Part 10: The history of Dundee United FC, from the birth of the club in the Spring of 1909 to the present day….
As the club prepared to celebrated its 90th anniversary – with the launch of a special edition strip – the team struggled on the park and relegation was a serious worry on more than a few occasions.
On the second last day of the 1997/98 season, Scandinavian Kjell Olofsson saved the club from dropping back down into the 1st division when he scored twice in a 2-1 win over Easter Road.
After going 1-0 down to a Brebner opening goal, United supporters witnessed their clubs first and only comeback of the season to win 2-1 on the day and sending Hibernian down to the 1st division instead, the second time Dundee United had been responsible for relegating the Easter Road side.
During the 2000/01 campaign, Dundee United once again came close to the dreaded drop, but manager Alex Smith somehow managed to overhaul a 9 point gap between the club and Saint Mirren, with United securing SPL status on the 2nd last day of the season.
After going 2-0 down to Saint Johnstone at half-time, goals from Charlie Miller, Craig Easton and Derek Lilley completed another crucial comeback, the only one of the 2000/01 campaign, with United winning 3-2 and dumping the Paisley Saints back into the 1st division.
During the 2001/02 season, United weren`t in much danger of being relegated and ended up in 7th place in the league table – with Saint Johnstone going down into the 1st division.
However, the following season was a bit different, with the Tannadice club ending up in 2nd bottom place, just 5 points above Motherwell – but the Fir Park club were saved from relegation after Falkirk failed to meet SPL ground standards and were refused promotion.
The 2003/04 campaign was the only time Dundee United managed to get into the top 6 of the SPL before the controversial split and ended up 5th in the table – the clubs highest placing during the decade so far..
Click here to read Part 11 – ‘Relegation Thwarted By Scottish Cup Run’
