Dundee United F.C. in the 2000s
This covers the seasons from 2000–01 to 2009–10 in which the club won the Scottish Cup for the second time and returned to European football. 2000–01 The season began with Paul Sturrock resigning after just two games and Alex Smith being appointed after a caretaker spell. In the first year of the league being expanded to twelve teams and incorporating a top/bottom split, United finished eleventh, securing their Premier League status only in the penultimate game. The season saw a number of South American players at the club in and around October, with most featuring just once. Indeed, the club used forty-two players during the season, with eight nationalities other than British. 2001–02 The club finished eighth, an improvement on the previous season's eleventh-place finish. Briefly topping the table after remaining undefeated in the first four league matches, the club lost the next four and despite beating both Edinburgh clubs in the following two matches, lost four of the final five pre-split matches to finish in the bottom six. The club's form improved here, remaining undefeated in the final five matches. In the Cups, United exited in the quarter-finals of both the League Cup and Scottish Cup. Captain Jason de