St. Mirren (Scotland)

St Mirren FC is a Scottish football club formed in 1877, who come from the town of Paisley, which is to the west of Glasgow. They are named after Saint Mirin, the founder of a church at the site of Paisley Abbey and Patron Saint of Paisley.

St Mirren were originally formed as a "gentleman's club" to play rugby, cricket and other sports until the growing popularity of football persuaded them to introduce the game in 1877 playing in non competitive football. 

The club became founder members of the Scottish League in 1890, moving into their Love Street home four years later. They had previously played at Shortroods, Thistle Park Greenhills and West March.

The team finished third in the league in 1892-93 and accrued four Scottish Cup semi-final appearances before reaching the final in 1907-08 when they were defeated 5-1 by Celtic at Hampden Park.

In 1922, 'The Buddies' or 'The Saints' were invited to play in the Barcelona Cup invitational tournament to celebrate the inauguration of the Les Corts, the then home of FC Barcelona. They won the tournament by beating Notts County in the final.

Johnny Cochrane had been appointed as manager in 1916, going on to lead the team to Scottish Cup triumph in 1925-26 when Celtic were beaten 2-0. Under the leadership of John Morrison the Buddies reached the 1933-34 Cup final but went down 5-0 to Rangers.

However, the form dipped with Saints relegated to Division Two in 1934-35 before regaining their top flight status at the first attempt; which was renamed Division A for a decade after World War Two. Aberdeen defeated St Mirren in the 1955-56 League Cup final.

The team led by Willie Reid went on to lift the Scottish Cup in 1958-59 as Aberdeen were defeated 3-1 in front of 108,591 fans at Hampden Park with Tommy Bryceland, Ally Miller and Gerry Baker netting the goals. Another final appearance came in 1961-62 but Saints were undone 2-0 by Rangers with Jackie Cox in charge of the team.

Saints were relegated in 1966-67 before Alex Wright's side lifted the Second Division title a year later to win promotion. Wilson Humphries was in charge of the team in 1970-71 as the team were relegated once more. It would take until the 1976-77 campaign before St Mirren, led by Alex Ferguson would join the top tier in the Premier Division.

Jim Clunie was manager in 1979-80 as the Buddies finished in third place in the league, which would lead to the first of three short UEFA Cup campaigns in the 80's. Bristol City were also beaten as Saints lifted the Anglo-Scottish Cup.

Rikki McFarlane and then Alex Miller oversaw the team as St Mirren reached three Scottish Cup semi-finals in the 80's before they lifted the Cup for a third time in 1986-87 when an extra time goal from Ian Ferguson was enough to defeat Dundee United.

The Love Street favourites of the day included Paul Lambert, Campbell Money, Tony Fitzpatrick and Frank McGarvey. Fitzpatrick took over as manager before being replaced by David Hay as the Saints were relegated in 1991-92. Jimmy Bone and a returning Fitzpatrick had spells at the helm as the team performed in the second level First Division.

Tom Hendrie was manager as the Buddies lifted the First Division title in 1999-00 but the step up was too steep as the team went back down just twelve months later. Gus MacPherson took over team affairs after John Coughlin's tenure as manager from September 2002 to November 2003.

In 2005 Renfrewshire Council gave permission for The Buddies to redevelop Love Street, which was ageing and lacking facilities required in the modern age. Land for a new stadium was identified in Greenhill Road, close to Paisley St James station. 

Saints returned to the Premier League as First Division champions in 2005-06, doing just enough to secure their top flight status for the following four seasons. Love Street was sold to Tesco while The Saints moved to a new all seater 8,000 stadium in January 2009.

 
It was named New St Mirren Park, as Love Street's official name was St Mirren Park. The team went on to reach the 2009-10 League Cup final, where the team were defeated 1-0 by Rangers. Danny Lennon was appointed as manager in June 2010, remaining in place until May 2014.

The Buddies continued performing creditably in the SPL in their new environs. In March 2013 St Mirren defeated Heart of Midlothian 3-2 at Hampden Park to lift the League Cup thanks to goals from Esmaël Gonçalves, Steven Thompson and Conor Newton.

After finishing the 2013-14 season in eighth position the club didn't offer Lennon a new contract. His assistant Tommy Craig was appointed in his place. The decision didn't work out, with Craig leaving in December 2014 to be replaced by Gary Teale in a season that ended in relegation.

Ian Murray took charge of the team from May to December 2015 until former Scottish international Alex Rae took over. His reign lasted until September 2016 when Jack Ross was appointed as his replacement. The former Saints, Clyde and Falkirk defender proved to be an inspired selection.

St Mirren were crowned as Championship title winners in 2017-18 and returned to the Premiership as Lewis Morgan and Gavin Reilly banged in the goals. Ross's talents hadn't gone unnoticed as he departed to take the Sunderland manager's job. Alan Stubbs was appointed in his place. 

Stubbs lasted just three months before he was replaced by former Coleraine boss Oran Kearney in September 2018 with Saints struggling in the league. They managed to retain their top flight status after defeating Dundee United on penalties in the play-offs.

Jim Goodwin was appointed as manager in the summer of 2019, leading his side skiooered by Stephen McGinn to an improved finish when the COVID-19 pandemic led to an early curtailment of the 2019-20 campaign.

St Mirren FC will play in the Scottish Premiership in the 2020-21 season.

My visits

Thursday 28th January 2010

It was the last of three days excellent fun in Glasgow so I had to check out of my excellent hotel and I leave my bag at Central Station in readiness for my train home later that evening. I had enjoyed my few days stay in the area stay and felt sad I wasn’t there for longer. However, I still had a few hours to cram in some fun.

I arrived in Paisley ready for a look at New St. Mirren Park. As part of the Back2Boro campaign I’m investigating the possibilities of marketing a “Buy a Brick” scheme where fans purchase bricks with inscriptions on them and have them placed on a wall. I have been liaising with people from many clubs who have run similar schemes. 

St Mirren FC are such a club. Although my contact at The Buddies was on holiday, he told me to pop along and take pictures. Again I was allowed down the tunnel and given a free run to take photos. It was a similar stadium, albeit a bit smaller to Airdrie. It was still sparkling and had only being open for a year, replacing Love Street. 

I was nattering to an old boy waiting for the ticket office to open who advised me that Love Street’s ground was still being demolished, so I walked up there to take some snaps. The gents, like so many others on my trip, eyes lit up when I said which town I come from. 

They went down Nostalgia Avenue about holidays of years past and what a lovely place Scarborough was which is always nice to hear.

New St Mirren Park was a symmetrical gleaming arena, consisting of three identical constructions: the North, West and South Stands. The East Stand is slightly taller and holds all the administrative and changing rooms, along with the corporate facilities. All are all fitted out with black and white seats.

Love Street's big stand behind the goal had been stripped and was awaiting demolition as was the former terrace which had stood opposite the Main Stand. The other sides had been flattened and diggers were working in the centre of the pitch. 

The whole site was fenced off so access was not possible. It won't be long before people will be collecting the groceries where this famous old arena once stood, but hey that's progress so they say!

St Mirren 1 Aberdeen 1 (Monday 30th September 2013) Scottish Premiership (att: 4,051)

Having enjoyed a fantastic day visiting plenty of football clubs around Glasgow on a Bank Holiday in Scotland, I was ready for my Monday night action.

Following a siesta at my hotel on the south bank of The Clyde I scurried over the bridge to central station for the train down to Paisley St James. I was surprised at the amount of Aberdeen fans on board.

I had bought my ticket in advance hoping to be near to the away fans but I chose the wrong end of the Main Stand. The view was excellent. Danny Lennon's Saints had failed to register a win all season. Earlier in the day a fella who let me inside Shettleston Juniors fine home had predicted a 1-1 draw. I took him up on that.

It was a good night, if a little chilly for watching football. The locals certainly got behind their heroes, as did the impressive away following.

The first half ended scoreless. Calvin Zola was a handful up front for The Dons. However, it was The Buddies who went ahead on fifty four minutes when Steven Thompson netted after fine work from Paul McGowan. Chances came at either end following the goal as the game opened up into a decent encounter.

Niall McGinn struck the post for Aberdeen as I sat on my hands hoping for an equaliser for my bet, but not to celebrate if a goal did arrive. With five minutes remaining Peter Pawlett fired a shot into the net through a crowd.

I decided to walk into the town centre in hope of a faster train back into Glasgow, getting the great news on the way back that Everton had defeated Newcastle United to ensure my double bet went in. I was in a good mood in The Horseshoe that evening!

After late beers and a punt at the casino by my hotel I retired ready for a good sleep.