# 1986–87 Dundee United F.C. season

The 1986–87 season was the 78th year of football played by Dundee United, and covers the period from 1 July 1986 to 30 June 1987. United finished in third place, securing UEFA Cup football for the following season. They reached the Scottish Cup final, only to lose after extra-time to St Mirren. The season is most notable for the club's run to the UEFA Cup Final, knocking out Barcelona, Borussia Mönchengladbach and Universitatea Craiova en route. United lost 2–1 on aggregate to IFK Gothenburg in the final.

## Match results

Dundee United played a total of 67 competitive matches during the 1986–87 season. The team finished third in the Scottish Premier Division.
In the cup competitions, United lost in the final of the Scottish Cup to St Mirren and lost in the Skol Cup semi-finals. Swedish side Gothenburg defeated United in the final of the UEFA Cup over two legs.

### Legend

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

### Premier Division

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 9 August 1986 | Aberdeen | H | 2–1 | 10,910 | Gough, Redford |
| 13 August 1986 | Clydebank | A | 0–0 | 1,612 | |
| 16 August 1986 | Rangers | A | 3–2 | 43,995 | Gallacher, Redford |
| 23 August 1986 | Hearts | H | 1–0 | 11,068 | Hegarty |
| 30 August 1986 | St Mirren | H | 3–0 | 6,168 | Ferguson, Gallacher, Bannon |
| 6 September 1986 | Dundee | A | 2–0 | 12,079 | Milne, Bannon |
| 13 September 1986 | Celtic | H | 2–2 | 19,792 | Ferguson, Gallacher |
| 20 September 1986 | Hamilton Academical | A | 5–1 | 2,876 | Hegarty (2), Ferguson (2), Sturrock |
| 27 September 1986 | Hibernian | A | 1–1 | 5,407 | Redford |
| 4 October 1986 | Falkirk | H | 2–0 | 5,957 | Ferguson (2) |
| 8 October 1986 | Motherwell | H | 4–0 | 5,740 | Philliben, Ferguson, Wishart, Coyne |
| 11 October 1986 | Aberdeen | A | 0–2 | 14,922 | |
| 18 October 1986 | Clydebank | H | 2–0 | 5,314 | Auld, Bannon |
| 25 October 1986 | Hearts | A | 2–2 | 14,320 | Sturrock (2) |
| 29 October 1986 | Rangers | H | 0–0 | 20,171 | |
| 1 November 1986 | St Mirren | A | 1–0 | 3,930 | Ferguson |
| 8 November 1986 | Dundee | H | 0–3 | 11,733 | |
| 15 November 1986 | Celtic | A | 0–1 | 34,319 | |
| 19 November 1986 | Hamilton Academical | H | 3–0 | 4,280 | Clark, Ferguson, Sturrock |
| 22 November 1986 | Hibernian | H | 1–0 | 6,862 | Bannon |
| 29 November 1986 | Falkirk | A | 1–2 | 4,500 | Redford |
| 3 December 1986 | Motherwell | A | 2–0 | 2,312 | Page, Redford |
| 6 December 1986 | Aberdeen | H | 0–0 | 10,242 | |
| 13 December 1986 | Clydebank | A | 2–1 | 1,396 | Ferguson, Bannon |
| 20 December 1986 | Hearts | H | 3–1 | 11,749 | Sturrock, Bannon, Ferguson |
| 27 December 1986 | Rangers | A | 0–2 | 42,165 | |
| 6 January 1987 | St Mirren | H | 2-0 | 5,798 | Redford, Sturrock |
| 10 January 1987 | Celtic | H | 3-2 | 19,020 | Ferguson, Gallacher, Bannon |
| 24 January 1987 | Hibernian | A | 2-0 | 7,398 | Gallacher, McInally |
| 7 February 1987 | Falkirk | H | 2-1 | 8,804 | Ferguson, Gallacher |
| 14 February 1987 | Motherwell | H | 2-0 | 9,902 | Gallacher, Ferguson |
| 28 February 1987 | Aberdeen | A | 1-0 | 12,850 | Bannon |
| 7 March 1987 | Clydebank | H | 1-1 | 5,541 | Hegarty |
| 10 March 1987 | Dundee | A | 1-1 | 11,615 | Gallacher |
| 21 March 1987 | Rangers | H | 0-1 | 21,278 | |
| 28 March 1987 | Dundee | H | 1-1 | 12,220 | Glennie |
| 4 April 1987 | St Mirren | A | 1-2 | 2,538 | Redford |
| 14 April 1987 | Hamilton | A | 0-0 | 2,062 | |
| 18 April 1987 | Celtic | A | 1-1 | 23,798 | Clark |
| 25 April 1987 | Falkirk | A | 2-1 | 4,930 | Ferguson (2) |
| 28 April 1987 | Hamilton | H | 2-1 | 7,244 | Bannon, Clark |
| 2 May 1987 | Hibernian | H | 2-1 | 9,301 | Gallacher, Redford |
| 9 May 1987 | Motherwell | A | 0-1 | 2,340 | |
| 11 May 1987 | Hearts | A | 1-1 | 6,779 | Kirkwood |

### Scottish Cup

| Date | Rd | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 31 January 1987 | R3 | Airdrieonians | H | 1–1 | 9,169 | Gallacher |
| 9 February 1987 | R3 | Airdrieonians | A | 2–1 | 5,000 | Ferguson, Gallacher |
| 12 February 1987 | R4 | Brechin City | A | 1–0 | 19,355 | Gallacher |
| 14 March 1987 | QF | Forfar Athletic | H | 2–2 | 7,985 | Malpas, Ferguson |
| 24 March 1987 | QF | Forfar Athletic | A | 2–0 | 8,139 | Holt, Ferguson |
| 11 April 1987 | SF | Dundee | N | 3–2 | 13,913 | Ferguson (2), Hegarty |
| 16 May 1987 | F | St Mirren | N | 0–1 | 51,782 | |

### Skol Cup

| Date | Rd | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 20 August 1986 | R2 | Queen of the South | A | 1–0 | 4,212 | Gallacher |
| 27 August 1986 | R3 | Ayr United | A | 3–0 | 3,680 | Ferguson (2), Gallacher |
| 3 September 1986 | QF | Hibernian | A | 2–0 | 9,212 | Ferguson (2) |
| 24 September 1986 | SF | Rangers | A | 1–2 | 45,249 | Ferguson |

### UEFA Cup

| Date | Rd | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 17 September 1986 | R1 1 | Lens | A | 0–1 | 11,330 | |
| 1 October 1986 | R1 2 | Lens | H | 2–0 | 11,645 | Milne, Coyne |
| 22 October 1986 | R2 1 | Universitatea Craiova | H | 3–0 | 10,728 | Redford (2), Clark |
| 5 November 1986 | R2 2 | Universitatea Craiova | A | 0–1 | 35,000 | |
| 26 November 1986 | R3 1 | Hajduk Split | H | 2–0 | 11,569 | McInally, Clark |
| 10 December 1986 | R3 2 | Hajduk Split | A | 0–0 | 26,000 | |
| 4 March 1987 | QF 1 | Barcelona | H | 1–0 | 21,322 | Gallacher |
| 18 March 1987 | QF 2 | Barcelona | A | 2–1 | 42,000 | Clark, Ferguson |
| 8 April 1987 | SF 1 | Mönchengladbach | H | 0–0 | 15,789 | |
| 22 April 1987 | SF 2 | Mönchengladbach | A | 2–0 | 33,500 | Ferguson, Redford |
| 6 May 1987 | F 1 | Gothenburg | A | 0–1 | 50,053 | |
| 20 May 1987 | F 2 | Gothenburg | H | 1–1 | 20,911 | Clark |

## Player details

During the 1986–87 season, United used 29 different players comprising four nationalities. Billy Thomson was the only player to feature in every match of United's UEFA Cup run. 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 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | GK | SCO | Billy Thomson | 61 | 0 | 39 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
| | GK | SCO | Scott Y. Thomson | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Dave Beaumont | 40 | 0 | 28 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | John Clark | 47 | 7 | 30 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 4 |
| | DF | SCO | Richard Gough | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Paul Hegarty | 38 | 5 | 23 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | John Holt | 31 | 1 | 18 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Maurice Malpas | 57 | 1 | 36 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Gary McGinnis | 25 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Dave Narey | 54 | 0 | 33 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Chris Sulley | 8 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Brian Welsh | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Eamonn Bannon | 57 | 9 | 38 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Dave Bowman | 38 | 0 | 29 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Harry Curran | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Alan Irvine | 19 | 4 | 16 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Paul Kinnaird | 11 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Billy Kirkwood | 18 | 1 | 11 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Jim McInally | 51 | 2 | 32 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 1 |
| | MF | SCO | Billy McKinlay | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Gordon McLeod | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Joe McLeod | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Ralph Milne | 22 | 2 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
| | MF | SCO | Jimmy Page | 8 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Ian Redford | 59 | 11 | 37 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 11 | 3 |
| | FW | EIR | Tommy Coyne | 14 | 2 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| | FW | SCO | Iain Ferguson | 51 | 28 | 36 | 16 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 2 |
| | FW | SCO | Kevin Gallacher | 57 | 16 | 37 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 10 | 1 |
| | FW | SCO | Paul Sturrock | 50 | 6 | 30 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 0 |

## Team statistics
### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Rangers (C) | 44 | 31 | 7 | 6 | 85 | 23 | +62 | 69 | Qualification for the European Cup first round |
| 2 | Celtic | 44 | 27 | 9 | 8 | 90 | 41 | +49 | 63 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 3 | Dundee United | 44 | 24 | 12 | 8 | 85 | 34 | +51 | 60 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 4 | Aberdeen | 44 | 21 | 16 | 7 | 63 | 29 | +34 | 58 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 5 | Heart of Midlothian | 44 | 21 | 14 | 9 | 64 | 43 | +21 | 56 | |

## Playing kit

| Home colours | Away colours |
The shirts were sponsored by future chairman Eddie Thompson's VG Foodstores for a second season.