2003–04 Dundee United F.C. season

The 2003–04 season was the 95th year of football played by Dundee United, and covers the period from 1 July 2003 to 30 June 2004. United finished the season in fifth place.

Dundee United F.C.

2003–04 season
Chairman	Eddie Thompson
Manager	Ian McCall
Bank of Scotland Premierleague	5th W:13 D:10 L:15 F:47 A:60 P:49
Tennent's Scottish Cup	Third round
CIS Insurance Cup	Third round
Top goalscorer	League: Billy Dodds (10) All: Jim McIntyre (11)
Highest home attendance	12,292 (vs Dundee, 26 October)
Lowest home attendance	5,421 (vs Livingston, 13 December)
← 2002–03 2004–05 →

United were knocked out of the Tennent's Scottish Cup by Dunfermline in the third round and were beaten by Livingston in the CIS Insurance Cup 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, McCall's former club. Barry Robson also arrived from Inverness Caledonian Thistle 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 Celtic. The team didn't end up winning a game till mid-September when United defeated Partick Thistle 2–0 with Charlie Miller scoring a brace.

The team began their Scottish League Cup campaign with a 3–1 home victory over Morton 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 Livingston 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 2–0 away and a 2–0 home win over Livingston along with a bright performance away at Ibrox in an unlucky 2–1 defeat to Rangers.

However, in the New Year, United crashed out of the Scottish Cup third round away to Dunfermline who would go on to be finalists that season. The team then enjoyed a 3–2 win over Aberdeen 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.^[1] The team finished fifth in the Scottish Premier League.

In the cup competitions, United were knocked out of the Tennent's Scottish Cup in the third round for the second successive season, losing to Dunfermline. Livingston knocked United out of the CIS Cup in the third round.

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

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

Bank of Scotland Premierleague

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
9 August 2003	Hibernian	H	1–2	9,809	Samuel
16 August 2003	Celtic	A	0–5	57,658
23 August 2003	Hearts	A	0–3	11,395
31 August 2003	Rangers	H	1–3	9,752	Dodds
13 September 2003	Livingston	A	0–0	5,344
20 September 2003	Partick Thistle	A	0–2	4,711	Miller (2)
27 September 2003	Kilmarnock	H	1–1	6,529	McLaren
4 October 2003	Motherwell	H	0–2	6,194
18 October 2003	Aberdeen	A	1–0	11,244	McLaren
26 October 2003	Dundee	H	1–1	12,292	McIntyre
1 November 2003	Dunfermline	A	0–2	5,078
8 November 2003	Hibernian	A	2–2	8,756	McLaren, Robson
22 November 2003	Celtic	H	1–5	10,802
30 November 2003	Hearts	H	2–1	6,343	Archibald, McInnes
6 December 2003	Rangers	A	1–2	49,307	Dodds
13 December 2003	Livingston	H	2–0	5,421	Dodds (2)
23 December 2003	Partick Thistle	H	0–0	6,440
27 December 2003	Kilmarnock	A	2–0	6,062	Dodds, McIntyre
3 January 2004	Motherwell	A	1–3	5,549	Wilson
17 January 2004	Aberdeen	H	3–2	6,666	Robson, Miller, Dodds
24 January 2004	Dundee	A	1–2	10,747	Dodds
31 January 2004	Dunfermline	H	1–0	5,564	McIntyre
10 February 2004	Hibernian	H	0–0	6,389
14 February 2004	Celtic	A	1–2	58,698	Archibald
21 February 2004	Hearts	A	1–3	10,265	McIntyre
29 February 2004	Rangers	H	2–0	10,496	Kerr, McLaren
13 March 2004	Partick Thistle	A	1–1	3,510	Robson
20 March 2004	Kilmarnock	H	4–1	5,757	McIntyre (3), Miller
24 March 2004	Livingston	A	3–2	3,082	Scotland, Samuel, McIntyre
27 March 2004	Motherwell	H	1–0	7,585	Scotland
3 April 2004	Aberdeen	A	0–3	8,449
11 April 2004	Dundee	H	2–2	9,571	Dodds (2)
17 April 2004	Dunfermline	A	1–1	4,409	McCracken
24 April 2004	Rangers	H	3–3	10,496	Dodds, Scotland (2)
1 May 2003	Hearts	H	0–2	6,620
8 May 2004	Motherwell	A	1–0	5,722	Wilson
11 May 2004	Dunfermline	H	3–2	5,998	Miller, Innes, Scotland
16 May 2004	Celtic	A	1–2	58,386	Wilson

Tennent's Scottish Cup

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
10 January 2004	Dunfermline	A	1–3	5,078	McInnes

CIS Insurance Cup

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
23 September 2003	Morton	H	3–1	5,638	McLaren, McIntyre (2)
29 October 2003	Livingston	H	0–1	2,899

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.^[2]

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Bank of Scotland Premierleague		Tennent's Scottish Cup		CIS Insurance Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	SCO	Paul Gallacher	35	0	33	0	1	0	1	0
17	GK	ENG	Tony Bullock	6	0	5	0	0	0	1	0
2	DF	NIR	Danny Griffin	14	0	13	0	0	0	1	0
3	DF	SCO	Jim Paterson	19	0	16	0	1	0	2	0
5	DF	SCO	Alan Archibald	41	2	38	2	1	0	2	0
6	DF	SCO	Gary Bollan	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
12	DF	SCO	Scott Paterson	3	0	3	0	0	0	0	0
19	DF	SCO	David McCracken	34	1	32	1	1	0	1	0
21	DF	SCO	Mark Wilson	34	3	32	3	1	0	1	0
25	DF	SCO	Chris Innes	31	1	29	1	0	0	2	0
4	MF	SCO	Derek McInnes	37	2	35	1	1	1	1	0
7	MF	SCO	Mark Kerr	35	1	33	1	0	0	2	0
8	MF	SCO	Charlie Miller	28	5	26	5	1	0	1	0
11	MF	SCO	Barry Robson	29	3	28	3	0	0	1	0
15	MF	SCO	Stuart Duff	20	0	18	0	1	0	1	0
18	MF	SCO	Craig Easton	24	0	22	0	1	0	1	0
22	MF	SCO	Andy McLaren	30	5	27	4	1	0	2	1
27	MF	SCO	Graeme Holmes	4	0	3	0	1	0	0	0
9	FW	TRI	Collin Samuel	29	2	26	2	1	0	2	0
10	FW	SCO	Jim McIntyre	32	11	30	9	0	0	2	2
14	FW	SCO	Billy Dodds	35	10	33	10	1	0	1	0
16	FW	IRL	Owen Coyle	4	0	3	0	0	0	1	0
20	FW	TRI	Jason Scotland	23	5	21	5	1	0	1	0
--	FW	SCO	Aaron Conway	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0

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.[2] Name League Cups Total Jim McIntyre 9 2 11 Billy Dodds 10 0 10 Charlie Miller 5 0 05 Jason Scotland 5 0 05 Andy McLaren 4 1 05 Barry Robson 3 0 03 Mark Wilson 3 0 03 Alan Archibald 2 0 02 Collin Samuel 2 0 02 Derek McInnes 1 1 02 Chris Innes 1 0 01 Mark Kerr 1 0 01 David McCracken 1 0 01

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.[2] Name Cautions Dismissals Scott Paterson 8 1 Barry Robson 6 1 Billy Dodds 5 1 Andy McLaren 9 Chris Innes 7 Derek McInnes 7 Mark Kerr 5 Charlie Miller 5 Alan Archibald 3 Mark Wilson 3 Stuart Duff 2 Craig Easton 2 David McCracken 2 Danny Griffin 1 Jim McIntyre 1 Jim Paterson 1 Collin Samuel 1

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. Date Player From Fee (£) 1 July 2003 Mark Kerr Falkirk Bosman[3] 11 July 2003 Owen Coyle Falkirk Free[4] 11 July 2003 Derek McInnes West Brom Free[4] 11 July 2003 Collin Samuel Falkirk £0,100,000[4] 15 July 2003 Jason Scotland Unattached (ex-Defence Force) [5] 28 August 2003 Andy McLaren Unattached (ex-Kilmarnock) Free[6] 29 August 2003 Chris Innes Kilmarnock £0,100,000[7] 2 June 2004 James Grady Partick Thistle Bosman[8]

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. Date Player To Fee 14 February 2004 Stephen McGowan Released Released[9] 14 February 2004 Daniel Ogunmade Ross County Released[9] 7 January 2004 Danny Griffin Stockport County Released[10] 13 January 2004 Gary Bollan Motherwell Released[11] 31 May 2004 Craig Easton Livingston Released[12] 31 May 2004 Paul Gallacher Norwich Released[13] 31 May 2004 Charlie Miller Brann Released[14] Loans out Date Player To Until 30 August 2003 Danny Ogunmade Forfar Athletic January[15] 24 November 2003 Owen Coyle Airdrie United Loan[16]

Playing kit

Home colours

Away colours

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

Awards

• Ian McCall
  • Scottish Premier League Manager of the Month: 1

March 2004

See also

• 2003–04 Scottish Premier League
• 2003–04 Scottish Cup
• 2003–04 in Scottish football