Dundee United F.C.
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Template:Football club infobox Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Dundee. Officially they are nicknamed The Terrors with the supporters known as The Arabs, though this term has also been applied equally, if not more, to the club in recent times via the sporting media.
They currently play in the Scottish Premier League at Tannadice Park and are currently managed by Gordon Chisholm. Their playing kit is distinct; tangerine in colour, first used when played under the Dallas Tornado moniker in the North American Soccer League of 1967.
During the Club's many European competition runs in the late 20th Century, English based media sometimes incorrectly called the team as Dundee F.C. - the name of their city rivals. This still occasionally happens in the 21st Century.
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History
The Irish community in Dundee formed a new football club in 1909, following the demise of Dundee Harp. Originally called Dundee Hibernian, taking over Clepington Park (renamedTannadice Park) from Dundee Wanderers. Dundee Hibernian played their innaugural game on 18th August, 1909 against Edinburgh Hibernian, the match ending in a 1-1 draw. The Club was saved from going out of business in October of 1923, being saved by a group of Dundee businessmen, they decided to change the club's name to Dundee United in order to attract a wider appeal. The name Dundee City was considered but was protested by city rivals Dundee F.C..
For many years the club had languished in the lower reaches of the Scottish league, competing in the top Division only four seasons, until the appointment of Jerry Kerr as manager in 1959. Kerr ended the club's 28 year absence from the First Division in his first season in charge, winning promotion through finishing 2nd in the Second Division. Some notable players from this period included forwards Dennis Gillespie, Jimmy Irvine and defenders Doug Smith and Ron Yeats (who went on to Captain Liverpool F.C. in the 1960s). In the following season United finished in the top half of the league (one place above city rivals Dundee), where the club would stay with few exceptions for the next 35 years. The sixties were highlighted by the playing skills of the some notable imports from Scandinavia, Orjan Persson, Finn Seemann, Lennart Wing, Finn Dossing and Mogens Berg. These players also helped give United their first taste of the European scene, where they sensationally eliminated FC Barcelona in 1966, who were the then holders of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.
After only this first European excursion, it created much headlines in the football world and brought the Club an invitation to participate in the North American Soccer League in 1967, where they played as Dallas Tornado in tangerine coloured strips.
After persuasion by the wife of manager Jerry Kerr, the colour would soon be adopted as the Club's own in 1969 to give the club a brighter, more modern image. The new colour was paraded for the first time in a pre-season friendly against Everton F.C. in August.
Jim McLean, who was a coach at city rivals Dundee F.C. at the time, took over from Jerry Kerr in 1971 and the most successful era in the club's history began. Up until this point United was the smaller and less successful of the two Dundee based football clubs. However, this would change as McLean (and for a time, with assistant manager Walter Smith), taking United to their first ever Scottish Cup final in 1974, then achieving a record high of 3rd place in the Scottish Premier Division in 1978 then again in 1979, before guiding the side to several major honours; the first by winning the Scottish League Cup in 1979/80, with the trophy being retained the following season.
Dundee United's best season came in 1982/83 when they won the Premier Division title for the first time in the Club's history, with what was then a record number of points and record number of goals scored. By then United had already established a reputation in Europe with impressive wins over sides like AS Monaco FC, Borussia Moenchengladbach, PSV Eindhoven, R.S.C. Anderlecht and Werder Bremen.
In the resulting European Cup, United reached the semi-final stage in their first run, only to be narrowly eliminated by A.S. Roma. After winning the first leg 2-0, United agonisingly lost 3-0 away.
The pinnacle of their achievements in Europe came later in 1986/87 when United became the first Scottish club to reach the final of the UEFA Cup. Along the way, United repeated their earlier 1966 feat of again eliminating FC Barcelona, with victories home and away.
If, unfortunately, it was a case of failure when they failed to beat IFK Göteborg in the two legged final, there was glory in defeat as FIFA bestowed a first-ever Fair Play Award on the club for the sporting behaviour of The Arabs on a memorable night at Tannadice Park.
Dundee United had come a long way under McLean, progressing from comparative obscurity to become one of Scotland's foremost clubs. However, after nearly 22 years at the helm he relinquished the position in the June 1993, whilst remaining Chairman of the Club.
Filling his shoes was the first continental to be appointed manager of a Scottish club - Ivan Golac. He inherited a healthy legacy with some of Scotland's finest young talent, though his first action was to sell Duncan Ferguson to Rangers F.C. for a fee of £3.75 million, breaking the record transfer fee involving two British clubs.
In Golac's first season, he brought the Scottish Cup to Tannadice Park for the first time in 1994 after six previous Club failures. This completed the full set of domestic honours for the Club. United beat Rangers F.C. one-nil with Craig Brewster scoring the winner from close range.
However, the club's fortunes took a turn for the worst after this, as they struggled at the foot of the Premier Division for much of the 1994-95 season. This culminated in their relegation to the First Division following a 1-0 defeat at home to Celtic on the last day. However, the club's form improved in the First Division, and they eventually finished 2nd. This left them facing a two leg play-off against Partick Thistle for the right to play in the Premier Division in the 1996-97 season. Dundee United won 3-2 on aggregate, thus becoming the only club to be promoted through this short-lived play-off system.
In recent years the club has struggled to maintain such success, much like the previous powers of Scottish football. In 2005, United had reached their first Scottish Cup final since 1994, only to lose to Celtic one-nil.
The Arabs
There have been several stories regarding the origins of The Arabs term. The most popular view is that the name was coined during the severe winter of the 1962/63 season. It was so bad that between December and March, Dundee United were able to play only three times.
One of these was a Scottish Cup tie against Albion Rovers F.C., for which the management, in a desperate attempt to get Tannadice playable, hired an industrial tar burner to melt the several inches of covering snow and ice. Not only did this work but removed the grass too.
Several lorry loads of sand was ordered and spread across the barren surface with the regulation playing lines painted on top. United adapted well to this playing surface and won the game 3-0, prompting observers to comment that they had taken to the new surface like Arabs.
The fans however used the term to describe themselves. The term was then later resurrected during the early 1990s through the pages of the popular Dundee United football fanzine, The Final Hurdle, with supporters soon declaring that they were 'Proud To Be An Arab'. Deacon Blue signer and long time Dundee United supporter, Ricky Ross, even wrote a song declaring this fact.
By then, even the official club souvenir shops were selling replica keffiyehs in tangerine and black. The term was now firmly connected with Dundee United.
The former Dundee United Supporters Association (DUSA) is now known as the ArabTRUST, the official club weekly email newsletter is known as ArabNeWS, whilst the Club website has an ArabFORUM section. Various Dundee United supporters clubs and fan websites have Arab is their names too.
Elsewhere, the football media on television, newspapers and teletext refer to the club as The Arabs.
Famous players
- Gary Bollan
- Craig Brewster
- Christian Dailly
- Duncan Ferguson
- Kevin Gallagher
- Richard Gough
- Andy Gray
- Paul Hegarty
- Maurice Malpas
- Jim McInally
- Billy McKinlay
- David Narey
- Mixu Paatelainen
- Walter Smith
- Paul Sturrock
Club records
The largest crowd ever to watch Dundee United was in excess of 100,000 for the formal opening of the Shah Alam Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in July 1994.
- Highest home attendance: 28,000 vs. FC Barcelona, 1966
- Biggest win: 14–0 vs. Nithsdale Wanderers, 1931
- Biggest loss: 12-1 vs. Motherwell F.C. 1954
- Most capped player: Maurice Malpas, 55 Scotland
- Most League appearances: Maurice Malpas, 617, 1981-2000
- Most League goals: Peter McKay, 158
- Most goals in a season: John Coyle, 41, 1955-1956
Honours
After their only Premier Division championship win, the team reached the resulting semi-final of the European Cup in 1984. After a marathon season in 1986/87, the team lost in both the Scottish Cup and UEFA Cup finals in the space of a few days. The Arabs won the first-ever FIFA Fair Play Award for their sporting behaviour after this UEFA Cup final defeat.
- Scottish Cup (1): 1994
External links
Official links
- Dundee United FC (http://www.dundeeunitedfc.co.uk/)
- ArabTRUST (http://www.arabtrust.org.uk/)
- Dundee United Youth Development (http://www.youthatunited.com/)
- Federation of Dundee United Supporters' Clubs (http://www.feddusc.com/)
Supporter links
- A90 Arabs (http://www.a90arabs.com/)
- Arab FC (http://arabfc.net/)
- Arabdownunder (http://uk.geocities.com/arabdownunder2003/)
- ArabFever (http://www.arabfever.co.uk/)
- Arabland (http://www.arabland.freeserve.co.uk/)
- BBC - Dundee United pages (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/d/dundee_utd/)
- DUFC1909 (http://dufc1909.co.uk/)
- Dundee United Mad (http://www.dundeeunited-mad.co.uk/)
- Dundee United Online (http://www.dundeeunitedonline.com/)
- East Angus Arabs (http://www.eastangusarabs.2ya.com/)
- Edinburgh Arabs (http://www.expage.com/ediarabs)
- Glasgow Lanarkshire & Stirling Arabs (http://www.glsarabs.com/)
- Glenrothes Arabs (http://www.glenrothesarabs.co.uk/)
- Proud To Be An Arab (http://www.geocities.com/colosseum/3504/dufc.html)
- South London Tangerines (http://southwestlondontangerines.freeservers.com/)
- Tangerine Machine (http://www.geocities.com/tangerinemachine_dufc/)
- Thurso Arabs Online (http://www.thursoarabsonline.co.uk/)
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