |
| 17 October 1989 |  Royal Antwerp | A | 0–4 | 10,000 | ||
| 31 October 1989 | Royal Antwerp | H | 3–2 | 8,994 | M O'Neill, Paatelainen, Clark |
During the 1989–90 season, United used 25 different players comprising five 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] |}
United had 13 players score with the team scoring 50 goals in total. The top goalscorer was Mixu Paatelainen, who finished the season with nine goals.[3]
| Name | League | Cups | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 0 | 9 | ||
| 7 | 1 | 8 | ||
| 5 | 2 | 7 | ||
| 5 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 3 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 1 | 3 | 4 | ||
| 2 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 0 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 1 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 0 | 1 | 1 |
During the 1989–90 season, one United player was sent off. Statistics for cautions are unavailable.[2]
The club signed three players during the season with a total public cost of just over £600,000.
| Date | Player | From | Fee (£) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 July 1989 | £0,065,000[4] | |||
| 2 August 1989 | £0,200,000[5] | |||
| 15 August 1989 | £0,350,000[6] |
Four players were sold by the club during the season with a public total of just over £1m. The club made a profit of around £400k from transfers during the season.
| Date | Player | To | Fee | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 1989 | Unknown[7] | |||
| 22 November 1989 | £0,030,000[8] | |||
| January 1990 | Free[9] | |||
| 25 January 1990 | £0,900,000[10] | |||
| 8 February 1990 | £0,100,000[11] | |||
| 1990 | Unknown[12] |
One player was loaned out during the season.