# 2016–17 Dundee United F.C. season

The 2016–17 season is Dundee United's 108th season, having been founded as Dundee Hibernian in 1909. It marked their first season of play outside the top tier of Scottish football since season 1995–96 and their first season in the Scottish Championship. United also competed in the Challenge Cup, League Cup, Scottish Cup and the Scottish Premiership play-offs.

## Summary
### Season

United finished third in the Scottish Championship, entering the Scottish Premiership play-offs. They reached the Quarter-final of the League Cup, the fourth round of the Scottish Cup and were crowned champions of the Challenge Cup beating St Mirren in the final.

### Management

United were managed by Ray McKinnon, during the 2016–17 season. Following the club's relegation at the end of the previous season manager Mixu Paatelainen departed the club during the close season on 4 May 2016. On 12 May 2016, McKinnon was appointed manager on a three-year contract, after compensation was agreed with his previous club Raith Rovers. He had resigned from Raith Rovers on 11 May.

## Results and fixtures

Win  Draw  Loss  Postponed

### Scottish Cup
## Squad statistics

During the 2016–17 season, United used thirty different players in competitive games. The table below shows the number of appearances and goals scored by each player.
    As of 28 May 2017 (UTC)
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Championship | Championship | Other | Other | League Cup | League Cup | Scottish Cup | Scottish Cup |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1 | GK | SCO | Cammy Bell | 49 | 0 | 35+0 | 0 | 7+0 | 0 | 6+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | IRL | Seán Dillon | 21 | 0 | 6+4 | 0 | 6+2 | 0 | 1+2 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | SCO | Paul Dixon | 28 | 1 | 17+0 | 0 | 6+1 | 1 | 4+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | SCO | Mark Durnan | 45 | 5 | 31+0 | 4 | 9+0 | 1 | 4+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | SCO | Coll Donaldson | 22 | 0 | 7+7 | 0 | 1+2 | 0 | 4+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 6 | DF | SCO | Lewis Toshney | 28 | 1 | 18+2 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 | 6+0 | 1 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 7 | MF | SCO | Blair Spittal | 40 | 5 | 18+6 | 2 | 9+0 | 3 | 4+2 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | SCO | Stewart Murdoch | 30 | 1 | 16+2 | 0 | 4+1 | 0 | 6+0 | 1 | 1+0 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | SCO | Simon Murray | 50 | 18 | 24+8 | 10 | 10+1 | 4 | 4+2 | 4 | 1+0 | 0 |
| 10 | MF | SCO | Scott Fraser | 37 | 6 | 23+2 | 4 | 3+3 | 1 | 5+0 | 1 | 1+0 | 0 |
| 11 | MF | ENG | Alex Nicholls | 13 | 0 | 4+5 | 0 | 1+3 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 12 | MF | SCO | Charlie Telfer | 38 | 2 | 17+8 | 0 | 5+4 | 2 | 1+2 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |
| 14 | DF | FRA | William Edjenguélé | 41 | 2 | 29+0 | 2 | 10+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |
| 15 | FW | SCO | Cammy Smith | 22 | 5 | 5+10 | 1 | 2+0 | 0 | 4+1 | 4 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 16 | MF | IRL | Willo Flood | 46 | 2 | 32+0 | 2 | 9+0 | 0 | 4+0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 17 | MF | POR | Wato Kuaté | 8 | 1 | 2+1 | 0 | 5+0 | 1 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 18 | FW | DEN | Thomas Mikkelsen | 26 | 8 | 14+3 | 7 | 6+2 | 1 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 19 | MF | FRA | Tony Andreu | 42 | 19 | 31+0 | 13 | 10+0 | 4 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 2 |
| 20 | DF | NED | Frank van der Struijk | 20 | 0 | 16+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |
| 21 | GK | GER | Luis Zwick | 8 | 0 | 1+3 | 0 | 4+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 22 | MF | SCO | Ali Coote | 16 | 0 | 2+7 | 0 | 1+5 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 23 | MF | NED | Nick van der Velden | 31 | 3 | 14+10 | 1 | 3+0 | 1 | 2+2 | 1 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 24 | DF | SCO | Jamie Robson | 29 | 1 | 19+2 | 1 | 5+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |
| 27 | MF | SCO | Brad Smith | 1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 35 | MF | SCO | Scott Allardice | 7 | 0 | 4+2 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 37 | MF | SCO | Graham Taylor | 1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| Players who left the club during the 2016–17 season ||||||||||||
| 11 | MF | ENG | Tope Obadeyi | 25 | 2 | 11+7 | 2 | 0+0 | 0 | 5+1 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |
| 17 | FW | NED | Justin Johnson | 2 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 20 | FW | EST | Henri Anier | 5 | 2 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+4 | 2 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 32 | DF | AUS | Harry Souttar | 1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
* Source:
    a. ^ Includes other competitive competitions, including the play-offs and the Challenge Cup.

## Team statistics
### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Hibernian (C, P) | 36 | 19 | 14 | 3 | 59 | 25 | +34 | 71 | Promotion to Premiership |
| 2 | Falkirk | 36 | 16 | 12 | 8 | 58 | 40 | +18 | 60 | Qualification for the Premiership play-off semi-finals |
| 3 | Dundee United | 36 | 15 | 12 | 9 | 50 | 42 | +8 | 57 | Qualification for the Premiership play-off quarter-finals |
| 4 | Greenock Morton | 36 | 13 | 13 | 10 | 44 | 41 | +3 | 52 | Qualification for the Premiership play-off quarter-finals |
| 5 | Dunfermline Athletic | 36 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 46 | 43 | +3 | 48 | |

### League Cup tables

Group C :
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | PW | PL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | ICT | DUN | DNF | COW | ARB |
| 1 | Inverness CT (Q) | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 3 | +12 | 10 | Qualification for the Second Round | — | 1–1p | — | — | 7–0 |
| 2 | Dundee United (Q) | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 3 | +7 | 10 | Qualification for the Second Round | — | — | 2–0 | 6–1 | — |
| 3 | Dunfermline Athletic | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 6 | | 1–5 | — | — | — | 3–0 |
| 4 | Cowdenbeath | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 11 | −7 | 3 | | 1–2 | — | 0–3 | — | — |
| 5 | Arbroath | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 13 | −12 | 1 | | — | 1–1p | — | 0–2 | — |
Best runners-up :
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Dundee United (Q) | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 3 | +7 | 10 | Qualification to the Second Round |
| 2 | Motherwell (Q) | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 3 | +6 | 9 | Qualification to the Second Round |
| 3 | Queen of the South (Q) | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 2 | +4 | 9 | Qualification to the Second Round |
| 4 | Ayr United (Q) | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 9 | Qualification to the Second Round |
| 5 | Raith Rovers | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 8 | |
| 6 | East Fife | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 8 | |
| 7 | Kilmarnock | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 7 | |
| 8 | Falkirk | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 6 | |

### Management statistics

    Last updated on 28 May 2017
| Name | From | To | P | W | D | L | Win% |
| Ray McKinnon | 14 July 2016 | Present | 54 | 26 | 16 | 12 | 048.15 |