|
Page 2 of 4
For many years the club had 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. Some notable players from this period included forwards Dennis Gillespie and Jim Irvine, and defenders Doug Smith and Ron Yeats (who went on to captain Liverpool in the 1960s).In the following season United finished in the top half of the league (one place above city rivals Dundee), where the club would stay with few exceptions for the next 35 years. The sixties were highlighted by the playing skills of the some notable imports from Scandinavia, Orjan Persson, Finn Seemann, Lennart Wing, Finn Døssing and Mogens Berg. These players also helped give United their first taste of the European scene, where they sensationally eliminated CF Barcelona in 1966, who were the then holders of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.
After only this first European excursion, it created many headlines in the football world and brought the Club an invitation to participate in the North American Soccer League in 1967, where they played as Dallas Tornado in tangerine coloured strips. After persuasion by the wife of manager Jerry Kerr, the colour would soon be adopted as the Club's own in 1969 to give the club a brighter, more modern image. The new colour was paraded for the first time in a pre-season friendly against Everton in August.
|
