The 1990–91 season was the 82nd year of football played by Dundee United, and covers the period from 1 July 1990 to 30 June 1991. United finished in fourth place and missed out on European football for the first time in fifteen years.

Summary Dundee United played a total of 50 competitive matches during the 1990–91 season. The team finished fourth in the Scottish Premier Division.

In the cup competitions, United lost in the final of the Scottish Cup to Motherwell and lost in the Scottish League Cup semi-finals to eventual runners-up Celtic.

The club signed five players during the season with a total public cost of nearly £400,000. In addition, one player played whilst on trial but left shortly afterwards. Two players were sold by the club during the season.

The jerseys were sponsored by Belhaven Brewery for the fourth season.

Results and fixtures WinDrawLoss

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

Scottish Premier Division

DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 25 August 1990 St JohnstoneA3–17,784Jackson (2), Dailly 1 September 1990 MotherwellH1–07,636Cleland 8 September 1990 St MirrenH1–06,968Jackson 15 September 1990 AberdeenA1–117,400McKinnon 22 September 1990 RangersH2–116,270McKinlay, Butcher (o.g.) 29 September 1990 Heart of MidlothianA0–112,052 10 October 1990 Dunfermline AthleticH3–09,025Bowman, Steinmann, French 13 October 1990 HibernianH1–010,289Miller (o.g.) 20 October 1990 CelticA0–034,363 27 October 1990 St JohnstoneH1–211,353Jackson 3 November 1990 MotherwellA2–08,117Jackson, Dailly 10 November 1990 RangersA2–136,995Jackson (2) 17 November 1990 Heart of MidlothianH1–110,821Jackson 24 November 1990 AberdeenH2–312,344McKimmie (o.g.), Malpas 1 December 1990 St MirrenA1–14,581Jackson 8 December 1990 CelticH3–114,895Dailly, Jackson, Paatelainen 15 December 1990 HibernianA0–06,000 22 December 1990 Dunfermline AthleticA0–18,018 29 December 1990 RangersH1–217,564Jackson 2 January 1991 AberdeenA1–017,400Dailly 5 January 1991 St MirrenH3–211,353Clark, Dailly, Cleland 19 January 1991 MotherwellH3–06,482McKinlay, Connolly (2) 2 February 1991 CelticA0–126,172 9 February 1991 HibernianH0–06,114 16 February 1991 Heart of MidlothianA1–27,216Clark 19 February 1991 St JohnstoneA1–06,910French 2 March 1991 Dunfermline AthleticH1–06,379Ferguson 9 March 1991 St MirrenA1–03,960Jackson 23 March 1991 AberdeenH1–210,643McInally 30 March 1991 St JohnstoneH0–07,794Jackson 13 April 1991 CelticH2–112,603Van der Hoorn, McKinnon 16 April 1991 MotherwellA0–13,531 20 April 1991 HibernianA0–14,000 24 April 1991 RangersA0–132,397 4 May 1991 Heart of MidlothianH2–16,820French (2) 11 May 1991 Dunfermline AthleticA0–14,894 United were leading Dunfermline 2–1 on 6 October when the match was abandoned due to heavy rain. The match was replayed four days later.

Scottish Cup

DateRoundOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 26 January 1990 Third round East FifeA1–14,947Connolly 29 January 1990 Third round replay East FifeH2–17,190Clark, Ferguson 23 February 1990 Fourth round AirdrieoniansH2–08,648French (2) 13 March 1990 Quarter–finals DundeeH3–116,228McKinnon, Jackson, Ferguson 6 April 1991 Semi–finals St JohnstoneN2-116,560Clark, Ferguson 18 May 1991 Final MotherwellN3–457,319Bowman, J O'Neil, Jackson

Scottish League Cup

DateRoundOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 21 August 1990 Second round Alloa AthleticA3–01,835Welsh, Dailly, Jackson 28 August 1990 Third round Partick ThistleA3–14,000Van der Hoorn, Dailly, Jackson 4 September 1990 Quarter–finals MotherwellH2–08,475Jackson, McInally 25 September 1990 Semi–finals CelticN0–249,975

UEFA Cup

DateRoundOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 18 September 1990 First round 1st leg FHA3–1263Jackson, Cleland (2) 3 October 1990 First round 2nd leg FHH2–25,475Connolly, Hjalmarson (o.g.) 24 October 1990 Second round 1st leg VitesseA0–18,331 7 November 1990 First round 2nd leg VitesseH0–410,726

Player statistics During the 1990–91 season, United used 25 different players comprising five nationalities. Maurice Malpas was the only player to play in every match. The table below shows the number of appearances and goals scored by each player.

Goalscorers United had 17 players score with the team scoring 67 goals in total. The top goalscorer was Darren Jackson, who finished the season with 18 goals. NameLeagueCupsTotal126 1852 742 632 522 422 422 413 421 320 211 211 211 210 110 110 101 101 1

Discipline During the 1990–91 season, two United players were sent off. Statistics for cautions are unavailable. NameDismissals 1 1

Competitions

League table

Transfers

In Date Player From Fee October 1990 Utrecht £100,000

Out Date Player To Fee 23 August 1990 Marítimo Free May 1991 Utrecht Free

See also 1990–91 in Scottish football

References

External links Glenrothes Arabs 1990–91 season review