|
|
|
|
 |
| As
the pre-season started, United lost three vital players who were involved
in the clubs Scottish Cup win just two years before. Christian Dailly had
vowed to get United back into the Premier League before accepting any transfer
offers, and with United now back in the top league, Dailly decided to make
his move so that the club received some cash for him before his contract
ran out. Dailly's transfer to Derby County was followed by Craig Brewster's
move to Greece, as he became the first United player to leave under the
new Bosman ruling. With just days to go before the first league game of
the season, Brian Welsh was transferred to Hibs after a contract dispute
with the club. |
| With
Kelham O'Hanlon returning to his previous club Preston North End, manager
Billy Kirkwood brought in Lance Key as cover for Ally Maxwell. Kirkwood
also brought in two new defenders, with Neil Duffy returning to the club
after spells with Dundee and Falkirk, and Armand Benneker arriving from
Holland. |
 |
After
two home friendlies against Wolves and Leicester City at the start of August,
the new season got underway with a home game against Motherwell, where Gary
McSwegan scored in a 1-1 draw. The team mainly consisted of the remainder
of the team that had finished the season in the First Division, except for
new signing Armand Benneker. A midweek tie against Stirling Albion in the
League Cup 2nd round saw our first ever visit to Stirling's new Forthbank
Stadium. Robbie Winters and Owen Coyle scored to take United through to
the next round with a narrow 2-1 win. A 1-0 defeat at home to Hibs was followed
by another 1-0 defeat against Rangers at Ibrox. |
|
Again
we had a following of the familiar faces every week but our numbers had
swelled to an average of about 25-30 for most matches, with people coming
from all over Fife - from Anstruther to Dunfermline - with even one Arab
travelling from Stirlingshire just to travel on our bus! We even had a
record number of female members!!
|
|
September
started with a midweek League Cup tie against Dundee at Tannadice,
where Gary McSwegan and Owen Coyle scored for United, but Jim Hamilton
scored twice for Dundee, who were still stuck in the First Division. The
match went to extra-time and finished 2-2 before United lost 4-3 on penalties
where ex-United hero Billy Thomson saved two penalties for Dundee. Whilst
being back in the top league, United were beginning to look a bit out
of their depth and a 1-0 defeat against Hearts at Tynecastle was followed
by the departure of Billy Kirkwood. The manager had prepared United well
for the battle of the First Division in the previous season with some
good signings for that level, but the team was struggling to make any
impact on the Premier Division, with very few new signings to take United
forward.
|
|
After
just a few days after taking the managers job at Raith Rovers, Tommy McLean
was unveiled as United's new manager, much to the disgust of the Starks
park club. Several United fans weren't too happy either, with chairman
Jim replacing his "yes man" with his own brother! The new manager's
first game in charge was against Celtic at Tannadice, where United narrowly
lost out 2-1. McLean's next game was a trip to the club he had just abandoned,
and the Raith fans in Kirkcaldy enjoyed every minute of their 3-2 win.
Gary McSwegan notched his 5th goal in 9 games for the winner in a 1-0
win over Aberdeen at Tannadice a United won their first League game of
the season. It was here that things began to change under the new manager
as the team went on a 6 game unbeaten run.
|
 |
|
In
October, McLean decided the midfield
needed hardening up a bit, and brought ex-United legend Jim McInally back
to the club after a spell at Raith Rovers. A 0-0 draw at home to Kilmarnock
was followed by a 1-1 draw with the previous season's rivals, Dunfermline,
at East End Park. Tommy McLean started to make some shrewd moves in the
transfer market as he brought across a couple of trialists from Scandinavia,
and Kjell Olofsson and Erik Pedersen started the next match against Hearts
at Tannadice where Robbie Winters scored his 2nd goal in 2 games with
the winner in a 1-0 victory. Goalkeeper Ally Maxwell received a long term
injury and this was to be his last match for United as Lance Key took
over the No.1 jersey.
|
 |
Both
trialists impressed and McLean spent the first week in November
negotiating contracts and signed them up as soon as he could, along with
another Swede, former Gothenburg midfielder Lars Zetterlund. All three new
signings played in an impressive 3-1 win over Motherwell at Fir Park, where
Olofsson scored his first goal for the club. With Olofsson's goals and Perdersen's
rapport with the fans, both players soon became big favourites with the
Arab support, who started wearing Viking helmets in honour of the three
Scandinavians who had made such an impact. This was also the season that
the United fans adopted "Love Is In The Air" and "Beautiful
Sunday", two songs that can still be heard at Tannadice today. |
| We
even started our own merchandising line for the first time, selling Glenrothes
Arabs T-Shirts, Polo shirts and woolly hats! After being brought in to lend
his experience to United's battle for promotion, Rab Shannon was sold onto
Hibs as United travelled up to Pittodrie where Olofsson scored again in
a 3-3 draw with Aberdeen, before United lost for the first time since September.
Raith Rovers maintained their 100% record over their "ex-manager"
with a 2-1 win at Tannadice. Robbie Winters scored in a 1-1 draw with Dunfermline
at Tannadice, but new keeper Lance Key was beginning to look shaky in goal,
with some costly mistakes. |
 |
|
McLean
delved into the transfer market once more at the beginning of December
to capture his old Motherwell keeper Sieb Dykstra from QPR, and he made
his debut in a 2-0 win over Kilmarnock where Kjell Olofsson scored twice.
United's return to the big time was complete as a Richard Gough own goal
gave United a midweek 1-0 victory over Rangers at Tannadice, a match that
saw Erik Pedersen's man marking skills subdue of the likes of Brian Laudrup
and Paul Gascoigne. An Andy McLaren penalty gave United a 1-1 draw with
Hibs at Easter Road before United lost 1-0 to Celtic in Glasgow. This
was to be the last time United would be beaten for over three months.
|
|
A Boxing Day match against Motherwell at Tannadice saw David Hannah score
in his final match for United before being transferred to Celtic, as United
won 2-0, then Kjell Olofsson scored the only goal of the game to finally
give United a victory over bottom club Raith Rovers. |
| January
started with the New Year's Day game against Aberdeen at Tannadice, as United
won 4-0, where Nicky Walker fell on his arse and hit his clearance right
at Winters for probably the forwards easiest goal of his career, and Steven
Pressley scored twice. Pressley had been getting better and better at centre-half
since he had joined United from Coventry City, and it was about this time
that the fans began to ask why he was not being called up to the Scotland
squad. This match also saw youngster Craig Easton make his first team debut
for United. Three days later United won their fourth straight game with
goals from Maurice Malpas and Ray McKinnon in a 2-0 victory over Kilmarnock
at Tannadice. |
 |
Owen
Coyle had fallen out of favour with the new manager, and he was involved
in a player swap deal that brought Jamie Dolan, another of Tommy McLean's
men from his Motherwell days, to Tannadice. Dolan's debut against Dunfermline
saw him set up Jim McInally for the third goal in a 3-1 win over Dunfermline
at East End Park, where Kjell Olofsson scored twice and Erik Pedersen was
sent off. A late Ray McKinnon volley saw United finally win at Tynecastle,
a feat the team hadn't managed since 1984, as United beat Hearts 2-1. The
transfer activity continued with Scott Crabbe heading for Falkirk, ex-Raith
Rovers defender Davie Sinclair arriving at Tannadice and Jonas Wirmola signing
on a short term conract. |
|
Another
trip through to Stirling saw United face Albion yet again, this time in
the 3rd round of the Scottish Cup. Goals from Robbie Winters and Gary
McSwegan put United through to the next round where they would have to
take on Hearts at Tynecastle.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
February
began with a visit from Celtic, where a Gary McSwegan lob gave United
a long awaited win over the Glasgow club, made even sweeter by the fact
that the goal was scored in the last minute, after seeing it happen the
other way around so often. Hibs left Tannadice with a point after a 0-0
draw before Lance Key was moved onto Rochdale. United's Scottish Cup tie
at Tynecastle saw United earn a replay with a 1-1 draw after Ray McKinnon's
free-kick was deflected into the goal. McKinnon's delivery was even better
in the next match, as he scored a remarkable hat-trick of free-kicks in
a 3-2 win over Kilmarnock at Rugby Park, before Robbie Winters early goal
in the replay against Hearts at Tannadice took United through to the Scottish
Cup quarter finals.
|
|
Next
up in March was Dunfermline's visit
to Tannadice where Kjell Olofsson gave United a 2-1 win, before Andy McLaren
scored twice in United's 4-1 home win over Motherwell in the quarter finals
of the Scottish Cup. A midweek trip to Ibrox saw Robbie Winters and Kjell
Olofsson score in a shock 2-0 win over champions Rangers, a result that
took United's unbeaten run in the league to 11 games. Olofsson scored
his 4th goal in 4 games in a 1-1 draw with Aberdeen at Pittodrie, before
Robbie Winters gave United a 2-1 win over Raith Rovers at Tannadice.
|
 |
| Just
a couple of days before, Tommy McLean had added more experience to his squad
by signing Aberdeen defender Stuart McKimmie, bringing his total of signings
to 9 since coming in in September. |
The first match
in April saw United's unbeaten run
come to an end. The team had gone 17 games - 13 in the League and 4
in the Cup - since their last defeat at the hands of Celtic back in
December, United's best run since 1989. In fact, United had only lost
twice in the last 29 games. Hibs won 2-0 at Easter Road, and United's
next game was also at Easter Road, this time against Kilmarnock in the
semi-finals of the Scottish Cup. The match ended in a disappointing
0-0 draw and a reply was scheduled back at Easter Road a week later.
|
| In
between the Scottish Cup games against Kilmarnock, United had the chance
to guarantee a 3rd place finish in the League and qualify for the UEFA Cup
if they picked up a point against Motherwell at Fir Park. Lars Zetterlund
scores the goal in a 1-1 draw that meant United would be playing European
football just a year after scraping out of the First Division. After Falkirk's
shock win over Celtic to reach the final of the Scottish Cup, both United
and Kilmarnock battled it out to play them in the final, but a late goal
by future United star Jim McIntyre took Kilmarnock through. |
| After
losing out on a Scottish Cup final and guaranteeing themselves 3rd place
in the league, the last three league matches in May
didn't really count for much as far as United were concerned. A Gary McSwegan
goal gave United a 1-0 win over fourth placed Hearts, but Rangers came to
Tannadice looking for the win that would give them their 9th League Championship
in a row, matching Celtic's achievements in the 60' and 70's. A Brian Laudrup
header was enough to repeat the scenes of 1990 as Rangers won the League
at Tannadice for a second time. |
 |
The
last game of the season at Parkhead was just going through the motions,
and even a 3-0 defeat to Celtic wasn't enough to dampen the spirits of the
United fans, who cheered each Celtic goal for a laugh, to the utter bewilderment
of the Celtic support. Choruses of "we don't give a monkeys" echoed
around a quiet Parkhead as the United fans celebrated a fantastic first
season back in the Premier Division. The end of the season saw Jim McInally
leave Tannadice for a second time, this time going across the road for a
coaching role at Dens Park and Sandy Robertson was released after two disappointing
seasons with United. |
|
Back
to 1996/97 Season front page
|
|
|
