By 1982 United had not only established themselves as one of Scotland’s best teams but they had made their mark on Europe too. Two result confirmed their European pedigree. A wonderful 5-2 win over Monaco, in the Principality that Paul always referred to as ‘Fantasy Island’, produced football of a quality never bettered by a Dundee United side but it was the result and performance in the next round of the 1981/82 UEFA Cup which caught everyone’s attention: Dundee United 5 Borussia Moenchengladbach 0. Two-nil down from the first leg, goals from Milne and Kirkwood made it 2-2 on aggregate. The drive for victory was coming from United and the glamorous German side’s wilting confidence completely evaporated when Sturrock struck a third. Paul Hegarty scored the fourth with a tap in. It wasn’t his greatest goal but it was scored in a match which years later still gave him immense pride - in the team’s achievement and his part in it. ‘When folk look up the records of one of the Club’s greatest nights,’ he reflected, ‘they’ll see my name on the score sheet.’

On 8th December 1982 a Hegarty header against another German side, Werder Bremen, proved decisive in United’s 3-2 aggregate victory and in all he scored twelve goals in European competitions - a simply stunning statistic for a central defender and one very few European forwards have matched. Also unmatched at that time are some of United’s European appearance figures. Between Paul Hegarty’s European debut as a defender in September 1977 against KB Copenhagen and line- up to play Roma in the European Cup semi-final at Tannadice on 11 April 1984 he and Hamish McAlpine played in all of United’s thirty-four Euro ties - and the third member of the vital defensive trio, Dave Narey, missed just one!

United’s appearance in the 1987 UEFA Cup Final, only the fourth Scottish club to reach a European final, is rightly hailed as the Club’s greatest achievement but 1986/87 was also a season of change at Tannadice. Three of the championship winning team, McAlpine, Gough and Dodds, had left United and a big influence on Paul’s career, Walter Smith, had gone too. Ironically Euro specialist Ralph Milne would also leave before United’s greatest European season finished.

From Paul Hegarty's point of view it was a season of injury-induced frustration for a player who had been suffered few interruptions during his career. An injury sustained against Aberdeen on October 11, in an accident involving Davie Dodds of all people, meant he was out for 54 days - and then out again with a similar injury in his comeback game. He then sustained a third injury in his second comeback game and eventually was sidelined for a further three months which explains his much lower than usual appearance stats for that season.

Paul was back fit in time to take his place on the bench for the Tannadice UEFA match against Barcelona on 4 March 1987 but his comeback became reality when he played against Forfar in the Scottish Cup ten days later. United certainly needed a fit Paul Hegarty, and as many other available players as possible, as they tried to pack 22 games into the last 77 days of the season.

Paul's season seemed to be in the ascendancy when he scored the winner against Dundee at Tynecastle in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup and he was also in the line-up for United against Gothenburg in the first leg of the UEFA Cup Final at the Ullevi Stadium which he later rated, for that night at least, a terrific stadium but a terrible pitch. Although beaten 1-0 he, like everyone else in the Tannadice party, remained optimistic of the ultimate European glory. A Scottish Cup Final was sandwiched between the two UEFA legs but any aspirations he had to complete his set of domestic winners medals were dented when he was only named as a substitute against St. Mirren. He did come on, but the team were just unable to cancel out Ferguson's extra-time goal - and the Cup went back to Paisley. There was even greater disappointment when he was also excluded from the starting line-up for the biggest match in Dundee United’s history, the second leg of the UEFA final. Again he came on as a substitute but this time initial disappointment gave way to lasting pride. “Everyone present at that game, “ he recalled later, “whether spectator or player will be proud to say ‘I was there’ or ‘I played in that final’.

Pride and dignity are at the centre of Paul Hegarty’s career. At all times he gave the impression that he felt privileged to be a professional footballer. None more so that on 14 May 1983 when he captained the team crowned Champions of Scotland in front of 29,000 people. He had the honour, given to few men outwith the Old Firm, to accept the League Championship trophy and hold it aloft to thousands of joyous United supporters. A truly historic football moment and a time not only for celebration but some brief reflection. It was a long journey from Tynecastle Boys Club, it had taken great effort and no little self belief. Now he was reaping his rewards and more followed. A few weeks later he captained his country at Hampden.

It wasn’t all success. Apart from the double disappointment of 1987 there were five lost cup finals at the hands of the Old Firm beginning with a Scottish Cup Final replay defeat against Rangers in 1981 and two desperately disappointing 2-1 Cup Final defeats from Celtic in 1985 and 1988 after leading 1-0 for most of both matches. Two further League Cup Final defeats by Rangers, a 1981 near hat-trick of wins for United in the competition and a 1984 quite forgettable final complete a picture of what might have been. The Hegarty haul could have been even greater than three winner’s medals but it also indicates that here was a player and a team competing at the very top of Scottish football throughout the 1980s.

By 1989 his appearances for the first team were less frequent and Paul’s final league game for United was at Tynecastle against Hearts on 23 September 1989. Four months later Paul was allowed to leave Tannadice on a free transfer, in recognition of his service to United over fifteen years. He joined St. Johnstone and his medal-winning continued as he helped Saints win the First Division championship that season. A job well done, he was released by the newly-promoted Perth side and went on to become Forfar Atheltic’s Player/Manager where he finished his playing career.

During his fifteen years at Tannadice he had played more games for Dundee United than all but two players in the Club’s history. He had come to Tannadice as a promising centre forward and thanks to the early days encouragement of Doug Houston and the expertise of manager Jim McLean and coach Wattie Smith he coped with the transition to being a full-time footballer and was moulded into a medal-winning, international centre-half.

Paul Hegarty’s place in Dundee United’s history is secure for many reasons but it’s due in part to three ‘firsts’. He was the first United player to captain a major trophy-winning team, the first captain of a league championship-winning team and the first United player to captain Scotland. He also led the team to three of the Club’s four major hours and in doing so became the most successful captain in Dundee United’s history - and you can’t get much more legendary than that.

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