List of Dundee United F.C. managers

Dundee United Football Club is a professional football club based in Dundee, Scotland. Since being formed in 1909 as Dundee Hibernian, the club has employed a manager to run the team, the first being Pat Reilly. The club's longest serving and most successful manager is Jim McLean, who held the position from 1971 to 1993 and won three major honours – the Scottish Football League Premier Division title in 1982-83 and consecutive Scottish League Cup wins in 1979 and 1980. Two Dundee United managers have won the Scottish CupIvan Golac in 1994 and Peter Houston in 2010.

Peter Houston won the 2010 Scottish Cup Final as Dundee United manager

Managerial history

Dundee Hibernian's first manager, Pat Reilly, had no previous background in professional football, but was one of a group of local businessmen who had set up the club. Initially the role was "secretary-manager", with the emphasis as much on the administrative business of the club as on running the football team.[1] Reilly had a flair for publicity, and under him the club successfully applied for membership of the Scottish Football League in 1910.[2] Apart from a two-year spell during the First World War when he was replaced by the club's first player-manager, Herbert Dainty, Reilly remained in the role until 1922, shortly before the club was reorganised as Dundee United.[1]

Former Scotland goalkeeper Jimmy Brownlie was the club's most successful manager in the interwar period. He had three spells in charge, the last as co-manager with Sam Irving. Under Brownlie, United won the Division Two title in the 1924-25 season, their first national honour, and entered the top flight of Scottish football for the first time. Although relegated in 1927, they won the Second Division again in 1928-29 and were promoted for a third time in 1930-31, shortly before the end of Brownlie's first spell as manager.[3]

Prior to the appointment of former player Jerry Kerr as manager in 1959, Dundee United had spent only four seasons in Division One, and had been absent from it since 1932. After winning promotion in Kerr's first season in charge, the club became established in the top flight of Scottish football, and between 1960 and 2016 spent only one season below it. Under Kerr, United reached their first major national semi-final in 1963 and qualified for European competition for the first time in 1966, recording a notable victory over Fairs Cup holders Barcelona. Kerr retired as manager in 1971, to be replaced by Jim McLean.[4]

Mixu Paatelainen was in charge from October 2015 to May 2016, with the title of head coach

Building on Kerr's achievements, McLean instituted a successful youth policy that set the foundations for future success. The club won their first major honour, the Scottish League Cup, in 1979 and retained the trophy in 1980. The club became champions of Scotland for the first time when they won the Scottish Football League Premier Division title in 1982-83. During the 1980s, McLean's United teams regularly made significant progress in European competitions, reaching the European Cup semi-finals in 1984 and the UEFA Cup final in 1987. Under McLean, however, Dundee United developed a reputation for failing in major finals at Hampden Park; he never won the Scottish Cup, losing six finals, whilst there were also two League Cup final defeats.[5]

McLean spent 21 years as manager of Dundee United until his retirement in 1993, becoming the club's longest serving manager. At that point, the club had had only two managers in a 34-year period, but since then have had a much higher turnover. Robbie Neilson, appointed in October 2018, is the club's sixteenth manager in the 25 years since McLean. Up until 2000, McLean himself had chosen his successors, having become club chairman in 1988 and initially combining this role with that of manager, a unique situation in Scottish football.[5] His immediate successor, Ivan Golac, won the previously elusive Scottish Cup in 1994, but he left the club the following year shortly before United were relegated after 35 years in the top flight.[6] Promotion back to the Premier Division was won under Billy Kirkwood,[4] who was followed as manager by Tommy McLean, the chairman's brother.[4] Dundee United won the Scottish Cup for a second time in 2010, under Peter Houston.[7] Other managers to have taken the club to major cup finals are Tommy McLean, Gordon Chisholm, Craig Levein and Jackie McNamara.

List

Managerial dates are sourced from Rundo & Watson (2009) and Soccerbase.[8] Statistics are taken from the Arab Archive website[9] and include all national and international competitions. Matches in unofficial wartime competitions played during the Second World War are included, but otherwise minor and local competitions (such as the Forfarshire Cup) are not; nor are matches that were abandoned or declared void, for example matches in the abandoned 1939-40 Scottish League season. Statistics are correct as of the match played on 7 March 2020.

NameNationalityFromToPWDLFAWin %Honours
Pat Reilly  Scotland Jun 1909 Apr 1915 14849346521725833.1
Bert Dainty[lower-alpha 1]  England Apr 1915 Dec 1917 No matches in major competitions
Pat Reilly  Scotland Dec 1917 Dec 1922 45111024537824.4
Peter O'Rourke  Scotland Dec 1922 Mar 1923 21013250.0
Willie McAndrew[lower-alpha 2][lower-alpha 1]  Scotland Mar 1923 May 1923 No matches in major competitions
Jimmy Brownlie[lower-alpha 3]  Scotland Jun 1923 Apr 1931 3281297412559659739.3Division Two 1925, 1929
Willie Reid  Scotland Jun 1931 Mar 1934 10932176019327829.4
Jimmy Brownlie  Scotland Mar 1934 Oct 1936 9240173526020643.5
George Greig  Scotland Oct 1936 Apr 1938 611712328613727.9
Jimmy Brownlie
Sam Irving[lower-alpha 4]
 Scotland
 Northern Ireland
Jul 1938 Jun 1939 3616317817444.4
Bobby McKay  Scotland Jun 1939 Oct 1939 220020100.0
Jimmy Allan[lower-alpha 5]  Scotland Nov 1939 Oct 1942 8434143619920140.5
Jimmy Littlejohn  Scotland Oct 1942 Nov 1944 722754014419737.5
Charlie McGillivray  Scotland Nov 1944 Oct 1945 34103215511129.4
Willie MacFadyen  Scotland Oct 1945 Aug 1954 3401275515870576037.4
Reg Smith  England Sep 1954 Jan 1957 11038274523522934.5
Ally Gallacher  Scotland Jan 1957 Mar 1957 8314112637.5
Tommy Gray  Scotland Mar 1957 Oct 1958 7025133215017035.7
Andy McCall  Scotland Oct 1958 Apr 1959 306816436420.0
Jerry Kerr  Scotland Jun 1959 Dec 1971 568247124197106095043.5
Jim McLean  Scotland Dec 1971 May 1993 11125352703071779116048.1Premier Division 1983
League Cup 1979, 1980
Ivan Golac Yugoslavia Aug 1993 Mar 1995 9431342911411333.0Scottish Cup 1994
Gordon Wallace[lower-alpha 2]  Scotland Mar 1995 30 Mar 1995 2011230.0
Billy Kirkwood  Scotland 30 Mar 1995 1 Sep 1996 612914181066347.5
Tommy McLean  Scotland 10 Sep 1996 5 Sep 1998 9336273013410738.7
Paul Sturrock  Scotland 5 Sep 1998 7 Aug 2000 852719399711931.8
Alex Smith  Scotland 8 Aug 2000 7 Oct 2002 9931234510914931.3
Paul Hegarty  Scotland 7 Oct 2002 30 Jan 2003 18459203422.2
Ian McCall  Scotland 30 Jan 2003 14 Mar 2005 9128234011614930.8
Gordon Chisholm  Scotland 14 Mar 2005 10 Jan 2006 36101016405427.8
Billy Dodds[lower-alpha 2]  Scotland 10 Jan 2006 16 Jan 2006 110021100.0
Craig Brewster  Scotland 16 Jan 2006 29 Oct 2006 3031116285910.0
Craig Levein  Scotland 30 Oct 2006 23 Dec 2009 13655404118516040.4
Peter Houston  Scotland 26 Dec 2009 28 Jan 2013 15063444323220542.0Scottish Cup 2010
Jackie McNamara  Scotland 30 Jan 2013 28 Sep 2015 11951244419217342.9
Dave Bowman[lower-alpha 2]  Scotland 28 Sep 2015 14 Oct 2015 1001030.0
Mixu Paatelainen[lower-alpha 6]  Finland 14 Oct 2015 4 May 2016 308517314826.7
Gordon Young[lower-alpha 2]  Scotland 5 May 2016 15 May 2016 321010766.7
Ray McKinnon  Scotland 16 May 2016 24 Oct 2017 733816191128052.1Challenge Cup 2017
Laurie Ellis[lower-alpha 2]  Scotland 24 Oct 2017 8 Nov 2017 220041100.0
Csaba László  Hungary 8 Nov 2017 30 Sep 2018 45181314705940.0
Laurie Ellis[lower-alpha 2]  Scotland 30 Sep 2018 8 Oct 2018 1001020.0
Robbie Neilson[lower-alpha 6]  Scotland 8 Oct 2018 21 June 2020 704016141116257.1Championship 2020[lower-alpha 7]
Micky Mellon  Scotland 6 July 2020 Present 000000

Notes

  1. Player-manager
  2. Caretaker manager
  3. Player-manager until 1924
  4. Joint managers
  5. The club did not operate during the 1940-41 season; Allan was actually in charge until July 1940 and again from June 1941
  6. Head coach
  7. Second Tier

References

  1. Rundo & Watson, p.269
  2. Rundo & Watson, p.11
  3. Rundo & Watson, p.265
  4. Rundo & Watson, p.267
  5. Rundo & Watson, p.268
  6. Rundo & Watson, p.266
  7. "Dundee Utd 3 - 0 Ross County". BBC Sport. 15 May 2010. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
  8. "Dundee United Managers". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  9. "Club Managers". Arab Archive. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
Sources
  • Rundo, Peter; Watson, Mike (2009). Dundee United - The Official Centenary History. Edinburgh: Birlinn. ISBN 978 1 84158 828 5.
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