1996–97 Dundee United F.C. season

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)
	← 1995–96 1997–98 →

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.

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
No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
	GK	NED	Sieb Dykstra	28	0	22	0	6	0	0	0
	GK	ENG	Lance Key	3	0	3	0	0	0	0	0
	GK	SCO	Ally Maxwell	12	0	10	0	0	0	2	0
	DF	NED	Armand Benneker	9	0	7	0	0	0	2	0
	DF	SCO	Neil Duffy	17	1	13	1	2	0	2	0
	DF	SCO	Stewart McKimmie	7	0	6	0	1	0	0	0
	DF	SCO	Jamie McQuilken	11	0	9	0	0	0	2	0
	DF	SCO	Maurice Malpas	32	1	26	1	6	0	0	0
	DF	NOR	Erik Pedersen	31	0	25	0	6	0	0	0
	DF	SCO	Mark Perry	43	0	35	0	6	0	2	0
	DF	SCO	Steven Pressley	43	2	36	2	5	0	2	0
	DF	SCO	Rab Shannon	10	0	9	0	0	0	1	0
	MF	SCO	Paul Black	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
	MF	SCO	Dave Bowman	30	0	27	0	1	0	2	0
	MF	SCO	Jamie Dolan	19	0	13	0	6	0	0	0
	MF	SCO	Craig Easton	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
	MF	SCO	David Hannah	11	2	11	2	0	0	0	0
	MF	SCO	Grant Johnson	9	0	8	0	0	0	1	0
	MF	SCO	Jim McInally	20	1	16	1	4	0	0	0
	MF	SCO	Ray McKinnon	31	6	24	6	5	0	2	0
	MF	SCO	Andy McLaren	41	6	34	4	6	2	1	0
	MF	SCO	Sandy Robertson	4	0	4	0	0	0	0	0
	MF	SCO	David Sinclair	8	0	6	0	2	0	0	0
	MF	SCO	Paul Walker	4	0	3	0	1	0	0	0
	MF	SWE	Jonas Wirmola	3	0	3	0	0	0	0	0
	MF	SWE	Lars Zetterlund	32	0	25	0	1	0	6	0
	FW	EIR	Owen Coyle	11	2	9	0	0	0	2	2
	FW	SCO	Gary McSwegan	38	9	30	7	6	1	2	1
	FW	SWE	Kjell Olofsson	31	13	25	12	6	1	0	0
	FW	SCO	Steven Thompson	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
	FW	SCO	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 v t e	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^[a]
3	Dundee United	36	17	9	10	46	33	+13	60	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first qualifying round^[a]
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) Champions
Notes:

^ 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^[5]

Playing kit

Home colours

Away colours

The jerseys were sponsored for the first time by Telewest.

References

^ "Programme of the Year Awards". Programme Monthly & Football Collectible. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 26 September 2007.
^ "Dundee Utd 1996/1997 results and fixtures". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 25 February 2005. Retrieved 12 December 2007.
^ ^a ^b "Dundee Utd 1996/1997 player appearances". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 10 September 2012. Retrieved 13 December 2007.
^ "1996–97". Glenrothes Arabs. Archived from the original on 3 July 2008. Retrieved 13 December 2007.
^ ^a ^b "The Internet Soccer Database: Lance Key". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 26 September 2007.
^ "The Internet Soccer Database: Neil Duffy". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 26 September 2007.
^ "The Internet Soccer Database: Armand Benneker". Soccerbase. Retrieved 26 September 2007.
^ "The Internet Soccer Database: Jim McInally". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 28 February 2005. Retrieved 26 September 2007.
^ "Player A to Z: Lars Zetterlund". Glenrothes Arabs. Archived from the original on 28 August 2008. Retrieved 26 September 2007.
^ "Player A to Z: Kjell Olofsson". Glenrothes Arabs. Archived from the original on 15 October 2008. Retrieved 26 September 2007.
^ "Player A to Z: Erik Pedersen". Glenrothes Arabs. Archived from the original on 15 October 2008. Retrieved 26 September 2007.
^ "The Internet Soccer Database: Sieb Dykstra". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 26 September 2007.
^ "The Internet Soccer Database: Jamie Dolan". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 26 September 2007.
^ ^a ^b "The Internet Soccer Database: Jonas Wirmola". Soccerbase. Retrieved 26 September 2007.
^ "The Internet Soccer Database: David Sinclair". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 26 September 2007.
^ "The Internet Soccer Database: Stewart McKimmie". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 26 September 2007.
^ "The Internet Soccer Database: Craig Brewster". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 26 September 2007.
^ "The Internet Soccer Database: Brian Welsh". Soccerbase. Retrieved 26 September 2007.
^ "The Internet Soccer Database: Christian Dailly". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 26 September 2007.
^ "The Internet Soccer Database: Kelham O'Hanlon". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 21 March 2005. Retrieved 26 September 2007.
^ "The Internet Soccer Database: Rab Shannon". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 26 September 2007.
^ "The Internet Soccer Database: David Hannah". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 26 September 2007.
^ "The Internet Soccer Database: Owen Coyle". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 26 November 2007. Retrieved 26 September 2007.
^ "The Internet Soccer Database: Scott Crabbe". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 26 April 2005. Retrieved 26 September 2007.

External links

Glenrothes Arabs season review

[table_note_res_UC0.94020734910863-5] 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.

[prog-1] "Programme of the Year Awards". Programme Monthly & Football Collectible. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 26 September 2007.

[results-2] "Dundee Utd 1996/1997 results and fixtures". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 25 February 2005. Retrieved 12 December 2007.

[stats-3] "Dundee Utd 1996/1997 player appearances". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 10 September 2012. Retrieved 13 December 2007.

[autogenerated1-4] "1996–97". Glenrothes Arabs. Archived from the original on 3 July 2008. Retrieved 13 December 2007.

[key-6] "The Internet Soccer Database: Lance Key". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 26 September 2007.

[duffyin-7] "The Internet Soccer Database: Neil Duffy". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 26 September 2007.

[bennekerin-8] "The Internet Soccer Database: Armand Benneker". Soccerbase. Retrieved 26 September 2007.

[mcinallyin-9] "The Internet Soccer Database: Jim McInally". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 28 February 2005. Retrieved 26 September 2007.

[zetterlundin-10] "Player A to Z: Lars Zetterlund". Glenrothes Arabs. Archived from the original on 28 August 2008. Retrieved 26 September 2007.

[olofssonin-11] "Player A to Z: Kjell Olofsson". Glenrothes Arabs. Archived from the original on 15 October 2008. Retrieved 26 September 2007.

[pedersenin-12] "Player A to Z: Erik Pedersen". Glenrothes Arabs. Archived from the original on 15 October 2008. Retrieved 26 September 2007.

[dykstrain-13] "The Internet Soccer Database: Sieb Dykstra". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 26 September 2007.

[dolanin-14] "The Internet Soccer Database: Jamie Dolan". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 26 September 2007.

[wirmola-15] "The Internet Soccer Database: Jonas Wirmola". Soccerbase. Retrieved 26 September 2007.

[sinclairin-16] "The Internet Soccer Database: David Sinclair". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 26 September 2007.

[mckimmiein-17] "The Internet Soccer Database: Stewart McKimmie". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 26 September 2007.

[brewsterout-18] "The Internet Soccer Database: Craig Brewster". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 26 September 2007.

[welshout-19] "The Internet Soccer Database: Brian Welsh". Soccerbase. Retrieved 26 September 2007.

[daillyout-20] "The Internet Soccer Database: Christian Dailly". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 26 September 2007.

[ohanlonout-21] "The Internet Soccer Database: Kelham O'Hanlon". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 21 March 2005. Retrieved 26 September 2007.

[shannonout-22] "The Internet Soccer Database: Rab Shannon". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 26 September 2007.

[hannahout-23] "The Internet Soccer Database: David Hannah". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 26 September 2007.

[coyleout-24] "The Internet Soccer Database: Owen Coyle". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 26 November 2007. Retrieved 26 September 2007.

[crabbeout-25] "The Internet Soccer Database: Scott Crabbe". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 26 April 2005. Retrieved 26 September 2007.

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v t e Dundee United Football Club
Club	History Seasons Europe Managers Players Notable matches
Home stadium	Tannadice Park
Rivalries	Dundee derby New Firm Tayside
Statistics	Records and statistics Results by opponent
Decades	1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s
Related articles	Dallas Tornado Dundee United W.F.C.

v t e 1996–97 in Scottish football
« 1995–96 1997–98 »
Domestic leagues	Football League Premier Division First Division Second Division Third Division Highland League
Domestic cups	Scottish Cup Final League Cup Final Challenge Cup Final Junior Cup
European competitions	Champions League UEFA Cup Winners' Cup UEFA Cup
Related to national team	Results 1998 World Cup qualifying (Group 4)
Club seasons
Premier Division	Aberdeen Celtic Dundee United Dunfermline Athletic Heart of Midlothian Hibernian Kilmarnock Motherwell Raith Rovers Rangers
First Division	Airdrieonians Clydebank Dundee East Fife Falkirk Greenock Morton Partick Thistle St. Johnstone St. Mirren Stirling Albion
Second Division	Ayr United Berwick Rangers Brechin City Clyde Dumbarton Hamilton Academical Livingston Queen of the South Stenhousemuir Stranraer
Third Division	Albion Rovers Alloa Athletic Arbroath Cowdenbeath East Stirlingshire Forfar Athletic Inverness Caledonian Thistle Montrose Queen's Park Ross County