United we stand (or, more usually, fall)

I'm in Glasgow for the Scottish League Cup final between Celtic and Dundee United.

Kick-off is 3.00pm so I should get home around 1.00am.

As regular readers know I've been a United supporter since 1969 when my family moved to Scotland and into a house overlooking the city.

Forty-six years and many cup finals later, I travel more in hope than expectation. Experience has taught me never to raise my hopes:

1979: Aberdeen 0-0 Dundee United (League Cup)
I was a student at Aberdeen when United reached their first Scottish League Cup final. I know it was a terrible game because I've read the reports. The only thing I remember is that United were very lucky to escape with a draw. A few days later I set off by car for the replay at Dens Park, home of Dundee, United's biggest rivals. However the traffic heading south from Aberdeen was so heavy it was clear we wouldn't get there before half-time. We turned back and listened to the match on the radio. United won 3-0, the club's first major trophy, and I wasn't there!

1981: Rangers 2-1 Dundee United (League Cup)
The one that got away. United's talented young team played Rangers off the park for 80 minutes in a way I had never previously witnessed. It was thrilling stuff. Sadly, despite their dominance, they scored just once. With ten minutes left Rangers equalised and, roared on by their fans who vastly outnumbered United's, scored a very late winner. I was proud of the performance but gutted by the result.

1984: Rangers 1-0 Dundee United (League Cup)
Both teams played poorly. United rarely looked like winning despite the fact that the team (which had won the league for the first and only time the previous year) was the best in the club's history. A disappointing match can be summed up by the fact that the friend I took to the game spent the entire match knitting.

1985: Celtic 2-1 Dundee United (Scottish Cup)
Once bitten twice shy. This time my friend stayed at home. I travelled up from London on a British Rail train surrounded by boisterous Celtic fans. As in 1981 against Rangers United scored first, Celtic equalised late in the game and won the match in the final minutes with a partisan crowd virtually sucking the ball into the net. That's what happens against the Old Firm. You might be the better team but the crowd can win it for the opposition.

1991: Motherwell 4-3 Dundee United (Scottish Cup)
The so-called 'family final' because the managers of the two teams were brothers. I stood on the old Hampden terracing with my wife and brother-in-law to be. From 3-1 down United equalised in the last minute of normal time. With the Motherwell keeper injured and largely immobile victory seemed a formality but United's Hampden hoodoo struck again. After the match three United players were 'sent off'. According to Darren Jackson, now a first team coach at United, "I got called into the ref's room and got a red card," he recalls. "What for? Shaking the ref's hand and saying he had a good game!"

1994: Rangers 0-1 Dundee United (Scottish Cup)
By the mid Nineties United were in long-term decline so any expectation we had of beating Rangers, who were on course to win the treble (League, League Cup and Scottish Cup), were virtually nil. Our one hope was our new and eccentric manager Ivan Golac who was immune to the disappointments of previous finals. In the week before the game he famously took the players for a walk in the park to smell the flowers. In brilliant sunshine United rode their luck and nicked a goal early in the second half. The goal was the result of calamitous defending but after six Scottish Cup final defeats in 20 years who cared? Winning the Scottish Cup was every United supporter's Holy Grail. From that moment I've never felt as intense about football as I did when I was younger and it explains why, today, I'm reasonably relaxed about the outcome. My principal thought is, 'Hope we play well and don't get thrashed.' I'll be OK with an honourable defeat.

2010: Ross County 0-3 Dundee United (Scottish Cup)
After the drama and disappointments of previous finals this was a fairly routine win against lower league opposition. It was a nice but slightly underwhelming day. The best thing about the cup win was beating Rangers 3-1 at Ibrox in an earlier round, weeks after we'd lost 7-1 at the same stadium. Hampden looked great, though, a vivid sea of tangerine.

2014: St Johnstone 2-0 Dundee United (Scottish Cup)
More disappointment. The final was played at Celtic Park where United haven't won for 22 years. United fans once again outnumbered the opposition but it was St Johnstone's supporters who made more noise. Their team played better and deserved to win. The consolation for United supporters was beating Rangers (again) in the semi-final. I'll remember that game long after the final is forgotten.

Finals I have missed include:

1987: St Mirren 1-0 Dundee United (Scottish Cup)
United's worst performance ever in a cup final (which is saying something). Having beaten Barcelona and Borussia Moenchengladbach en route to the UEFA Cup final they were huge favourites. St Mirren had won nothing since the Fifties. Inevitably the Hampden hoodoo struck and United lost to a goal scored in extra time. Thankfully I missed the match because I was in Paris.

1987: Dundee United 1-1 Gothenburg (1-2 on aggregate, UEFA Cup)
The Scottish Cup final against St Mirren was sandwiched between a two-leg UEFA Cup final against Gothenburg. The first leg, in Sweden, was lost 1-0. The second leg, at Tannadice, was a sell-out. I was living in London and couldn't get tickets. The game ended 1-1, 2-1 on aggregate to Gothenburg. Famously, United supporters gave not only their own team a standing ovation at the end of the game but also their opponents. As a result the club was given a UEFA Fair Play award and used the money to build a smart new enclosure.

So what can we expect tomorrow? Well, this is the fourth time the clubs have met this season. The results so far have been:

Celtic 6-1 Dundee United (League)
Dundee United 2-1 Celtic (League)
Dundee United 1-1 Celtic (Scottish Cup)

The Scottish Cup match was just last week. Three players were sent off, two from United, one from Celtic. United played 40 minutes of the second half with nine players.

Two of the three players have since appealed successfully against their sendings off. One was a case of mistaken identity. The referee sent off the wrong player but the player he might have sent off hasn't been suspended. All three will be available to play tomorrow.

United's principal striker won't be available however because he's suspended following two bookings in previous cup matches. He also received a further two-match ban following last week's match for an incident the referee didn't see but that was rescinded on appeal so he can play in next week's replay.

Confused? Join the club!

Also missing from the team that beat Aberdeen in the semi-final are two players who have since been sold – for £2.5 million – to Celtic!

For these and other reasons you'll understand why I'm not optimistic about the result.

Meanwhile the Scottish Cup replay is on Wednesday and on Saturday the teams play each other again in another league match.

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to Scottish football!

Update on Monday, March 16, 2015 at 11:12 by Simon Clark

No surprise, United lost 2-0.

The first goal was scored while United's captain Sean Dillon was off the field having seven stitches inserted in his leg following a challenge by a Celtic player. The referee didn't even give a foul.

The second goal was scored after Dillon was sent off for a late but not malicious challenge of his own.

The good news? Celtic missed a penalty just before the end so it could and should have been worse.

Truth is, United did their best but were toothless to the point of being uncompetitive.

I enjoyed the day, though, if not the match.