1996–97 Dundee United F.C. season

The 1996–97 season was the 85th year of football played by Dundee United, and covered the period from 1 July 1996 to 30 June 1997. United finished in third place in the league following their promotion from the First Division and qualified for the UEFA Cup in the process. The club lost in the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup after a replay and were knocked out of the League Cup in a third round penalty shootout by rivals Dundee.

Dundee United

1996–97 season
Chairman	Jim McLean
Manager	Billy Kirkwood (until 10 September 1996) Tommy McLean (from 10 September 1996)
Scottish Premier Division	3rd (UEFA Cup) W17 D9 L10 F46 A33 P60
Tennent's Scottish Cup	Semi-finals
Coca-Cola Cup	Third round
Top goalscorer	League: Kjell Olofsson (12) All: Kjell Olofsson (13)
Highest home attendance	12,600 (vs Celtic, 1 February 1997)
Lowest home attendance	6,387 (vs Raith Rovers, 22 March 1997)

Season review

United finished the Scottish Premier Division 1996–97 season in 3rd place with 60 points, in the first season back in the top flight after the single season in the First Division. Despite taking just one point from the first six games, United finished third, with the appointment of Tommy McLean starting an immediate six-game unbeaten run, bettered later by a thirteen-game unbeaten succession, which included eight straight league wins.

The cup campaigns saw a 3rd round League Cup penalty shootout defeat to rivals Dundee and a semi-final Scottish Cup defeat (after a replay) to eventual winners Kilmarnock.

Off the pitch, United started a four-year successive run of 'Premier League Programme of the Year'.[1]

Match results

Dundee United played a total of 44 competitive matches during the 1996–97 season.[2] The team finished third in the Premier Division.

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

All results are written with Dundee United's score first.

Premier Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
10 August 1996	Motherwell	H	1–1	8,127	McSwegan
17 August 1996	Hibernian	H	0–1	8,589
24 August 1996	Rangers	A	0–1	48,285
7 September 1996	Hearts	A	0–1	11,858
14 September 1996	Celtic	H	1–2	12,152	McSwegan
21 September 1996	Raith Rovers	A	2–3	5,077	McSwegan, Hannah
28 September 1996	Aberdeen	H	1–0	10,359	McSwegan
12 October 1996	Kilmarnock	H	0–0	7,365
19 October 1996	Dunfermline	A	1–1	6,982	Winters
26 October 1996	Hearts	H	1–0	9,353	Winters
2 November 1996	Motherwell	A	3–1	5,814	Olofsson, McKinnon, Winters
16 November 1996	Aberdeen	A	3–3	13,800	McLaren, Winters, Olofsson
23 November 1996	Raith Rovers	H	1–2	8,028	Duffy
30 November 1996	Dunfermline	H	1–1	7,646	Winters
7 December 1996	Kilmarnock	A	2–0	5,814	Olofsson (2)
10 December 1996	Rangers	H	1–0	12,529	Gough
14 December 1996	Hibernian	A	1–1	8,250	McLaren
21 December 1996	Celtic	A	0–1	46,590
26 December 1996	Motherwell	H	2–0	8,072	McSwegan, Hannah
28 December 1996	Raith Rovers	A	1–0	5,762	Olofsson
1 January 1997	Aberdeen	H	4–0	9,736	Winters, Pressley (2), Olofsson
4 January 1997	Kilmarnock	H	2–0	8,508	Malpas, McKinnon
11 January 1997	Dunfermline	A	3–1	7,698	Olofsson (2), McInally
18 January 1997	Hearts	A	2–1	12,777	Olofsson, McKinnon
1 February 1997	Celtic	H	1–0	12,600	McSwegan
8 February 1997	Hibernian	H	0–0	9,219
22 February 1997	Kilmarnock	A	3–2	6,054	McKinnon (3)
1 March 1997	Dunfermline	H	2–1	8,160	McLaren, Olofsson
12 March 1997	Rangers	A	2–0	49,192	Winters, Olofsson
15 March 1997	Aberdeen	A	1–1	13,645	Olofsson
22 March 1997	Raith Rovers	H	2–1	6,387	Winters (2)
5 April 1997	Hibernian	A	0–2	11,010
19 April 1997	Motherwell	A	1–1	5,500	Zetterlund
3 May 1997	Hearts	H	1–0	7,405	McSwegan
7 May 1997	Rangers	H	0–1	12,180
10 May 1997	Celtic	A	0–3	46,758

Tennent's Scottish Cup

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
25 January 1997	Stirling	A	2–0	3,300	Winters, McSwegan
16 February 1997	Hearts	A	1–1	14,833	McManus
25 February 1997	Hearts	H	1–0	12,283	Winters
8 March 1997	Motherwell	H	4–1	12,283	McLaren (2), Winters, Olofsson
14 April 1997	Kilmarnock	N	0–0	12,391
22 April 1997	Kilmarnock	N	0–1	9,225

Coca-Cola Cup

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
13 August 1996	Stirling	A	2–1	1,683	Winters, Coyle
3 September 1996	Dundee	H	2–2	11,839	Coyle, McSwegan

Dundee beat United 4–3 on penalty kicks

Player details

During the 1996–97 season, United used 31 different players comprising five nationalities. The table below shows the number of appearances and goals scored by each player.[3]

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Premier Division		Tennent's Scottish Cup		Coca-Cola Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
	GK		Sieb Dykstra	28	0	22	0	6	0	0	0
	GK		Lance Key	3	0	3	0	0	0	0	0
	GK		Ally Maxwell	12	0	10	0	0	0	2	0
	DF		Armand Benneker	9	0	7	0	0	0	2	0
	DF		Neil Duffy	17	1	13	1	2	0	2	0
	DF		Stewart McKimmie	7	0	6	0	1	0	0	0
	DF		Jamie McQuilken	11	0	9	0	0	0	2	0
	DF		Maurice Malpas	32	1	26	1	6	0	0	0
	DF		Erik Pedersen	31	0	25	0	6	0	0	0
	DF		Mark Perry	43	0	35	0	6	0	2	0
	DF		Steven Pressley	43	2	36	2	5	0	2	0
	DF		Rab Shannon	10	0	9	0	0	0	1	0
	MF		Paul Black	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
	MF		Dave Bowman	30	0	27	0	1	0	2	0
	MF		Jamie Dolan	19	0	13	0	6	0	0	0
	MF		Craig Easton	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
	MF		David Hannah	11	2	11	2	0	0	0	0
	MF		Grant Johnson	9	0	8	0	0	0	1	0
	MF		Jim McInally	20	1	16	1	4	0	0	0
	MF		Ray McKinnon	31	6	24	6	5	0	2	0
	MF		Andy McLaren	41	6	34	4	6	2	1	0
	MF		Sandy Robertson	4	0	4	0	0	0	0	0
	MF		David Sinclair	8	0	6	0	2	0	0	0
	MF		Paul Walker	4	0	3	0	1	0	0	0
	MF		Jonas Wirmola	3	0	3	0	0	0	0	0
	MF		Lars Zetterlund	32	0	25	0	1	0	6	0
	FW		Owen Coyle	11	2	9	0	0	0	2	2
	FW		Gary McSwegan	38	9	30	7	6	1	2	1
	FW		Kjell Olofsson	31	13	25	12	6	1	0	0
	FW		Steven Thompson	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
	FW		Robbie Winters	43	12	36	8	5	3	2	1

Goalscorers United had 12 players score with the team scoring 58 goals in total. The top goalscorer was Kjell Olofsson, who finished the season with 13 goals.[4] Name League Cups Total Kjell Olofsson 12 1 13 Robbie Winters 8 4 12 Gary McSwegan 7 2 09 Ray McKinnon 6 06 Andy McLaren 3 2 05 Own goal 2 1 03 David Hannah 2 02 Steven Pressley 2 02 Owen Coyle 2 02 Neil Duffy 1 01 Jim McInally 1 01 Maurice Malpas 1 01 Lars Zetterlund 1 01

Discipline United had three players sent off and seventeen players received at least one caution. In total, the team received three red cards and[3] Name Cautions Dismissals Dave Bowman 4 1 Stewart McKimmie 1 1 Steven Pressley 1 Ray McKinnon 7 Mark Perry 4 Lars Zetterlund 4 Erik Pedersen 3 Armand Benneker 2 Jamie Dolan 2 Jim McInally 2 Andy McLaren 2 Gary McSwegan 2 Sieb Dykstra 1 Craig Easton 1 Grant Johnson 1 Maurice Malpas 1 Kjell Olofsson 1 Jonas Wirmola 1 Note: disciplinary statistics are missing for Coca-Cola match vs Dundee and Scottish Cup matches vs Kilmarnock

Team statistics

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Rangers (C)	36	25	5	6	85	33	+52	80	Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2	Celtic	36	23	6	7	78	32	+46	75	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first qualifying round[lower-alpha 1]
3	Dundee United	36	17	9	10	46	33	+13	60
4	Heart of Midlothian	36	14	10	12	46	43	+3	52
5	Dunfermline Athletic	36	12	9	15	52	65	−13	45

Source: Soccerbase
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champion.
Notes:

1. As the League Cup winners Rangers had qualified for European competition via their league position, the place in the UEFA Cup was passed to the next highest placed team in the league, Dundee United.

Transfers

In The club signed twelve players during the season with approximately £650k spent on transfer fees. In addition, three players were promoted from youth contracts: Paul Black, Craig Easton, Steven Thompson, with all three featuring at least once during the season. Date Player From Fee (£) 26 July 1996 Lance Key Sheff Wed Free[5] 1 August 1996 Neil Duffy Dundee Unknown[6] 1 August 1996 Armand Benneker MVV Bosman[7] 3 October 1996 Jim McInally Raith Rovers Unknown[8] 30 October 1996 Lars Zetterlund Örebro £0,100,000[9] 1 November 1996 Kjell Olofsson Moss £0,400,000[10] 1 November 1996 Erik Pedersen Viking Unknown[11] 4 December 1996 Sieb Dykstra Q.P.R. £0,050,000[12] 7 January 1997 Jamie Dolan Motherwell Swap[13] 1 January 1997 Jonas Wirmola Unattached Free[14] 31 January 1997 David Sinclair Millwall £0,090,000[15] 19 March 1997 Stewart McKimmie Aberdeen Free[16]

Out Ten players left the club during the season, with the club receiving over £1.35m in transfer sales, representing an overall transfer profit of around £700k. Date Player To Fee 1 July 1996 Craig Brewster Ionikos Bosman[17] 7 August 1996 Brian Welsh Hibernian £0,200,000[18] 12 August 1996 Christian Dailly Derby County £0,500,000[19] 6 September 1996 Kelham O'Hanlon Preston North End £0,000,012[20] 20 October 1996 Rab Shannon Hibernian Unknown[21] 28 December 1996 David Hannah Celtic £0,650,000[22] 7 January 1997 Owen Coyle Motherwell Swap[23] 19 January 1997 Scott Crabbe Falkirk Unknown[24] 31 January 1997 Jonas Wirmola Released Free[14] 14 March 1997 Lance Key Sheffield United Free[25]

Playing kit

Home colours

Away colours

The jerseys were sponsored for the first time by Telewest.

References

1. "Programme of the Year Awards". Programme Monthly & Football Collectible. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 26 September 2007.
2. "Dundee Utd 1996/1997 results and fixtures". Soccerbase. Retrieved 12 December 2007.
3. "Dundee Utd 1996/1997 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 13 December 2007.
4. "1996–97". Glenrothes Arabs. Archived from the original on 3 July 2008. Retrieved 13 December 2007.
5. "The Internet Soccer Database: Lance Key". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 26 September 2007.
6. "The Internet Soccer Database: Neil Duffy". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 26 September 2007.
7. "The Internet Soccer Database: Armand Benneker". Soccerbase. Retrieved 26 September 2007.
8. "The Internet Soccer Database: Jim McInally". Soccerbase. Retrieved 26 September 2007.
9. "Player A to Z: Lars Zetterlund". Glenrothes Arabs. Archived from the original on 28 August 2008. Retrieved 26 September 2007.
10. "Player A to Z: Kjell Olofsson". Glenrothes Arabs. Archived from the original on 15 October 2008. Retrieved 26 September 2007.
11. "Player A to Z: Erik Pedersen". Glenrothes Arabs. Archived from the original on 15 October 2008. Retrieved 26 September 2007.
12. "The Internet Soccer Database: Sieb Dykstra". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 26 September 2007.
13. "The Internet Soccer Database: Jamie Dolan". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 26 September 2007.
14. "The Internet Soccer Database: Jonas Wirmola". Soccerbase. Retrieved 26 September 2007.
15. "The Internet Soccer Database: David Sinclair". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 26 September 2007.
16. "The Internet Soccer Database: Stewart McKimmie". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 26 September 2007.
17. "The Internet Soccer Database: Craig Brewster". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 26 September 2007.
18. "The Internet Soccer Database: Brian Welsh". Soccerbase. Retrieved 26 September 2007.
19. "The Internet Soccer Database: Christian Dailly". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 26 September 2007.
20. "The Internet Soccer Database: Kelham O'Hanlon". Soccerbase. Retrieved 26 September 2007.
21. "The Internet Soccer Database: Rab Shannon". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 26 September 2007.
22. "The Internet Soccer Database: David Hannah". Soccerbase. Retrieved 26 September 2007.
23. "The Internet Soccer Database: Owen Coyle". Soccerbase. Retrieved 26 September 2007.
24. "The Internet Soccer Database: Scott Crabbe". Soccerbase. Retrieved 26 September 2007.
25. "The Internet Soccer Database: Lance Key". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 26 September 2007.

External links

• Glenrothes Arabs season review