hoped. Kirkwood then snapped up former Rangers and Aberdeen legend Jim Bett after he had been released by Hearts. The 3rd round of the League Cup saw Motherwell win 2-1 at Tannadice, giving United one less distraction during a difficult season.
In
September, Paddy Connolly came of
the bench to score the winner in a 2-1 win over Hamilton at Tannadice,
and an own goal gave United the points in a 1-0 home win over St Mirren.
Paddy Connolly then scored twice in a 3-0 win over Hamilton in the 2nd
round of the League Challenge Cup at Tannadice and a Jim Bett goal and
a Billy McKinlay penalty gave United the points in a 2-1 win against Clydebank
at Kilbowie. United went down 2-1 at home to Airdrie before a youthful
team won 1-0 away to Clydebank in the quarter-finals of the League Challenge
Cup. United then beat Dundee 3-2 at Dens where Billy McKinlay scored a
hat-trick in his last match for United before his £1.75 million
transfer to Blackburn Rovers.
Into October, and Robbie Winters scored twice as United beat Dunfermline 4-0 at East End Park in the semi-finals of the League Challenge Cup to go through to the final at McDirmid Park. Billy Kirkwood then signed yet another former Ranger, Gary McSwegan, from Notts County, and he made his debut at Boghead the next day. This game will always be remembered by anyone who was there, but only because United were beaten 1-0 by a late goal for one of the club's worst results in modern history! Goals seemed to be hard to come by in the League, so Billy Kirkwood brought yet another striker to Tannadice. Owen Coyle arrived from Bolton and scored on his debut in a 2-1 win over St Johnstone at Tannadice. Gary McSwegan scored his first goal for the club in a 1-0 away win over Hamilton, and both of the new strikers scored in a 3-1 win over Dunfermline at Tannadice. United then finished the month with their 4th straight win with a 3-0 home victory over Clydebank.
November
saw ex-United midfielder Ray McKinnon return to Tannadice after spells
with Nottingham Forest and Aberdeen, and he made his debut against Stenhousemuir
in the League Challenge Cup final at McDiarmid Park. Ex-United legend
Eamonn Bannon turned out for the opposition that day and the game ended
in a very disappointing 0-0 draw. United had gone the entire competition
without conceding a goal, but still managed to lose out on penalties and
add another low point for the season. Young Celtic defender Jamie McQuilken
was then brought in for £150,000. Robbie Winters scored in a 1-1
draw with St Mirren at Love Street before Maurice Malpas and Craig Brewster
scored as United lost 3-2 to Dundee at Tannadice. Malpas scored again
in a 1-1 draw with Airdrie, but United had now gone a month without a
win.
December
started with a flurry of goals as Craig Brewster's form returned and he
scored 4 goals in an 8-0 win over Dumbarton at Tannadice. A 0-0 draw with
St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park was followed by a 2-1 win over Morton at
Cappielow. Brewster's goals continued to come with a 1-1 draw at home
to Hamilton and a hard fought match at Tannadice saw United come back
to level 2-2 with 9 men.
In
March, United again dropped points
in the League with a 1-1 draw with Airdrie at Broomfield, but the team
then got a taster of what could be if they did win promotion. The Scottish
Cup quarter finals saw United go 1-0 up against Celtic and Parkhead through
Owen Coyle, and with minutes remaining United looked to have knocked out
the holders. But yet again, just like in the finals of 1985 and 1988,
two late goals for Celtic saw United lose out. With United now knowing
they could still match the best, the team went on a great run, scoring
17 goals in the next 4 matches, starting with another 2-0 win over Dundee
at Tannadice, with McSwegan and Brewster scoring as Dundee's new signing
Chick Charnley was sent off. Craig Brewster scored another hat-trick in
a 6-0 win over Clydebank at Tannadice, before Andy McLaren scored in a
3-1 win over St Mirren at Love Street. At the end of the month Paddy Connolly
was sold to Airdrie for £150,000 after over 8 years at Tannadice.
We
took a double decker bus through to the nerve-wracking match in Greenock,
joining a huge crowd of over 12,000. The match was a roller coaster of
emotions, with United at one stage sitting top as ex-United man Paddy
Connolly had put Airdrie in front against Dunfermline and United were
leading at Cappielow. But Dunfermline went 2-1 up and United were drawing
2-2 and holding on for that Play-off spot! As the match finished all square
there was huge disappointment amoung the Arabs that the team hadn't achieved
automatic promotion, but there was also relief at the fact we would get
one more chance. There was almost a riot on the way home from this match
as Ally the bus driver decided to drive home via Dunfermline, where we
clashed with Pars fans as the bus stopped at the traffic lights outside
of the Fod Bar!
Life
in the First Division wasn't as bad as expected, with a decent amount
of support for United throughout the season. We had more or less the same
faces on our bus who had been going for the past two seasons, as well
as a handful of new faces to give us one of our biggest number of members
in years! We even managed to convince our nut job Fife Scottish bus driver
Ally, an Aberdeen fan, into going to most of the games and cheering on
United!
The
Play-Off was to be a two legged tie between the team finishing in the
second last place in the Premier and the team finishing 2nd top in the
First. Murdo McLeod's Partick Thistle took the lead in the 1st leg at
Firhill, but a Christian Dailly header equalised for United and the scores
were level for the 2nd leg at Tannadice four days later. After attacking
for most of the match, United went 1-0 down to an Ian Cameron penalty,
and things looked even worse as Cameron went down in the box with minutes
remaining. But a second penalty wasn't given and United desperately pushed
for the all important equaliser.
Just
as it looked like United's chance to get back to the Premier League had
gone, Brian Welsh popped up with yet another last minute header which
sparked unbelievable scenes at Tannadice and take the game into extra-time.
I don't know about anybody else, but I personally didn't see the last
5 minutes of the match, sitting with my head in my hands with only the
noise of the crowd letting me know what was happening on the pitch! After
that there was only going to be one winner, and Andy McLaren set up the
winning goal as Owen Coyle pounced to take United back to the Premier
Division and send the United fans absolutely wild with relief!
After all the successes of the 15 years before - the League Championship, League Cup and Scottish Cup wins, European Finals and semi-finals - this season was definitely a low point. But this highly emotional night at Tannadice will live long in the minds of all Arabs who were there, just like the major achievements of the 80's. Just as a reminder of what could have happened if United hadn't won that night, Partick Thistle were not seen at Tannadice or in Scotland's top League for another 7 years, and at one point dropped down to the Second Division. Thank God for Brian Welsh and Owen Coyle!