Dundee United FC is a Scottish professional football club located in the city of Dundee. Inspired initially by the example of Hibernian in Edinburgh and later by Celtic in Glasgow, the Irish community in Dundee formed a new football club in 1909, following the demise of Dundee Harp. Originally called Dundee Hibernian, the club took over Clepington Park (renamed Tannadice Park) from Dundee Wanderers. The following year, the club was voted into the Scottish Football League but was saved from going out of business in October 1923 by a group of Dundee businessmen who decided to change the club's name to Dundee United in order to attract a wider appeal.  The club languished in the lower reaches of the Scottish league, competing in the top division only four seasons, until the appointment of Jerry Kerr as manager in 1959. Kerr ended the club's 28-year absence from the First Division in his first season in charge, winning promotion through finishing second in the Second Division. Jim McLean, who was a coach at city rivals Dundee F.C. at the time, took over from Jerry Kerr in 1971 and the most successful era in the club's history began. 

The club achieved a record high of third place in the Scottish Premier Division in 1978 then again in 1979, before winning several major honours; it began with winning the Scottish League Cup in 1979-80, with the trophy being retained the following season. Dundee United won the Scottish Premier Division title for the first time in the club's history in 1982-83, with what was then a record number of points and record number of goals scored.  Competing in the European Cup for the first time the following season, United reached the semi-final only to be narrowly eliminated by A.S. Roma. The pinnacle of their achievements in Europe came later in 1986-87 when United became the first Scottish club to reach the final of the UEFA Cup losing to IFK Gothenburg.   During those years, Dundee United and Aberdeen broke the traditional dominance of the Old Firm in Scottish football, and the two clubs became known in the press as the New Firm. McLean retired in 1993 after a remarkable 22 years in charge and his place was taken by Ivan Golac who won the Scottish Cup in his first season in charge, United’s first victory after six  final appearances. In 1995 United were relegated to the First Division, but bounced back the following season after a dramatic extra-time win in the play-off against Partick Thistle. Since that success, United have struggled to maintain their status in the top flight. The 2009/10 season ended, however, with the club winning the Scottish Cup for a second time by beating First Division Ross County in the final. The club’s league performances improved over the following seasons: they reached the Scottish Cup Final in 2014 but were beaten 2-0 by St Johnstone and  the League Cup Final in 2015 but lost to Celtic by the same score. The following season the club struggled in the league and were relegated.  A series of managers were unable to return them to the top tier until 2020 Covid impacted season when a 14-point lead over second place Inverness CT saw them crowned champions.A 9th place finish in 2021, was bettered the following season as United finished 4th and secured a place in Europe. A succession of managers failed to prevent relegation to the Scottish Championship at the end of the 2022-23 season.