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| United's
season started in July, with a trip
up into the Pyrenees Mountains to play CE Principat from Andorra in the
UEFA Cup. Bryan and Spoons were the only two Glenrothes Arabs to make the
trip, travelling with around 50 fans and the United players and staff on
a chartered flight from Dundee Airport. Arriving at Toulouse Airport, we
were confronted with a 4 hour bus journey up the mountains into Andorra,
where we stayed 2 nights in a 5-star hotel, and saw United notch up an 8-0
lead in the first leg. |
| Robbie
Winters and Gary McSwegan both scored hat-tricks, but Erik Pedersen passed
up the chance to score his first goal for the club as he missed from the
penalty spot. With United already through to the next round, the 2nd leg
at Tannadice saw United going for the Scottish record of the biggest aggregate
score in Europe. But a fantastic 9-0 win just wasn't enough to take the
record, as they fell just one goal short of Rangers 18-0 aggregate score
against Maltese team Valletta in 1983. |
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| The
Premier League started in August with
Kjell Olofsson giving United a 1-1 draw with St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park,
before Gary McSwegan scored is 3rd hat-trick in 4 games in a 4-2 win over
Queen of the South at Dumfries in the League Cup. After the successes of
Olofsson, Pedersen and Zetterlund during the season before, manager Tommy
McLean returned to Scandinavia several times during the course of the season
to add to the squad. Thomas Tengstedt and Goran Marklund were the first
two to arrive, but neither player managed to make an impact on the first
team. |
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The next round of
the UEFA Cup saw United drawn against Turkish outfit Tranzanzibor, with
the away leg up first where United went down 1-0. None of us fancied the
trip to Turkey, a decision all of us regretted as it would be another
8 years before we had the chance to follow United in Europe again. A home
game against Hibs saw two refereeing decisions go against us. John Rowbotham
had sent off Maurice Malpas before penalising Sieb Dykstra for going over
the "6 second" rule, this being the only time we have ever seen
a referee give such a decision! But the ref wasn't finished as he let
Hibs retake the free-kick to equalise for a 1-1 draw.
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Hibs
returned to Tannadice 3 days later for the 3rd round of the League Cup,
where they looked to have won the tie 1-0. But Lars Zetterlund popped
up with a late, late equaliser, before Gary McSwegan put United 2-1 up
in extra-time. Chick Charnley missed a penalty for Hibs and United went
through to face Rangers at Ibrox in the quarter-finals. Ironically, the
next game in the League was against Rangers at Ibrox, where Marco Negri
equalled Paul Sturrock's record of scoring 5 goals in one match, as Rangers
won 5-1.
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Andy
McLaren scored in the 2nd leg of the UEFA Cup tie against Trabzanzibor
at Tannadice, but the Turks scored again to win the tie 2-1 on aggregate
and put an end to United's European adventure. An event filled month finished
with a 1-1 draw with Aberdeen at Pittodrie, with Robbie Winters scoring
for United.
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| September
started with a return to Ibrox for the quarter-finals of the League Cup.
Unlike the thrashing in the previous game there, United took Rangers into
extra-time, where Gary McSwegan unleashed an unstoppable volley from the
edge of the box, which flew past Goram for an amazing 1-0 win. A bizarre
run saw United lose the next 3 League games, Kilmarnock at Tannadice, Hearts
at Tynecastle and Celtic at Tannadice,all by a score of 2-1, with Kjell
Olofsson getting United's goal in all three games. During this time, Tommy
McLean brought former Orebro defender Magnus Skoldmark to Tannadice after
a spell in China, and former Dundee manager Jocky Scott was appointed first
team coach. |
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The
first match in October was a remarkable
game at East End Park, where United went 3-0 up in the first half in gale
force conditions. But playing with the wind in the 2nd half, Dunfermline
pulled it back to 3-3 and Dave Bowman was sent off. United then took on
Aberdeen at Tynecastle in the semi-finals of the League Cup, where Robbie
Winters scored twice and Craig Easton scored his first goal for the club
in a fantastic 3-1 win to take United though to the final. |
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This
result saw United go on an unbeaten run, similar to the previous seasons
run, as United hammered Motherwell 4-0 at Tannadice in the next game.
Robbie Winters scored his 5th goal in three games, and he scored again
as Rangers visited Tannadice the following week, as United won 2-1 with
Steven Pressley scoring from the penalty spot. This month saw Craig Easton
cement his place in the first team with some fine performances, which
also won him the Young Player of the Month award for October.
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| We
had one of the best "Player of the Year" Dances this year, again
sharing with the Edinburgh Arabs, at the Oversea's Club, Princes Street,
Edinburgh. A fantastic drunken night was had by all, again with many players
coming along including Steven Pressley, Erik Pedersen, Dave Bowman and ex-United
man Darren Jackson. Master chef Scot Lyall singing "Two Little Boys"
over the bus microphone on the way home will live with me forever! Scott
was a great guy to have travelling on your bus, not only was he a good laugh,
but he was also a catering lecturer at the local college and supplied us
with an abundance of cakes! |
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|
The final week in October saw the Glenrothes Arabs have a weekend away,
with 4 of us going for a week down in Blackpool, and another 4 travelling
by ferry for our first visit to Amsterdam. Needless to say, the cameras
were banned but a great time was had by all. |
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Kjell
Olofsson scored twice as United came from behind to beat Hibs 3-1 at Easter
Road on the first day of November, and
the manager bought yet another Scandinavian, with Mikael Andersson coming
to Tannadice from Orebro. Aberdeen had failed to beat United since our return
to the Premier League in 1996, and their run got worse as United hammered
them 5-0 at Tannadice with goals from Olofsson (2), McLaren, Zetterlund
and Easton as Dean Windass was shown the red card three times before he
left the pitch. |
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Roy Aitken followed
Alex Smith, Willie Miller and Alex Miller by becoming the next Aberdeen
manager to be sacked following a defeat at the hands of United. After
falling out of favour with manager Tommy McLean, midfielder Grant Johnson
was transferred to Huddersfield Town after spending a few months out on
loan.
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| United
showed their fighting spirit in the next match against Kilmarnock at Rugby
Park. After falling behind 1-0 and struggling to get back into the match,
Mark Perry's scrambled equaliser sparked United into life and goals from
Olofsson and McSwegan gave United their 6th straight win. Next up was the
League cup final rehearsal, as United travelled through to Glasgow to face
Celtic at Parkhead. A 4-0 hammering was not the best warm up for the Cup
final the following week and also put an end to United's unbeaten. Manager
Tommy McLean then brought in ex-Arsenal and Sheffield Wednesday midfielder
Siggi Jonsson, but he would spend most of the season in and out of the first
team due to injury. |
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United
made the journey through to the West again just a week later, this time
for the League Cup Final, held at Ibrox due to restructuring works at
Hampden. After 5 appearances in the final of this competition during the
80's, this was the clubs first League Cup final in 11 years, and thousands
of Arabs travelled through for the clubs first major final since the Scottish
Cup win in 1994. The United fans were in fine voice and there was a carnival
atmosphere at the stadium, but the game itself was a disaster. Celtic
easily won 3-0 and we had a very depressing trip home.
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Into
December and United's confidence
must have taken a blow after the two games against Celtic as the team
failed to score in their next three games, making it 5 games in a row
without a goal. 0-0 draws against Dunfermline and Hearts at Tannadice
was followed by a 1-0 defeat against Motherwell at Fir Park, but the side
returned to winning ways with a 2-1 victory over St Johnstone at Tannadice
with goals from Andy McLaren and Kjell Olofsson. The Christmas week match
saw United travel through to Glasgow yet again, with another demoralising
defeat, this time losing 4-1 to Rangers at Ibrox.
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The
first game in January saw United's
first defeat to Aberdeen since 1995, with a 1-0 loss at Pittodrie, which
was followed by a 1-1 draw with Kilmarnock at Tannadice where Robbie Winters
scored for United. Winters scored again in the next match for his 16th
goal of the season with the only goal of the game against Aberdeen at
Tannadice, giving the team only their second win in 10 games. Kjell Olofsson
scored as United were narrowly beaten 2-1 by Celtic at Tannadice, which
was followed by a 2-0 defeat against Hearts at Tynecastle. Another signing
brought ex-Tranbzanzibor striker Jean Jaque Misse-Misse back to Tannadice
on a short term contract, after impressing Tommy McLean in the UEFA Cup
match back in August, but he failed to impress further and was released
a couple of months later.
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February
started with a 1-0 win over Motherwell at Tannadice with Kjell Olofsson
scoring his 15th goal of the season, and the big forward scored again
in the 3rd round of the Scottish Cup, this time scoring a late equaliser
in a 1-1 draw with Inverness Caledonian Thistle at Tannadice. This was
the first time United had played the newly formed highland club, who were
then in the Second Division, and they met again in the midweek reply just
4 days later. This was only our 2nd trip up to the Highlands in recent
years, with the trip to Huntly in 1994 the only other notable match.
|
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| Travelling
up in 3 cars, we stopped of at Kingussie, with a few pints in a quiet wee
pub with sawdust on the floor, and a bit of banter in the local chip shop.
We got to the game just in time for kick-off, and Kjell Olofsson gave United
an early lead. The tie looked to be finished when Gary McSwegan put United
2-0 up from the penalty spot with 10 minutes to go, but an incredible ICT
fight back saw them pull 2 goals back in the last few minutes. |
| The
last thing we wanted was extra-time before our long trip home, but we were
all very relieved when Lars Zetterlund fired in the winner. On the way home
we must have stopped at every town and village on the way back down the
Perth road looking for a petrol station, and eventually ran out of petrol
at Dunkeld, something I've never been allowed to forget! This led to an
improvised game of football in Dunkeld High Street at 1am as we awaited
help! |
| Gary
McSwegan scored twice in a 2-2 draw with Dunfermline at East End Park, before
an Andy Dow own goal gave United a 1-1 draw with Hibs at Tannadice. Robbie
Winters scored in a 1-1 draw with St Johnstone which gave United a 6 game
unbeaten run during the month of February.. |
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The
first match in March saw Celtic come
to Tannadice for the 4th round of the Scottish Cup. A fantastic match saw
Kjell Olofsson put United in front before Celtic went 2-1 up. Olofsson looked
to have taken the tie to a reply with an equaliser, but a late, late Erik
Pedersen own goal put Celtic through as United narrowly lost 3-2. After
6 straight defeats to Celtic in all competitions, a late Kjell Olofsson
goal at Parkhead gave United a much deserved 1-1 draw. Unfortunately, the
car journey home was delayed as Rammy and Andy had to wait until 9pm for
the release of Wee Bryan, who had been detained at Her' Majesty's pleasure
for daring to talk back to a Celtic supporter. |
| As
usual, the good result in Glasgow was followed by two bad ones, with 1-0
defeats against Hearts at Tannadice and Motherwell at Fir Park. The game
at Motherwell saw Iain Jenkins and Julian Alsford make their debuts after
arriving from Chester City. Tommy McLean would also bring in Emanuel Omoyimni,
Wayne Gill and Oscar Valle, all on loan or short term deals, but none of
them would make an impact on the first team. |
| April
started with another 2-2 draw with Dunfermline, with Maurice Malpas and
Kjell Olofsson scoring at Tannadice, which was followed by a 0-0 draw with
Aberdeen at Tannadice and a 1-0 defeat away to Kilmarnock. A 2-0 defeat
at home to St Johnstone meant that United had won only 3 in 22 League matches,
and were now facing a tough relegation battle with Hibs with only two games
to go, with Hibs being our next opponents. |
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If United were to
lose the match at Easter Road, they would have to take all three points
from Rangers in the last game to have any chance of survival. With the
League title yet to be decided, Rangers could still win the championship
at Tannadice, so a United victory at Easter Road was vital. Kjell
Olofsson yet again showed what a crucial part of the team he was as he
scored twice as United fought back from 1-0 down to win the match, survive
relegation and put Hibs down. That night we celebrated (more through relief
than anything else) at long time Glenrothes Arab Paul McDaid's wedding
to Joanna at the Strathearn Hotel in Kirkcaldy.
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The
final game of the season in May was now not so important to United after
their win over Hibs, but Rangers still had the chance of winning the League.
We had already seen Rangers clinch the title twice at Tannadice during their
"nine in a row", are were not about to let them celebrate a third
time. This time though, the Ibrox club were counting on St Johnstone taking
something from Celtic at Parkhead, and things looked to be going their way
as they took a 2-0 lead at Tannadice as Celtic were held at 0-0. Lars Zetterlund
pulled one back for United and Jorge Albertz was sent off as rangers won
2-1, but Celtic's 2-0 victory won them the League Championship, and stopped
Rangers from winning their 10th title in a row. |
| After
a terrific start to the season that looked to be continuing the fantastic
form of the previous season, Tommy McLean's side were very inconsistent,
and ended up surviving relegation by the skin of their teeth. McLean had
brought in 10 new players over the course of the season, but none of them
had made any sort of impact, with most of them leaving again at the end
of the season.
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to 1997/98 Season front page
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