The 1989–90 season was the 81st year of football played by Dundee United, and covers the period from 1 July 1989 to 30 June 1990. United finished in fourth place, securing European football on the final day of the season.

Summary Dundee United played a total of 47 competitive matches during the 1989–90 season. The team finished fourth in the Scottish Premier Division.

In the cup competitions, United lost in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup to eventual winners Aberdeen and lost in the League Cup third round to Hamilton Academical.

The club signed three players during the season with a total public cost of just over £600,000. Four players were sold by the club during the season with a public total of just over £1m. The club made a profit of around £400k from transfers during the season. One player was loaned out during the season.

The club playing kits were sponsored by Belhaven Brewery for a third season.

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

Scottish Premier Division

DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 12 August 1989 MotherwellH1–18,596French 19 August 1989 DundeeA3–413,616Malpas, M O'Neill, Paatelainen 26 August 1989 Dunfermline AthleticH2–19,158Van der Hoorn, M O'Neill 9 September 1989 HibernianA0–27,000 16 September 1989 CelticH2–216,624Van der Hoorn, French 23 September 1989 Heart of MidlothianA1–114,008McInally 30 September 1989 St MirrenH0–06,643 4 October 1989 AberdeenH2–011,879McInally, Malpas 14 October 1989 RangersA1–236,062M O'Neill 21 October 1989 MotherwellA2–38,100M O'Neill (2) 28 October 1989 DundeeH0–011,529 4 November 1989 Dunfermline AthleticA1–110,804Paatelainen 8 November 1989 HibernianH1–08,247Jackson 18 November 1989 CelticA1–035,350Gallacher 25 November 1989 Heart of MidlothianH2–112,201Bowman, Paatelainen 9 December 1989 AberdeenA0–215,500McInally, Malpas 13 December 1989 St MirrenA0–12,800 16 December 1989 RangersH1–115,947Paatelainen 23 December 1989 MotherwellH1–16,169Paatelainen 30 December 1989 DundeeA1–112,803Jackson 3 January 1990 Dunfermline AthleticH1–011,148Jackson 6 January 1990 HibernianA0–06,500 13 January 1990 CelticH2–016,635Connolly (2) 27 January 1990 Heart of MidlothianA2–313,083Connolly, Paatelainen 3 February 1990 RangersA1–339,058Clark 10 February 1990 AberdeenH1–110,533McInally 17 February 1990 St MirrenH2–05,957Jackson, Connolly 3 March 1990 CelticA0–323,541 10 March 1990 MotherwellA1–04,697Jackson 24 March 1990 DundeeH1–211,918Connolly 31 March 1990 Dunfermline AthleticA1–06,945Jackson 7 April 1990 HibernianH1–06,633Paatelainen 18 April 1990 AberdeenA0–110,000 21 April 1990 RangersH0–115,996 28 April 1990 Heart of MidlothianH1–17,679Jackson 5 May 1990 St MirrenA0–04,312

Scottish Cup

DateRoundOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 20 January 1990 Third round Dundee A0–014,176 23 January 1990 Third round replay Dundee H1–016,228Clark 24 February 1990 Fourth round Queen of the SouthH2–15,948Connolly, Paatelainen 17 March 1990 Quarter–finals HibernianH1–013,874Jackson 14 April 1990 Semi–finals AberdeenN0–416,581

Scottish League Cup

DateRoundOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 16 August 1989 Second round Partick ThistleH1–07,043M O'Neill 23 August 1989 Third round Hamilton AcademicalA1–22,600Hinds

UEFA Cup

DateRoundOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 13 September 1989 First round 1st leg GlentoranA3–18,000Cleland, McInally, Hinds 27 September 1989 First round 2nd leg GlentoranH2–09,340Clark, Gallacher 17 October 1989 Second round 1st leg Royal AntwerpA0–410,000 31 October 1989 Second round 2nd leg Royal AntwerpH3–28,994M O'Neill, Paatelainen, Clark

Player statistics During the 1989–90 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 13 players score with the team scoring 50 goals in total. The top goalscorer was Mixu Paatelainen, who finished the season with nine goals. NameLeagueCupsTotal70 971 852 751 631 413 420 220 220 211 202 210 101 1

Discipline During the 1989–90 season, one United player was sent off. Statistics for cautions are unavailable. NameDismissals 1

Competitions League table

Transfers

In Date Player From Fee 1 July 1989 Fujita Kogyo £65,000 2 August 1989 Den Bosch £200,000 15 August 1989 Newcastle United £350,000

Out Date Player To Fee September 1989 Partick Thistle Unknown 22 November 1989 Blackburn Rovers £30,000 January 1990 St Johnstone Free 25 January 1990 Coventry City £900,000 8 February 1990 St Johnstone £100,000 1990 Motherwell Unknown

Loans out Date Player To Duration October 1989 Blackburn Rovers 1 month

See also 1989–90 in Scottish football

References

External links Glenrothes Arabs 1989–90 season review