By Graeme Dey

DUNDEE UNITED are chasing a new shirt sponsor.

United’s deal with Morning Noon and Night expires at the end of next month and Scotmid, who bought the grocery chain from Tangerines chairman Eddie Thompson shortly after he agreed the jersey arrangement, will not be extending the two-year tie-up.

“We have been delighted with our association with Dundee United but it does not fit in with our established style of sponsorship, which is community-based all over Scotland,” explained a Scotmid spokesman yesterday.

The contract with Morning Noon and Night is understood to have yielded United around £330,000.

Thompson paid up the £150,000-a-year deal in a lump sum at the outset. Qualifying for the 2005 Scottish Cup final and as a consequence Europe thereafter activated bonus clauses worth in the region of a further £30,000.

There is a recognition within Tannadice that they are unlikely to secure anything like as lucrative an arrangement again.

The going rate for shirt deals involving mid-ranking SPL outfits is reckoned to be around £60,000 a year.

“We are in discussions with a number of companies and are hopeful of having something definite to announce within a few weeks,” said Thompson last night.