During his first three full seasons Maurice set a standard of consistency which he maintained for the next nineteen years. His week-in, week-out high level performances in midfield and at full back, his great reading of the game for one so young, were sometimes taken for granted. In 1985 it took someone of the calibre of Jock Stein to remind people how highly rated Maurice was in the game. In Stein's opinion Maurice was 'a good player on his way to becoming a great one.' In September 1985, on the night Jock Stein died in Cardiff, in the welter of glowing tributes to the Scotland boss one other unanimous opinion emerged - the best Scot on the park was Maurice Malpas.

It was only his fourth cap but his performance that night suggested many more would follow. Maurice later explained his football philosophy. "I strive to be consistent because that is the name of the game. I also like to keep things simple, looking for the easy pass when I can give it. That's the way it has always been with us at Dundee United. We play to our strengths."

Those strengths were evident on a world-wide stage as Maurice represented his country against Denmark and West Germany in the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.

Two defeats in just four days in May 1987 meant that Maurice and United, for the second time in three seasons, lost two finals in one season - but what a season! Even the disappointment of a 1-0 defeat by St. Mirren in the Scottish Cup Final could not diminish the sense of achievement in disposing of Barcelona and Borussia Moenchengladbach en route to becoming the first Scottish team to reach the UEFA Cup Final. Maurice had played in the most important match in Dundee United's history to extend his link with the Club's most illustrious period.

The quiet authority and the leadership qualities which he had shown throughout his Tannadice career were formally recognised when Maurice was made United's team captain towards the end of Season 87/88 in which the name Malpas was ever-present on the team sheet. The season climaxed with another appearance in the Scottish Cup Final - Maurice's third. Sadly, that number was not to prove significant in the luck department as Celtic once again overhauled an early United lead to win 2-1.

United skipper Malpas was also given the ultimate international honour in 1987 when he was named captain of Scotland for the World Cup qualifier against Bulgaria and the match in Sofia gave him one of five more caps won that season to take his total to twenty.

After two consecutive seasons as an ever-present, a freak clash with team-mate Ray McKinnon in the match against Dundee in late March had threatened Maurice's chances of appearing in his second World Cup but on Saturday 16 June 1990 in the magnificent Luigi Ferraris Stadium in Genoa his appearance for Scotland in a 2-1 win over Sweden was his thirty-sixth cap - a Dundee United record.
Dave Narey, the previous United record-holder and hero of a previous World Cup, was characteristically generous in praise of his colleague. "Maurice is what international players are all about. He has everything needed at that level and is never overawed by any occasion. He should go on to win many more caps." The Narey predication came true with Maurice adding to his involvement in two World Cups by playing in two of Scotland's three games in the country's first ever-participation in the latter stages of the European Championships.

His famed consistency for United was reflected in his Scotland performances and he continued to be selected, earning his 55th cap in a World Cup qualifier against Italy at Ibrox in November 1992 in a match which proved to be Maurice's last in his country's dark blue.

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