The 2005–06 season was the 97th 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 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 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 ...

(10th) and Dunfermline Athletic (11th) on

goal difference Goal difference, goal differential or points difference is a form of tiebreaker used to rank sport teams which finish on equal points in a league competition. Either "goal difference" or "points difference" is used, depending on whether matches ar ...

. 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 A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

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 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 ...

defeat to Inverness CT followed, although an incredible 5–4 away win over

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

brought some early-season cheer. United also exited the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,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 ...

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 Gordon William Chisholm (born 8 April 1960 in Glasgow) is a Scottish professional football former player and manager. Chisholm played as a central defender for Sunderland, Hibernian, Dundee and Partick Thistle. After retiring as a player, Chis ...

was sacked, with United favourite

Craig Brewster Craig James Brown Brewster (born 13 December 1966) is a Scottish former professional footballer, turned coach. He made his name in a long playing career as a striker for numerous clubs in Scotland, particularly Forfar Athletic, Raith Rovers, Du ...

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 Evening Telegraph Challenge Cup (initially known as the City of Discovery Cup) was a pre-season football played in 2005 and 2006, based in Dundee, involving the two Dundee clubs - Dundee and Dundee United. Format The 2006 format was a sing ...

. The league season started disappointingly, however, with the surprise

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

– 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

in September, going out to

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 ...

in the second round. Prior to the cup exit, a 2–0 win over

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 ...

had brought the first home win. Immediately after going out of the cup, United lost at

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 ...

, 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 A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

and a win at

– 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 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. ...

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 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 ...

. 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

left, with immediate rumours naming

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

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 Charles Patrick Mulgrew (born 6 March 1986) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Scottish Premiership side Dundee United. Mulgrew began his career at Celtic, during which time he spent time on loan at Dundee U ...

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, as well as four pre-season

friendlies An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

, making a total of nearly fifty games played. The team finished ninth 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

, 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

after losing on away goals to Finnish team MyPa, completing an immediate exit in all three cup competitions.

Legend

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

Scottish Premier League

Scottish Cup

Scottish League Cup

UEFA Cup

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.

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.

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.

Team statistics

League table

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).

Loans in

Out

Six players left the club during the season with only one transfer involving a fee: Mark Wilson's £500k move to

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

. The others were released before the end of their contracts.

Playing kit

The home strip remained unchanged from the previous season but the away kit was changed to a new white and black outfit, separated diagonally. As mentioned at the end of the previous season, the limited edition third kit would be used for the European campaign. The jerseys were sponsored by Morning, Noon and Night for the third and final season. Originally sponsored for the 2003–04 season, the firm – operating under the banner of

Scotmid The Scottish Midland Co-operative Society (trading as Scotmid), is an independent retail consumers' co-operative based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Originally founded as St. Cuthbert's Co-operative Society in 1859, it merged with Dalziel Co-opera ...

since August 2004 – 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

External links

Official site: 2005/06 Results
* Soccerbase
Results

Squad stats

Transfers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dundee United F.C. Season 2005-06 2005-06 Scottish football clubs 2005–06 season