Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Dundee United’s class of 83 relive the Tangerine dream

Billy Kirkwood, Hamish McAlpine, John Reilly, Paul Hegarty (captain), Ralph Milne and Derek Murray at Friday night's 30th anniversary celebration.
Billy Kirkwood, Hamish McAlpine, John Reilly, Paul Hegarty (captain), Ralph Milne and Derek Murray at Friday night's 30th anniversary celebration.

May 14, 1983. For football supporters of the Tangerine persuasion it is a date that will remain forever fixed in their memories.

Recalled too are the names of the team that took Dundee United to the top of the table for their first premier league title names like Hegarty, McAlpine, Sturrock, Malpas, Kirkwood and Narey.

On Friday night some of those team-mates came together to celebrate their achievements with 250 friends and fans at a 30th anniversary dinner at the Apex Hotel.

It was also a chance to remember how they clinched their historic victory in a nail-biting tie against their city rivals.

United went to a packed Dens Park knowing only a win would guarantee them the title in a close-fought race with Celtic and Aberdeen.

Goals from Ralph Milne and Eamonn Bannon sent the United fans wild but Dundee pulled one back to ensure a tense wait throughout the second half before the team and the fans could celebrate their triumph.

Team captain Paul Hegarty recalled his main feeling when the whistle blew was relief.

“We were just delighted to have crossed that line,” he said. “Can you imagine if our near neighbours had done the business that day? We would never have heard the end of it.

“Obviously it was nervy, cagey but like everything else, we came good.”

Click here for a full photo galleryIt was an extraordinary season for United.“You are talking 36 games, 24 wins and eight draws and only four defeats. It was magnificent and it was great for the city of Dundee,” said Hegarty. “We will never forget that season and it’s nice to be honoured this way.”

Looking around at his former colleagues, he added: “Who would have believed it was 30 years ago. Some of the lads look better now than they did then!”

Goalkeeper Hamish McAlpine added: “It means a lot. It’s part of history obviously and something that was done for the first time. It was a great achievement and a fantastic bunch of guys to work with. We were a squad of honest players, everybody mucked in.”