Why May 14, 1983 was one of the best days of my life

It’s not an exaggeration to say that May 14, 1983, was one of the best days of my life.

On this day, 40 years ago, Dundee United won the Scottish Premier League for the first and only time in their history.

I’ve written about this before but it’s worth retelling (if anyone is interested) because the title was won in the most extraordinary circumstances in front of a capacity crowd of 29,206 at Dens Park, home of United's city rivals, Dundee.

And I was there.

But first, some background.

In May 1969 my family moved from Maidenhead in Berkshire to Scotland. Our new house overlooked the River Tay and the city of Dundee and in August, at the start of the new season, I persuaded my father to take me to see Dundee United’s first match, against Rangers.

In front of a capacity crowd of 22,000 the teams drew 0-0 but, watching the game from the family enclosure close to the pitch, I was hooked.

My father had little interest in football so for the next seven years I went to 100+ home matches on my own.

None of my school friends supported United. If they didn't support Celtic or Rangers, they followed Dundee, which at that time was the bigger of the two clubs in Dundee.

In 1976 I went to university in Aberdeen and in 1980 I moved to London. Thereafter, give or take a few cup finals, I had to follow United from afar and instead spent Saturday afternoons watching Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Ironically, in the early Eighties, Chelsea were at a low ebb and spent four years in the old Second Division.

United, in contrast, had been improving year on year and towards the end of the 1982/83 season were challenging for the title.

On Wednesday April 6, 1983, however, they lost to Celtic and with six games to go, including another match against Celtic in Glasgow, very few people – including most United fans – thought they could actually win the league.

Mathematically it was still possible but United had to win all six games, a tall order. The results, over the next few weeks, kept hopes alive:

St Mirren 1-2 Dundee United

Celtic 2-3 Dundee United

Dundee United 4-0 Kilmarnock

Morton 0-4 Dundee United

Dundee United 4-0 Motherwell

On the eve of the final and deciding game of the season I left my office in St Andrews Hill, close to St Paul's Cathedral, and caught a train to Edinburgh where I stayed overnight with a friend, before continuing my journey to Dundee the next morning.

The situation was simple: if United beat Dundee, our near neighbours and fiercest rivals, they would win the league for the first time in their history.

If the game was a draw or, worse, United lost, one of two teams - Celtic or Aberdeen - could snatch the title if either won their matches against Rangers and Hibernian respectively.

Arriving in Dundee I walked the mile and a half from the railway station to the ground, following the same route I took as a teenager. As in those days, I went to the match alone.

When I first started watching them United seemed to lose as many matches as they won. One season we lost three home games in a row, conceding five goals each time – and I witnessed every single one.

Another low moment was losing 6-4 at Dens Park, home of Dundee. That doesn't sound too bad, but at one stage the score was 6-1 and three late goals were no consolation, believe me.

Yet there I was, a decade later, walking from the city centre, past the same old tenements and spit and sawdust pubs, to the top of Dens Road where the two grounds – Dens Park and Tannadice – stand side by side.

And this time we were 90 minutes away from being champions of Scotland and qualifying for the European Cup.

As fate would have it, the venue for the decisive match of the 82/83 season was not Tannadice but Dens Park where I had watched United lose those six goals. There was no question of it being an unlucky ground, though, because United had won the Scottish League Cup two years in succession (1979 and 1980) and the venue each time was Dens Park.

On May 14, 1983, I arrived early which was a good decision because the ground was full long before kick-off and I don't remember it being all-ticket. This was pre-Hillsborough and all-seater stadiums were almost unheard of so I stood shoulder to shoulder with other United fans in a cramped enclosure at one end of the main stand. The atmosphere was incredible.

The teams came out and the match kicked off. I could hardly bear to look. Amazingly, however, after just eight minutes United were two goals up. Everything was going our way. We even missed a penalty but scored from the rebound. What could possibly go wrong?

Then Dundee scored and suddenly it was 2-1.

Half-time arrived. Many of us had small transistor radios in our pockets. Word spread that Celtic were losing 2-0 to Rangers but Aberdeen (managed by Alex Ferguson) were ahead again Hibs.

That second half was the longest 45 minutes I have ever experienced. Incredibly, Celtic came back from two goals down to beat Rangers 4-2, while Aberdeen went on to score five.

Despite late pressure from Dundee, whose supporters were desperate for their neighbours to trip up, United held on to win, and at the final whistle fans invaded the pitch to celebrate.

Eventually, responding to the thunderous cheers, the players came out for a lap of honour. Jim McLean, United’s legendary if irascible manager, appeared too and was hoisted on to the shoulders of his players.

It must have been an hour before we finally left the ground. I joined supporters walking back to the city centre. Every pub and bar was packed with celebrating fans but I had to travel back to Edinburgh so I could return to London the next day.

I met the friend I was staying with at Deacon Brodies Tavern on the Royal Mile. I remember walking into the pub wearing the United scarf that had been knitted to order a decade earlier and given to me as a Christmas present.

Seeing it several strangers came up and offered their congratulations, and a barman gave me a pint “on the house".

That, and everything else, made it one of the best days of my life.

As for the scarf, I still have it, and apart from one small cigarette burn, quickly repaired (see below), it remains in good condition, and I wear it to matches even today.

See also: Dundee Utd's 1983 title win (BBC News)

Eamonn Bannon on Dundee United’s class of 83: ‘The shame is it will never be repeated’ (Observer)