# 1978–79 Dundee United F.C. season

The 1978–79 season was the 70th year of football played by Dundee United, and covers the period from 1 July 1978 to 30 June 1979. United finished in third place, securing UEFA Cup football for the following season.

## Match results

Dundee United played a total of 41 competitive matches during the 1978–79 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 |
| 12 August 1978 | Hibernian | H | 0–0 | 5,876 | |
| 19 August 1978 | Partick Thistle | A | 1–1 | 3,752 | Frye |
| 26 August 1978 | Aberdeen | H | 1–1 | 10,092 | Hegarty |
| 9 September 1978 | Greenock Morton | H | 1–2 | 5,531 | Hegarty |
| 16 September 1978 | Motherwell | A | 1–0 | 3,372 | Dodds |
| 23 September 1978 | St Mirren | A | 3–1 | 7,544 | Dodds, Narey, Kirkwood |
| 30 September 1978 | Heart of Midlothain | A | 3–1 | 6,312 | Kirkwood (2), Kopel |
| 7 October 1978 | Rangers | A | 1–1 | 26,040 | Kirkwood |
| 14 October 1978 | Celtic | H | 1–0 | 17,726 | Kopel |
| 21 October 1978 | Hibernian | A | 1–1 | 8,290 | Payne |
| 28 October 1978 | Partick Thistle | H | 2–0 | 6,055 | Dodds, Narey |
| 4 November 1978 | Aberdeen | A | 0–1 | 14,692 | |
| 11 November 1978 | Greenock Morton | A | 1–3 | 6,298 | Addison |
| 18 November 1978 | Motherwell | H | 2–1 | 5,876 | Stewart, Kirkwood |
| 25 November 1978 | St Mirren | H | 1–1 | 6,896 | Kirkwood |
| 9 December 1978 | Rangers | H | 3–0 | 15,247 | Dodds, Fleming, Narey (penalty) |
| 16 December 1978 | Celtic | A | 1–1 | 19,868 | Narey |
| 23 December 1978 | Hibernian | H | 2–1 | 7,194 | McNamara, Payne |
| 20 January 1979 | St Mirren | A | 1–2 | 6,341 | Sturrock |
| 10 February 1979 | Rangers | A | 0–1 | 26,077 | |
| 3 March 1979 | Hibernian | A | 0–1 | 5,045 | |
| 7 March 1979 | Motherwell | A | 4–0 | 2,643 | Sturrock (2), Narey, Stewart (penalty) |
| 10 March 1979 | Greenock Morton | H | 4–1 | 6,033 | Sturrock (2), Stark, Kirkwood |
| 14 March 1979 | Partick Thistle | H | 2–1 | 6,201 | Holt, Hegarty |
| 17 March 1979 | Aberdeen | A | 2–0 | 11,181 | Sturrock, Fleming |
| 24 March 1979 | Greenock Morton | A | 1–3 | 5,357 | Dodds |
| 28 March 1979 | Partick Thistle | A | 2–1 | 3,123 | Kirkwood, Fleming |
| 31 March 1979 | Motherwell | H | 2–1 | 5,675 | Addison |
| 4 April 1979 | Heart of Midlothian | A | 0–2 | 6,480 | |
| 7 April 1979 | St Mirren | H | 2–0 | 6,608 | Hegarty, Kirkwood |
| 11 April 1979 | Celtic | H | 2–1 | 14,424 | Holt, Dodds |
| 14 April 1979 | Heart of Midlothian | A | 3–0 | 7,564 | Dodds (2), Kirkwood |
| 21 April 1979 | Rangers | H | 1–2 | 24,264 | Stewart (penalty) |
| 25 April 1979 | Heart of Midlothian | H | 2–1 | 6,005 | Dodds, Kirkwood |
| 28 April 1979 | Celtic | A | 1–2 | 35,807 | Dodds |
| 5 May 1979 | Aberdeen | H | 2–2 | 7,822 | Payne, Stewart |

### Scottish Cup

| Date | Rd | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 26 February 1979 | R3 | St Mirren | H | 0–2 | 18,064 | |

### League Cup

| Date | Rd | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 30 August 1978 | R2 1 | Celtic | H | 2–3 | 2,570 | Fleming, Sturrock |
| 2 September 1978 | R2 2 | Celtic | A | 0–1 | 5,760 | |

### UEFA Cup

| Date | Rd | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 12 September 1978 | R1 1 | Standard Liège | A | 0–1 | 12,282 | |
| 27 September 1978 | R1 2 | Standard Liège | H | 0–0 | 25,000 | |

## League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Celtic (C) | 36 | 21 | 6 | 9 | 61 | 37 | +24 | 48 | Qualification for the European Cup first round |
| 2 | Rangers | 36 | 18 | 9 | 9 | 52 | 35 | +17 | 45 | Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 3 | Dundee United | 36 | 18 | 8 | 10 | 56 | 37 | +19 | 44 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 4 | Aberdeen | 36 | 13 | 14 | 9 | 59 | 36 | +23 | 40 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 5 | Hibernian | 36 | 12 | 13 | 11 | 44 | 48 | −4 | 37 | |