2005–06 Dundee United F.C. season

Dundee United

2005–06 season
Chairman	Eddie Thompson
Manager	Gordon Chisholm (until 10 January) Billy Dodds (interim caretaker) Craig Brewster (from 16 January)
Bank of Scotland Premierleague	9th W:7 D:12 L:19 F:41 A:66 P:33
Tennent's Scottish Cup	Third round
CIS Insurance 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 CIS Insurance 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 CIS Insurance 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.

Bank of Scotland Premierleague

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)

CIS Insurance 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		Bank of Scotland Premierleague		Tennent's Scottish Cup		CIS Insurance Cup		UEFA Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK		Derek Stillie	34	0	30	0	1	0	1	0	2	0
2	DF		Mark Wilson	25	0	21	0	1	0	1	0	2	0
3	DF		David McCracken	37	2	34	2	1	0	1	0	1	0
4	MF		Derek McInnes	13	2	12	2	0	0	1	0	0	0
5	MF		Alan Archibald	38	1	34	1	2	0	2	0	0	0
6	MF		Peter Canero	12	2	11	2	0	0	1	0	0	0
6	DF		Charles Mulgrew	14	2	13	2	1	0	0	0	0	0
7	MF		Mark Kerr	38	2	35	1	1	0	0	0	2	1
8	MF		Grant Brebner	29	4	26	4	0	0	1	0	2	0
9	ST		Lee Miller	38	8	34	8	1	0	1	0	2	0
10	ST		Jim McIntyre	29	1	25	1	1	0	1	0	2	0
11	MF		Barry Robson	35	1	31	1	1	0	1	0	2	0
12	MF		Stuart Duff	33	0	29	0	1	0	1	0	2	0
15	DF		Lee Mair	6	0	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
16	ST		Craig Brewster	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
17	GK		Craig Samson	8	0	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
18	DF		Garry Kenneth	16	1	16	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
19	ST		Stevie Crawford	5	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
20	ST		David Fernandez	32	7	30	5	1	2	1	0	0	0
20	ST		Collin Samuel	38	8	35	7	1	0	1	0	1	1
23	DF		Paul Ritchie	23	0	21	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
25	MF		David Robertson	11	1	11	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
26	MF		Greg Cameron	4	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
28	DF		Ross Gardiner	4	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
29	DF		Stuart Abbot	3	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
30	MF		William Easton	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
36	ST		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 Miller, LeeLee Miller 8 8 Samuel, CollinCollin Samuel 7 1 8 Fernandez, DavidDavid Fernandez 5 2 7 Brebner, GrantGrant Brebner 4 4 Canero, PeterPeter Canero 2 2 Kerr, MarkMark Kerr 1 1 2 McCracken, DavidDavid McCracken 2 2 McInnes, DerekDerek McInnes 2 2 Mulgrew, CharlesCharles Mulgrew 2 2 Archibald, AlanAlan Archibald 1 1 Goodwillie, DavidDavid Goodwillie 1 1 Kenneth, GarryGarry Kenneth 1 1 McIntyre, JimJim McIntyre 1 1 Robertson, DavidDavid Robertson 1 1 Robson, BarryBarry 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 Robson, BarryBarry Robson 10 1 Ritchie, PaulPaul Ritchie 04 1 Kerr, MarkMark Kerr 09 McCracken, DavidDavid McCracken 07 Brebner, GrantGrant Brebner 06 Archibald, AlanAlan Archibald 05 Duff, StuartStuart Duff 05 Miller, LeeLee Miller 04 Fernandez, DavidDavid Fernandez 03 McIntyre, JimJim McIntyre 03 Canero, PeterPeter Canero 01 Crawford, StevieStevie Crawford 01 Mair, LeeLee Mair 01 Mulgrew, CharlesCharles Mulgrew 01 Robertson, DavidDavid Robertson 01 Samuel, CollinCollin Samuel 01 Stillie, DerekDerek Stillie 01 Wilson, MarkMark Wilson 01

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 Miller, LeeLee Miller Bristol City £0,225,000[3] 7 July Stillie, DerekDerek Stillie Dunfermline Athletic Undisclosed[4] 29 July Samson, CraigCraig Samson Kilmarnock Free[5] 12 August Fernandez, DavidDavid Fernandez Celtic Free[6] 5 September Canero, PeterPeter Canero Unattached Free[7] 16 January Brewster, CraigCraig Brewster Inverness CT Free[8] Loans in Date Player From Duration 5 January Mulgrew, CharlesCharles 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 Grady, JamesJames Grady Gretna Released[10] 1 August Scotland, JasonJason Scotland St Johnstone Work permit expiry[11] 31 August Crawford, StevieStevie Crawford Aberdeen Released[12] 31 August Holmes, GraemeGraeme Holmes Airdrie United Released[13] 16 January Dodds, BillyBilly Dodds Partick Thistle Released[8] 16 January Wilson, MarkMark 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
  • Bank of Scotland Premierleague Young Player of the Month: 1

February 2006

References

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

External links

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