1980–81 Dundee United F.C. season

The 1980–81 season was the 72nd year of football played by Dundee United, and covers the period from 1 July 1980 to 30 June 1981. United finished in third place, securing UEFA Cup football for the following season.

Dundee United

1980–81 season
Manager	Jim McLean
Scottish Premier Division	3rd (UEFA Cup) W18 D11 L7 F67 A39 P47
Scottish Cup	Runners-up
League Cup	Winners
UEFA Cup	Round 2

Match results

Dundee United played a total of 58 competitive matches during the 1980–81 season.

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

All results are written with Dundee United's score first. Own goals in italics

Premier Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
9 August 1980	Kilmarnock	H	2–2	5,788	Payne, Sturrock
16 August 1980	Aberdeen	A	1–1	12,948	Hegarty
23 August 1980	Greenock Morton	H	1–1	5,339	Bannon
6 September 1980	Rangers	H	2–4	16,269	Dodds, Payne
13 September 1980	Airdrieonians	A	0–0	2,721
20 September 1980	St Mirren	A	0–2	5,783
27 September 1980	Heart of Midlothian	H	1–1	6,263	Dodds
4 October 1980	Celitc	A	0–2	19,571
11 October 1980	Partick Thistle	H	0–0	4,706
18 October 1980	Kilmarnock	A	1–0	2,719	Pettigrew
25 October 1980	Aberdeen	H	1–3	10,043	Sturrock
1 November 1980	Greenock Morton	A	2–0	3,075	Kirkwood (2)
8 November 1980	Heart of Midlothian	H	3–0	5,875	Sturrock (2), Hegarty
15 November 1980	St Mirren	H	2–0	5,024	Dodds, Sturrock
22 November 1980	Partick Thistle	A	3–2	3,089	Pettigrew, Sturrock, Bannon
29 November 1980	Celtic	H	0–3	13,080
13 December 1980	Airdrieonians	H	1–0	4,780	Dodds
20 December 1980	St Mirren	A	3–3	5,405	Dodds, Gibson, Pettigrew
27 December 1980	Heart of Midlothian	H	4–1	6,928	Sturrock (2), Milne (2)
30 December 1980	Aberdeen	A	1–1	22,556	Dodds
3 January 1981	Kilmarnock	H	7–0	6,474	Kirkwood (2), Gibson, Dodds, Milne, Addison, Bannon (penalty)
10 January 1981	Celtic	A	1–2	22,132	Milne
31 January 1981	Airdrieonians	A	5–0	2,264	Dodds (3), Bannon (penalty), Sturrock
7 February 1981	Rangers	H	2–1	14,528	Kirkwood, Dodds
21 February 1981	Greenock Morton	H	1–0	4,836	Hegarty
28 February 1981	Kilmarnock	A	1–0	2,102	Dodds
14 March 1981	Partick Thistle	A	2–0	2,754	Pettigrew, Milne
18 March 1981	Rangers	A	4–1	11,208	Bannon (2), Kirkwood, Sturrock
21 March 1981	St Mirren	H	1–2	5,808	Pettigrew
28 March 1981	Heart of Midlothian	A	4–0	3,786	Sturrock (2), Kirkwood
4 April 1981	Rangers	A	1–2	11,690	Milne
18 April 1981	Greenock Morton	A	0–2	2,262
22 April 1981	Celtic	H	2–3	15,349	Pettigrew, Sturrock
25 April 1981	Aberdeen	H	0–0	6,369
29 April 1981	Airdrieonians	H	4–1	3,133	Kirkwood (2), Bannon, Milne
2 May 1981	Partick Thistle	H	3–2	4,124	Dodds (2), Bannon (penalty)

Scottish Cup

Date	Rd	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
24 January 1981	R3	Brechin City	A	2–1	5,791	Dodds, Kirkwood
14 February 1981	R4	Partick Thistle	H	1–0	7,758	Addison
7 March 1981	QF	Motherwell	H	6–1	10,236	Dodds (3), Sturrock, Kirkwood, Narey
11 April 1981	SF	Celtic	N	0–0	40,390
15 April 1981	SF R	Celtic	N	3–2	32,328	Hegarty (2), Bannon
9 May 1981	F	Rangers	N	0–0	53,358
12 May 1981	F R	Rangers	N	1–4	42,004	Dodds

League Cup

Date	Rd	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
13 August 1980	R1	East Fife	A	5–2	2,028	Milne (2), Ward, Sturrock (penalty), Narey
20 August 1980	R1	East Fife	H	4–0	3,237	Ward (2), Hegarty, Payne
27 August 1980	R2	Cowdenbeath	H	4–0	3,401	Bannon (2), Sturrock, Hegarty
30 August 1980	R2	Cowdenbeath	A	2–1	1,238	Ward (2), Hegarty, Sturrock
3 September 1980	R3	Motherwell	A	1–2	3,327	Addison
24 September 1980	R3	Motherwell	H	4–2	5,628	Sturrock (2), Holt, Milne
8 October 1980	QF 1	Clydebank	A	1–2	1,653	Bannon
29 October 1980	QF 2	Clydebank	H	4–1	5,265	Ward (2), Sturrock, Hegarty
12 November 1980	SF 1	Celtic	H	1–1	14,517	Bannon
19 November 1980	SF 2	Celtic	A	3–0	19,700	Pettigrew, Sturrock, Dodds
6 December 1980	F	Dundee	A	3–0	24,466	Sturrock (2), Dodds

UEFA Cup

Date	Rd	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
17 September 1980	R1 1	Slask Wroclaw	A	0–0	10,000
1 October 1980	R1 2	Slask Wroclaw	H	7–2	8,415	Pettigrew (2), Dodds (2), Stark, Hegarty, Payne
22 October 1980	R2 1	KSC Lokeren	H	1–1	7,663	Pettigrew
5 November 1980	R2 2	KSC Lokeren	A	0–0	9,000

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
3	Rangers	36	16	12	8	60	32	+28	44	Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round
4	St Mirren	36	18	8	10	56	47	+9	44
5	Dundee United	36	17	9	10	66	42	+24	43	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
6	Partick Thistle	36	10	10	16	32	48	−16	30
7	Airdrieonians	36	10	9	17	36	55	−19	29

Source: Statto
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

See also

• 1980–81 in Scottish football