# 1977–78 Dundee United F.C. season

The 1977–78 season was the 69th year of football played by Dundee United, and covers the period from 1 July 1977 to 30 June 1978. United finished in third place, securing UEFA Cup football for the following season.

## Match results

Dundee United played a total of 50 competitive matches during the 1977–78 season.

### Legend

* Win
* Draw
* Loss
All results are written with Dundee United's score first. Own goals in italics

### Premier Division

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 13 August 1977 | Celtic | A | 0–0 | 33,159 | |
| 20 August 1977 | St Mirren | H | 2–1 | 7,658 | Wallace, Addison |
| 27 August 1977 | Aberdeen | A | 0–0 | 17,082 | |
| 10 September 1977 | Hibernian | H | 2–0 | 6,518 | Kirkwood, Rolland (penalty) |
| 17 September 1977 | Clydebank | A | 3–0 | 2,853 | Sturrock, Bourke, Fleming |
| 24 September 1977 | Motherwell | H | 3–1 | 7,810 | Fleming, Sturrock, Bourke |
| 1 October 1977 | Ayr United | A | 2–0 | 3,281 | Hegarty, McAnespie |
| 8 October 1977 | Rangers | H | 0–1 | 18,571 | |
| 15 October 1977 | Partick Thistle | A | 1–2 | 4,657 | Sturrock |
| 22 October 1977 | Celtic | H | 1–2 | 17,198 | Fleming |
| 29 October 1977 | St Mirren | A | 1–0 | 9,528 | Bourke |
| 5 November 1977 | Aberdeen | H | 0–1 | 10,130 | |
| 12 November 1977 | Hibernian | A | 0–0 | 5,666 | |
| 19 November 1977 | Clydebank | H | 4–0 | 4,069 | Fleming, Bourke, Wallace, Hegarty |
| 26 November 1977 | Motherwell | A | 0–0 | 4,841 | |
| 10 December 1977 | Rangers | A | 0–2 | 21,075 | |
| 17 December 1977 | Partick Thistle | H | 2–2 | 5,098 | Wallace (2) |
| 24 December 1977 | Celtic | A | 0–1 | 20,246 | |
| 31 December 1977 | St Mirren | H | 2–1 | 7,645 | Dodds, Hegarty |
| 2 January 1978 | Aberdeen | A | 0–1 | 24,208 | |
| 7 January 1978 | Hibernian | H | 1–1 | 6,880 | Bourke |
| 4 February 1978 | Ayr United | A | 1–0 | 3,231 | Fleming |
| 25 February 1978 | Partick Thistle | A | 2–0 | 3,539 | Fleming, Kirkwood |
| 4 March 1978 | Celtic | H | 0–1 | 14,167 | |
| 15 March 1978 | St Mirren | A | 2–1 | 10,169 | Holt, Fleming |
| 18 March 1978 | Aberdeen | H | 0–0 | 9,671 | |
| 25 March 1978 | Hibernian | A | 1–3 | 8,354 | Payne |
| 29 March 1978 | Motherwell | H | 1–1 | 4,654 | Holt |
| 8 April 1978 | Motherwel | A | 1–0 | 4,907 | Fleming |
| 12 April 1978 | Clydebank | H | 1–0 | 3,550 | Hegarty |
| 15 April 1978 | Ayr United | H | 1–0 | 4,107 | Kirkwood |
| 19 April 1978 | Rangers | H | 0–1 | 17,293 | |
| 22 April 1978 | Rangers | A | 0–3 | 30,239 | |
| 26 April 1978 | Ayr United | H | 3–1 | 2,735 | Holt, Fleming, Wallace |
| 29 April 1978 | Partick Thistle | H | 5–2 | 3,646 | Addison (2), Wallace, Stewart, Kirkwood |
| 2 May 1978 | Clydebank | A | 0–2 | 1,030 | |

### Scottish Cup

| Date | Rd | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 28 January 1978 | R3 | Hamilton Academical | A | 4–1 | 5,575 | Addison (2), Hegarty, Payne |
| 27 February 1978 | R4 | Queen of the South | H | 3–0 | 8,000 | Fleming, Hegarty (penalty), Bourke |
| 11 March 1978 | QF | Queen's Park | H | 2–0 | 5,841 | Addison, Sturrock (penalty) |
| 5 April 1978 | SF | Rangers | N | 0–2 | 25,619 | |

### League Cup

| Date | Rd | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 17 August 1977 | R1 1 | Albion Rovers | H | 5–0 | 3,128 | Wallace, Sturrock, Kirkwood, Hegraty, Robinson |
| 23 August 1977 | R1 2 | Albion Rovers | A | 5–1 | 1,030 | Wallace, Narey, Kirkwood, Sturrock, Hegraty |
| 31 August 1977 | R2 1 | Partick Thistle | A | 0–0 | 2,535 | |
| 3 September 1977 | R2 2 | Partick Thistle | H | 1–0 | 5,907 | Dodds |
| 5 October 1977 | R3 1 | Arbroath | A | 4–0 | 3,482 | Kirkwood (3), Holt |
| 26 October 1977 | R3 2 | Arbroath | H | 2–1 | 3,107 | Kirkwood, Sturrock |
| 9 November 1977 | QF 1 | Heart of Midlothian | H | 3–1 | 7,286 | Kirkwood, Hegarty, Wallace |
| 16 November 1977 | QF 2 | Heart of Midlothian | A | 0–2 | 7,245 | |

### UEFA Cup

| Date | Rd | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 14 September 1977 | R1 1 | KB Copenhagen | H | 1–0 | 8,500 | Sturrock |
| 27 September 1977 | R1 2 | KB Copenhagen | A | 0–3 | 9,000 | |

## League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Rangers (C) | 36 | 24 | 7 | 5 | 76 | 39 | +37 | 55 | Qualification for the European Cup first round |
| 2 | Aberdeen | 36 | 22 | 9 | 5 | 68 | 29 | +39 | 53 | Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 3 | Dundee United | 36 | 16 | 8 | 12 | 42 | 32 | +10 | 40 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 4 | Hibernian | 36 | 15 | 7 | 14 | 51 | 43 | +8 | 37 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 5 | Celtic | 36 | 15 | 6 | 15 | 63 | 54 | +9 | 36 | |