# 1990–91 Dundee United F.C. season

The 1990–91 season was the 82nd year of football played by Dundee United, and covers the period from 1 July 1990 to 30 June 1991. United finished in fourth place and missed out on European football for the first time in fifteen years.

## Match results

Dundee United played a total of 50 competitive matches during the 1990–91 season. The team finished fourth in the Scottish Premier Division.
In the cup competitions, United lost in the final of the Tennent's Scottish Cup to Motherwell and lost in the Skol Cup semi-finals to eventual runners-up Celtic.

### Legend

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

### Premier Division

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 25 August 1990 | St Johnstone | A | 3–1 | 7,784 | Jackson (2), Dailly |
| 1 September 1990 | Motherwell | H | 1–0 | 7,636 | Cleland |
| 8 September 1990 | St Mirren | H | 1–0 | 6,968 | Jackson |
| 15 September 1990 | Aberdeen | A | 1–1 | 17,400 | McKinnon |
| 22 September 1990 | Rangers | H | 2–1 | 16,270 | McKinlay, Butcher (o.g.) |
| 29 September 1990 | Hearts | A | 0–1 | 12,052 | |
| 10 October 1990 | Dunfermline | H | 3–0 | 9,025 | Bowman, Steinmann, French |
| 13 October 1990 | Hibernian | H | 1–0 | 10,289 | Miller (o.g.) |
| 20 October 1990 | Celtic | A | 0–0 | 34,363 | |
| 27 October 1990 | St Johnstone | H | 1–2 | 11,353 | Jackson |
| 3 November 1990 | Motherwell | A | 2–0 | 8,117 | Jackson, Dailly |
| 10 November 1990 | Rangers | A | 2–1 | 36,995 | Jackson (2) |
| 17 November 1990 | Hearts | H | 1–1 | 10,821 | Jackson |
| 24 November 1990 | Aberdeen | H | 2–3 | 12,344 | McKimmie (o.g.), Malpas |
| 1 December 1990 | St Mirren | A | 1–1 | 4,581 | Jackson |
| 8 December 1990 | Celtic | H | 3–1 | 14,895 | Dailly, Jackson, Paatelainen |
| 15 December 1990 | Hibernian | A | 0–0 | 6,000 | |
| 22 December 1990 | Dunfermline | A | 0–1 | 8,018 | |
| 29 December 1990 | Rangers | H | 1–2 | 178,853 | Jackson |
| 2 January 1991 | Aberdeen | A | 1–0 | 17,400 | Dailly |
| 5 January 1991 | St Mirren | H | 3–2 | 11,353 | Clark, Dailly, Cleland |
| 19 January 1991 | Motherwell | H | 3–0 | 6,482 | McKinlay, Connolly (2) |
| 2 February 1991 | Celtic | A | 0–1 | 26,172 | |
| 9 February 1991 | Hibernian | H | 0–0 | 6,114 | |
| 16 February 1991 | Hearts | A | 1–2 | 7,216 | Clark |
| 19 February 1991 | St Johnstone | A | 1–0 | 6,910 | French |
| 2 March 1991 | Dunfermline | H | 1–0 | 6,379 | Ferguson |
| 9 March 1991 | St Mirren | A | 1–0 | 3,960 | Jackson |
| 23 March 1991 | Aberdeen | H | 1–2 | 10,643 | McInally |
| 30 March 1991 | St Johnstone | H | 0–0 | 7,794 | Jackson |
| 13 April 1991 | Celtic | H | 2–1 | 12,603 | Van der Hoorn, McKinnon |
| 16 April 1991 | Motherwell | A | 0–1 | 3,531 | |
| 20 April 1991 | Hibernian | A | 0–1 | 4,000 | |
| 24 April 1991 | Rangers | A | 0–1 | 32,397 | |
| 4 May 1991 | Hearts | H | 2–1 | 6,820 | French (2) |
| 11 May 1991 | Dunfermline | A | 0–1 | 4,894 | |
United were leading Dunfermline 2–1 on 6 October when the match was abandoned due to heavy rain. The match was replayed four days later.

### Tennent's Scottish Cup

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 26 January 1990 | East Fife | A | 1–1 | 4,947 | Connolly |
| 29 January 1990 | East Fife | H | 2–1 | 7,190 | Clark, Ferguson |
| 23 February 1990 | Airdrieonians | H | 2–0 | 8,648 | French (2) |
| 13 March 1990 | Dundee | H | 3–1 | 16,228 | McKinnon, Jackson, Ferguson |
| 6 April 1991 | St Johnstone | N | 2-1 | 16,560 | Clark, Ferguson |
| 18 May 1991 | Motherwell | N | 3–4 | 57,319 | Bowman, J O'Neil, Jackson |

### Skol Cup

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 21 August 1990 | Alloa | A | 3–0 | 1,835 | Welsh, Dailly, Jackson |
| 28 August 1990 | Partick Thistle | A | 3–1 | 4,000 | Van der Hoorn, Dailly, Jackson |
| 4 September 1990 | Motherwell | H | 2–0 | 8,475 | Jackson, McInally |
| 25 September 1990 | Celtic | N | 0–2 | 49,975 | |

### UEFA Cup

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 18 September 1990 | FH | A | 3–1 | 263 | Jackson, Cleland (2) |
| 3 October 1990 | FH | H | 2–2 | 5,475 | Connolly, Hjalmarson (o.g.) |
| 24 October 1990 | Vitesse Arnhem | A | 0–1 | 8,331 | |
| 7 November 1990 | Vitesse Arnhem | H | 0–4 | 10,726 | |

## Player details

During the 1990–91 season, United used 25 different players comprising five nationalities. Maurice Malpas was the only player to play in every match. The table below shows the number of appearances and goals scored by each player.
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Scottish Premier Division | Scottish Premier Division | Tennent's Scottish Cup | Tennent's Scottish Cup | Skol Cup | Skol Cup | UEFA Cup | UEFA Cup |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| | GK | SCO | Alan Main | 40 | 0 | 31 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | GK | SCO | Billy Thomson | 10 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Gary Bollan | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | John Clark | 25 | 4 | 18 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Alex Cleland | 29 | 4 | 21 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| | DF | NED | Fred van der Hoorn | 45 | 2 | 32 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Scott Kopel | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | DF | YUG | Miodrag Krivokapić | 34 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Maurice Malpas | 50 | 1 | 36 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Dave Narey | 6 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | DF | NED | Gijs Steinmann | 14 | 1 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Brian Welsh | 26 | 1 | 17 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Dave Bowman | 27 | 2 | 20 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Jim McInally | 47 | 2 | 33 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Billy McKinlay | 46 | 2 | 33 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Ray McKinnon | 24 | 3 | 17 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | John O'Neil | 19 | 1 | 15 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | MF | NIR | Michael O'Neill | 17 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Allan Preston | 7 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | FW | SCO | Paddy Connolly | 16 | 4 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| | FW | SCO | Christian Dailly | 26 | 7 | 18 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| | FW | SCO | Duncan Ferguson | 14 | 4 | 9 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | FW | SCO | Hamish French | 24 | 6 | 19 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | FW | SCO | Darren Jackson | 46 | 18 | 33 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| | FW | FIN | Mixu Paatelainen | 26 | 1 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 |

## Team statistics
### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 2 | Aberdeen | 36 | 22 | 9 | 5 | 62 | 27 | +35 | 53 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 3 | Celtic | 36 | 17 | 7 | 12 | 52 | 38 | +14 | 41 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 4 | Dundee United | 36 | 17 | 7 | 12 | 41 | 29 | +12 | 41 | |
| 5 | Heart of Midlothian | 36 | 14 | 7 | 15 | 48 | 55 | −7 | 35 | |
| 6 | Motherwell | 36 | 12 | 9 | 15 | 51 | 50 | +1 | 33 | Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round |

## Playing kit

| Home colours | Away colours |
The jerseys were sponsored by Belhaven for the fourth season.