Fans are tarred with same brush

Dundee United’s pitch has had more influence on the team than most as the club’s fans gained their nickname the ‘Arabs’ after a peculiar decision by the management in 1963.

After a particularly harsh winter, United had to deal with a frozen pitch, and, after two postponed matches and a Scottish Cup tie coming up against Albion Rovers, management took the decision to hire a tar burner to deal with the problem.

However, predictably, this destroyed the grass, meaning the directors had to come up with a plan B.

They ordered several lorry-loads of sand to cover the pitch, repainted white lines on it and, after a pitch inspection, the pitch was deemed playable with United going on to triumph comfortably.

Seeing it as a good omen, United fans adopted the nickname, which remains to this day.