New Firm (Scotland)

The New Firm is the term used, hailing from the 1980s, to describe the rivalry between Scottish football clubs Aberdeen and Dundee United. Both clubs are located on the east coast of Scotland, in the third and fourth most populous cities respectively.

Although not traditionally a derby, with 65 miles separating both teams, the fixture was seen as a North-east of Scotland derby between the two most successful teams in Scotland outside of the Old Firm during the 1980s. Dundee United also have a more traditional rivalry with their close neighbours Dundee.

History

The term originated in the 1980s, when both clubs challenged the Old Firm for domestic trophies.^[1] The term was used by Evening Times and The Glasgow Herald.^[2][3]

The Old Firm have more often than not been the dominant force in Scottish Football, however throughout the 1980s both Aberdeen and Dundee United were more than a match for them, regularly beating them home and away and winning most of the trophies on offer.

Aberdeen were to win the Scottish Premier Division three times, the Scottish Cup four times, the Scottish League Cup twice and the European Cup Winners Cup and the European Super Cup, all within the 1980s.

In this same period, Dundee United won the Scottish Premier Division once, and the Scottish League Cup twice, as well as reaching the Scottish Cup final four times, the UEFA Cup final, and the European Cup semi-final.

Not only were the Old Firm not dominating the title race, for three seasons in a row, 1983 through to 1985, the league title went to either Aberdeen or Dundee United, meaning for the first time two other teams were dominating Scottish Football.

Both sides' success was limited as they entered the 1990s. Aberdeen winning the Scottish Cup in 1990, and reaching cup finals in 1992 and 1993 as well as almost winning the league in 1991, while Dundee United were cup finalists in 1991 and Scottish Cup winners in 1994. However, in the 1994/95 season both sides fought relegation, and although Aberdeen won the Scottish League Cup in 1995 and Dundee United the Scottish Cup in 2010, neither side has managed to be a consistent force for Rangers and Celtic to reckon with, and Aberdeen's league success in 1984/85 is the last time a team from outside the Old Firm has won the Scottish league title.

Domestic head-to-head

In domestic head-to-head matches, the teams have played each other 236 times, Aberdeen winning 93 compared to United's 76.^[4] Aberdeen have won more league and Scottish Cup matches while United have won more League Cup matches between the two.

After 2 May 2015:

League competition

Scottish Premiership Table (2013/14-present - 1st Season)

As of 23 November 2014:

SPL Table (1998/99-2012/13 - 15 Seasons)

European competition

As of 9 August 2012:

Players at both clubs

Nine players have signed for Dundee United directly from Aberdeen, the last being in 2000. Ten have made the opposite journey from Tannadice to Pittodrie, with five since August 2005.

Aberdeen to Dundee United Date Player Fee 00 000 1964 Thom, LewisLewis Thom Unknown[5] 00 000 1976 Williamson, BillyBilly Williamson Unknown[6] 1 July 1983 Gardiner, JohnJohn Gardiner Unknown[7] 5 November 1995 McKinnon, RayRay McKinnon £200,000[8] 19 March 1997 McKimmie, StewartStewart McKimmie Free[9] 1 July 1998 Miller, JoeJoe Miller Free[10] 23 September 1998 Dodds, BillyBilly Dodds Swap[11] 19 January 2000 Hamilton, JimJim Hamilton £150,000[12] 8 June 2000 Buchan, JamieJamie Buchan Free[13]

Dundee United to Aberdeen Date Player Fee 00 Oct 1966 Munro, FrankFrank Munro £10,000[14] 9 January 1974 Henry, JimJim Henry £20,000[15] 28 March 1992 Paatelainen, MixuMixu Paatelainen £400,000[16] 2 June 1998 Perry, MarkMark Perry Free[17] 23 September 1998 Winters, RobbieRobbie Winters £700,000[11] 31 August 2005 Crawford, StevieStevie Crawford Free[18] 31 August 2006 Miller, LeeLee Miller Free[19] 1 June 2007 Mair, LeeLee Mair Free[20] 18 January 2008 Duff, StuartStuart Duff Free[21] 7 July 2008 Kerr, MarkMark Kerr Free[22]

Complete list

In addition, other players have played for both clubs without moving directly between them. A list of all players to have played at least one first-team game for both clubs is displayed below.

Player records

A list of players to have scored in derby matches between the two from 27 August 1994 up to 2 May 2015 is below:

For both clubs Scorer Goals Winters, RobbieRobbie Winters 14 Dodds, BillyBilly Dodds 10 Robson, BarryBarry Robson 6 Crawford, StevieStevie Crawford 4 Miller, LeeLee Miller 3

Aberdeen goalscorers Scorer Goals Mackie, DarrenDarren Mackie 8 Stavrum, ArildArild Stavrum 7 Winters, RobbieRobbie Winters 7 Vernon, ScottScott Vernon 5 Nicholson, BarryBarry Nicholson 4 Young, DerekDerek Young 4 Crawford, StevieStevie Crawford 3 Diamond, ZanderZander Diamond 3 Dodds, BillyBilly Dodds 3 McGinn, NiallNiall McGinn 3 McGuire, PhilPhil McGuire 3 Rooney, AdamAdam Rooney 3 Sheerin, PaulPaul Sheerin 3 Windass, DeanDean Windass 3 Árnason, KáriKári Árnason 2 Booth, ScottScott Booth 2 Considine, AndrewAndrew Considine 2 Jess, EoinEoin Jess 2 Kane, PaulPaul Kane 2 Miller, LeeLee Miller 2 Severin, ScottScott Severin 2 Tosh, SteveSteve Tosh 2 Zerouali, HichamHicham Zerouali 2 Aluko, SoneSone Aluko 1 Belabed, RachidRachid Belabed 1 Byrne, RichieRichie Byrne 1 Clark, ChrisChris Clark 1 Chalali, MohamedMohamed Chalali 1 Daniels, DonervonDonervon Daniels 1 Dow, AndyAndy Dow 1 Foster, RickyRicky Foster 1 Grant, BrianBrian Grant 1 Hinds, LeighLeigh Hinds 1 Jack, RyanRyan Jack 1 Kiriakov, IlianIlian Kiriakov 1 Kombouaré, ToniToni Kombouaré 1 Lovell, SteveSteve Lovell 1 Magennis, JoshJosh Magennis 1 Maguire, ChrisChris Maguire 1 Mawéné, YoulYoul Mawéné 1 Mike, LeonLeon Mike 1 Mulgrew, CharlieCharlie Mulgrew 1 Paton, MichaelMichael Paton 1 Pawlett, PeterPeter Pawlett 1 Robson, BarryBarry Robson 1 Shearer, DuncanDuncan Shearer 1 Smith, JamieJamie Smith 1 Solberg, ThomasThomas Solberg 1 Stewart, JohnJohn Stewart 1 Touzani, KarimKarim Touzani 1 Zola, CalvinCalvin Zola 1 Own goals 1

Dundee United goalscorers Scorer Goals Olofsson, KjellKjell Olofsson 8 Dodds, BillyBilly Dodds 7 Winters, RobbieRobbie Winters 7 Daly, JonJon Daly 6 Easton, CraigCraig Easton 5 Robson, BarryBarry Robson 5 Hannah, DavidDavid Hannah 4 Goodwillie, DavidDavid Goodwillie 3 McLaren, AndyAndy McLaren 3 Sandaza, FranciscoFrancisco Sandaza 3 Archibald, AlanAlan Archibald 2 Cameron, GregGreg Cameron 2 Conway, CraigCraig Conway 2 Fernandez, DavidDavid Fernandez 2 Gomis, MorgaroMorgaro Gomis 2 Grady, JamesJames Grady 2 Hunt, NoelNoel Hunt 2 McSwegan, GaryGary McSwegan 2 Miller, CharlieCharlie Miller 2 Miller, JoeJoe Miller 2 Pressley, StevenSteven Pressley 2 Robertson, DavidDavid Robertson 2 Samuel, CollinCollin Samuel 2 Swanson, DannyDanny Swanson 2 Thompson, StevenSteven Thompson 2 Boulding, RoryRory Boulding 1 Brewster, CraigCraig Brewster 1 Casalinuovo, DamianDamian Casalinuovo 1 Çiftçi, NadirNadir Çiftçi 1 Crawford, StevieStevie Crawford 1 Dalla Valle, LauriLauri Dalla Valle 1 Dillon, SeánSeán Dillon 1 Dods, DarrenDarren Dods 1 Douglas, BarryBarry Douglas 1 Dow, RyanRyan Dow 1 Erskine, ChrisChris Erskine 1 Feeney, WarrenWarren Feeney 1 Ferraz, JoaquimJoaquim Ferraz 1 Griffin, DannyDanny Griffin 1 Gunning, GavinGavin Gunning 1 Hamilton, JimJim Hamilton 1 Kalvenes, ChristianChristian Kalvenes 1 Lilley, DerekDerek Lilley 1 McConalogue, StephenStephen McConalogue 1 McIntyre, JimJim McIntyre 1 Mackay-Steven, GaryGary Mackay-Steven 1 Miller, LeeLee Miller 1 Morris, CallumCallum Morris 1 Muirhead, RobbieRobbie Muirhead 1 Paterson, JimJim Paterson 1 Paton, PaulPaul Paton 1 Rankin, JohnJohn Rankin 1 Scotland, JasonJason Scotland 1 Souttar, JohnJohn Souttar 1 Venetis, TassosTassos Venetis 1 Welsh, BrianBrian Welsh 1 Wilson, MarkMark Wilson 1 Zetterlund, LarsLars Zetterlund 1 Own goals 2

Partial game list

Fixtures from 27 August 1994 to the present day featuring League games, Scottish Cup and League Cup matches.^[23][24] Aberdeen wins are coloured in red, United wins in tangerine and draws are grey.

References

External links

• Soccerbase list of New Firm meetings
• BBC's 'A Sporting Nation' New Firm article