Paul Sturrock

Scotland · Born 10 Oct 1956, Ellon, Aberdeenshire

Full name: Paul Whitehead Sturrock

Biography

After a long and successful career as a player at Tannadice, Sturrock became a first team coach under Jim McLean when he retired in 1989 due to injury at the age of 32. Four years later, he was offered the vacant manager's job at St Johnstone, and after a rocky start he eventually lead the Perth side to the First Division championship in 1997. After his success at St Johnstone, Sturrock became the ideal candidate for the United manager's position when Tommy McLean resigned in September 1998, and although Sturrock was settled and doing well in Perth, he found it…Read moreRead less
After a long and successful career as a player at Tannadice, Sturrock became a first team coach under Jim McLean when he retired in 1989 due to injury at the age of 32.

Four years later, he was offered the vacant manager's job at St Johnstone, and after a rocky start he eventually lead the Perth side to the First Division championship in 1997. After his success at St Johnstone, Sturrock became the ideal candidate for the United manager's position when Tommy McLean resigned in September 1998, and although Sturrock was settled and doing well in Perth, he found it too difficult to turn down a return to the Club he had spent his entire playing career with.

With the signing of talisman striker Billy Dodds, Sturrock had a promising start to his time in the Tannadice hot seat - after a first transitional season he had United sitting third in the SPL by December 1999. However, the sale of Dodds to Rangers saw the team go into freefall, and by the end of the season they were only 3 points off the bottom of the table. After two defeats in the first two SPL matches of the 2000/01 season, Sturrock surprisingly resigned due to personal reasons.

Not long after, he took up the managers position at Plymouth Argyle, and went on to enjoy managerial spells at all four divisions of English football, including Southampton, Sheffield Wednesday, Swindon Town, Southend United and Yeovil Town.

Statistics

Played
85
Won
27
Drawn
19
Lost
39
For
97
Against
119
Win rate
31.8%
Clean sheets
19
Longest winning run
2
Longest unbeaten run
5
European matches
0

Seasons

SeasonPWDLForAgainstWin %
2000-012002150.0%
1999-004416721526636.4%
1998-9939111216444828.2%

Competitions

CompetitionPWDLForAgainstWin %
SPL701915367110527.1%
Scottish Cup1154218945.5%
League Cup43018575.0%

Home and away

VenuePWDLForAgainstWin %
Home44151118505234.1%
Away3912819476430.8%
Neutral2002030.0%

Matches (85)

DateHomeScoreAwayCompetitionResult
5 Aug 2000 Hibernian 3–0 Dundee Utd SPL2000-01 L
30 Jul 2000 Dundee Utd 1–2 Celtic SPL2000-01 L
21 May 2000 Celtic 2–0 Dundee Utd SPL1999-00 L
13 May 2000 Dundee Utd 1–2 Motherwell SPL1999-00 L
6 May 2000 Dundee 3–0 Dundee Utd SPL1999-00 L
2 May 2000 Dundee Utd 0–1 Celtic SPL1999-00 L
29 Apr 2000 Dundee Utd 0–1 St Johnstone SPL1999-00 L
22 Apr 2000 Hearts 1–2 Dundee Utd SPL1999-00 W
19 Apr 2000 Motherwell 1–3 Dundee Utd SPL1999-00 W
15 Apr 2000 Dundee Utd 0–2 Rangers SPL1999-00 L
8 Apr 2000 Kilmarnock 1–0 Dundee Utd SPL1999-00 L
4 Apr 2000 Rangers 3–0 Dundee Utd SPL1999-00 L
1 Apr 2000 Hibernian 1–0 Dundee Utd SPL1999-00 L
25 Mar 2000 Dundee Utd 1–1 Aberdeen SPL1999-00 D
15 Mar 2000 Dundee Utd 2–2 Kilmarnock SPL1999-00 D
12 Mar 2000 Dundee Utd 0–1 Aberdeen Scottish Cup1999-00 L
4 Mar 2000 Dundee Utd 0–1 Hearts SPL1999-00 L
26 Feb 2000 St Johnstone 2–0 Dundee Utd SPL1999-00 L
22 Feb 2000 Dundee Utd 4–0 Alloa Athletic Scottish Cup1999-00 W
19 Feb 2000 Alloa Athletic 2–2 Dundee Utd Scottish Cup1999-00 D
13 Feb 2000Neutral venue Aberdeen 1–0 Dundee Utd League Cup1999-00 L
2 Feb 2000 Dundee Utd 0–4 Rangers SPL1999-00 L
30 Jan 2000 Dundee Utd 4–1 Airdrie Scottish Cup1999-00 W
22 Jan 2000 Dundee Utd 0–0 Hibernian SPL1999-00 D
27 Dec 1999 Aberdeen 3–1 Dundee Utd SPL1999-00 L