2019–20 Dundee United F.C. season

The 2019–20 season was Dundee United's 111th season, having been founded as Dundee Hibernian in 1909. It was their fourth season in the Scottish Championship, having been relegated from the Scottish Premiership at the end of the 2015–16 season.[1] United also competed in the Challenge Cup, League Cup and Scottish Cup. On 15 April, the SPFL voted to end the lower leagues in Scottish football due to the coronavirus pandemic and as a result Dundee United were declared champions and secured promotion to the Premiership after four years in the Championship.[2]

Dundee United

2019–20 season
Chairman	Mark Ogren
Manager	Robbie Neilson
Stadium	Tannadice Park
Championship	1st (champions)
League Cup	Group stage
Challenge Cup	Third round
Scottish Cup	Fourth round
Top goalscorer	League: Lawrence Shankland (24) All: Lawrence Shankland (28)
Highest home attendance	14,108 vs Dundee
Lowest home attendance	2,526 vs Cowdenbeath
Average home league attendance	8,496
Home colours Away colours

Competitions

Results & fixtures

  Win   Draw   Loss   Postponed

Pre-season

29 June 2019 Friendly	East Fife	1–1	Dundee United	Bayview Stadium
15:00	Smith  18' (o.g.)	Report	Clark  67'	Attendance: 685 Referee: David Dickenson

5 July 2019 Friendly	Brechin City	0–6	Dundee United	Glebe Park
19:45		Report	Stanton  14' Sow  18' Chalmers  27' Appéré  60' Smith  68' Watson  85'	Attendance: 838 Referee: Mike Roncone

6 July 2019 Friendly	Dumbarton	3–2	Dundee United	C & G Systems Stadium
15:00	Muhammadu Faal  48' McKee  65' Zata  80'	Report	Shankland  58' Appéré  77'	Attendance: 411 Referee: Alan Newlands

27 July 2019 Friendly	Shrewsbury Town	2–1	Dundee United	Montgomery Waters Meadow
15:00	Okenabirhie  8' (pen.), 74'	United Report	Appéré  5' (pen.)	Attendance: 2,687 Referee: Peter Wright

Scottish Championship

3 August 2019 1	Dundee United	4–1	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	Tannadice Park
15:00	Shankland  7', 31', 53', 86'	Report	Walsh  29'	Attendance: 7,023 Referee: Steven McLean

9 August 2019 2	Partick Thistle	1–2	Dundee United	Firhill Stadium
19:05	Saunders  23'	Report	Shankland  55' Pawlett  73'	Attendance: 3,218 Referee: William Collum
Note: Game televised on BBC Scotland

24 August 2019 3	Dunfermline Athletic	0–2	Dundee United	East End Park
15:00		Report	Shankland  10', 30'	Attendance: 6,480 Referee: Euan Anderson

30 August 2019 4	Dundee United	6–2	Dundee	Tannadice Park
19:45	Butcher  14', 40' Appéré  33' Shankland  36' (pen.) Harkes  46' Smith  83'	Report	Hemmings  22' Nelson  70'	Attendance: 14,108 Referee: Kevin Clancy
Note: Game televised on BT Sport

14 September 2019 5	Ayr United	2–0	Dundee United	Somerset Park
15:00	Harvie  9' Forrest  75' (pen.)	Report		Attendance: 3,167 Referee: Bobby Madden

21 September 2019 6	Dundee United	2–1	Arbroath	Tannadice Park
15:00	Shankland  88', 90+2'	Report	Donnelly  52'	Attendance: 7,877 Referee: Gavin Duncan

28 September 2019 7	Dundee United	6–0	Greenock Morton	Tannadice Park
15:00	Shankland  1', 5', 56' McMullan  41', 80' Chalmers  84'	Report		Attendance: 7,404 Referee: Alan Muir

4 October 2019 8	Alloa Athletic	1–0	Dundee United	Recreation Park
19:05	O'Hara  18'	Report		Attendance: 1,717 Referee: Greg Aitken
Note: Game televised on BBC Scotland

19 October 2019 9	Queen of the South	4–0	Dundee United	Palmerston Park
15:00	Dobbie  18', 70' Holt  28' Paton  77'	Report		Attendance: 1,909 Referee: Gavin Duncan

26 October 2019 10	Dundee United	2–0	Dunfermline Athletic	Tannadice Park
15:00	Shankland  9' Clark  27'	Report		Attendance: 7,682 Referee: Steven Reid

29 October 2019 11	Dundee United	1–0	Partick Thistle	Tannadice Park
19:45	Shankland  62'	Report		Attendance: 6,929 Referee: Greg Aitken

2 November 2019 12	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	0–3	Dundee United	Caledonian Stadium
15:00		Report	Rooney  20' (o.g.) Clark  72' Shankland  76' (pen.)	Attendance: 2,092 Referee: Grant Irvine

8 November 2019 13	Dundee	0–2	Dundee United	Dens Park
19:45		Report	Clark  56' (pen.) Shankland  64'	Attendance: 11,243 Referee: Steven McLean
Note: Game televised on BT Sport 2

16 November 2019 14	Dundee United	3–0	Queen of the South	Tannadice Park
15:00	McMullan  22' Clark  45+1' Stanton  14'	Report		Attendance: 7,675 Referee: Willie Collum

7 December 2019 15	Dundee United	2–1	Alloa Athletic	Tannadice Park
15:00	Clark  45+2' Appéré  55'	Report	Reynolds  12' (o.g.)	Attendance: 7,615 Referee: Andrew Dallas

10 December 2019 16	Greenock Morton	1–2	Dundee United	Cappielow Park
19:45	Sutton  25'	Report	Appéré  5' Shankland  31'	Attendance: 1,120 Referee: David Lowe

14 December 2019 17	Arbroath	0–1	Dundee United	Gayfield Park
15:00		Report	Stanton  6'	Attendance: 4,052 Referee: Graham Beaton

21 December 2019 18	Dundee United	4–0	Ayr United	Tannadice Park
15:00	Stanton  42' Shankland  57' (pen.) Clark  61' Harkes  87'	Report		Attendance: 7,744 Referee: Greg Aitken

27 December 2019 19	Dundee United	1–1	Dundee	Tannadice Park
19:45	Clark  5'	Report	Dorrans  50'	Attendance: 14,007 Referee: Alan Muir
Note: Game televised on BT Sport

4 January 2020 20	Queen of the South	0–1	Dundee United	Palmerston Park
15:00		Report	Connolly  48'	Attendance: 2,041 Referee: Colin Steven

11 January 2020 21	Partick Thistle	1–4	Dundee United	Firhill Stadium
15:00	Miller  87'	Report	Shankland  38', 60', 65' Sporle  45'	Attendance: 4,101 Referee: Willie Collum

25 January 2020 22	Dundee United	1–1	Greenock Morton	Tannadice Park
15:00	Shankland  90'	Report	Orsi  17'	Attendance: 7,644 Referee: Andrew Dallas

1 February 2020 23	Dundee United	0–1	Arbroath	Tannadice Park
15:00		Report	Wighton  26'	Attendance: 8,056 Referee: Alan Muir

14 February 2020 24	Alloa Athletic	0–0	Dundee United	Recreation Park, Alloa
19:45		Report		Attendance: 1,442 Referee: Steven McLean
Note: Game Televised on BBC Scotland

21 February 2020 25	Dundee United	2–1	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	Tannadice Park
19:45	Appéré  12' Shankland  59'	Report	White  32'	Attendance: 7,583 Referee: John Beaton
Note: Game Televised on BBC Scotland

29 February 2020 26	Dunfermline Athletic	2–0	Dundee United	East End Park
15:00	Nisbet  26' Afolabi  60'	Report		Attendance: 6,261 Referee: Graham Beaton

3 March 2020 27	Ayr United	0–0	Dundee United	Somerset Park
19:45		Report		Attendance: 1,674 Referee: David Munro

7 March 2020 28	Dundee United	1–1	Partick Thistle	Tannadice Park
15:00	Powers  19'	Report	Bannigan  52' (.pen)	Attendance: 7,603 Referee: Mike Roncone

14 March 2020 29	Greenock Morton	P – P	Dundee United	Cappielow Park
15:00

21 March 2020 30	Dundee United	P – P	Alloa Athltic	Tannadice Park
15:00

27 March 2020 31	Arbroath	P – P	Dundee United	Gayfield Park
19:45

Scottish League Cup

12 July 2019	Heart of Midlothian	1–1 (5–3 p)	Dundee United	Tynecastle Park
19:45	Irving  44'	[3][4]	Shankland  9'	Attendance: 9,091 Referee: Kevin Clancy
	Penalties
	Clare Bozanic Smith Washington Souttar		Clark McMullan Banks Bouhenna
Note: Game televised on BT Sport

16 July 2019	Stenhousemuir	1–2	Dundee United	Ochilview Park
19:30	A. Munro  70'	[5]	Watson  51' Butcher  54'	Attendance: 1,156 Referee: Steven Kirkland

19 July 2019	Dundee United	3–0	Cowdenbeath	Tannadice Park
19:45	Sporle  26' Shankland  59' Appéré  86'	[6]		Attendance: 2,526 Referee: David Lowe

23 July 2019	Dundee United	0–2	East Fife	Tannadice Park
19:45		[7]	Dunsmore  38' Watt  51'	Attendance: 2,778 Referee: Graham Beaton

Scottish Challenge Cup

7 September 2019	Dundee United	0–0 (3–4 p)	Arbroath	Tannadice Park
15:00		Report		Attendance: 2,568 Referee: Mike Roncone
	Penalties
	Shankland L. Smith Stanton McMullan Clark		McKenna Whatley Spence Stirling Linn

Scottish Cup

19 January 2020 Fourth Round	Dundee United	2—2	Hibernian	Tannadice Park
15:00	Shankland  45+3'Appéré  74'	Report	Doidge  8' Boyle  47'	Attendance: 9,400 Referee: Kevin Clancy
Note: Live on BBC Scotland

28 January 2020 Fourth Round Replay	Hibernian	4—2	Dundee United	Easter Road
19:45	Allan  40' (pen.) Doidge  60'  73'  90+1'	Report	Shankland  10' Sporle  67'	Attendance: 10,451 Referee: Kevin Clancy

Club statistics

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	PPG	Promotion, qualification or relegation[lower-alpha 1]
1	Dundee United (C)	28	18	5	5	52	22	+30	59	2.11	Promotion to the Premiership
2	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	27	14	3	10	39	32	+7	45	1.67
3	Dundee	27	11	8	8	32	31	+1	41	1.52
4	Ayr United	27	12	4	11	38	35	+3	40	1.48
5	Arbroath	26	10	6	10	24	26	−2	36	1.38

Source: SPFL
Rules for classification: 1) Points per game.
(C) Champion.
Notes:

1. All play-off matches were cancelled, as clubs voted to curtail the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland.[8]

Group A Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	PW	PL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		HOM	EFI	DUN	STE	COW
1	Heart of Midlothian	4	2	1	1	0	6	3	+3	9	Qualification for the Second Round		—	—	p1–1	2–1	—
2	East Fife	4	2	1	0	1	5	3	+2	8			p1–1	—	—	2–0	—
3	Dundee United	4	2	0	1	1	6	4	+2	7			—	0–2	—	—	3–0
4	Stenhousemuir	4	1	0	0	3	4	6	−2	3			—	—	1–2	—	2–0
5	Cowdenbeath	4	1	0	0	3	2	7	−5	3			0–2	2–0	—	—	—

Source: [9]
Rules for classification: 1) goal difference, 2) goals scored, 3) away goals scored, 4) matches won, 5) away matches won, 6) drawing of lots.[10]

Transfers

In Player From Fee Liam Smith Ayr United Free[11] Adrián Sporle Banfield Free[12] Lawrence Shankland Ayr United Free[13] Deniz Mehmet Queen of the South Free[14] Adam King Swansea City Free[15] Dillon Powers Orlando City Free[16]

Out Player To Fee Aidan Nesbitt Greenock Morton Free[17] Morgaro Gomis Falkirk Free[18] Adam Barton Wrexham Free[19] Lewis Toshney Falkirk Free[20] Declan Glass Cove Rangers Loan[21] Rachid Bouhenna Sepsi OSK Free[22] Callum Booth St Johnstone Free[23] Matty Smith Cove Rangers Loan[24] Frédéric Frans Lierse Loan[25] Osman Sow Kilmarnock Loan[26] Logan Chalmers Arbroath Loan[27] Scott Banks Crystal Palace Free[28] Sam Stanton Phoenix Rising Free[29] Matty Smith Waterford Free[30] Cammy Smith Dundalk Loan[31]

See also

• List of Dundee United F.C. seasons

References

1. "United relegated by rivals". scotsman.com. The Scotsman. 2 May 2017. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
2. "United title 'brilliant' says Neilson". BBC Sport. 16 April 2020. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
3. Duncan, Thomas (12 July 2019). "Hearts 1–1 Dundee United: Premiership side earn bonus point after shootout". www.bbc.co.uk/sport. BBC Sport. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
4. "Betfred Cup Results". www.spfl.co.uk. SPFL. 12 July 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
5. "Stenhousemuir v Dundee United". www.bbc.co.uk/sport. BBC Sport. 16 July 2019. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
6. "Dundee United v Cowdenbeath". www.bbc.co.uk/sport. BBC Sport. 19 July 2019. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
7. "Dundee United v East Fife". www.bbc.co.uk/sport. BBC Sport. 23 July 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
8. "Dundee Utd, Raith & Cove win titles and reconstruction talks start after Dundee vote". BBC Sport. 15 April 2020. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
9. "Summary - League Cup Group A". Soccerway. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
10. "Format". SPFL. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
11. "Ayr Utd full-back Liam Smith to join Dundee Utd on two-year deal". bbc.co.uk/sport. BBC Sport. 16 April 2019. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
12. "Adrin is a Tangerine". dundeeunitedfc.co.uk. Dundee United FC. 13 June 2019. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
13. "Dundee Utd confirm Lawrence Shankland signing as striker leaves Ayr Utd". bbc.co.uk/sport. BBC Sport. 3 July 2019. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
14. "Deniz Mehmet Signs Two-Year Deal". dundeeunitedfc.co.uk. Dundee United FC. 5 July 2019. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
15. "Adam King: Dundee United sign winger from Swansea City". bbc.co.uk/sport. BBC Sport. 11 July 2019. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
16. "United Add Powers to Squad". dundeeunitedfc.co.uk. Dundee United FC. 10 January 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
17. "BREAKING: Aidan Nesbitt returns to Morton". gmfc.net. Greenock Morton FC. 17 June 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
18. "Welcome to Falkirk Morgaro Gomis!". falkirkfc.co.uk. Falkirk FC. 18 June 2019. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
19. "SIGNED: Midfielder Adam Barton Latest To Sign For Wrexham AFC". wrexhamafc.co.uk. Wrexham AFC. 4 July 2019. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
20. "Bairns sign Leitch and Toshney". falkirkfc.co.uk. Falkirk FC. 12 July 2019. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
21. "Cove Rangers add Declan Glass on loan from Dundee United until January". pressandjournal.co.uk. The Press and Journal. 22 July 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
22. "Sepsi a mai transferat un jucător: mijlocaşul algerian Rachid Bouhenna de la Dundee United" (in Romanian). news.ro. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
23. "Callum Booth: St Johnstone sign left-back on deal until Januar". BBC Sport. BBC. 16 September 2019. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
24. "Matty Smith joins Cove on loan". dundeeunitedfc.co.uk. Dundee United FC. 15 August 2019. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
25. "Freddy Frans Leaves". dundeeunitedfc.co.uk. Dundee United FC. 2 September 2019. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
26. "Kilmarnock: Osman Sow, Connor Johnson and Harvey St Clair on loan". BBC. BBC Sport. 2 September 2019. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
27. "Dundee United sign Dillon Powers from Orlando City and Kieran Freeman from Southampton". BBC. BBC Sport. 10 January 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
28. "Scott Banks signs for Crystal Palace". cpfc.co.uk. Crystal Palace FC. 22 January 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
29. "Phoenix Rising Adds Midfielder Sam Stanton". phxrisingfc.com. Phoenix Rising FC. 23 January 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
30. "Matty Smith joins Waterford". dundeeunitedfc.co.uk. Dundee United FC. 31 January 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
31. "Dundalk sign Cammy Smith on loan from Dundee United". extratime.com. Extra Time. 3 February 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.