IAIN PHILLIP - HOF INDUCTEE 2017

Dundee United host their 2017 Hall of Fame dinner on 17 March at the Invercarse Hotel in a sell-out event. There are four new inductees this year, and between now and the dinner we will look at each of them in greater detail. First under the microscope is Dundee-born defender Iain Phillip who played 149 times for the Terrors scoring one goal. Iain began his senior career across the road at Dens in 1970 and gained international recognition at an early stage with an appearance for the Scottish League XI against English League XI in March 1972. He moved to Crystal Palace a few months later but returned to Dens Park a year later, and was part of the Dundee side that won the League Cup in December 1973. After four more years with Dundee, he crossed Tannadice Street for a fee of £25,000 in November 1978 and made his debut for United as a substitute against Celtic a few weeks later. With inclement weather decimating the fixture list, he had to wait until the end of January for his full debut. Iain became a regular in the side for the next four years and scored his one and only goal for the club in November 1979 in a 3-0 win over Aberdeen driving home from the edge of the box. He collected his second League Cup winners medal in 1979, playing in the first final match against Aberdeen at Hampden, and was an unused substitute for the replay at Dens Park where United won their first major honour. A year later he completed his hat-trick of medals, starting in the League Cup Final as United defeated his old club Dundee 3-0 to take the trophy back to Tannadice once more. Later that season, he collected a runners-up medal in the Scottish Cup final and missed out on yet another League Cup medal when United lost to Rangers in the final the following season. Iain appeared regularly in United's European matches during his time with the club, including notable wins over Anderlecht, Monaco, Slask Wroclaw, Winterslag and PSV Eindhoven. His last season with United was 1982-83, playing five times in the Premier League championship winning campaign. Iain joined Raith Rovers midway through season 1983-84 and after three years there moved to Arbroath before retiring from football. Come the 17 March, Iain's name will sit proudly alongside his fellow Hall of Famers on the roll of honour.