THE EARLY DAYS

THE EARLY DAYS

With the centenary of the name change from Dundee Hibernian to Dundee United having taken place in October, throughout the first half of the season we’ve looked back at matches between visiting clubs and the Hibs. For the second half, we’re highlighting the first-ever meetings of our Championship rivals with United.

Within two years of the name change, Manager Jimmy Brownlie had transformed the club. Season 1923-24 – his first at Tannadice - saw Dundee United achieve more than almost anyone inside or outside the club could have expected, with a solid mid-table finish in Division Two demonstrating that Brownlie had quickly made his presence felt.

But what happened the following season was truly astonishing. United were top of the table at the end of January and never relinquished it, finishing two points clear as champions. So, just two years after returning to the Scottish League, United had won a place among the elite in Division One.

Among the clubs that awaited them there was Morton (Greenock was not officially added to their title until 1994). They had been in Division One since 1900 and had become established at the top level, also winning the Scottish Cup in 1922.

Brownlie appreciated that most of the players who had achieved Division One status for the club would not be capable of sustaining it, so only three of those men began season 1925-26. A total of nine new players were signed and prior to the arrival of Morton, United were 17th out of 20 in the league table, having won just three of their first twelve matches. Providing some encouragement, though, was the fact that one of those victories was against Celtic, who would end the season as champions. The Greenock side lay only four places higher, so Brownlie’s men would not have lacked

confidence for the first ever meeting between United and Morton, at Tannadice on 31 October 1925.

It was very much a game of two halves, with neither team able to create much in the way of goalscoring chances in the first period. That was not the case after half-time, however, as Morton immediately forced the United defence onto the back foot, with Jimmy Gourlay – whose goal had won the Scottish Cup for the Cappielow club three years before – twice bringing smart saves from ‘keeper Bill Paterson.

That early pressure soon bore fruit, with Morton’s leading scorer George French putting the visitors ahead in the 50th minute. They might have extended their lead on more than one occasion but United showed grit and determination to get back into the game. With 70 minutes on the clock captain Jimmy Walker picked a good time to score his first goal for the club and from that point it was end-to-end as both teams chased a winner.

Morton seemed have gained the initiative when wing-half Jock Buchanan scored from the edge of the penalty area but this United team refused to lie down. Six minutes later the scores were level again when another Jock McDonald, United’s left winger, was on hand to touch home a ball that was allowed to reach him across the face of the goal.

A draw was a fair reflection on the 90 minutes and no doubt the 10,000 crowd felt they had got their money’s worth.

The teams that day were:

United - Bill Paterson; Jock Kay, Hugh McBride; Jimmy Walker, Dave Walker, Bobby Bauld; Tommy Simpson, Micky Campbell, Willie Welsh, Andrew Finlay, Jock McDonald.

Morton – Archie Fotheringham; John Kelso, Bob Orr; George Hunter, Willie Hyslop, James Jessiman; George French, Jimmy Frizzel, Jock Buchanan, Jimmy Gourlay, Charlie McCartney. Manager, Bob Cochrane

Three months later the clubs met at Cappielow in the return fixture, Morton coming out on top 3-1. The end of the season saw United safe in seventeenth place, two behind the men from Greenock.

However, the following season saw both clubs relegated and they spent the next two years in Division Two before returning to Division One together in 1929, with United champions by a single point!

OPENING THE SCORING

Jimmy Walker (left), scorer of United’s first-ever goal against Morton.

George French (right), scorer of Morton’s first-ever goal against United.

Morton defender David Weir and goalie Alex Wilson thwarted Johnny Hart (V jersey) on this occasion, but the United man was a scorer as his team won this Division One match 3-1 at Tannadice in August 1929. The clubs had been promoted together the previous season.

COULD HAVE BEEN...

We have never previously played Morton on 6 January – though we should have! The sides were scheduled to meet in the Premier Division at Tannadice on this day in 1979, but the game was postponed due to the extreme winter weather. Indeed, United were able to play just one league match between 23 December and 10 February.

In all, we have contested January league matches with Morton on 13 occasions between 1926 and 2020. Five of those were on Ne-er Day, despite Cappielow and Tannadice being more than 100 miles apart. The concept of scheduling derby matches for the New Year fixtures had not been thought of a century ago and in four successive seasons during the 1930s United either hosted or visited Morton on the first of January. That said, in those days not only did the trains run on Ne-er Day they were relatively cheaper, more frequent and much more reliable than they are today!