1977–78 Dundee United F.C. season

The 1977–78 season was the 69th year of football played by Dundee United, and covers the period from 1 July 1977 to 30 June 1978. United finished in third place, securing UEFA Cup football for the following season.

Dundee United

1977–78 season
Manager	Jim McLean
Scottish Premier Division	3rd (UEFA Cup) W18 D8 L10 F42 A32 P44
Scottish Cup	Semi-finalists
League Cup	Quarter-finalists
UEFA Cup	1st Round

Match results

Dundee United played a total of 50 competitive matches during the 1977–78 season.

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

All results are written with Dundee United's score first. Own goals in italics

Premier Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
13 August 1977	Celtic	A	0–0	33,159
20 August 1977	St Mirren	H	2–1	7,658	Wallace, Addison
27 August 1977	Aberdeen	A	0–0	17,082
10 September 1977	Hibernian	H	2–0	6,518	Kirkwood, Rolland (penalty)
17 September 1977	Clydebank	A	3–0	2,853	Sturrock, Bourke, Fleming
24 September 1977	Motherwell	H	3–1	7,810	Fleming, Sturrock, Bourke
1 October 1977	Ayr United	A	2–0	3,281	Hegarty, McAnespie
8 October 1977	Rangers	H	0–1	18,571
15 October 1977	Partick Thistle	A	1–2	4,657	Sturrock
22 October 1977	Celtic	H	1–2	17,198	Fleming
29 October 1977	St Mirren	A	1–0	9,528	Bourke
5 November 1977	Aberdeen	H	0–1	10,130
12 November 1977	Hibernian	A	0–0	5,666
19 November 1977	Clydebank	H	4–0	4,069	Fleming, Bourke, Wallace, Hegarty
26 November 1977	Motherwell	A	0–0	4,841
10 December 1977	Rangers	A	0–2	21,075
17 December 1977	Partick Thistle	H	2–2	5,098	Wallace (2)
24 December 1977	Celtic	A	0–1	20,246
31 December 1977	St Mirren	H	2–1	7,645	Dodds, Hegarty
2 January 1978	Aberdeen	A	0–1	24,208
7 January 1978	Hibernian	H	1–1	6,880	Bourke
4 February 1978	Ayr United	A	1–0	3,231	Fleming
25 February 1978	Partick Thistle	A	2–0	3,539	Fleming, Kirkwood
4 March 1978	Celtic	H	0–1	14,167
15 March 1978	St Mirren	A	2–1	10,169	Holt, Fleming
18 March 1978	Aberdeen	H	0–0	9,671
25 March 1978	Hibernian	A	1–3	8,354	Payne
29 March 1978	Motherwell	H	1–1	4,654	Holt
8 April 1978	Motherwel	A	1–0	4,907	Fleming
12 April 1978	Clydebank	H	1–0	3,550	Hegarty
15 April 1978	Ayr United	H	1–0	4,107	Kirkwood
19 April 1978	Rangers	H	0–1	17,293
22 April 1978	Rangers	A	0–3	30,239
26 April 1978	Ayr United	H	3–1	2,735	Holt, Fleming, Wallace
29 April 1978	Partick Thistle	H	5–2	3,646	Addison (2), Wallace, Stewart, Kirkwood
2 May 1978	Clydebank	A	0–2	1,030

Scottish Cup

Date	Rd	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
28 January 1978	R3	Hamilton Academical	A	4–1	5,575	Addison (2), Hegarty, Payne
27 February 1978	R4	Queen of the South	H	3–0	8,000	Fleming, Hegarty (penalty), Bourke
11 March 1978	QF	Queen's Park	H	2–0	5,841	Addison, Sturrock (penalty)
5 April 1978	SF	Rangers	N	0–2	25,619

League Cup

Date	Rd	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
17 August 1977	R1 1	Albion Rovers	H	5–0	3,128	Wallace, Sturrock, Kirkwood, Hegraty, Robinson
23 August 1977	R1 2	Albion Rovers	A	5–1	1,030	Wallace, Narey, Kirkwood, Sturrock, Hegraty
31 August 1977	R2 1	Partick Thistle	A	0–0	2,535
3 September 1977	R2 2	Partick Thistle	H	1–0	5,907	Dodds
5 October 1977	R3 1	Arbroath	A	4–0	3,482	Kirkwood (3), Holt
26 October 1977	R3 2	Arbroath	H	2–1	3,107	Kirkwood, Sturrock
9 November 1977	QF 1	Heart of Midlothian	H	3–1	7,286	Kirkwood, Hegarty, Wallace
16 November 1977	QF 2	Heart of Midlothian	A	0–2	7,245

UEFA Cup

Date	Rd	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
14 September 1977	R1 1	KB Copenhagen	H	1–0	8,500	Sturrock
27 September 1977	R1 2	KB Copenhagen	A	0–3	9,000

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Rangers (C)	36	24	7	5	76	39	+37	55	Qualification for the European Cup first round
2	Aberdeen	36	22	9	5	68	29	+39	53	Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round
3	Dundee United	36	16	8	12	42	32	+10	40	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
4	Hibernian	36	15	7	14	51	43	+8	37
5	Celtic	36	15	6	15	63	54	+9	36

Source: Statto
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions

See also

• 1977–78 in Scottish football