United Debut: v. Hibs (H) 1-0 22/11/86.
Signed From: Hamilton Thistle 24/6/85.
Transferred to: Blackburn Rovers £1.75m 13/10/95.
In his first season, McKinlay made an appearance in the UEFA Cup run of 1986/87, playing in the home leg win over Hajduk Split. After just a handful of first team starts he was selected for the team to face Celtic in the Scottish Cup Final of 1988. A skillful and battling midfielder, Badger was voted SPFA Young Player of the Year in 1988-89, and was a major influence in the 1994 Scottish Cup win, playing 7 games and scoring 2 goals, but unfortunately missed out on the Final because of suspension. One of only three players ever to be selected for Scotland whilst playing in the First Division since the invention of the Premier Division in 1975, Badger left to continue his career in English football midway through United's season in the First Division, and in his last game he scored a hat-trick against Dundee at Dens as a goodbye gesture!
| League | Scot Cup | League Cup | Europe | Total | ||||||
| App. | Gls. | App. | Gls. | App. | Gls. | App. | Gls. | App. | Gls. | |
| 1986-87 | 3 | - | 1 | - | - | - | 1 | - | 5 | 0 |
| 1987-88 | 12 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | 1 | - | 14 | 1 |
| 1988-89 | 32 | 1 | 4 | - | 4 | - | 3 | - | 43 | 1 |
| 1989-90 | 13 | - | 2 | - | 1 | - | 2 | - | 18 | 0 |
| 1990-91 | 33 | 2 | 5 | - | 4 | - | 4 | - | 46 | 2 |
| 1991-92 | 22 | 1 | - | - | 3 | - | - | - | 25 | 1 |
| 1992-93 | 36 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | 39 | 3 |
| 1993-94 | 40 | 8 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 53 | 12 |
| 1994-95 | 26 | 4 | 4 | - | 2 | - | 2 | - | 34 | 4 |
| 1995-96 | 5 | 4 | - | - | 2 | 1 | - | - | 7 | 5 |
|
Total
|
220 | 22 | 26 | 3 | 21 | 3 | 15 | 1 | 282 | 29 |
