# 1980–81 Dundee United F.C. season

The 1980–81 season was the 72nd year of football played by Dundee United, and covers the period from 1 July 1980 to 30 June 1981. United finished in third place, securing UEFA Cup football for the following season.

## Match results

Dundee United played a total of 58 competitive matches during the 1980–81 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 |
| 9 August 1980 | Kilmarnock | H | 2–2 | 5,788 | Payne, Sturrock |
| 16 August 1980 | Aberdeen | A | 1–1 | 12,948 | Hegarty |
| 23 August 1980 | Greenock Morton | H | 1–1 | 5,339 | Bannon |
| 6 September 1980 | Rangers | H | 2–4 | 16,269 | Dodds, Payne |
| 13 September 1980 | Airdrieonians | A | 0–0 | 2,721 | |
| 20 September 1980 | St Mirren | A | 0–2 | 5,783 | |
| 27 September 1980 | Heart of Midlothian | H | 1–1 | 6,263 | Dodds |
| 4 October 1980 | Celitc | A | 0–2 | 19,571 | |
| 11 October 1980 | Partick Thistle | H | 0–0 | 4,706 | |
| 18 October 1980 | Kilmarnock | A | 1–0 | 2,719 | Pettigrew |
| 25 October 1980 | Aberdeen | H | 1–3 | 10,043 | Sturrock |
| 1 November 1980 | Greenock Morton | A | 2–0 | 3,075 | Kirkwood (2) |
| 8 November 1980 | Heart of Midlothian | H | 3–0 | 5,875 | Sturrock (2), Hegarty |
| 15 November 1980 | St Mirren | H | 2–0 | 5,024 | Dodds, Sturrock |
| 22 November 1980 | Partick Thistle | A | 3–2 | 3,089 | Pettigrew, Sturrock, Bannon |
| 29 November 1980 | Celtic | H | 0–3 | 13,080 | |
| 13 December 1980 | Airdrieonians | H | 1–0 | 4,780 | Dodds |
| 20 December 1980 | St Mirren | A | 3–3 | 5,405 | Dodds, Gibson, Pettigrew |
| 27 December 1980 | Heart of Midlothian | H | 4–1 | 6,928 | Sturrock (2), Milne (2) |
| 30 December 1980 | Aberdeen | A | 1–1 | 22,556 | Dodds |
| 3 January 1981 | Kilmarnock | H | 7–0 | 6,474 | Kirkwood (2), Gibson, Dodds, Milne, Addison, Bannon (penalty) |
| 10 January 1981 | Celtic | A | 1–2 | 22,132 | Milne |
| 31 January 1981 | Airdrieonians | A | 5–0 | 2,264 | Dodds (3), Bannon (penalty), Sturrock |
| 7 February 1981 | Rangers | H | 2–1 | 14,528 | Kirkwood, Dodds |
| 21 February 1981 | Greenock Morton | H | 1–0 | 4,836 | Hegarty |
| 28 February 1981 | Kilmarnock | A | 1–0 | 2,102 | Dodds |
| 14 March 1981 | Partick Thistle | A | 2–0 | 2,754 | Pettigrew, Milne |
| 18 March 1981 | Rangers | A | 4–1 | 11,208 | Bannon (2), Kirkwood, Sturrock |
| 21 March 1981 | St Mirren | H | 1–2 | 5,808 | Pettigrew |
| 28 March 1981 | Heart of Midlothian | A | 4–0 | 3,786 | Sturrock (2), Kirkwood |
| 4 April 1981 | Rangers | A | 1–2 | 11,690 | Milne |
| 18 April 1981 | Greenock Morton | A | 0–2 | 2,262 | |
| 22 April 1981 | Celtic | H | 2–3 | 15,349 | Pettigrew, Sturrock |
| 25 April 1981 | Aberdeen | H | 0–0 | 6,369 | |
| 29 April 1981 | Airdrieonians | H | 4–1 | 3,133 | Kirkwood (2), Bannon, Milne |
| 2 May 1981 | Partick Thistle | H | 3–2 | 4,124 | Dodds (2), Bannon (penalty) |

### Scottish Cup

| Date | Rd | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 24 January 1981 | R3 | Brechin City | A | 2–1 | 5,791 | Dodds, Kirkwood |
| 14 February 1981 | R4 | Partick Thistle | H | 1–0 | 7,758 | Addison |
| 7 March 1981 | QF | Motherwell | H | 6–1 | 10,236 | Dodds (3), Sturrock, Kirkwood, Narey |
| 11 April 1981 | SF | Celtic | N | 0–0 | 40,390 | |
| 15 April 1981 | SF R | Celtic | N | 3–2 | 32,328 | Hegarty (2), Bannon |
| 9 May 1981 | F | Rangers | N | 0–0 | 53,358 | |
| 12 May 1981 | F R | Rangers | N | 1–4 | 42,004 | Dodds |

### League Cup

| Date | Rd | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 13 August 1980 | R1 | East Fife | A | 5–2 | 2,028 | Milne (2), Ward, Sturrock (penalty), Narey |
| 20 August 1980 | R1 | East Fife | H | 4–0 | 3,237 | Ward (2), Hegarty, Payne |
| 27 August 1980 | R2 | Cowdenbeath | H | 4–0 | 3,401 | Bannon (2), Sturrock, Hegarty |
| 30 August 1980 | R2 | Cowdenbeath | A | 2–1 | 1,238 | Ward (2), Hegarty, Sturrock |
| 3 September 1980 | R3 | Motherwell | A | 1–2 | 3,327 | Addison |
| 24 September 1980 | R3 | Motherwell | H | 4–2 | 5,628 | Sturrock (2), Holt, Milne |
| 8 October 1980 | QF 1 | Clydebank | A | 1–2 | 1,653 | Bannon |
| 29 October 1980 | QF 2 | Clydebank | H | 4–1 | 5,265 | Ward (2), Sturrock, Hegarty |
| 12 November 1980 | SF 1 | Celtic | H | 1–1 | 14,517 | Bannon |
| 19 November 1980 | SF 2 | Celtic | A | 3–0 | 19,700 | Pettigrew, Sturrock, Dodds |
| 6 December 1980 | F | Dundee | A | 3–0 | 24,466 | Sturrock (2), Dodds |

### UEFA Cup

| Date | Rd | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 17 September 1980 | R1 1 | Slask Wroclaw | A | 0–0 | 10,000 | |
| 1 October 1980 | R1 2 | Slask Wroclaw | H | 7–2 | 8,415 | Pettigrew (2), Dodds (2), Stark, Hegarty, Payne |
| 22 October 1980 | R2 1 | KSC Lokeren | H | 1–1 | 7,663 | Pettigrew |
| 5 November 1980 | R2 2 | KSC Lokeren | A | 0–0 | 9,000 | |

## League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 3 | Rangers | 36 | 16 | 12 | 8 | 60 | 32 | +28 | 44 | Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 4 | St Mirren | 36 | 18 | 8 | 10 | 56 | 47 | +9 | 44 | |
| 5 | Dundee United | 36 | 17 | 9 | 10 | 66 | 42 | +24 | 43 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 6 | Partick Thistle | 36 | 10 | 10 | 16 | 32 | 48 | −16 | 30 | |
| 7 | Airdrieonians | 36 | 10 | 9 | 17 | 36 | 55 | −19 | 29 | |