Inspired by the examples of Hibernian in Edinburgh and Celtic in Glasgow, the Irish community in Dundee formed a new football club in 1909, following the demise of Dundee Harp. Originally called Dundee Hibernian, the club took over Clepington Park (renamed Tannadice Park) from Dundee Wanderers and played their inaugural game on 18 August 1909 against Hibernian, with the match ending in a 1-1 draw. The club was saved from going out of business in October 1923 by a group of Dundee businessmen. They decided to change the club's name to Dundee United in order to attract a wider appeal. The name Dundee City was considered but was protested by city rivals Dundee.
Dundee United's best season came in 1982-83 when they won the Scottish Premier Division title for the first time in the club's history, with what was then a record number of points and record number of goals scored. By then, United had already established a reputation in Europe with impressive wins over sides like AS Monaco, Borussia Mönchengladbach, PSV Eindhoven, Anderlecht and Werder Bremen.
In the resulting European Cup, United reached the semi-final stage in their first run, only to be narrowly eliminated by A.S. Roma. After winning the first leg 2-0, United lost 3-0 away, although the Italian side were later fined for attempting to bribe the referee.
The pinnacle of their achievements in Europe came later in 1986-87 when United became the first Scottish club to reach the final of the UEFA Cup. Along the way, United repeated their earlier 1966 feat of again eliminating FC Barcelona then managed by Terry Venables and featuring British players Gary Lineker, Mark Hughes and Steve Archibald, with victories home and away. United are the only British side to achieve this in any European competition, with a record of four wins from four games.
Although they failed to beat IFK Göteborg in the two legged final, there was glory in defeat as FIFA awarded a first-ever Fair Play Award to the club for the sporting behaviour of the fans on a memorable night at Tannadice Park.
During those years, Dundee United and Aberdeen broke the traditional dominance of the Old Firm in Scottish football, and the two clubs became known as the New Firm. As Dundee F.C. were not always in the top flight at that time, the New Firm derby had superseded the Dundee derby.
In recent years the club has struggled to maintain such success, much like the previous provincial powers of Scottish football. In 1997-98, United reached the League Cup final, but lost 3-0 to Celtic. United reached their first Scottish Cup final for eleven years in 2004-05, only to be beaten by Celtic again, 1-0.
