# 1985–86 Dundee United F.C. season

The 1985–86 season was the 77th year of football played by Dundee United, and covers the period from 1 July 1985 to 30 June 1986. United finished in third place, securing UEFA Cup football for the following season.

## Match results

Dundee United played a total of 52 competitive matches during the 1985–86 season. The team finished third in the Scottish Premier Division.
In the cup competitions, United lost in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup to Hearts and to Aberdeen in the same round of the Skol Cup. Swiss side Neuchâtel Xamax 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 |
| 10 August 1985 | Rangers | A | 0–1 | 28,870 | |
| 17 August 1985 | Aberdeen | H | 1–1 | 14,339 | Sturrock |
| 24 August 1985 | Dundee | H | 2–0 | 13,736 | Beedie, Sturrock |
| 31 August 1985 | Motherwell | A | 1–0 | 3,327 | Clark |
| 7 September 1985 | Clydebank | H | 2–1 | 5,336 | Sturrock, Milne |
| 14 September 1985 | Hearts | A | 0–2 | 7,617 | |
| 28 September 1985 | St Mirren | A | 0–1 | 4,408 | |
| 5 October 1985 | Hibernian | H | 2–2 | 6,951 | Malpas (2) |
| 12 October 1985 | Rangers | H | 1–1 | 16,657 | Dodds |
| 19 October 1985 | Aberdeen | A | 2–3 | 15,748 | Sturrock, Redford |
| 26 October 1985 | Celtic | A | 3–0 | 25,976 | Dodds, Bannon (2) |
| 2 November 1985 | Hearts | H | 1–1 | 10,142 | Gough |
| 9 November 1985 | Motherwell | H | 3–0 | 5,493 | Hegarty, Gough, Dodds |
| 16 November 1985 | Dundee | A | 3–0 | 11,736 | Hegarty (2), Kirkwood |
| 23 November 1985 | Clydebank | A | 2–1 | 1,839 | Milne, Dodds |
| 14 December 1985 | Rangers | A | 1–1 | 16,657 | Dodds |
| 21 December 1985 | Aberdeen | H | 2–1 | 9,990 | Bannon, Sturrock |
| 23 December 1985 | Celtic | H | 1–0 | 15,894 | Bannon |
| 28 December 1985 | Dundee | H | 0–0 | 14,869 | |
| 4 January 1986 | Celtic | H | 4–2 | 16,668 | Dodds (2), Bannon, Gallacher |
| 11 January 1986 | Hearts | A | 1–1 | 19,043 | Bannon |
| 18 January 1986 | Clydebank | H | 4–0 | 6,214 | Bannon, Dodds, Hegarty, Redford |
| 1 February 1986 | St Mirren | A | 1–1 | 4,221 | Hegarty |
| 8 February 1986 | Hibernian | H | 4–0 | 8,504 | Bannon, Coyne (2), Gallacher |
| 22 February 1986 | Rangers | H | 1–1 | 14,644 | Dodds |
| 26 February 1986 | Hibernian | A | 1–0 | 7,137 | Bannon |
| 11 March 1986 | Motherwell | A | 0–2 | 2,823 | |
| 15 March 1986 | Celtic | A | 1–1 | 20,965 | Dodds |
| 22 March 1986 | Motherwell | H | 4–0 | 5,710 | Sturrock (2), Bannon, Dodds |
| 29 March 1986 | Dundee | A | 1–0 | 15,079 | Gough |
| 8 April 1986 | St Mirren | H | 5–0 | 6,347 | Sturrock, Dodds (2), Galaacher, Gough |
| 12 April 1986 | Hearts | H | 0–3 | 19,878 | |
| 16 April 1986 | Aberdeen | A | 1–0 | 7,278 | Gough |
| 19 April 1986 | Clydebank | A | 1–1 | 1,534 | Redford |
| 26 April 1986 | St Mirren | H | 1–2 | 4,986 | Redford |
| 3 May 1986 | Hibernian | A | 2–1 | 3,513 | Fulton, Beedie |

### Scottish Cup

| Date | Rd | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 25 January 1986 | R3 | Morton | H | 4–0 | 6,938 | Coyne (2), Redford, Bannon (penalty) |
| 15 February 1986 | R4 | Kilmarnock | H | 1–1 | 6,610 | Sturrock |
| 19 February 1986 | R4r | Kilmarnock | A | 1–0 | 9,054 | Sturrock |
| 8 March 1986 | QF | Motherwell | A | 1–0 | 6,822 | Gough |
| 5 April 1986 | SF | Heart of Midlothian | N | 0–1 | 30,872 | |

### Skol Cup

| Date | Rd | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 21 August 1985 | R2 | Alloa Athletic | A | 2–0 | 2,010 | Bannon, Gough |
| 28 August 1985 | R3 | Clydebank | H | 2–0 | 5,870 | Gough, Redford |
| 4 September 1985 | R4 | St Mirren | H | 2–1 | 7,682 | Milne (2) |
| 25 September 1985 | SF 1 | Aberdeen | A | 0–1 | 12,585 | |
| 9 October 1985 | SF 2 | Aberdeen | H | 0–1 | 20,119 | |

### UEFA Cup

| Date | Rd | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 18 September 1985 | R1 1 | Bohemians | A | 5–2 | 4,185 | Sturrock (3), Bannon (2) |
| 2 October 1985 | R1 2 | Bohemians | H | 2–2 | 7,550 | Milne, Redford |
| 23 October 1985 | R2 1 | Vardar | H | 2–0 | 9,129 | Redford, Gough |
| 6 November 1985 | R2 2 | Vardar | A | 1–1 | 30,000 | Hegarty |
| 26 November 1985 | R3 1 | Neuchâtel Xamax | H | 2–1 | 10,663 | Dodds, Redford |
| 10 December 1985 | R3 2 | Neuchâtel Xamax | A | 1–3 | 21,821 | Bannon |

## League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Celtic (C) | 36 | 20 | 10 | 6 | 67 | 38 | +29 | 50 | Qualification for the European Cup first round |
| 2 | Heart of Midlothian | 36 | 20 | 10 | 6 | 59 | 33 | +26 | 50 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 3 | Dundee United | 36 | 18 | 11 | 7 | 59 | 31 | +28 | 47 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 4 | Aberdeen | 36 | 16 | 12 | 8 | 62 | 31 | +31 | 44 | Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 5 | Rangers | 36 | 13 | 9 | 14 | 53 | 45 | +8 | 35 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |

## Playing kit

| Home colours | Away colours |
The shirts were sponsored for the first time – future chairman Eddie Thompson's VG Foodstores were the inaugural sponsors.

## Trivia

* Undersoil heating was used for the first time on 27 November 1985 in the UEFA Cup match against Neuchâtel Xamax