# 1976–77 Dundee F.C. season

The 1976–77 season was the 75th season in which Dundee competed at a Scottish national level, playing in the second tier for the first time since the 1946–47 season. The club would fail to achieve promotion, finishing in 3rd place. Dundee would also compete in both the Scottish League Cup and the Scottish Cup, where they would be eliminated in the group stage of the League Cup, and would reach the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup before being defeated by Celtic.
For the first time in their history, Dundee's kit would be made by an official manufacturer, namely Admiral, who brought their unique look to Dens Park with their curved stripes.

## Scottish First Division

Statistics provided by Dee Archive.
| Match Day | Date | Opponent | H/A | Score | Dundee Scorer(s) | Attendance |
| 1 | 4 September | Dumbarton | H | 2–1 | Hutchinson, Pirie | 4,619 |
| 2 | 8 September | East Fife | A | 4–2 | Strachan, Sinclair, Pirie (2) | 2,083 |
| 3 | 11 September | Greenock Morton | A | 2–2 | Hutchinson, Sinclair | 1,800 |
| 4 | 15 September | Arbroath | H | 2–1 | Carson (o.g.), Pirie | 4,229 |
| 5 | 18 September | Queen of the South | H | 1–1 | Pirie | 5,061 |
| 6 | 22 September | Airdrieonians | A | 2–2 | Pirie, Hutchinson | 3,000 |
| 7 | 25 September | Falkirk | A | 6–1 | Hutchinson (2), Purdie, Pirie (2), Strachan | 2,500 |
| 8 | 29 September | Hamilton Academical | H | 5–1 | Pirie (3) (pen.), Purdie, Hutchinson | 3,500 |
| 9 | 2 October | St Mirren | A | 0–4 | | 4,000 |
| 10 | 6 October | Hamilton Academical | A | 2–4 | Pirie (pen.), Purdie | 1,000 |
| 11 | 9 October | Raith Rovers | H | 3–1 | Ford, Pirie (2) | 5,372 |
| 12 | 16 October | Clydebank | A | 1–2 | Pirie | 2,000 |
| 13 | 23 October | Montrose | H | 6–1 | Sinclair (3), Pirie (2), Hutchinson | 4,941 |
| 14 | 30 October | St Johnstone | A | 1–0 | Pirie | 5,329 |
| 15 | 10 November | Dumbarton | A | 1–1 | Hutchinson | 500 |
| 16 | 13 November | Greenock Morton | H | 1–1 | Gemmell (pen.) | 4,948 |
| 17 | 20 November | Queen of the South | A | 2–2 | Purdie (2) | 2,000 |
| 18 | 27 November | Falkirk | H | 2–0 | Sinclair, Ford | 4,287 |
| 19 | 15 December | Raith Rovers | A | 2–1 | Hutchinson, Robinson | 1,645 |
| 20 | 25 December | Montrose | A | 1–0 | Purdie | 3,500 |
| 21 | 8 January | Greenock Morton | A | 3–2 | Pirie (2), Hoggan | 2,000 |
| 22 | 22 January | Falkirk | A | 8–0 | Pirie (4), Sinclair (3), Purdie | 2,500 |
| 23 | 5 February | St Mirren | A | 1–3 | Strachan | 10,000 |
| 24 | 12 February | Raith Rovers | H | 4–0 | Hoggan, Pirie (2), Sinclair | 5,088 |
| 25 | 15 February | Queen of the South | H | 0–2 | | 4,635 |
| 26 | 19 February | Clydebank | A | 0–3 | | 3,900 |
| 27 | 5 March | Montrose | H | 3–2 | Strachan (2), Pirie | 4,333 |
| 28 | 15 March | St Johnstone | H | 2–0 | Gemmell (pen.), Laing | 2,849 |
| 29 | 19 March | Arbroath | A | 0–1 | | 2,330 |
| 30 | 23 March | Dumbarton | H | 4–0 | Pirie (4) | 2,401 |
| 31 | 26 March | Arbroath | H | 5–2 | Strachan, Pirie (3), Sinclair | 4,006 |
| 32 | 30 March | St Johnstone | A | 0–0 | | 2,048 |
| 33 | 2 April | Airdrieonians | A | 2–2 | Pirie, Gemmell (pen.) | 1,500 |
| 34 | 9 April | Airdrieonians | H | 3–1 | Phillip, Pirie, Strachan | 3,926 |
| 35 | 12 April | Clydebank | H | 2–3 | Hutchinson, Ford | 8,707 |
| 36 | 16 April | East Fife | H | 2–2 | Gemmell (pen.), Hutchinson | 2,887 |
| 37 | 19 April | St Mirren | H | 0–4 | | 4,386 |
| 38 | 23 April | East Fife | A | 2–0 | Pirie, Robinson | 2,263 |
| 39 | 30 April | Hamilton Academical | A | 3–0 | Hutchinson, Caldwell, Pirie | 400 |

### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | St Mirren (C, P) | 39 | 25 | 12 | 2 | 91 | 38 | +53 | 62 | Promotion to the Premier Division |
| 2 | Clydebank (P) | 39 | 24 | 10 | 5 | 89 | 38 | +51 | 58 | Promotion to the Premier Division |
| 3 | Dundee | 39 | 21 | 9 | 9 | 90 | 55 | +35 | 51 | |
| 4 | Morton | 39 | 20 | 10 | 9 | 77 | 52 | +25 | 50 | |
| 5 | Montrose | 39 | 16 | 9 | 14 | 61 | 62 | −1 | 41 | |

## Scottish League Cup

Statistics provided by Dee Archive.

### Group 1

| Match Day | Date | Opponent | H/A | Score | Dundee Scorer(s) | Attendance |
| 1 | 14 August | Heart of Midlothian | A | 0–2 | | 9,401 |
| 2 | 18 August | Motherwell | H | 2–1 | Sinclair, Hutchinson | 6,000 |
| 3 | 21 August | Partick Thistle | H | 0–2 | | 5,837 |
| 4 | 25 August | Motherwell | A | 3–3 | Pirie (3) (pen.) | 4,258 |
| 5 | 28 August | Partick Thistle | A | 1–0 | Hoggan | 5,000 |
| 6 | 1 September | Heart of Midlothian | H | 3–2 | Robinson, Pirie, Purdie | 4,733 |

#### Group 1 table

| Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Heart of Midlothian | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 8 | +7 | 9 |
| Dundee | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 10 | −1 | 7 |
| Partick Thistle | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 7 | +1 | 6 |
| Motherwell | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 14 | −7 | 2 |

## Scottish Cup

Statistics provided by Dee Archive.
| Match Day | Date | Opponent | H/A | Score | Dundee Scorer(s) | Attendance |
| 3rd round | 7 February | St Johnstone | A | 1–1 | Purdie | 7,000 |
| 3R replay | 8 February | St Johnstone | H | 4–2 | Pirie (2), Purdie, Hutchinson | 8,197 |
| 4th round | 26 February | Aberdeen | H | 0–0 | | 16,999 |
| 4R replay | 2 March | Aberdeen | A | 2–1 | Hutchinson (2) | 18,373 |
| Quarter-finals | 12 March | Arbroath | A | 3–1 | Strachan, Sinclair (2) | 9,558 |
| Semi-finals | 6 April | Celtic | N | 0–2 | | 29,900 |

## Player statistics

Statistics provided by Dee Archive
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | First Division | First Division | Scottish Cup | Scottish Cup | League Cup | League Cup |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| | GK | SCO | Thomson Allan | 16 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Alex Caldwell | 46 | 1 | 31+3 | 1 | 5+1 | 0 | 5+1 | 0 |
| | GK | SCO | Ally Donaldson | 35 | 0 | 29 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Bobby Ford | 46 | 4 | 34+3 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| | DF | SCO | Tommy Gemmell | 25 | 4 | 20 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| | FW | SCO | Wilson Hoggan | 36 | 3 | 23+4 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 3+2 | 1 |
| | MF | SCO | Bobby Hutchinson | 45 | 16 | 35 | 12 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 1 |
| | DF | SCO | Davie Johnston | 28 | 0 | 21+1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | FW | SCO | Derek Laing | 13 | 1 | 2+8 | 1 | 0+1 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Dave MacKinnon | 9 | 0 | 2+2 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 3+1 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | John MacPhail | 35 | 0 | 23+2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | John Martin | 21 | 0 | 12+2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Dave McIntosh | 5 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | FW | SCO | Paddy Morris | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Iain Phillip | 48 | 1 | 36 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| | FW | SCO | Billy Pirie | 44 | 44 | 33 | 38 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 4 |
| | FW | SCO | Ian Purdie | 46 | 10 | 33+1 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 1 |
| | MF | SCO | Ian Redford | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Bobby Robinson | 40 | 3 | 20+13 | 2 | 2+2 | 0 | 2+1 | 1 |
| | FW | SCO | Eric Sinclair | 43 | 14 | 30+3 | 11 | 2+3 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
| | MF | SCO | Gordon Strachan | 42 | 8 | 33+3 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 |