2005–06 Dundee United F.C. season

Dundee United 2005–06 football season

Dundee United

2005–06 season

Chairman

Eddie Thompson

Manager

Gordon Chisholm (until 10 January)
Billy Dodds (interim caretaker)
Craig Brewster (from 16 January)

Scottish Premier League

9th
W:7 D:12 L:19 F:41 A:66 P:33

Scottish Cup

Third round

Scottish League Cup

Second round

UEFA Cup

Second qual. round

Top goalscorer

League: Lee Miller (8)
All: Lee Miller, Collin Samuel (8)

Highest home attendance

12,404 (vs Aberdeen, 30 July)

Lowest home attendance

5,034 (vs Dunfermline, 2 May)

Home colours

Away colours

← 2004–05

2006–07 →

The 2005–06 season was the 97th year of football played by Dundee United, and covers the period from 1 July 2005 to 30 June 2006. United finished in ninth place for the second consecutive season and meant they had only finished in the top six once in the six seasons since the split was introduced.

United finished the 2005/06 SPL season in 9th place with 33 points, narrowly beating Falkirk (10th) and Dunfermline Athletic (11th) on goal difference. United exited all three cup competitions at the first stage. Between April and early-May, United lost six consecutive games, including losses to the three clubs which finished below them in the league.

The much-anticipated UEFA Cup campaign ended in disappointment with an away-goals defeat to Finnish side MyPa (after United surrendered a two-goal lead), and a Scottish League Cup defeat to Inverness CT followed, although an incredible 5–4 away win over Motherwell brought some early-season cheer. United also exited the Scottish Cup at the first hurdle, bowing out 3–2 to Aberdeen after again throwing away a two-goal lead.

Little league success followed, and the Terrors finished ninth on goal difference, thanks to a late Collin Samuel equaliser against Motherwell on the season's final day. In mid-January, Gordon Chisholm was sacked, with United favourite Craig Brewster leaving Inverness CT to take over. Brewster would go on to win just one league game all season and leave United before 2006 was out.

Season review

Pre-season preparations went well, with United winning the inaugural City of Discovery Cup. The league season started disappointingly, however, with the surprise UEFA Cup exit in August to MyPa a notable downpoint. After drawing the away leg 0–0, United threw away a 2–0 first-half home lead, and went out on away goals. An incredible 5–4 win at Motherwell – in which United were two goals behind on three occasions – was the only high point in a disappointing month. United also lost to Celtic and Hearts in August.

United lost at Hibernian and exited the Scottish League Cup in September, going out to Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the second round. Prior to the cup exit, a 2–0 win over Livingston had brought the first home win. Immediately after going out of the cup, United lost at Dunfermline, to close out September in disappointing fashion.

In October, United a three-game unbeaten run, indicating a small improvement. The spell – which included a televised draw against Rangers and a win at Falkirk – was unfortunately followed by three successive defeats, which saw nine goals conceded. United then avoided defeat in four of the next five matches.

Boxing Day saw a last-minute defeat at Kilmarnock and United also lost heavily at Ibrox to Rangers. Incredibly, United exited the third cup tournament immediately, throwing away a two-goal home lead to lose 3–2 to Aberdeen. In the game in which on-loan Charles Mulgrew debuted, David Fernandez scored twice in the first half, only for ex-Tangerine Stevie Crawford to equalise. It proved to be the final straw and manager Gordon Chisholm left, with immediate rumours naming Craig Brewster as Eddie Thompson's man of choice for the hot seat. Brewster was appointed shortly after.

Caretaker-manager Billy Dodds took charge for his only game as United recovered to beat Falkirk 2–1, with newly appointed Brewster watching from the stands. It would also be Mark Wilson's final match, as he moved to Celtic for £500,000 shortly afterwards.

Brewster made his second United debut against Aberdeen but lasted under half an hour due to injury, which ended his playing season. He guided United to three draws in his first three matches but had to wait until his eighth match to secure his first win, at the expense of Livingston. During this time, on-loan Charlie Mulgrew won the Young Player of the Month award for February. United lost six of the final eight games to end a thoroughly disappointing season, which brought just one league win for the new manager.

Match results

Dundee United played a total of 42 competitive matches during the 2005–06 season,^[1] as well as four pre-season friendlies, making a total of nearly fifty games played. The team finished ninth in the Scottish Premier League.

In the cup competitions, United were knocked out of the Scottish Cup at the third round stage, losing 3–2 at home to Aberdeen, despite being two goals ahead at half time. The club also exited early in the League Cup, losing 2–0 away to Inverness CT in the second round. United fell to an early exit in the UEFA Cup after losing on away goals to Finnish team MyPa, completing an immediate exit in all three cup competitions.

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

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

Scottish Premier League

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
30 July	Aberdeen	H	1–1	12,404	Miller
6 August	Celtic	A	0–2	56,532
14 August	Hearts	H	0–3	11,654
20 August	Motherwell	A	5–4	4,706	Miller (2), Fernandez, Brebner (2)
28 August	Inverness CT	H	1–1	6,178	Miller
10 September	Hibernian	A	1–2	12,062	Brebner
17 September	Livingston	H	2–0	6,302	Fernandez, Canero
24 September	Dunfermline	A	1–2	5,361	McCracken
1 October	Kilmarnock	H	0–0	6,915
16 October	Rangers	H	0–0	11,696
22 October	Falkirk	A	3–1	5,316	OG, Canero, Samuel
25 October	Aberdeen	A	0–2	10,720
30 October	Celtic	H	2–4	11,942	OG, Samuel
5 November	Hearts	A	0–3	16,617
19 November	Motherwell	H	1–1	6,305	McIntyre
26 November	Inverness CT	A	1–1	3,239	Miller
3 December	Hibernian	H	1–0	7,976	Samuel
10 December	Livingston	A	0–1	3,845
20 December	Dunfermline	H	2–1	5,889	Samuel, Robson
26 December	Kilmarnock	A	1–2	5,749	Samuel
31 December	Rangers	A	0–3	49,141
15 January	Falkirk	H	2–1	7,948	Fernandez, McInnes
21 January	Aberdeen	H	1–1	9,936	Archibald
28 January	Celtic	A	3–3	59,875	Fernandez (2), Miller
7 February	Hearts	H	1–1	10,584	Brebner
11 February	Motherwell	A	0–2	5,257
18 February	Inverness CT	H	2–4	6,419	Mulgrew
25 February	Dunfermline	A	1–1	4,694	Kenneth
4 March	Hibernian	A	1–3	16,266	Goodwillie
11 March	Livingston	H	3–1	5,730	Miller (2), Kerr
25 March	Kilmarnock	H	2–2	5,830	McCracken, McInnes
2 April	Rangers	H	1–4	11,213	Samuel
8 April	Falkirk	A	0–1	4,473
15 April	Livingston	A	1–3	2,298	Robertson
22 April	Inverness CT	A	0–1	3,609
29 April	Falkirk	H	0–2	5,798
2 May	Dunfermline	H	0–1	5,034
6 May	Motherwell	A	1–1	5,269	Samuel

Scottish Cup

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
7 January	Aberdeen	H	2–3	8,218	Fernandez (2)

Scottish League Cup

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
20 September	Inverness CT	A	0–2	1,919

UEFA Cup

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
11 August	MyPa	A	0–0	1,820
25 August	MyPa	H	2–2	9,600	Kerr, Samuel

Player details

During the 2005–06 season, United used 27 different players, with a further seven named as unused substitutes. The table below shows the number of appearances and goals scored by each player.^[2]

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Scottish Premier League		Scottish Cup		Scottish League Cup		UEFA Cup
No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	SCO	Derek Stillie	34	0	30	0	1	0	1	0	2	0
2	DF	SCO	Mark Wilson	25	0	21	0	1	0	1	0	2	0
3	DF	SCO	David McCracken	37	2	34	2	1	0	1	0	1	0
4	MF	SCO	Derek McInnes	13	2	12	2	0	0	1	0	0	0
5	MF	SCO	Alan Archibald	38	1	34	1	2	0	2	0	0	0
6	MF	SCO	Peter Canero	12	2	11	2	0	0	1	0	0	0
6	DF	SCO	Charles Mulgrew	14	2	13	2	1	0	0	0	0	0
7	MF	SCO	Mark Kerr	38	2	35	1	1	0	0	0	2	1
8	MF	SCO	Grant Brebner	29	4	26	4	0	0	1	0	2	0
9	ST	SCO	Lee Miller	38	8	34	8	1	0	1	0	2	0
10	ST	SCO	Jim McIntyre	29	1	25	1	1	0	1	0	2	0
11	MF	SCO	Barry Robson	35	1	31	1	1	0	1	0	2	0
12	MF	SCO	Stuart Duff	33	0	29	0	1	0	1	0	2	0
15	DF	SCO	Lee Mair	6	0	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
16	ST	SCO	Craig Brewster	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
17	GK	SCO	Craig Samson	8	0	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
18	DF	SCO	Garry Kenneth	16	1	16	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
19	ST	SCO	Stevie Crawford	5	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
20	ST	ESP	David Fernandez	32	7	30	5	1	2	1	0	0	0
20	ST	TRI	Collin Samuel	38	8	35	7	1	0	1	0	1	1
23	DF	SCO	Paul Ritchie	23	0	21	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
25	MF	SCO	David Robertson	11	1	11	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
26	MF	SCO	Greg Cameron	4	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
28	DF	SCO	Ross Gardiner	4	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
29	DF	SCO	Stuart Abbot	3	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
30	MF	SCO	William Easton	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
36	ST	SCO	David Goodwillie	10	1	10	1	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goalscorers

United had 15 players score with the team scoring 45 goals in total. The top goalscorers were Lee Miller and Collin Samuel, who finished the season with eight goals each.^[2]

Name	League	Cups	Total
Lee Miller	8		8
Collin Samuel	7	1	8
David Fernandez	5	2	7
Grant Brebner	4		4
Peter Canero	2		2
Mark Kerr	1	1	2
David McCracken	2		2
Derek McInnes	2		2
Charles Mulgrew	2		2
Alan Archibald	1		1
David Goodwillie	1		1
Garry Kenneth	1		1
Jim McIntyre	1		1
David Robertson	1		1
Barry Robson	1		1

Discipline

During the 2005–06 season, two United players were sent off, and 18 players received at least one yellow card. In total, the team received two dismissals and 64 cautions.^[2]

Name	Cautions	Dismissals
Barry Robson	10	1
Paul Ritchie	04	1
Mark Kerr	09
David McCracken	07
Grant Brebner	06
Alan Archibald	05
Stuart Duff	05
Lee Miller	04
David Fernandez	03
Jim McIntyre	03
Peter Canero	01
Stevie Crawford	01
Lee Mair	01
Charles Mulgrew	01
David Robertson	01
Collin Samuel	01
Derek Stillie	01
Mark Wilson	01

Team statistics

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
7	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	38	15	13	10	51	38	+13	58
8	Motherwell	38	13	10	15	55	61	−6	49
9	Dundee United	38	7	12	19	41	66	−25	33
10	Falkirk	38	8	9	21	35	64	−29	33
11	Dunfermline Athletic	38	8	9	21	33	68	−35	33

Source: Scottish Professional Football League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
Notes:

^ Teams played each other three times (33 matches), before the league split into two groups (the top six and the bottom six) for the last five matches.

Transfers

In

The club signed six players during the season, as well as loaning one for the latter part. Only one player – Lee Miller – was signed for a fee (£225k).

Date	Player	From	Fee (£)
3 June	Lee Miller	Bristol City	£0,225,000^[3]
7 July	Derek Stillie	Dunfermline Athletic	Undisclosed^[4]
29 July	Craig Samson	Kilmarnock	Free^[5]
12 August	David Fernandez	Celtic	Free^[6]
5 September	Peter Canero	Unattached	Free^[7]
16 January	Craig Brewster	Inverness CT	Free^[8]

Loans in

Date	Player	From	Duration
5 January	Charles Mulgrew	Celtic	End of season^[9]

Out

Six players left the club during the season with only one transfer involving a fee: Mark Wilson's £500k move to Celtic. The others were released before the end of their contracts.

Date	Player	To	Fee
1 August	James Grady	Gretna	Released^[10]
1 August	Jason Scotland	St Johnstone	Work permit expiry^[11]
31 August	Stevie Crawford	Aberdeen	Released^[12]
31 August	Graeme Holmes	Airdrie United	Released^[13]
16 January	Billy Dodds	Partick Thistle	Released^[8]
16 January	Mark Wilson	Celtic	£0,500,000^[14]

Playing kit

Home
colours

Away
colours

European colours

The home strip remained unchanged from the previous season but the away kit was changed to a new white and black outfit, separated diagonally.^[15] As mentioned at the end of the previous season, the limited edition third kit would be used for the European campaign.^[16] The jerseys were sponsored by Morning, Noon and Night for the third and final season. Originally sponsored for the 2003–04 season,^[17] the firm – operating under the banner of Scotmid since August 2004^[18] – sponsored the club for a final time. The sponsor logo was again displayed as a simple font across the chest, with white logo for the home and third tops and orange logo on the change strip.

Awards

Charles Mulgrew
- Scottish Premier League Young Player of the Month: 1

February 2006

References

^ "2006–07 – First Team Fixtures & Results". Dundee United F.C. Archived from the original on 11 November 2007. Retrieved 22 November 2007.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Dundee Utd 2005–06 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 27 November 2007.
^ "Dundee United clinch Miller deal". BBC Sport website. 3 June 2005. Retrieved 28 September 2007.
^ "Stillie on move to Dundee United". BBC Sport website. 7 July 2005. Retrieved 28 September 2007.
^ "Samson wins a Tannadice contract". BBC Sport website. 29 July 2005. Retrieved 28 September 2007.
^ "Fernandez moves on to Tannadice". BBC Sport website. 12 August 2005. Retrieved 28 September 2007.
^ "Canero given chance at Tannadice". BBC Sport website. 5 September 2005. Retrieved 28 September 2007.
^ ^a ^b "Brewster the right man – Thompson". BBC Sport website. 16 January 2006. Retrieved 28 September 2007.
^ "Dundee Utd land Celtic's Mulgrew". BBC Sport website. 5 January 2006. Retrieved 28 September 2007.
^ "Striker Grady signs up for Gretna". BBC Sport website. 4 August 2005. Retrieved 28 September 2007.
^ "United's Scotland case dismissed". BBC Sport website. 1 August 2005. Retrieved 28 September 2007.
^ "Crawford quits Tannadice for Dons". BBC Sport website. 31 August 2005. Retrieved 28 September 2007.
^ "Graeme Holmes departs Tannadice". Dundee United F.C. 31 August 2005. Retrieved 28 September 2007.
^ "Celtic secure signing of Wilson". BBC Sport website. 16 January 2006. Retrieved 28 September 2007.
^ "New away kit launched". Dundee United F.C. 23 June 2005. Retrieved 26 November 2007.
^ "Cup strip officially launched". Dundee United F.C. 5 May 2005. Retrieved 26 November 2007.
^ "Triple boost for Dundee United". Dundee United F.C. 19 June 2003. Archived from the original on 17 February 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2007.
^ "Dundee firm sold for £30 million". Evening Telegraph. 3 August 2004. Archived from the original on 15 August 2004. Retrieved 26 November 2007.

External links

Official site: 2005/06 Results
Soccerbase: Results | Squad stats | Transfers

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v t e 2005–06 in Scottish football
« 2004–05 2006–07 »
Domestic leagues	Premier League Football League 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 Intertoto Cup
Related to national team	Results 2006 World Cup Qualifying UEFA Group 5 Kirin Cup
Club seasons
Premier League	Aberdeen Celtic Dundee United Dunfermline Athletic Falkirk Heart of Midlothian Hibernian Inverness Caledonian Thistle Kilmarnock Livingston Motherwell Rangers
First Division	Airdrie United Brechin City Clyde Dundee Hamilton Academical Queen of the South Ross County St. Johnstone St. Mirren Stranraer
Second Division	Alloa Athletic Ayr United Dumbarton Forfar Athletic Greenock Morton Gretna Partick Thistle Peterhead Raith Rovers Stirling Albion
Third Division	Albion Rovers Arbroath Berwick Rangers Cowdenbeath East Fife East Stirlingshire Elgin City Montrose Queen's Park Stenhousemuir
Major transfer deals 2005–06