The 2008–09 season covers the period from 1 July 2008 to 30 June 2009 and is the club's one hundredth season, having been founded as Dundee Hibernian in 1909.
This is a list of the significant events to occur at the club during the 2008–09 season, presented in chronological order. This list does not include transfers, which are listed in the transfers section below, or match results, which are in the results section.
09 September: Garry Kenneth's eighth Scotland under-21 cap ends in disappointment as defeat in Denmark ends their hopes of qualifying for the 2009 European Championship.[8]
10 September: Director John Bennett resigns from the board with immediate effect.[9]
15 October: Chairman Eddie Thompson dies after losing his battle with prostate cancer.[10] The match against Rangers, scheduled for three days later, is postponed as a mark of respect.
20 October: The club announce admission for the upcoming match against St Mirren will be only £5 to allow as many as possible to pay their respects to late chairman Eddie Thompson.[11]
22 October: The funeral of late chairman Eddie Thompson is held in Broughty Ferry with around 1,000 supporters attending.
03 November: Rangers chairman David Murray apologises after suggesting abuse between some United and Dundee fans on certain websites was "just as bad" as between Celtic and Rangers.[12]
05 November: Young striker Ryan Dow is named the SPL 'Rising Star' for September.[13]
14 November: Stephen Thompson, son of late chairman Eddie, is officially named as the club's new chairman.
15 November:Scott Robertson is named in the Scotland squad to play Argentina, being called up as a late replacement due to injuries.
22 January: The seventh, eighth and ninth contract extensions this year are announced, with new deals for Darren Dods, Prince Buaben and Morgaro Gomis.
12 March: The club announce Nike will be the official kit supplier for the next four seasons from 2009–10.
11 April: United's 1–0 victory at Hamilton Academical secures a top-six finish for the second successive season.[14]
Dundee United have played a total of 44 competitive matches during the 2008–09 season,[16] as well as six first team pre-season friendlies. The team finished fifth in the Scottish Premier League.
Action during the 2–0 SPL home win against St MirrenLeague positions
United began the season with a televised match away to promoted Hamilton Academical, which – despite taking the lead – they lost 3–1. Subsequent 1–1 draws at home to Celtic – another televised match in which Francisco Sandaza scored his first goal – and away to Motherwell produced the first points of the season but a home defeat to Kilmarnock and narrow defeat away to Hibernian left United bottom of the league after five matches. United's third televised match of the season saw them pick up their first league win at Aberdeen and was the first of four successive league victories, preceding home triumphs against Hearts, Inverness CT and St Mirren. The run of victories saw first league goals for summer signings Scott Robertson and Roy O'Donovan, with three clean sheets for goalkeeper Lukasz Zaluska. The St Mirren match was played three weeks after the Inverness match following the death of chairman Eddie Thompson, which led to the match against Rangers being postponed. As the St Mirren match was the first match following the death of the chairman, prices were reduced to just £5, prompting over 11,000 fans to attend and pay their respects with a minute's silence. United failed to make it five consecutive league game wins when they drew 0–0 at Falkirk but kept their unbeaten run going with an exciting 3–3 draw against Rangers at Ibrox and got back to winning ways with home wins over Aberdeen and Hibernian. A second successive 2–0 defeat to Kilmarnock – this time away from home – preceded a 1–1 draw at home to Hamilton, before wins at St Mirren and Inverness brought United back-to-back away victories for the first time since April 2007. United were involved in another high scoring match against Rangers in a 2–2 draw at Tannadice and followed it up by holding Hearts to a 0–0 draw at Tynecastle, closing 2008 with a home win against Falkirk.
2009 began with a draw at Celtic Park, despite being two goals behind but United's next match saw a 4–0 home collapse against Motherwell, only the club's second defeat in the previous 17 league matches. An exciting 3–2 win at home to St Mirren preceded a 2–0 defeat against Rangers at Ibrox, before draws at home to Inverness and away to Aberdeen. Rivals for third place Hearts won at Tannadice before United won away at Falkirk, with a defeat at Motherwell tempered by a home draw against Celtic. After conceding first at home for the seventh time in eight matches, United came from two goals down to draw with Hibernian, before beating Hamilton for the first time this season, securing a top six league finish. In the final match before the league split, United failed to gain further ground on Hearts for third place, being held at home by Kilmarnock to a goalless draw, ensuring United failed to score against the Ayrshire side all season. In the first match after the split, United's dominance of the entire match earned a win against Hibernian at Easter Road, before missing the chance to go third after a home draw against Aberdeen. United's final trip to Glasgow resulted in a narrow 2–1 loss against Celtic, with defeats against Heart of Midlothian and Rangers to close the season.
Last season's runners-up United began their League Cup campaign away to Cowdenbeath, where a hat-trick from Jon Daly helped them to a 5–1 win. In the third round, Airdrie United – who United faced in the second round of last year's competition – were beaten 2–0, before a quarter-final win at home to Dunfermline Athletic. United faced Celtic in the semi-finals in late January where they lost11-10 on penalties, a record for a Scottish cup match.
During the 2008–09 season so far, United have used 26 different players on the pitch. Łukasz Załuska is the only player to have played every minute this season. The table below shows the number of appearances and goals scored by each player.[29]
Francisco Sandaza was the top scorer with ten goals, with the team totalling 58 goals.[29] During the 2008–09 season, fifteen United players received at least one caution. In total, the team received 60 yellow cards.[29]
^Teams played each other three times (33 matches), before the league split into two groups (the top six and the bottom six) for the last five matches.
^Scotland were awarded an additional Europa League place as the association finished in third place of the UEFA Fair Play ranking. Motherwell earned this place as winners of the Scottish Fair Play ranking.
The club sold only one player during the season, with Noel Hunt joining his brother Stephen at English side Reading for around £600,000.[37] Young strikerKevin Smith moved on loan to Raith Rovers until January,[38] with fellow youngsters Johnny Russell and John Gibson moving to Forfar Athletic on similar temporary deals.[39][40] Young left back Sean Fleming followed suit shortly afterwards when he joined Peterhead for four months.[41] Gibson's loan was subsequently extended until the end of the season, with young first team squad member Keith Watson joining him on a short-term loan, shortly afterwards Marco Andreoni undertook a similar deal with Albion Rovers. Sean Fleming moved back out on loan, joining Andreoni at Albion while young midfielder Ryan McCord moved short-term to Stirling Albion and Gordon Pope headed to Montrose. Kevin Smith went back to Raith after returning to Tannadice for a few weeks, with Johnny Russell returning to Forfar in similar fashion. Towards the end of February, midfielder Greg Cameron moved on loan to Irish outfit Shamrock Rovers, managed by former United player Michael O'Neill and Fraser Milligan departed to Montrose on a similar deal shortly afterwards. Youth goalkeeper Gibson signed a one-year deal with Dundee on his return to Tannadice. Similarly, Fleming, Pope and Milligan all penned two-year deals with Montrose at the end of May.
The jerseys were sponsored for the first time by JD Sports' Carbrini Sportswear label,[42][43] with the firm also sponsoring the shorts.
Kitmaker Hummel supplied their last strip after the club announced in March 2009 that Nike would begin a four-year deal for the 2009–10 season.
The club has no third strip, with the last third strip used in the 2002–03 season.
