With
the announcement that the Shed would be no more due to the Taylor report
recommendations, we left our beloved Shed behind and all moved into the
new George Fox Stand, with 2 rows of our season ticket holders now all
sitting next to each other for the first time. Little did we know at the
time that the Shed would still be there for at least another 10 years!
The first game of the season in August
kicked-off at Fir Park, as United took on a Motherwell team with ex-United
keeper Billy Thomson in goal. United eventually won with a Duncan Ferguson
goal, and Paddy Connolly scored the winner over Partick Thistle at Firhill
in midweek.
The
first home game saw Hearts at Tannadice, Duncan Ferguson scoring in a
1-1 draw with saw Hearts midfielder Ally Mauchlan sent off. United beat
Queen of the South 6-0 at Tannadice in the 2nd round of the League Cup,
with Paddy Connolly and Grant Johnson both scoring twice, before United's
first defeat of the season, a 2-0 loss at Parkhead. Another home game
in the League Cup saw St Mirren beaten 3-0 in the 3rd round, and goals
by John O'Neil and Paddy Connolly gave United a 2-1 win over St Johnstone
at Tannadice. Duncan Ferguson was sent off in this match for a supposed
off the ball incident with John Inglis, which ruled him out of the next
match against Rangers in the quarter-finals of the League Cup.
Even without out top striker, United pushed Rangers all the way, losing 3-2 in extra time at Tannadice. The sixth home game of the month saw newly promoted Falkirk go down 2-0 to two goals from Duncan Ferguson, taking his tally to 6 goals in 8 games.
September started with a 2-1 defeat at Easter Road, then at Broomfield Duncan Ferguson silenced the Airdrie support, who had been taunting him for most of the match, by scoring 2 goals in a 2-1 win. At Tannadice, the first Dundee derby of the season ended in a disappointing 1-0 defeat, with Billy Dodds scoring the winner for Dundee, and another poor result at home saw Rangers leave with a 4-0 victory.
Throughout
the first half of the season there were many problems arising in the running
of the Glenrothes Supporters Branch. On several occasions we'd be sitting
in the pub waiting for a bus which never turned up, resulting in many
of us racing through to matches in cars to make the kick-off. After this
happened a few times, we phoned the bus company to find out that they
had never been booked in the first place! Funnily enough, the man running
our club also never turned up for these matches.
There were also arguments over bus leaving times, sweep money and a severe lack of club funds. So an Emergency General Meeting was called and, after the man who had run the club for the past 6 years refused to turn up for the third time of asking, the club was folded.
But from the Ashes arose a new club, with a new name, a new logo and with a new man at the helm. Andy Woodrow took over the running of the "THE GLENROTHES ARABS" and, with the assistance of Bryan Orr, the club took on a more friendly, professional appearance than the mess the old club had turned into. Chopping the bus size down to a respectable 16 regular fans that would turn out every week, the club started making some money again, travelling round the country in Altyre's Coaches with Mad Anne at the wheel - famous for going round Dundee's one way system the wrong way every week!
In
the first few days of October, Jim
McLean brought Hearts midfielder Scott Crabbe to Tannadice in a player
swap deal with Allan Preston, and Crabbe made his debut at Pittodrie.
Duncan Ferguson scored a last minute winner, as one of our favourite haunts,
the Beach End at Pittodrie, lay in ruins behind the goal, awaiting redevelopment.
The bloke Taylor has a lot to answer for! Paddy Connolly scored in a midweek
1-1 draw with Motherwell at Tannadice, and another 1-0 defeat at Tynecastle
meant United hadn't won there in over 8 years! Jim McInally scored in
a 1-1 draw at against Falkirk at Brockville, and he scored again at Tannadice
a week later in a 1-0 win over Hibs.
January
opened with another defeat to St Johnstone, Scott Crabbe scoring in a
2-1 loss at Tannadice in the New Year game. After going down 2-0 to Rangers
at Ibrox, United again fought back to 2-2 with goals from Brian Welsh
and Mark Perry, but this time Rangers got a winner for 3-2. United's first,
and only ever match against Meadowbank Thistle saw United win 3-1 at Tannadice
in the 3rd round of the Scottish Cup, but that was followed by another
bad result in Edinburgh, Jim McInally scoring in a 2-1 defeat to Hibs
at Easter Road. McInally was then sent off in the next game at home to
Falkirk, but United won 2-1 with goals from Scott Crabbe and Paddy Connolly,
and Hearts won 1-0 at Tannadice as Michael O'Neill made his comeback after
a long illness. Rangers had been publicly sniffing around Duncan Ferguson
for a while now, and after a bid by the Glasgow club was rejected by United,
Ferguson took the huff and went AWOL, and was punished severely by Jim
McLean, and was dropped from the squad completely.
In
February, a 2-0 defeat at Fir Park
to Motherwell was followed by a 2-0 defeat at Pittodrie in the 4th round
of the Scottish Cup, which meant United would finish another season trophyless,
back in the days when that was a disappointment! The next game at Firhill
saw the return of Duncan Ferguson, but we also witnessed one of the most
infamous mistakes ever seen in Scottish football. Already 1-0 up, Paddy
Connolly's close range shot flew into the net, the ball hit the stantion
in the back of the goal, rebounded out into the arms of a Thistle defender,
who handed it back to his keeper to kick back up the park for the restart,
only to have referee Les Mottram wave play on!! This just made United
mad though, as they went on to win 4-0, but the referee's error robbed
Paddy Connolly of his first senior hat-trick. Two 0-0 draws followed,
one at home to Rangers and one away to Aberdeen, before a Duncan Ferguson
goal at Tannadice won the third Dundee derby of the season.
In
an effort to increase communications with supporters, United had started
inviting members from each Supporters Club up to Tannadice for a day out,
and Andy and Bryan went up for the Dundee derby. The day included lunch
with the players, half-time food and drink and a pre-match interview with
Jim McLean.
I don't know if it was something they said, but on the following Monday Jim McLean announced that he would be retiring as manager at the end of the season after 22 years in charge!
I don't know if it was something they said, but on the following Monday Jim McLean announced that he would be retiring as manager at the end of the season after 22 years in charge!
March
started with Duncan Ferguson scoring his 14th goal of the season as United
beat Airdrie 3-1 at Broomfield, which was followed with a 0-0 draw at
home to Motherwell and another 1-0 defeat against Hearts at Tynecastle,
United's 16th game there without a win. After only 2 wins in the last
8 matches against St Johnstone, United hammered the Saints 4-1 at McDiarmid
Park with goals from Michael O'Neill, Jim McInally, Paddy Connolly and
John O'Neil. Next was a close match at Tannadice as Celtic won 3-2, but
they were pushed all the way with goals from Paddy Connolly and Duncan
Ferguson.
Into
April and a 2-1 victory over Falkirk
at Brockville was followed by a heavy 3-0 defeat against Hibs at Tannadice,
where Guido Van de Kamp played his only match this season. United beat
Airdrie 3-0 with goals from Christian Dailly, Gary Bollan and Paddy Connolly,
and the three players scored again as United hammered Dundee 4-0 at Dens
Park, where Billy Dodds was sent-off for an off the ball incident on Freddy
Van der Hoorn.
