St Mirren
Full nameSt Mirren Football Club
Nickname(s)The Buddies
The Saints
Founded1877 (1877)
GroundSt Mirren Park, Paisley
Capacity7,937[1]
ChairmanJohn Needham
ManagerStephen Robinson
LeagueScottish Premiership
2022–23Scottish Premiership, 6th of 12
WebsiteClub website

St Mirren Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in Paisley, Renfrewshire, that competes in the Scottish Premiership after winning the 2017–18 Scottish Championship. Founded in 1877, the team has two nicknames: The Buddies and The Saints.

St Mirren have won the Scottish Cup three times, in 1926, 1959 and 1987, and the Scottish League Cup in 2013. They have played in European competition four times: in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1987–88 and the UEFA Cup in 1980–81, 1983–84 and 1985–86. They are the only Scottish team to win the Anglo-Scottish Cup, beating Bristol City 5–1 over two legs in 1979–80.

The club's home ground since 2009 is St Mirren Park, an all-seater stadium on Greenhill Road, Paisley. It has a capacity of 7,937. The club's former home from 1894 until 2009 was also officially named St Mirren Park, but was more commonly known as Love Street.

History

St Mirren FC was originally a gentlemen's club which was formed in the second half of the 19th century and played, among other sports, cricket and rugby. The increasing popularity of football ensured that by 1877 the members had decided to play association football and 1877 is the football club's official foundation date. They are named after Saint Mirin, the founder of a church at the site of Paisley Abbey and Patron Saint of Paisley. There is also a street in Paisley named St Mirren Street. The team's first strip was scarlet and blue but, after one season, the club changed to the current black and white striped shirts, which have been worn every season bar one in the 1900s, when cream tops were used.

Chart of yearly table positions of St Mirren.

St Mirren played their first match on 6 October 1877, defeating Johnstone Britannia 1–0 at Shortroods. Two years later, the club moved to another ground named Thistle Park at Greenhills. St Mirren's first Scottish Cup match was on 4 September 1880, a 3–0 victory over Johnstone Athletic. The following year, St Mirren reached their first cup final but were beaten 3–1 by Thornliebank in the Renfrewshire Cup. In 1883, the scores were reversed with St Mirren winning the Renfrewshire Cup, 3–1 against Thornliebank. It was in 1883 that the club moved to its third home, that of West March (early maps indicate the area as West March rather than the commonly used Westmarch), defeating Queen's Park in the first game there. In 1885, St Mirren played their first match against Morton, resulting in a defeat.

The 1890 season was a historic season for St Mirren, as they became founder members of the Scottish Football League along with fellow Paisley club Abercorn. Of the eleven founder clubs, only five survive in the current league system. It was during the match against Morton at Cappielow in 1890 that St Mirren played one of the first night games under light from oil lamps. The club moved to Love Street in 1894 and the team reached their first Scottish Cup final in the 1907–08 season but were defeated 5–1 by Celtic. St Mirren went on to lift the trophy in 1926, 1959 and 1987.

A cigarette card published in 1909 depicting Robert Robertson, a contemporary St Mirren player

In 1922, St Mirren were invited to play in the Barcelona Cup invitational tournament to celebrate the inauguration of Les Corts, the then home of Barcelona. They won the tournament by beating Notts County in the final.

In the 1979–80 season, St Mirren achieved their equal highest-ever finish in the top-flight finishing third behind Aberdeen and Celtic. That season Saints also became the first and last Scottish club to win the Anglo-Scottish Cup, defeating Bristol City in a two-legged final.[2] The following season, St Mirren competed in European competition for the first time and won their initial game 2–1 vs. IF Elfsborg in Sweden, followed by a 0–0 draw in the second leg. The next round saw them play French team Saint-Étienne. Although St Mirren's home leg ended up a 0–0 draw, Saint-Étienne pulled off a 2–0 victory in the second leg to put St Mirren out of the cup.

The club have been relegated from the Scottish Premier League twice (2000–01) and (2014–15) and the Premier Division of the Scottish Football League once (1991–92) having escaped relegation from the latter in 1991 after league re-construction. In 2001, St Mirren finished bottom of the Premier League despite losing only one of their final seven matches. The Saints however managed promotion after clinching the First Division title in 2005–06, a season which also saw St Mirren win the Scottish Challenge Cup, defeating Hamilton Academical 2–1 in the final at Airdrie United's ground, the Shyberry Excelsior Stadium, with goals from Simon Lappin and John Sutton.

In 2010, they reached the final of the Scottish League Cup where they were defeated 0–1 by Rangers despite having a two-man advantage.[3] However, three days later, they recorded a famous win over Celtic, a match that The Buddies won 4–0 with doubles from Andy Dorman and Steven Thomson.[4] In March 2013, St Mirren won the Scottish League Cup beating Heart of Midlothian 3–2 at Hampden to win their first cup since 1987.[5]

In the 2010s the club drew praise for their youth development, bringing through several players from their academy (despite it not being listed among the 'elite' group assessed by the SFA in 2017)[6] including Stevie Mallan, Jack Baird, Kyle Magennis, Jason Naismith, Kyle McAllister, Sean Kelly and full Scotland internationals Kenny McLean, Lewis Morgan and John McGinn.[7][8]

Stadium

The SMiSA Stadium, St Mirren FC 2017

St Mirren played at four different venues before moving to their ground at St Mirren Park, or Love Street, in 1894. The record attendance for the ground was 47,438 versus Celtic in 1949. Love Street saw extensive redevelopment in the late 90s to comply with both the recommendations of the Taylor Report and SPL regulations and the ground eventually became a 10,866 seater venue. The ground had four stands of which the most recent, the West or Reid Kerr Family Stand, was built in 2000 in order for Love Street to meet the criteria for entry to the Scottish Premier League. The oldest stand was the main stand which had a basic wooden construction. The north bank was popular with the hardcore St Mirren fans while the largest stand, the steeply raked West Stand, housed a sporting facility underneath.

On 24 May 2005, Renfrewshire Council granted permission for the club to develop their old ground. This involved the sale of the ground to a supermarket chain, and the construction of a ground in Ferguslie Park, Paisley (through a separate planning permission). The sale of their old ground allowed the club to finance the new stadium as well as clear their debts. In April 2007 it was announced that a deal had been struck with supermarket giant Tesco and on 15 January 2009 St Mirren moved to a new 8,000 seat stadium, also called St Mirren Park.

The opening game finished as a 1–1 draw with Kilmarnock, with Killie's Kevin Kyle scoring the first goal, and Dennis Wyness equalising. St Mirren's first notable win at the new stadium came on 7 March 2009 in a 1–0 victory over Celtic in the Homecoming Scottish Cup Quarter Final.

The stadium had a total seating capacity of 8,023 which was reduced in 2017 to 7,937[1] following the installation of a new disabled access platform.[9]

The stadium was known as The Simple Digital Arena after the club agreed a four-year, six-figure deal with Simple Digital Solutions on 13 June 2018.[10]

It is currently known as The SMiSA Stadium.[11]

Colours and sponsors

The traditional home colours of St Mirren are black and white stripes, however for the first season the colours were scarlet and blue. There is some dispute as to why the colours black and white were chosen. A popular theory is that the stripes represent the Black and White Cart rivers which run through Paisley. In recent years there has been evidence unearthed that the Monks in the local abbey wore black and white striped habits. The team strips have varied very little in the long history of the club, however the thickness of the stripes have often varied. Some years have seen horizontal stripes used.

Having first played in black and white vertical stripes in 1884, Saints were the first club in the world to do so, six years before Notts County.

Away tops are traditionally red or all black, but in some cases strips have varied from orange to light blue, as seen on the 2010–11 strip. From 2007–2011, the Danish firm, Hummel International, replaced Xara as kit manufacturers. After spells with Carbrini (2011–2012, 2015–2017) and Diadora (2012–2014) the club signed a deal with kit manufacturers Joma.

St Mirren has had several main sponsors, mainly in the transport industry, with several local bus companies and car dealerships like Arriva and Phoenix Honda sponsoring in the club. St Mirren were sponsored by Braehead Shopping Centre, a local shopping centre four miles away in Renfrew from 2005 to 2017. They are currently sponsored by the solicitors firm Digby Brown.[12] In August 2010, the club confirmed Barrhead company Compass Private Hire would have their name displayed on the back of the first team players' shirts as well as on their shorts. Compass Private Hire were co-owned by former St Mirren player, captain and manager, Tony Fitzpatrick.

Mascots

In recent years, St Mirren have been represented by three mascots, the Pandas. They are Paisley Panda, Junior P and Mrs Panda. The regular mascots are Paisley Panda and Junior P.

Honours

Major honours

Minor honours

  • Scottish league, second tier (5):[note 1] 1967–68, 1976–77, 1999–00, 2005–06, 2017–18
  • Scottish Challenge Cup: 2005
  • Renfrewshire Cup (55): 1882–83, 1883–84, 1887–88, 1890–91, 1893–94, 1896–97, 1897–98, 1903–04, 1909–10, 1910–11, 1923–24, 1924–25, 1925–26, 1927–28, 1928–29, 1929–30, 1931–32, 1932–33, 1933–34, 1935–36, 1937–38, 1940–41, 1943–44, 1945–46, 1946–47, 1947–48, 1949–50, 1958–59, 1959–60, 1960–61, 1962–63, 1966–67, 1973–74, 1976–77, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1987–88, 1989–90, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2014–15
  • Victory Cup: 1919
  • Anglo-Scottish Cup: 1979–80
  • Summer Cup: 1943
  • Epson Invitational Tournament: 1986–87
  • Barcelona Cup Winners: 1922

Rivalries

The club has a fierce rivalry with neighbours Greenock Morton,[13] a rivalry which sees a large amount of animosity between the two sets of fans.[14]

Club records

  • Highest home attendance: 47,438 v. Celtic on 20 August 1949[15]
  • Highest average home attendance: 17,333, 1949–50 (15 games)[15]
  • Biggest victory: 15–0 v. Glasgow University, Scottish Cup, 30 January 1960
  • Most capped player: Iain Munro and Billy Thomson: 7 appearances for Scotland
  • Most capped international player: Mo Camara: 79 appearances for Guinea
  • Youngest Player: Dylan Reid: 16 years & 6 days – vs. Rangers (Ibrox), 6 March 2021
  • Most Competitive Appearances: Hugh Murray, 462 (1997–2012)
  • Most League appearances: Hugh Murray, 399 (1997–2012)
  • Most European appearances: Billy Abercromby, 9 (1980–1988)
  • Most League goals: David McCrae, 221 (1923–1934)[16]
  • Most League goals in a season: Dunky Walker, 45 (1921–22)
  • Record transfer fee paid: £400,000 to Bayer Uerdingen for Thomas Stickroth (March 1990)
  • Record transfer fee received: £850,000 from Rangers for Ian Ferguson (February 1988)
  • Most League wins in a season: 27, Division Two (1967–68)
  • Most League defeats in a season: 31, Division One (1920–21)
  • Most League draws in a season: 15, Premier League (1987–88)
  • Most consecutive league victories: 16, Division Two (18 November 1967 – 30 March 1968)
  • Longest unbeaten league run: 34, 18 November 1967 (Division Two) – 16 November 1968 (Division One)
  • Most Goals Scored in a season: 100, Division Two (1967–68)
  • Most Goals Conceded in a season: 92, Division One (1920–21)

Players

First-team squad

As of 14 January 2024[17]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK England ENG Zach Hemming (on loan from Middlesbrough)
2 DF England ENG James Bolton
3 DF England ENG Scott Tanser
5 DF England ENG Richard Taylor
6 MF Scotland SCO Mark O'Hara (captain)
7 FW Kenya KEN Jonah Ayunga
8 MF Scotland SCO Ryan Flynn
9 FW France FRA Mikael Mandron
10 FW Northern Ireland NIR Conor McMenamin
11 MF Scotland SCO Greg Kiltie
13 MF Cyprus CYP Alex Gogić
15 MF Northern Ireland NIR Caolan Boyd-Munce
No. Pos. Nation Player
16 MF South Korea KOR Kwon Hyeok-kyu (on loan from Celtic)
17 MF Australia AUS Keanu Baccus
18 DF Republic of Ireland IRL Charles Dunne
19 FW Israel ISR Stav Nahmani (on loan from Maccabi Haifa)
20 FW England ENG Toyosi Olusanya
22 DF Scotland SCO Marcus Fraser (vice-captain)
23 DF Australia AUS Ryan Strain
24 FW Scotland SCO Lewis Jamieson
27 GK Slovakia SVK Peter Urminský
34 DF Scotland SCO Ethan Sutherland
42 DF Uganda UGA Elvis Bwomono

On loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
21 FW New Zealand NZL Alex Greive (on loan at Dundee United)
25 FW Scotland SCO Kieran Offord (on loan at Stirling Albion)
26 DF Scotland SCO Luke Kenny (on loan at Cliftonville)
28 FW Scotland SCO Aiden Gilmartin (on loan at Stranraer)
No. Pos. Nation Player
29 DF Northern Ireland NIR Gallagher Lennon (on loan at Linlithgow Rose)
30 MF Scotland SCO Fraser Taylor (on loan at Ballymena United)
35 FW Scotland SCO Andrew Gaffney (on loan at Berwick Rangers)

Club staff

Board of directors

Name Role
John NeedhamChairman[18]
Jim GillespieVice-chairman
Mark MacMillanDirector
Paul McNeillDirector
Alex WhiteDirector
Chris StewartSecretary
Keith LasleyChief operating officer
Tony FitzpatrickClub ambassador

Coaching staff

Name Role
Stephen RobinsonManager
Diarmuid O'CarrollAssistant manager
Jamie LangfieldGoalkeeping coach
Brian KerrU18 coach
Allan McManusHead of academy
Scott GallowayHead of academy coaching
Craig McLeishHead of youth programme
Martin FoyleHead of recruitment
Ross HorsburghHead of analysis
Gerry DochertyHead of physiotherapy
Gary McCollHead of sports science
Tommy DochertyGroundsman
Joe HayesKitman

Managers

European record

Season Competition Round Opponent Home Away Aggregate
1980–81 UEFA Cup First round Sweden IF Elfsborg 0–0 2–1 2–1
Second round France Saint-Étienne 0–0 0–2 0–2
1983–84 UEFA Cup First round Netherlands Feyenoord 0–1 0–2 0–3
1985–86 UEFA Cup First round Czechoslovakia Slavia Prague 3–0 (a.e.t.) 0–1 3–1
Second round Sweden Hammarby IF 1–2 3–3 4–5
1987–88 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup First round Norway Tromsø 1–0 0–0 1–0
Second round Belgium Mechelen 0–2 0–0 0–2

Other sports

Robert Mitchell of St Mirren F.C. won the Scottish 880 yards title five times between 1889 and 1894, missing only in 1893, and shares with Duncan McPhee (West of Scotland H., 1914 to 1923) the most wins in this event in Scottish AAA history. He also set Scottish records at two distances. At the St Mirren FC Sports, at West March, Paisley, on 19 July 1890 he ran 2:00 2/5 to establish a new Scottish All-comers record for 880 yards, beating a record set by Thomas Moffat at the Scottish championships in 1883. And at the Rangers Sports at Ibrox Park, Glasgow, on 3 August 1889 he ran 1:15 3/5 to establish new Scottish All-comers and Native records for 600 yards. In 1898 he was permanently suspended from amateur athletics for collaborating with betting on races.[19][20][21][22]

Notes

  1. ↑ From 1893 to 1975, Division Two was the second tier of league football. With the introduction of the Premier Division in 1975, the second tier became known as the First Division. Since 2013, the second tier has been named the Championship.

References

  1. 1 2 "St Mirren Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Archived from the original on 16 November 2020. Retrieved 25 December 2018.
  2. ↑ "When Saints were kings: How St Mirren made history in the Anglo-Scottish Cup 40 years ago". The Scotsman. 16 April 2020. Archived from the original on 27 July 2022. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
  3. ↑ Spiers, Graham (22 March 2010). "A silver lining for cup-winning Rangers". The Times. London. Archived from the original on 15 September 2023. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
  4. ↑ "St Mirren 4–0 Celtic". BBC Sport. 25 March 2010. Archived from the original on 16 December 2019. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
  5. ↑ "Scottish Communities League Cup final: St Mirren 3 Hearts 2". The Daily Telegraph. London. 17 March 2013. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  6. ↑ "SFA confirms Project Brave academy placings". The Scotsman. 15 November 2017. Archived from the original on 30 July 2018. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  7. ↑ Scottish clubs urged to keep faith with youth by former St Mirren academy boss Archived 30 August 2021 at the Wayback Machine. BBC Sport, 14 January 2018.
  8. ↑ Youth Academy: Hall of Fame Archived 7 May 2019 at the Wayback Machine. St Mirren FC.
  9. ↑ "St Mirren Install Disabled Access Platform". Scottish Supporters Network. 10 November 2016. Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 25 December 2018.
  10. ↑ Mackenzie, Alasdair (13 June 2018). "St Mirren stadium renamed after six-figure sponsorship deal is agreed". The Herald. Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 25 December 2018.
  11. ↑ "St Mirren rename stadium as club move closer to fan ownership". The Herald. 6 November 2020. Archived from the original on 5 April 2023. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  12. ↑ "ST MIRREN SECURE LANDMARK SPONSORSHIP DEAL WITH DIGBY BROWN". St Mirren FC. 31 March 2022. Archived from the original on 3 February 2023. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
  13. ↑ "St Mirren 3 – 1 Morton: Saints win Renfrewshire derby". The Scotsman. Archived from the original on 19 August 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  14. ↑ Online, Record Sport (22 November 2015). "Morton fans turn Record Sport story into banner to poke fun at St Mirren rivals". Archived from the original on 16 September 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  15. 1 2 Ross, David (2005). The Roar of the Crowd: Following Scottish football down the years. Argyll publishing. pp. 94, 214. ISBN 978-1-902831-83-1.
  16. ↑ "St Mirren Records". Stmirren.info. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2010.
  17. ↑ "First Team Squad". St Mirren FC. Archived from the original on 7 May 2019. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  18. ↑ "New chairman statement". StMirren.com. Archived from the original on 29 July 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  19. ↑ Scottish Athletics 1883–1983, John W. Keddie (1982)
  20. ↑ "Scottish Championship Results – Track". Archived from the original on 9 October 2022. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
  21. ↑ "Scottish Athletics Record Book" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 July 2023. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
  22. ↑ "Glasgow Evening Post", Mon 27 Jun 1892 p. 6
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