Dundee United face a crunch clash against Kilmarnock on Saturday. Realistically, they have to win to give themselves any hope of beating relegation.
Mixu Paatelainen’s men are 14 points behind second-bottom Killie and, after this weekend, will have only 15 league matches left in which to save themselves.
It would be the greatest of great escapes if they could pull it off and here we look at some of the club’s successful rescue operations from the past.
Rangers 0 United 0 Tuesday May 4 1976Rangers: Kennedy, Miller, Greig, Jardine, Denny, MacDonald, McKean, Hamilton, Henderson, McLean, Parlane. Subs not used: Stein, McDougall. United: McAlpine, Forsyth, Narey, Hegarty, Rolland, Copland, Kopel, Hall, Houston (Rennie), Fleming, McAdam. Sub not used: Payne.
This was the first season of the new 10-team Premier Division and Rangers were crowned champions by a comfortable margin. Indeed, the Light Blues were all-conquering at the time and had just clinched the treble.
Therefore, United could not have picked tougher opposition than Jock Wallace’s men at Ibrox for their crucial final fixture of the campaign.
The Tannadice team had 31 points with one game to play, while Aberdeen and Dundee had both completed their seasons and ended on 32 points apiece. United had a better goal difference than Dundee so they knew a draw would be enough for safety.
The visitors actually passed up a chance to win the match with five minutes to go when goalkeeper Hamish McAlpine hit the post with a penalty (yes, you read that right!)
Hearts were in mouths as McAlpine raced back upfield to try to prevent a breakaway goal that would have sent them down.
The scrappy 0-0 United got that night meant they finished with 32 points and a goal difference of minus two, with Dundee’s minus 13 taking them down with bottom club St Johnstone.
The significance of manager Jim McLean being able to build up United in the top flight instead of having to fight to get out of the lower tier can’t be overstated.
Indeed, the Tangerines finished fourth behind Celtic, Rangers and Aberdeen the following season and would, of course, go on to establish themselves as one of Scotland’s leading sides in the years that followed.
United 2 Partick Thistle 1 (after extra-time, United won 3-2 on aggregate) Thursday May 16 1996United: Maxwell, Shannon, Dailly, Pressley, McQuilken, B Welsh, Bowman, McLaren, R Winters (Johnston 117), Brewster (McKinnon 119), McSwegan (Coyle 83). Partick: Walker, Milne, Watson, Smith, Slavin, S Welsh, McDonald, McWilliams (Dinnie 54), McCue (Henderson 82), Cameron, Lyons. Sub not used: Cairns.
This was, arguably, one of the most dramatic matches ever played at Tannadice.
United fans, who had just seen their team miss out on automatic promotion after finishing runners-up to Dunfermline in the First Division, were pulled from pillar to post in this play-off final against Premier side Partick.
The first leg had finished 1-1 at Firhill, with Christian Dailly equalising for United with just four minutes to go after Andy Lyons had put the Jags ahead midway through the first half.
A 12,000-plus crowd was there to see the return and once again the Tangerines fell behind when Ian Cameron scored a penalty for Thistle with just 18 minutes of the 90 remaining.
It all looked lost for United as time ticked by but the roof nearly came off the stadium when they levelled in the final minute of regulation time. Andy McLaren’s cross from the right was deflected up into the air and defender Brian Welsh pounced to head the loose ball into the net.
The Jags were understandably deflated and United dominated extra-time and scored the winner with five minutes remaining. Once again, McLaren was the provider and his cutback from the left was swept home by substitute Owen Coyle to send the Tangerines back up to the Premier at the first time of asking.
St Johnstone 2 United 3 Saturday May 12 2001St Johnstone: Main, Dods, Dasovic, Weir, Lovenkrands, Sylla, Hartley, McBride (Parker 73), McCulloch, Forsyth, McClune. Subs not used: Cuthbert, Lowndes, Crozier, Fotheringham. United: Gallacher, Lauchlan, Partridge (Buchan 46), McCunnie, De Vos (D Winters 70), Griffin, Hannah, Miller, Easton, Thompson (Hamilton 66), Lilley. Subs not used: Combe, Venetis.
Alex Smith’s United side found themselves in a battle for survival with St Mirren at the bottom of the Scottish Premier League.
They travelled to Perth on the penultimate day of the campaign three points and 14 goals better off than the Buddies, who were playing Aberdeen at home that same afternoon.
The large United support was stunned after just five minutes when St Johnstone took the lead through a deflected shot from David McClune.
Charlie Miller then missed a penalty for the Tangerines at the other end, his poor effort trickling past the post.
Paul Hartley put the home side 2-0 up five minutes before half-time but, significantly, was booked for celebrating in front of the United fans.
The Tangerines looked down and out at that stage, with St Mirren beating the Dons to make matters worse.
However, they somehow clawed their way back, with a little help from Hartley. The now Dundee boss was shown a second yellow then a red for a bad challenge on Miller just three minutes into the second half.
Now just up against 10 men, United grabbed a goal back through Miller on 65 minutes after home keeper Alan Main had fluffed a cross from Derek Lilley.
An unmarked Craig Easton made it 2-2 with a header with just nine minutes to go to set up the grand finale.
With just two minutes left, Lilley drilled the ball past Main from eight yards to grab the winner and spark a pitch invasion by United fans that restarted after the final whistle.
The Buddies held on to beat the Dons 2-1 but the Tangerines were now three points ahead and with a vastly superior goal difference going into the last day. Now safe and with the pressure off, they ended the season by winning 2-1 at Pittodrie.
Inverness Caley Thistle 0 United 1 Saturday May 21 2005Inverness: Brown, Tokely, Dods, Munro, Hastings, Hart (McAllister 73), Black, Fox, Golabek, Prunty (Wilson 60), Bayne (Brewster 33). United: Bullock, Archibald, McCracken, Kenneth, Wilson, Robson, Kerr, McInnes, Brebner (Duff 63), McIntyre (Grady 86), Crawford (Scotland 57).
This was a remarkable afternoon when any one of four clubs could have finished up in the single relegation spot.
Going into the last day of the SPL season, United had 33 points and Dundee were one behind them. Dunfermline were just ahead with 34 points, the same tally as Livingston.
The Tangerines headed to Inverness, the Dark Blues were at Livi and the Pars faced a journey to Kilmarnock.
Of all the teams in the mix, it was Gordon Chisholm’s United who had the Scottish Cup final against Celtic still to play who best held their nerve.
The hero of the day was captain Barry Robson, who won a penalty and then scored from the spot himself on 82 minutes to secure a 1-0 victory.
Robson also got sent off in the final minute as his team hung on to their narrow lead.
The other results soon filtered through Dundee had drawn 1-1 at Almondvale, while the Fifers had been trounced 4-0 at Rugby Park to confirm that it was the Dens men who were going down.