# 1984–85 Dundee United F.C. season

The 1984–85 season was the 76th year of football played by Dundee United, and covers the period from 1 July 1984 to 30 June 1985. United finished in third place, securing UEFA Cup football for the following season.

## Match results

Dundee United played a total of 55 competitive matches during the 1984–85 season. The team finished third in the Scottish Premier Division.
In the cup competitions, United lost in the final of both the Scottish Cup and the Skol Cup to Celtic and Rangers respectively. Manchester United eliminated United in the third round of the UEFA Cup.

### Legend

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

### Premier Division

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 11 August 1984 | Hearts | H | 2–0 | 10,027 | Milne (2) |
| 18 August 1984 | Celtic | A | 1–1 | 18,905 | Beedie |
| 25 August 1984 | Aberdenn | H | 0–2 | 13,033 | |
| 1 September 1984 | St Mirren | A | 0–1 | 3,704 | |
| 8 September 1984 | Dundee | H | 3–4 | 14,190 | Clark (2), Sturrock |
| 15 September 1984 | Greenock Morton | A | 3–0 | 2,219 | Dodds (2), Hegarty |
| 22 September 1984 | Hibernian | H | 2–1 | 7,333 | Milne, Sturrock |
| 29 September 1984 | Rangers | A | 0–1 | 29,232 | |
| 6 October 1984 | Dumbarton | H | 1–0 | 5,852 | Coyne |
| 13 October 1984 | Hearts | A | 0–2 | 7,066 | |
| 20 October 1984 | Celtic | H | 1–3 | 16,758 | Bannon |
| 3 November 1984 | St Mirren | H | 3–2 | 3,813 | Bannon (2), Sturrock |
| 10 November 1984 | Dundee | A | 2–0 | 14,423 | Gough, Coyne |
| 17 November 1984 | Greenock Morton | H | 7–0 | 8,562 | Taylor, Sturrock (5), Malpas |
| 24 November 1984 | Hibernian | A | 0–0 | 5,271 | |
| 1 December 1984 | Rangers | H | 1–1 | 16,477 | Sturrock |
| 8 December 1984 | Dumbarton | A | 2–2 | 1,524 | Dodds, Bannon |
| 15 December 1984 | Hearts | H | 5–2 | 7,359 | Hegarty, Bannon, Beedie, Taylor, Own Goal |
| 22 December 1984 | Aberdeen | A | 1–0 | 16,354 | Gough |
| 29 December 1984 | Celtic | A | 2–1 | 22,924 | Sturrock, Gough |
| 2 January 1985 | Aberdeen | H | 2–1 | 21,944 | Dodds, Gough |
| 5 January 1985 | St Mirren | A | 0–1 | 5,991 | |
| 2 February 1985 | Hibernian | H | 2–0 | 7,308 | Kirkwood, Beaumont |
| 9 February 1985 | Rangers | A | 0–0 | 19,730 | |
| 23 February 1985 | Dumbarton | H | 4–0 | 5,693 | Milne, Reilly, Gough, Sturrock |
| 2 March 1985 | Celtic | H | 0–0 | 16,493 | |
| 13 March 1985 | Greenock Morton | A | 3–0 | 909 | Gough, Dodds (2) |
| 16 March 1985 | Hearts | A | 1–0 | 7,663 | Malpas |
| 23 March 1985 | St Mirren | H | 3–1 | 6,180 | Bannon (2), Dodds |
| 30 March 1985 | Aberdeen | A | 2–4 | 15,575 | Bannon, Reilly |
| 3 April 1985 | Dundee | H | 4–0 | 15,167 | Bannon, Sturrock, Taylor, Dodds |
| 6 April 1985 | Greenock Morton | H | 5–0 | 5,543 | Taylor (2), Narey, Reilly, Bannon |
| 20 April 1985 | Hibernian | A | 1–1 | 4,056 | Beedie |
| 27 April 1985 | Dumbarton | A | 2–0 | 818 | Coyne, Sturrock |
| 4 May 1985 | Rangers | H | 2–1 | 10,251 | Sturrock, Clark |
| 11 May 1985 | Dundee | A | 0–1 | 13,426 | |

### Scottish Cup

| Date | Rd | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 4 February 1985 | R3 | Hibernian | H | 3–0 | 10,125 | Sturrock, Bannon, Kirkwood |
| 16 February 1985 | R4 | Queen of the South | A | 3–0 | 3,400 | Dodds (2), Bannon |
| 9 March 1985 | QF | St Mirren | A | 4–1 | 10,518 | Gough, Dodds (2), Bannon |
| 13 April 1985 | SF | Aberdeen | N | 0–0 | 18,485 | |
| 17 April 1985 | SFr | Aberdeen | N | 2–1 | 10,771 | Sturrock, Beedie |
| 18 May 1985 | F | Celtic | N | 1–2 | 59,256 | Beedie |

### Skol Cup

| Date | Rd | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 21 August 1984 | R2 | Forfar | H | 5–0 | 5,337 | Sturrock, Reilly, Beedie (2), Bannon |
| 29 August 1984 | R3 | Dumbarton | A | 4–0 | 2,500 | Dodds (2), Milne (2) |
| 5 September 1984 | R4 | Celtic | H | 2–1(aet) | 21,182 | Sturrock, Clark |
| 26 September 1984 | SF 1 | Hearts | A | 2–1 | 10,541 | Clark (2) |
| 10 October 1984 | SF 2 | Hearts | H | 3–1 | 13,468 | Bannon, Dodds, Kirkwood |
| 28 October 1984 | F | Rangers | N | 0–1 | 41,526 | |

### UEFA Cup

| Date | Rd | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 19 September 1984 | R1 1 | AIK Stockholm | A | 0–1 | 5,721 | |
| 3 October 1984 | R1 2 | AIK Stockholm | H | 3–0 | 11,427 | Sturrock, Milne (2) |
| 24 October 1984 | R2 1 | LASK Linz | A | 2–1 | 18,500 | Kirkwood, Bannon |
| 7 November 1984 | R2 2 | LASK Linz | H | 5–1 | 10,185 | Hegarty, Coyne (2), Gough, Beaumont |
| 28 November 1984 | R3 1 | Manchester United | A | 2–2 | 48,278 | Hegarty, Sturrock |
| 12 December 1984 | R3 2 | Manchester United | H | 2–3 | 21,821 | Dodds, Hegarty |

## League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Aberdeen (C) | 36 | 27 | 5 | 4 | 89 | 26 | +63 | 59 | Qualification for the European Cup first round |
| 2 | Celtic | 36 | 22 | 8 | 6 | 77 | 30 | +47 | 52 | Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 3 | Dundee United | 36 | 20 | 7 | 9 | 67 | 33 | +34 | 47 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 4 | Rangers | 36 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 47 | 38 | +9 | 38 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 5 | St Mirren | 36 | 17 | 4 | 15 | 51 | 56 | −5 | 38 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |