# 1987–88 Dundee United F.C. season

The 1987–88 season was the 79th year of football played by Dundee United, and covers the period from 1 July 1987 to 30 June 1988. United finished in fifth place, securing UEFA Cup Winners' Cup football for the following season, despite their Scottish Cup final defeat to Celtic (Celtic qualified for European competition as league winners).

## Match results

Dundee United played a total of 60 competitive matches during the 1987–88 season. The team finished fifth in the Scottish Premier Division.
In the cup competitions, United lost in the final of the Scottish Cup to Celtic and lost in the Skol Cup quarter-finals to rivals Dundee. Czechoslovakian side Vítkovice ensured United wouldn't repeat last season's UEFA Cup run, beating them 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 |
| 8 August 1987 | Rangers | A | 1–1 | 39,120 | Beaumont |
| 12 August 1987 | Motherwell | H | 1–1 | 6,633 | Redford |
| 15 August 1987 | Morton | H | 3–1 | 6,641 | McInally, Redford, Sturrock |
| 22 August 1987 | Hearts | A | 1–4 | 14,548 | Ferguson |
| 29 August 1987 | Aberdeen | A | 1–1 | 16,000 | Redford |
| 5 September 1987 | Celtic | H | 0–0 | 16,192 | |
| 12 September 1987 | Hibernian | H | 1–2 | 7,920 | Hegarty |
| 19 September 1987 | St Mirren | A | 0–2 | 3,807 | |
| 26 September 1987 | Falkirk | H | 3–0 | 6,240 | G McLeod, Sturrock (2) |
| 3 October 1987 | Dundee | A | 1–1 | 11,497 | Ferguson |
| 6 October 1987 | Dunfermline | A | 0–0 | 7,558 | |
| 10 October 1987 | Rangers | H | 1–0 | 18,214 | Ferguson |
| 17 October 1987 | Aberdeen | H | 0–0 | 11,281 | |
| 24 October 1987 | Celtic | A | 2–1 | 31,032 | Ferguson, Clark |
| 28 October 1987 | Hibernian | A | 1–0 | 9,250 | McKinlay |
| 31 October 1987 | St Mirren | H | 2–3 | 7,607 | Ferguson, Paatelainen |
| 7 November 1987 | Motherwell | A | 1–2 | 2,927 | Ferguson |
| 14 November 1987 | Dunfermline | H | 1–0 | 8,699 | Paatelainen |
| 18 November 1987 | Hearts | H | 0–3 | 14,258 | |
| 21 November 1987 | Morton | A | 1–0 | 3,000 | Ferguson |
| 24 November 1987 | Falkirk | A | 1–4 | 4,000 | G McLeod |
| 28 November 1987 | Dundee | H | 1–3 | 13,625 | Clark |
| 5 December 1987 | Rangers | A | 0–1 | 41,159 | |
| 12 December 1987 | Motherwell | H | 3–1 | 5,703 | G McLeod, Paatelainen, Ferguson |
| 16 December 1987 | Hibernian | H | 1–2 | 6,095 | Ferguson |
| 19 December 1987 | St Mirren | A | 1–2 | 3,517 | McPhee |
| 26 December 1987 | Celtic | H | 1–0 | 18,458 | French |
| 2 January 1988 | Aberdeen | A | 0–0 | 21,500 | |
| 9 January 1988 | Falkirk | H | 0–0 | 6,617 | |
| 16 January 1988 | Dundee | A | 2–0 | 13,651 | Bannon, Paatelainen |
| 3 February 1988 | Hearts | A | 1–1 | 13,710 | Redford |
| 6 February 1988 | Morton | H | 2–0 | 6,566 | Redford (2) |
| 13 February 1988 | Dunfermline | A | 3–0 | 7,159 | Gallacher (3) |
| 27 February 1988 | Rangers | H | 1–1 | 20,846 | Paatelainen |
| 5 March 1988 | Hibernian | A | 0–0 | 8,401 | |
| 19 March 1988 | Aberdeen | H | 0–2 | 10,403 | |
| 26 March 1988 | Celtic | A | 0–0 | 34,933 | |
| 30 March 1988 | St Mirren | H | 5–1 | 6,294 | Bowman, Ferguson, French, Irvine (2) |
| 2 April 1988 | Dundee | H | 1–0 | 13,874 | French |
| 16 April 1988 | Motherwell | A | 2–4 | 3,822 | Clark, J McLeod |
| 23 April 1988 | Dunfermline | H | 2–2 | 8,263 | McInally, Ferguson |
| 30 April 1988 | Morton | A | 4–0 | 2,000 | Paatelainen (4) |
| 4 May 1988 | Falkirk | A | 2–1 | 4,500 | Welsh, Gallacher |
| 7 May 1988 | Hearts | H | 0–0 | 9,820 | |

### Scottish Cup

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 30 January 1988 | Arbroath | A | 7–0 | 5,905 | Malpas, Bannon, Irvine (2), Paatelainen French, Redford |
| 20 February 1988 | Airdrieonians | A | 2–0 | 6,727 | Hegarty, Bannon |
| 12 March 1988 | Dundee | A | 0–0 | 19,355 | |
| 15 March 1988 | Dundee | H | 2–2 | 17,055 | Bannon (2) |
| 28 March 1988 | Dundee | A | 3–0 | 19,152 | Redford, Ferguson, McLeod |
| 9 April 1988 | Aberdeen | N | 0–0 | 20,488 | |
| 13 April 1988 | Aberdeen | N | 1–1 | 17,288 | Paatelainen |
| 20 April 1988 | Aberdeen | N | 1–0 | 19,048 | Ferguson |
| 14 May 1988 | Celtic | N | 1–2 | 74,000 | Gallacher |

### Skol Cup

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 19 August 1987 | Partick Thistle | H | 2–0 | 6,075 | McPhee, Ferguson, Gallacher, Sturrock |
| 25 August 1987 | Raith Rovers | A | 2–1 | 6,500 | Sturrock, Malpas |
| 2 September 1987 | Dundee | A | 1–2 | 19,817 | Ferguson |

### UEFA Cup

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 16 September 1987 | Coleraine | A | 1–0 | 6,500 | Sturrock |
| 30 September 1987 | Coleraine | H | 3–1 | 8,430 | Clark, Gallacher, Sturrock |
| 21 October 1987 | Vítkovice | H | 1–2 | 8,938 | Ferguson |
| 4 November 1987 | Vítkovice | A | 1–1 | 12,549 | Clark |

## Player details

During the 1987–88 season, United used 31 different players comprising four nationalities. Maurice Malpas featured in all but one of United's 60 matches. The table below shows the number of appearances and goals scored by each player.
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Scottish Premier Division | Scottish Premier Division | Tennent's Scottish Cup | Tennent's Scottish Cup | Skol Cup | Skol Cup | UEFA Cup Winners' Cup | UEFA Cup Winners' Cup |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| | GK | SCO | Alan Main | 10 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | GK | SCO | Billy Thomson | 50 | 0 | 36 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Dave Beaumont | 11 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | John Clark | 37 | 5 | 27 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| | DF | SCO | Alex Cleland | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Paul Hegarty | 57 | 2 | 41 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | John Holt | 9 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Gary McGinnis | 15 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Maurice Malpas | 59 | 2 | 44 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Dave Narey | 54 | 0 | 39 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Brian Welsh | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Eamonn Bannon | 40 | 5 | 26 | 1 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Dave Bowman | 51 | 1 | 38 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Harry Curran | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Alan Irvine | 19 | 4 | 16 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Paul Kinnaird | 13 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Billy Kirkwood | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Jim McInally | 46 | 2 | 36 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Billy McKinlay | 13 | 1 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Gordon McLeod | 13 | 3 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Joe McLeod | 14 | 2 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Ian McPhee | 14 | 2 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Allan Preston | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Ian Redford | 38 | 8 | 25 | 6 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | FW | SCO | Iain Ferguson | 52 | 16 | 38 | 11 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| | FW | SCO | Hamish French | 26 | 4 | 20 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | FW | SCO | Kevin Gallacher | 36 | 8 | 26 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| | FW | SCO | Alan Irvine | 8 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | FW | FIN | Mixu Paatelainen | 27 | 11 | 19 | 9 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | FW | SCO | Paul Sturrock | 15 | 7 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 |

## Team statistics
### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 3 | Rangers | 44 | 26 | 8 | 10 | 85 | 34 | +51 | 60 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 4 | Aberdeen | 44 | 21 | 17 | 6 | 56 | 25 | +31 | 59 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 5 | Dundee United | 44 | 16 | 15 | 13 | 54 | 47 | +7 | 47 | Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 6 | Hibernian | 44 | 12 | 19 | 13 | 41 | 42 | −1 | 43 | |
| 7 | Dundee | 44 | 17 | 7 | 20 | 70 | 64 | +6 | 41 | |

## Playing kit

| Home colours | Away colours |
The jerseys were sponsored by Belhaven Beers for the first time.