The 2003–04 season was the 95th year of

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

played by Dundee United, and covers the period from 1 July 2003 to 30 June 2004. United finished the season in fifth place. United were knocked out of the

Tennent's Tennent Caledonian is a brewery based in Glasgow, Scotland. The Wellpark Brewery is situated in the city's East End, between the Townhead and Dennistoun districts along Duke Street. It was founded in 1740 on the bank of the Molendinar Burn ...

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Dunfermline Dunfermline (; sco, Dunfaurlin, gd, Dùn Phàrlain) is a city, parish and former Royal Burgh, in Fife, Scotland, on high ground from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. The city currently has an estimated population of 58,508. Accord ...

in the third round and were beaten by

Livingston Livingston may refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North American custom ...

in the

CIS Insurance Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...

third round.

Season review

A host of new signings arrived at the club with Ian McCall securing deals from the lower divisions. Mark Kerr, Owen Coyle and Collin Samuel arrived from

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a ...

, McCall's former club. Barry Robson also arrived from

Inverness Caledonian Thistle Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club, commonly known as Caley Thistle, is a professional football club based in Inverness, Scotland. The team currently competes in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional F ...

and Scotland international Derek McInnes was purchased from recently relegated Premiership club West Brom.

Early season

United got off to a poor start in the league. The first match against Hibs at home ended in a disappointing defeat. The following week, United were thrashed 5–0 away against

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. The team didn't end up winning a game till mid-September when United defeated

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland. Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908. ...

2–0 with

Charlie Miller Charles Miller (born 18 March 1976) is a Scottish retired association football, footballer. He started his career at Rangers F.C., Rangers, and was voted the SPFA Young Player of the Year in 1995 during his time with the club. After spells with ...

scoring a brace. The team began their

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...

campaign with a 3–1 home victory over

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but yet the team's league form was patchy. The first Dundee derby of the season ended in a poor 1–1 draw and then United lost to eventual winners

at the end of October to end the team's league cup campaign. By the end of November, United had picked up just 12 points and were already out of the Cup.

Winter/New Year

December was a lot brighter for United with victories over

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

2–0 away and a 2–0 home win over

along with a bright performance away at Ibrox in an unlucky 2–1 defeat to

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. However, in the New Year, United crashed out of the

who would go on to be finalists that season. The team then enjoyed a 3–2 win over

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

and this would start a memorable unbeaten home record that would stretch out until April.

Match results

Dundee United played a total of 41 competitive matches during the 2003–04 season. The team finished fifth in the

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...

. In the cup competitions, United were knocked out of the

knocked United out of the

CIS Cup The Commonwealth of Independent States Cup (russian: Кубок чемпионов Содружества, Кубок Содружества, Кубок чемпионов содружества стран СНГ и Балтии) is a defunct ann ...

in the third round.

Legend

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

Bank of Scotland Premierleague

Tennent's Scottish Cup

CIS Insurance Cup

Player details

During the 2003–04 season, United used 24 different players, with a further three players named as a substitute who did not make an appearance on the pitch. The table below shows the number of appearances and goals scored by each player.

Goalscorers

Thirteen players scored for the United first team with the team scoring 51 goals in total. Jim McIntyre was the top goalscorer with eleven goals.

Discipline

During the 2003–04 season, three United players were sent off, and 18 players received at least one yellow card. In total, the team received three dismissals and 69 cautions.

Transfers

In

Seven players were signed during the 2003–04 season, with a total (public) transfer cost of around £200,000. Another player was signed before the start of next season. The players that joined Dundee United during the 2003–04 season, along with their previous club, are listed below.

Out

Five players left the club during the season with no transfer involving a fee. Two players were loaned out during the season with three players also released before next season. Listed below are the players that were released during the season, along with the club that they joined. Players did not necessarily join their next club immediately.

Loans out

Playing kit

The jerseys were sponsored by Morning, Noon and Night for the first time.

Awards

* Ian McCall **

Manager of the Month: 1 :: March 2004