A stunned silence greeted the referee’s final whistle inside the Nou Camp, as Barcelona supporters realised their dreams of further European success had been shattered by…
In February 2001, ArabFC was approached by Front Magazine to write a piece on Dundee United, which would appear in their publication.
The article was to contain..amongst other things..a look at Dundee United’s Glory Years, their biggest Rivals, songs which Dundee United supporters sing and reasons why you would want to support the club, etc.
The following is a copy of the article which was submitted to Front Magazine, and was published the following month.
(First published in ‘Front Magazine’, in March 2001)
18th March 1987 – A stunned silence greeted the referee’s final whistle inside the Nou Camp, as Barcelona supporters realised their dreams of further European success had been shattered by Scottish minnows Dundee United.
Beating Barcelona 2-1 in Spain was enough to see the Scottish side progress to the semi-finals of the 1986/87 UEFA Cup, whilst maintaining their 100% unbeaten record against the world’s biggest football club – played 4, won 4.
Lens, Uni Craiova and Hajduk Split had already been knocked out by Jim McLean’s side, and Borrusia Moenchengladback followed in the semi’s, as Dundee United secured their place against IFK Goteborg in the final.
Even though their side lost 2-1 on aggregate to their Swedish opposition, the Dundee United supporters stayed long after the match to award their victors a standing ovation in recognition of their achievement.
That display of sportsmanship from the fans prompted IFK Goteborg to change the colour of their away top to Tangerine, in acknowledgement of their bond with Dundee United. Fifa were also so impressed that they honoured Dundee United with the first ever ‘Fifa Fair Play’ award, which is commemorated in the naming of the ‘Fair Play’ stand at Tannadice.
Since the winter of season 1962/63, Dundee United fans have been called ‘The Arabs’, because a visiting manager commented that there was more sand on the Tannadice pitch than on the Sahara Desert, and you can easily spot an Arab by their Arafat headgear or look of nervous exhaustion. The team’s nickname is the Tangerine Terrors, after our Tangerine & Black strips, which the club adopted after wearing that same colour to represent Dallas Tornado in an American Soccer League in 1969.
Our deadly rivals are the neighbours from hell, Dundee FC, who live just 100 yards along the road. Tannadice Street must be the only street in the world with 2 professional football clubs and two stadiums such a short distance apart. There aren’t many cities, such as Glasgow, Madrid and Milan amongst them, that can boast two teams have reached the European Cup semi-finals, far less two teams from the same street.
Dens Park, home of Dundee FC, has been a happy hunting ground for Dundee United over the years. They won their first 3 trophies there, Dundee and Aberdeen to win the 1978/79 and 1979/80 Scottish League Cups and then returning to clinch the Scottish Premier League title on the last day of the 1982/83 season in front of a crowd of 29,106.
United is a fairly young club, originally being formed as Dundee Hibernian in 1909, but changed their name to Dundee United in 1923. However, it wasn’t until the 1960’s under the leadership of Jerry Kerr that United established themselves in the top flight of Scottish Football.
Jerry Kerr’s impact was instant, leading the club into the 1st division for the first ever time, before a record home attendance of 28,000 saw Dundee United make their European debut in the Fair Cities Cup against the current holders Barcelona, a match which they won 2-0.
Although, the ‘Glory Years’ for United weren’t until the late 70’s/80’s, when Jim McLean’s excellent youth policy generated a team of young stars such as ‘Mr Sky TV’ Andy Gray, Paul Hegarty, Maurice Malpas, Paul Sturrock and David Narey, who scored that ‘toe-poke’ for Scotland against Brazil in the 1982 World Cup Finals.
After winning the League Cup twice and becoming one of only 4 clubs to have won the Scottish Premier League since reconstruction, Jim McLean lead the club all the way to the semi-finals of the European Cup in 1983/84. United took a 2-0 lead to Roma, but lost 3-0 in that second leg, due to dubious refereeing decisions and a late penalty, with AS Roma eventually losing the final to Liverpool on spot-kicks.
This was an incredible achievement for a Club of United’s stature with an average home gate of about 10,000 and as a result, United became the thinking man’s football team and attracted many young fans who would otherwise have gone to Rangers and Celtic.
Apart from winning the Scottish Cup at the 7th attempt in 1994, domestic success has eluded Dundee United, with the Bosman ruling leading to the demise of club’s youth policies and long-term contracts, which had been United’s strength for the previous 18 years.
Like many other clubs, United tried to buy success by bringing in foreign imports, mainly from Scandinavia, but gradually slipping further and further behind. One of those imports, Swedish striker Kjell Olofsson, was actually the inspiration behind United supporters adopting ‘Love Is In The Air’ along with ‘Beautiful Sunday’ as their trademark songs, after it emerged from chants of ‘Olofsson’s In The Air’ during a Premier League encounter against Kilmarnock.
Well, now you must remember for those Pub Trivia Quizzes –
1. What teams record against Barcelona is played 4, won 4?
2. What have Madrid, Milan, Glasgow and Dundee got in common?
And 3. Which club is responsible for inflicting Andy Gray on the world?
(Sorry!!!)
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