# 1983–84 Dundee United F.C. season

The 1983–84 season was the 75th year of football played by Dundee United, and covers the period from 1 July 1983 to 30 June 1984. United finished in third place, securing UEFA Cup football for the following season. Having won the Scottish Premier Division the previous season, the Terrors entered the European Cup for their first and only campaign in Europe’s elite competition, reaching the semi-finals before narrowly losing to AS Roma, the Italian side later admitting to having attempted to bribe the match referee.

## Match results

Dundee United played a total of 58 competitive matches during the 1983–84 season. The team finished third in the Scottish Premier Division.

### 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 |
| 20 August 1983 | Motherwell | H | 4–0 | 9,465 | Kirkwood (2), Hegarty, Taylor |
| 3 September 1983 | Dundee | A | 4–1 | 13,651 | Reilly (2), Milne, Stark |
| 10 September 1983 | Hibernian | H | 5–0 | 7,790 | Dodds (2), Milne (2), Kirkwood |
| 17 September 1983 | St Johnstone | A | 2–1 | 6,969 | Dodds, Holt |
| 24 September 1983 | Aberdeen | A | 2–1 | 21,093 | Bannon, Kirkwood |
| 1 October 1983 | Rangers | H | 0–2 | 16,738 | |
| 8 October 1983 | Celtic | H | 2–1 | 19,741 | Kirkwood, Gough |
| 22 October 1983 | Hearts | H | 1–0 | 13,157 | Dodds |
| 29 October 1983 | Motherwell | A | 2–2 | 4,398 | Dodds (2) |
| 5 November 1983 | Dundee | H | 0–1 | 14,813 | |
| 12 November 1983 | St Johnstone | H | 7–0 | 7,937 | Bannon (2 inc 1 pen), Dodds (2), Hegarty, Gough |
| 19 November 1983 | Rangers | A | 0–0 | 27,842 | |
| 22 November 1983 | St Mirren | A | 0–4 | 4,408 | |
| 26 November 1983 | Aberdeen | H | 0–2 | 16,972 | |
| 3 December 1983 | Hibernian | A | 2–0 | 6,978 | Milne, Stark |
| 10 December 1983 | Hearts | A | 0–0 | 9,199 | |
| 27 December 1983 | Celtic | A | 1–1 | 25,982 | Bannon (penalty) |
| 31 December 1983 | Motherwell | H | 2–1 | 6,967 | Stark, Hegarty |
| 7 January 1984 | St Johnstone | A | 2–1 | 5,066 | Dodds (2) |
| 11 February 1984 | Hibernian | H | 2–0 | 7,675 | Hegarty, Malpas |
| 25 February 1984 | St Mirren | A | 2–2 | 4,007 | Kirkwood (2) |
| 3 March 1984 | Celtic | H | 3–1 | 15,236 | Bannon, Kirkwood, Dodds |
| 11 March 1984 | Hearts | H | 3–1 | 10,058 | Coyne (2), Bannon |
| 31 March 1984 | Hearts | A | 0–0 | 7,852 | |
| 2 April 1984 | Dundee | A | 5–2 | 12,732 | Malpas, Reilly, Dodds, Bannon, Milne |
| 7 April 1984 | Hibernian | A | 0–1 | 4,266 | |
| 14 April 1984 | St Johnstone | H | 3–0 | 11,332 | Sturrock, Reilly, Coyne |
| 18 April 1984 | Aberdeen | A | 1–5 | 7,663 | Reilly |
| 21 April 1984 | Dundee | H | 1–1 | 13,244 | Clark |
| 28 April 1984 | Motherwell | A | 3–1 | 1,870 | Dodds, Gough, Reilly |
| 30 April 1984 | St Mirren | H | 2–0 | 5,347 | Holt, Reilly |
| 2 May 1984 | Rangers | A | 2–2 | 7,354 | Sturrock, Dodds |
| 5 May 1984 | St Mirren | H | 2–2 | 5,025 | Sturrock, Narey |
| 7 May 1984 | Aberdeen | H | 0–0 | 8,029 | |
| 12 May 1984 | Celtic | A | 1–1 | 10,281 | Sturrock |
| 14 May 1984 | Rangers | H | 0–1 | 6,473 | |

### Scottish Cup

| Date | Rd | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 6 February 1984 | R3 | Ayr United | H | 1–0 | 4,441 | Sturrock |
| 18 February 1984 | R4 | Hearts | H | 2–1 | 14,731 | Sturrock, Dodds |
| 17 March 1984 | QF | Aberdeen | A | 0–0 | 22,000 | |
| 28 March 1984 | QFr | Aberdeen | H | 0–1 | 16,094 | |

### League Cup

| Date | Rd | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 24 August 1983 | R2 | Dunfermline Athletic | H | 6–1 | 5,324 | Gough (2), Holt, Taylor, Dodds, Bannon |
| 27 August 1983 | R2 | Dunfermline Athletic | A | 2–0 | 2,618 | Gough, Dodds |
| 30 August 1983 | G1 | Alloa Athletic | H | 5–0 | 4,483 | Dodds (3), Reilly (2) |
| 7 September 1983 | G1 | Greenock Morton | A | 1–1 | 2,500 | Houston |
| 5 October 1983 | G1 | Motherwell | H | 4–2 | 5,731 | Gough (2), Reilly, Bannon |
| 26 October 1983 | G1 | Greenock Morton | H | 3–0 | 6,645 | Johnstone (2), Milne |
| 9 November 1983 | G1 | Alloa Athletic | A | 4–2 | 2,220 | Dodds, Reilly, Bannon, Milne |
| 30 November 1983 | G1 | Motherwell | A | 3–0 | 1,319 | Milne, McGinnis, Reilly |
| 14 February 1984 | SF 1 | Rangers | H | 1–1 | 14,596 | Dodds |
| 22 February 1984 | SF 2 | Rangers | A | 0–2 | 37,180 | |

### European Cup

| Date | Rd | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 14 September 1983 | R1 1 | Hamrun Spartans | A | 3–0 | 12,300 | Reilly, Bannon, Stark |
| 28 September 1983 | R1 2 | Hamrun Spartans | H | 3–0 | 8,213 | Milne (2), Kirkwood |
| 19 October 1983 | R2 1 | Standard Liège | A | 0–0 | 22,500 | |
| 2 November 1983 | R2 2 | Standard Liège | H | 4–0 | 16,674 | Milne (2), Hegarty, Dodds |
| 7 March 1984 | QF 1 | Rapid Vienna | A | 1–2 | 38,266 | Stark |
| 21 March 1984 | QF 2 | Rapid Vienna | H | 1–0 | 18,865 | Dodds |
| 11 April 1984 | SF 1 | Roma | H | 2–0 | 20,543 | Dodds, Stark |
| 25 April 1984 | SF 2 | Roma | A | 0–3 | 68,060 | |

## League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Aberdeen (C) | 36 | 25 | 7 | 4 | 78 | 21 | +57 | 57 | Qualification for the European Cup first round |
| 2 | Celtic | 36 | 21 | 8 | 7 | 80 | 41 | +39 | 50 | Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 3 | Dundee United | 36 | 18 | 11 | 7 | 67 | 39 | +28 | 47 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 4 | Rangers | 36 | 15 | 12 | 9 | 53 | 41 | +12 | 42 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 5 | Heart of Midlothian | 36 | 10 | 16 | 10 | 38 | 47 | −9 | 36 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |