Paul Hegarty Player Profile

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Player Details



Playing History

Season Win % Draw % Loss %
1989-90 7 (1) 0 1 0 25.0% 37.5% 37.5%
1988-89 39 (2) 1 4 0 39.0% 36.6% 24.4%
1987-88 56 (1) 2 2 1 40.4% 35.1% 24.6%
1986-87 34 (4) 5 1 0 50.0% 28.9% 21.1%
1985-86 52 6 3 0 51.9% 26.9% 21.2%
1984-85 50 5 6 0 58.0% 16.0% 26.0%
1983-84 57 5 3 0 56.1% 24.6% 19.3%
1982-83 55 5 3 0 65.5% 21.8% 12.7%
1981-82 55 (1) 4 3 0 44.6% 25.0% 30.4%
1980-81 55 10 2 0 50.9% 27.3% 21.8%
1979-80 40 2 1 0 40.0% 35.0% 25.0%
1978-79 41 4 0 0 43.9% 22.0% 34.1%
1977-78 50 9 3 0 52.0% 18.0% 30.0%
1976-77 45 9 0 0 44.4% 24.4% 31.1%
1975-76 40 (3) 11 1 0 34.9% 23.3% 41.9%
1974-75 11 (8) 4 0 0 47.4% 15.8% 36.8%
Totals: 687 (20) 82


 Apps = First Team Appearances (Sub Appearances) | Gls = Goals
 Cln = Clean Sheets | CtGR = Clean Sheets to Games Ratio | W/D/L - Games won, drawn or lost as percentage of games played in
 Yel = Yellow Cards/Cautions | Red = Red Cards/Dismissals

 Recent First Team Starts
 17/10/89 2nd Round 1st Leg vs. Antwerp (A) 0 - 4
 23/09/89 Premier Division vs. Hearts (A) 1 - 1
 16/09/89 Premier Division vs. Celtic (H) 2 - 2
 13/09/89 1st Round 1st Leg vs. Glentoran (A) 3 - 1
 09/09/89 Premier Division vs. Hibernian (A) 0 - 2

 Recent First Team Goals
 22/04/89 Premier Division vs. Motherwell (H) 1 - 1
 20/02/88 4th Round vs. Airdrie (A) 2 - 0
 12/09/87 Premier Division vs. Hibernian (H) 1 - 2
 11/04/87 Semi Final vs. Dundee (N) 3 - 2
 07/03/87 Premier Division vs. Clydebank (H) 1 - 1

 List of Goals Scored (click to expand)
 22/04/89 Premier Division vs. Motherwell (H)  1 - 1
 20/02/88 4th Round vs. Airdrie (A)  2 - 0
 12/09/87 Premier Division vs. Hibernian (H)  1 - 2
 11/04/87 Semi Final vs. Dundee (N)  3 - 2
 07/03/87 Premier Division vs. Clydebank (H)  1 - 1
 20/09/86 Premier Division vs. Hamilton (A)  5 - 1
 20/09/86 Premier Division vs. Hamilton (A)  5 - 1
 23/08/86 Premier Division vs. Hearts (H)  1 - 0
 01/02/86 Premier Division vs. St Mirren (A)  1 - 1
 18/01/86 Premier Division vs. Clydebank (H)  4 - 0
 16/11/85 Premier Division vs. Dundee (A)  3 - 0
 16/11/85 Premier Division vs. Dundee (A)  3 - 0
 09/11/85 Premier Division vs. Motherwell (H)  3 - 0
 06/11/85 2nd Round 2nd Leg vs. Vardar (A)  1 - 1
 15/12/84 Premier Division vs. Hearts (H)  5 - 2
 12/12/84 3rd Round 2nd Leg vs. Man Utd (H)  2 - 3
 28/11/84 3rd Round 1st Leg vs. Man Utd (A)  2 - 2
 07/11/84 2nd Round 2nd Leg vs. Linzer (H)  5 - 1
 15/09/84 Premier Division vs. Morton (A)  3 - 0
 11/02/84 Premier Division vs. Hibernian (H)  2 - 0
 31/12/83 Premier Division vs. Motherwell (H)  2 - 1
 12/11/83 Premier Division vs. St Johnstone (H)  7 - 0
 02/11/83 2nd Round 2nd Leg vs. Standard (H)  4 - 0
 20/08/83 Premier Division vs. Motherwell (H)  4 - 0
 20/04/83 Premier Division vs. Celtic (A)  3 - 2
 12/03/83 Premier Division vs. Dundee (H)  5 - 3
 27/12/82 Premier Division vs. Motherwell (H)  5 - 0
 08/12/82 3rd Round 2nd Leg vs. Werder Bremen (A)  1 - 1
 29/09/82 1st Round 2nd Leg vs. PSV (A)  2 - 0
 08/05/82 Premier Division vs. Celtic (H)  3 - 0
 05/05/82 Premier Division vs. Aberdeen (H)  1 - 2
 09/12/81 3rd Round 2nd Leg vs. Winterslag (H)  5 - 0
 03/11/81 2nd Round 2nd Leg vs. M'gladbach (H)  5 - 0
 15/04/81 Semi Final Replay vs. Celtic (N)  3 - 2
 15/04/81 Semi Final Replay vs. Celtic (N)  3 - 2
 21/02/81 Premier Division vs. Morton (H)  1 - 0
 08/11/80 Premier Division vs. Hearts (A)  3 - 0
 29/10/80 Quarter Final 2nd Leg vs. Clydebank (H)  4 - 1
 01/10/80 1st Round 2nd Leg vs. Slask Wroclaw (H)  7 - 2
 30/08/80 2nd Round 2nd Leg vs. Cowdenbeath (A)  4 - 1
 27/08/80 2nd Round 1st Leg vs. Cowdenbeath (H)  4 - 0
 20/08/80 1st Round 2nd Leg vs. East Fife (H)  4 - 0
 16/08/80 Premier Division vs. Aberdeen (A)  1 - 1
 24/11/79 Semi Final vs. Hamilton (N)  6 - 2
 14/11/79 Quarter Final 2nd Leg vs. Raith Rovers (A)  1 - 0
 07/04/79 Premier Division vs. St Mirren (H)  2 - 0
 14/03/79 Premier Division vs. Partick Th (H)  2 - 1
 09/09/78 Premier Division vs. Morton (H)  1 - 2
 26/08/78 Premier Division vs. Aberdeen (H)  1 - 1
 12/04/78 Premier Division vs. Clydebank (H)  1 - 0
 27/02/78 4th Round vs. QOS (H)  3 - 0
 28/01/78 3rd Round vs. Hamilton (A)  4 - 1
 31/12/77 Premier Division vs. St Mirren (H)  2 - 1
 19/11/77 Premier Division vs. Clydebank (H)  4 - 0
 09/11/77 Quarter Final 1st Leg vs. Hearts (H)  3 - 1
 01/10/77 Premier Division vs. Ayr Utd (A)  2 - 0
 23/08/77 1st Round 2nd Leg vs. Albion Rovers (A)  5 - 1
 17/08/77 1st Round 1st Leg vs. Albion Rovers (H)  5 - 0
 19/03/77 Premier Division vs. Hibernian (H)  1 - 0
 16/03/77 Premier Division vs. Aberdeen (H)  3 - 2
 07/02/77 Premier Division vs. Ayr Utd (A)  4 - 1
 03/11/76 Premier Division vs. Kilmarnock (H)  3 - 0
 02/10/76 Premier Division vs. Motherwell (H)  2 - 0
 18/09/76 Premier Division vs. Ayr Utd (A)  4 - 1
 01/09/76 Sectional Tie vs. Celtic (A)  1 - 1
 25/08/76 Sectional Tie vs. Arbroath (H)  2 - 0
 21/08/76 Sectional Tie vs. Dumbarton (A)  2 - 1
 17/04/76 Premier Division vs. Hearts (H)  2 - 0
 31/03/76 Premier Division vs. St Johnstone (H)  1 - 1
 03/03/76 Premier Division vs. Ayr Utd (H)  5 - 0
 24/01/76 3rd Round vs. Hamilton (H)  4 - 0
 10/01/76 Premier Division vs. Aberdeen (A)  3 - 5
 29/11/75 Premier Division vs. Celtic (H)  1 - 3
 15/11/75 Premier Division vs. Aberdeen (H)  1 - 2
 05/11/75 2nd Round 2nd Leg vs. Porto (A)  1 - 1
 01/11/75 Premier Division vs. St Johnstone (H)  3 - 1
 30/09/75 1st Round 2nd Leg vs. Keflavík (H)  4 - 0
 13/09/75 Premier Division vs. Aberdeen (A)  3 - 1
 19/03/75 Division One vs. Arbroath (H)  3 - 1
 14/12/74 Division One vs. Morton (A)  6 - 0
 14/12/74 Division One vs. Morton (A)  6 - 0
 07/12/74 Division One vs. Clyde (H)  3 - 3

 List of Games Played
Sorry, there are too many games to display for this player.


Biography

Born in Edinburgh in 1954, Paul Hegarty played youth football with Tynecastle Boys Club and began his senior career as a striker with Hamilton Accies in 1972. In November 1974, Dundee United manager Jim McLean paid a fee of around £40,000 to bring Hegarty to Tannadice at the age of twenty. In his early days with United he played in his original favoured position as a striker however in November 1976, Hegarty was played in centre defence in a friendly against Everton as an experiment. It became clear that Paul would make a dominant central defender and he soon formed a formidable defensive partnership with Dave Narey that would become the backbone of Jim McLean's great Dundee United side for over a decade. Paul was rarely out of the side for the next thirteen years.

In 1978, "Heggy" as he had become known to the United Faithful, was made club captain by Jim McLean, a position he would hold for eight years. At international level, Paul was awarded his first cap in 1979, and would later become the first Dundee United player to ever captain the national side - see 'International' tab

During his years as club captain, Hegarty led his teammates to three major honours. In 1979, Heggy lifted the Scottish League Cup at Dens Park following a comprehensive 3-0 cup final replay win over New Firm rivals Aberdeen, the club's first ever major trophy. The following year, United retained the trophy, again at Dens Park but this time beating city-rivals Dundee by three goals to nil. Hegarty chose to step aside and allow long-serving goalkeeper and fellow Dundee United Legend, Hamish McAlpine to lift the trophy.

More success soon followed, in 1983 Paul had the unique honour of leading United to their first and only League Championship win to date following a dramatic 2-1 win over Dundee at Dens Park on the final day of the season. Along with his central-defensive partner Dave Narey and goalkeeper Hamish McAlpine, Paul was an ever-present in the side throughout the 36 League games of that remarkable season.

Although he only played as a forward during his formative years, Paul never lost the scoring touch and returned an incredible number of goals from the centre half position, hitting double figures with ten goals during the 1980/81 season. He also netted twelve European goals for United, a tally second only to Ralph Milne's count of fifteen.

The influence Paul had on United's reputation throughout Europe during the 1970s and 1980s cannot be understated. He appeared in 50 consecutive European ties from 1977 through to 1986, including famous victories over Monaco and Borussia Monchengladbach in 1981, and United’s run to the semi-finals of the European Cup during the 1983/84 season. He missed five matches of the famous 1986/87 UEFA Cup run, but returned in time for United’s amazing quarter final victory over Barcelona at the Nou Camp, and remained in the side throughout the rest of the competition, where he collected a runners-up medal after the heart-breaking final at Tannadice.

In recognition of his contribution to Dundee United, the club awarded him a testimonial and allowed Hegarty to leave Tannadice on a free transfer in January 1990, when he joined local Tayside rivals St Johnstone. His spell with the Perth club was brief and he joined Forfar Athletic as player-manager later that year. Paul brought his playing career to an end in his second season at Station Park, to concentrate on his role as manager , but his tenure at Forfar ended in relegation in 1992 and he left shortly afterwards. Paul would go on to return to Tannadice in a coaching position on three separate occasions, as well as two spells as Caretaker Manager.

Hegarty is the most successful captain in Dundee United's history leading the club to three major honours, and only Dave Narey and Maurice Malpas have appeared more times in a tangerine jersey. In January 2008, he was one of the first players inducted into the Dundee United Hall of Fame.

Last updated on Thursday, September 10th, 2020 by B Orr.





Debut (as sub)

November 16th, 1974
Partick Thistle 0 - 5 Dundee United

League (Division One)

Full Debut

December 14th, 1974
Greenock Morton 0 - 6 Dundee United

League (Division One)


International Career (Scotland)

Caps: 8

Goals: 0

International Debut: May 19th, 1979 v. Wales

Paul Hegarty became the second United player to play for Scotland, making his debut at Ninian Park in a British Championship match against Wales in May 1979. Hegarty played regularly for the International side that year, including a friendly against Argentina that saw him face an 18 year-old Diego Maradona, but on his fifth appearance he was forced off through injury after just twenty minutes, an injury that ruled him out of United's opening matches of the 1979-80 season. After two further international appearances in 1980, he had to wait three years for his next cap, but became the first United player to captain his country, in a match against Northern Ireland at Hampden Park. This turned out to be his last appearance for Scotland, although he later appeared as an over-age player in the Under-21 side.

Click here for a full list of international matches for this player


Timeline

  • Date of Birth


    Paul was born on this date in Edinburgh.

    Sunday, July 25th, 1954

  • Signed For Dundee United

    Tuesday, November 12th, 1974

  • First Team Debut

    Partick Th 0 - 5 Dundee United
    League (Division One)

    Until then Firhill had scarcely been United's happiest hunting ground for league points. But all that changed in a devastating Tannadice display, to which Thistle had no answer at all. A Dave Narey ro

    Saturday, November 16th, 1974

  • First Goal

    Dundee United 3 - 3 Clyde
    League (Division One)

    Saturday, December 7th, 1974

  • 50th Appearance

    Dundee United 1 - 0 Dundee
    League (Premier Division)

    Saturday, February 28th, 1976

  • 50th League Appearance

    Rangers 0 - 0 Dundee United
    League (Premier Division)

    Tuesday, May 4th, 1976

  • 100th Appearance

    Dundee United 0 - 1 Ayr Utd
    League (Premier Division)

    Saturday, April 2nd, 1977

  • 100th League Appearance

    Dundee United 4 - 0 Clydebank
    League (Premier Division)

    Saturday, November 19th, 1977

  • International Debut


    Paul earned his first International cap for Scotland, playing against Wales.

    Saturday, May 19th, 1979

  • 200th Appearance

    Dundee United 2 - 1 Partick Th
    League (Premier Division)

    Peter Bonetti returned to the team for match with Patrick Thistle. Otherwise the United team was unchanged from that which was held to a no-scoring draw by Anderlecht on Wednesday. Kirkwood and Sturro

    Saturday, September 22nd, 1979

  • 200th League Appearance

    Partick Th 2 - 3 Dundee United
    League (Premier Division)

    United went into this encounter without Dave Narey after their midweek triumph at Parkhead. The wind was swirling around Firhill as the teams came out to the applause of the 3000 in attendance.

    Saturday, November 22nd, 1980

  • 300th Appearance

    Monaco 2 - 5 Dundee United
    UEFA Cup (1st Round 1st Leg)

    United put in a royal performance to record one of the greatest European victories to date. Prince Rainier was in attendance to witness a polished and mature United performance which, barring a ridicu

    Wednesday, September 16th, 1981

  • 50th Goal

    Dundee United 5 - 0 M'gladbach
    UEFA Cup (2nd Round 2nd Leg)

    United welcomed regular European Finalists Borussia Monchengladbach to Tannadice for the second leg of their UEFA Cup second round tie at Tannadice. The manager made two changes from the game at Pitto

    Tuesday, November 3rd, 1981

  • 400th Appearance

    Celtic 2 - 3 Dundee United
    League (Premier Division)

    There was an overhanging sense of disappointment following United's failure to reach the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup in March. This and the fact that, after United defeat at Parkhead two weeks before

    Wednesday, April 20th, 1983

  • 300th League Appearance

    Dundee United 0 - 1 Dundee
    League (Premier Division)

    Recording the first win over your city rivals in over four years would normally be the only story in town, but as has so often been the case for Dundee in this period of tangerine dominance, it was Un

    Saturday, November 5th, 1983

  • 500th Appearance

    Dundee United 4 - 0 Dumbarton
    League (Premier Division)

    United surmounted this hurdle with a fair degree of ease and two early goals really killed the match as a contest. Dave Beaumont was the instigator of both these with two long throws. His first found

    Saturday, February 23rd, 1985

  • 400th League Appearance

    Dundee United 3 - 0 St Mirren
    League (Premier Division)

    A three goal salvo in the last twenty minutes shot us to the top of the League, but it took a long time for the United forwards to pierce a strong Saints defence, in truth, although we had dominated p

    Saturday, August 30th, 1986

  • 600th Appearance

    St Mirren 1 - 0 Dundee United
    Scottish Cup (Final)

    Our fourth Cup Final appearance in 13 years ended as all the previous ones - in defeat, but this was perhaps the bitterest pill of all to swallow. In truth we never really played well enough to deserv

    Saturday, May 16th, 1987

  • 50th League Goal

    Dundee United 1 - 2 Hibernian
    League (Premier Division)

    Not an afternoon to savour as we slumped to our first home defeat of the season. There was an early warning for us after only three minutes when George McCluskey prodded past from a good position and

    Saturday, September 12th, 1987

  • Last Goal

    Dundee United 1 - 1 Motherwell
    League (Premier Division)

    Only a late Paul Hegarty header salvaged a point against a lively Motherwell side and our poor home record continued. Our early pressure failed to pay dividends and there was a warning of things to co

    Saturday, April 22nd, 1989

  • Last Appearance

    Antwerp 4 - 0 Dundee United
    UEFA Cup (2nd Round 1st Leg)

    For once Europe, for which we have reserved so many of our best performances in the past decade, saw us flounder. Three goals in a nine minute spell in the first half plus another immediately after th

    Tuesday, October 17th, 1989

  • Left the Club

    Monday, January 22nd, 1990