Dundee United 1987 Uefa Cup heroes will reunite for anniversary event

It was the fairytale run to the 1987 Uefa Cup final that remains etched in the memory of every Dundee United fan.

It remains United’s first, and so far only, major European final.

Jim McLean’s side conquered Lens, Universitatea Craiova, Hajduk Split and European giants Barcelona and Borussia Mönchengladbach in earlier rounds.

United went on to lose the final 2-1 over two legs against IFK Gothenburg, with a 1-0 Scottish Cup final defeat to St Mirren sandwiched in between.

The 1987 heroes will return to share a stage at the Whitehall Theatre on May 13 to look back at the campaign to mark the 35th anniversary.

Among them will be former club captain Paul Hegarty, who said the frustration at not winning the final is still very real despite the passage of time.

“Years have come and gone but it seems like only yesterday,” he said.

“It was a magnificent achievement for a club of United’s size to get to the final but that’s tinged with the disappointment that we didn’t go on and win it.

“We played 12 games to get to the final and had seven clean sheets during the campaign, which shows you how well drilled we were defensively.

“So to go so close and miss out was hard to take.

We got a corner against Barcelona and I said to him: ‘You make sure you get on the end of this because you are going to score’.”

Paul Hegarty

“We played the Scottish Cup final on the Saturday and the second leg of the Uefa Cup final on the Wednesday.

“I think if we’d beaten St Mirren at Hampden we would have won the second leg against Gothenburg because the momentum would have been with us.”

The campaign started against French side Lens, who were beaten 2-1 on aggregate.

It continued in Eastern Europe where McLean’s side took the scalps of Universitatea Craiova and Hajduk Split to set up a quarter-final against Barcelona.

Having only lost the European Cup final on penalties the previous season, Barcelona were expected to win comfortably against United.

The Catalan giants were managed by Terry Venables, whose squad included Gary Lineker, Mark Hughes and legendary Spanish goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta.

The Tangerines recorded a 1-0 first leg win at a packed Tannadice, thanks to Kevin Gallacher’s cross-shot.

They then went to the Nou Camp two weeks later and achieved one of the greatest results ever recorded by a Scottish side in Europe, winning 2-1, courtesy of headed goals from John Clark and Iain Ferguson.

That produced memorable scenes as home fans waved white handkerchiefs to signify their team had capitulated.

Goal prediction by Hegarty

Hegarty predicted Clark would score when he went up for the corner.

“Sometimes you get a feeling that something is going to happen and John posed a real danger from set-piece situations,” he said.

“We got a corner against Barcelona and I said to him: ‘You make sure you get on the end of this because you are going to score’.

“The rest is history.

“He had a brilliant European campaign but there were so many unsung heroes that season, including Billy Thomson who took over from Hamish McAlpine.”

That brought a semi-final against Borussia Mönchengladbach.

Borussia had not lost at home in Europe in 54 games but United won 2-0 in Germany to progress following a goalless draw at Tannadice.

IFK Gothenburg lay in wait in the two-legged final.

Around 3,000 United fans went to Gothenburg for the first leg by land, sea and air.

Some admitted to having taken out bank loans of more than £500 to finance the trip.

Others, who could only afford the trip plus a few decent meals, were willing to stay 50km out of town and drink water for two days to see their heroes in action.

McLean’s side were defeated 1-0 in the first leg and United’s gruelling schedule that season caught up with them in the return game at Tannadice.

United were recovering from the disappointment of having finished second best in the Scottish Cup final against St Mirren at Hampden just four days earlier.

Crucially, a Lennart Nilsson strike on 22 minutes doubled IFK Gothenburg’s advantage, meaning United required three goals to lift the trophy.

They mustered one, a powerful John Clark effort from the edge of the box on the hour mark, but, regrettably, no more.

United players remain true friends

The rapturous ovation given by the thousands of home spectators to the victorious Swedes after the match earned United fans the fitting prize of the Uefa Fair Play Award, commemorated to this day by one of the Tannadice stands.

Hegarty said: “It was fantastic from our supporters and the sportsmanship took the whole of Europe aback and was a special thing to see.

“It showed off all that was good about Scottish football fans.”

What was Hegarty’s own highlight from that 1987 Uefa Cup campaign?

“I’d pick two games and they would be the away legs against Barcelona and Borussia Mönchengladbach, when we won against the odds,” he said.

“We won the first leg at Tannadice 1-0 but Barcelona fully expected to beat us at the Nou Camp so it was a huge achievement to win 2-1.

“We drew 0-0 with Mönchengladbach in the first leg and they were unbeaten at home in 54 games but we thought we could win the tie in Germany.

“We won 2-0 and I’ll never forget that performance.

“Getting to the final was a magnificent achievement for the club but it would have been ever better if we’d won it.”

Hegarty said he is looking forward to getting all misty-eyed with his former team-mates at the anniversary event, which is being organised by Events 105.

“I spent 16 years as a player at United and when you have been with these guys for so many years you can trust them on and off the park,” he said.

“They are not just football colleagues but true friends.”

Ticket details are available by accessing the Events 105 Facebook page.

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Never-before-seen photos of Dundee United fans in Gothenburg in 1987

The trophies and the ‘toe-poke’: Dundee United great David Narey had a memorable career

Jim McLean packed his bags 50 years ago to make history with Dundee United