St Mirren F.C.

St Mirren

Full name	St Mirren Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Buddies, The Saints
Founded	1877 (1877)
Ground	Paisley 2021 Stadium, Paisley
Ground Capacity	8,023[1]
Chairman	Gordon Scott
Manager	Jack Ross
League	Scottish Championship
2015–16	Scottish Championship, 6th
Website	Club home page
Home colours Away colours

St Mirren Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in Paisley, Renfrewshire, founded in 1877. The team plays in the Scottish Championship, having been relegated from the Scottish Premiership in 2014–15. The team has two nicknames, the "Buddies" and the "Saints".

St Mirren have won the Scottish Cup three times – 1926, 1959 and 1987 – and the Scottish League Cup in 2013. The club has played in European competition four times: UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1987–88 and the UEFA Cup in 1980–81, 1983–84 and 1985–86.

The club's home ground since 2009 is St Mirren Park, an 8,023^[1] capacity all seater ground on Greenhill Road, Paisley. The club's former ground from 1894 until 2009 was also called St Mirren Park, but was more commonly known as Love Street.

History

St Mirren was formed as a gentlemen's club which included, among other sports, cricket and rugby in the second half of the 19th century. 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 club originally wore scarlet and blue strips, but after one season 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; Thistle Park, Greenhills. St Mirren's first Scottish Cup match came on 4 September 1880, a 3–0 victory over Johnstone Athletic. The following year, the Buddies reached their first cup final but were beaten 3–1 by Thornliebank in the Renfrewshire Cup. In 1883 however the scores were reversed with the Saints winning the Renfrewshire Cup, 3–1 against Thornliebank. It is in 1883 that move to their third home, that of West March (early maps indicate area as West March rather than the commonly used Westmarch), defeating Queen's Park in the first game. In 1885, St Mirren played their first match against Morton, resulting in a defeat.

The 1890 season was an historic season for St Mirren, as they became founder members of the Scottish Football League along with fellow Paisley club Abercorn. Of the 11^[2] founder clubs, only 4 survive^[3] in the current league system. It was during the match against Morton at Cappielow in this year, that St Mirren played one of the first night games under light from oil lamps.

St Mirren moved to Love Street in 1894 and reached their first Scottish Cup final in the 1907–08 season but were defeated 5–1 by Celtic. The Buddies went on to lift the trophy in 1926, 1959 and 1987.

A cigarette card published in 1909 depicting 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. 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 once (2000–01) 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 after having a two-man advantage.^[4] 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.^[5] 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.^[6]

Stadium

St Mirren played at four different venues before moving to their ground at St Mirren Park, or Love Street, in 1894. The record attendance was 47,438 versus Celtic in 1949. Love Street saw extensive redevelopment in recent years to comply with both the recommendations of the Taylor Report and SPL regulations and the ground eventually became a 10,866 seat 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. It was rarely used to its full capacity.

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 (Asda), 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 giants 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 has a total seating capacity of 8,023 which is split up as follows: Main Stand: 2,220 West Stand: 2,516 South Stand: 1,633 North Stand: 1,654.^[7]

St Mirren Park

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.

Away tops are traditionally red or all black, but in some cases strips have varied from orange to light blue, as seen on this season's 2010–11 strip. From 2007–2011, the Danish firm, Hummel International, replaced Xara as kit-manufacturers.

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 have been sponsored since 2005 by Braehead Shopping Centre, a local shopping centre four miles away in Renfrew. 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 are owned by former St Mirren player, captain and manager, Tony Fitzpatrick and Raymond Stanley.

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 Mrs Panda.

Honours

• Scottish First Division: 1967–68,¹ 1976–77, 1999–2000, 2005–06
• Scottish Cup: 1926, 1959, 1987
• Scottish League Cup: 2013
• Scottish Challenge Cup: 2005
• Renfrewshire Cup: 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 Winners: 1979–80
• Summer Cup: 1943
• Epson Invitational Tournament: 1986–87
• Barcelona Cup Winners: 1922

¹As the 'old' Scottish Second Division

Rivalries

The club has a fierce rivalry with fellow neighbours Greenock Morton F.C.,^[8] a rivalry which sees a large amount of animosity between the two set of fans.^[9]

Club records

• Highest home attendance: 47,438: .v. Celtic on 20 August 1949^[10]
• Highest average home attendance: 17,333 1949–50 (15 games)^[10]
• Biggest victory: 15–0 v. Glasgow University, Scottish Cup, 30 January 1960
• Most capped player: Iain Munro and Billy Thomson: 7 Scotland.
• Most capped international player: Mo Camara 79 appearances for the Guinean national team.
• Youngest Player: Scott Gemmill 16 years & 60 days – vs. Raith Rovers (Starks Park) 8 August 2003.
• Most Competitive Appearances: Hugh Murray, 462 (1997–2012)
• Most League appearances: Hugh Murray, 399 (1997–2012)
• Most European appearances: Campbell Money, 8 (1985–1988)
• Most League goals: David McCrae, 221 (1923–1934)^[11]
• 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: 24, Division Two (1971–72)
• 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

Current squad

As of 29 November 2016^[12][13][14]

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

No. Position Player 1 GK Jamie Langfield 2 DF Jason Naismith 3 DF Gary Irvine 4 DF Andy Webster 5 DF Ben Gordon 6 DF Gary MacKenzie 7 FW David Clarkson 8 MF Rocco Quinn 9 FW John Sutton 10 MF Stevie Mallan

No. Position Player 11 FW Calum Gallagher 12 GK Scott Gallacher 15 DF Jack Baird 16 MF Tom Walsh (on loan from Rangers) 17 MF Lewis Morgan 18 MF Lewis McLear 19 MF Jordan Stewart 20 FW Ryan Hardie (on loan from Rangers) 25 FW Lawrence Shankland (on loan from Aberdeen)

Under-20s squad

As of 19 July 2016^[15]

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

No. Position Player 28 GK Reece Willison 29 MF Kyle McAllister 30 DF Greig McNaughton 31 MF Nathan Flanagan 32 DF Dylan McKendry 33 FW Craig Johnston 34 DF Kalvin Orsi 35 MF Darren Whyte

No. Position Player 36 MF Connor O'Keefe 37 DF Mark Morrison 38 MF Luke Barclay 39 DF Andrew McDonald 40 MF Cameron MacPherson 41 MF Lee Fawkes 42 FW Kyle Magennis 43 GK Chris Henry

Out on loan

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

No. Position Player 14 MF Kyle Hutton (on loan at Airdrieonians)

For recent transfers, see List of Scottish football transfers summer 2016.

Club staff

Boardroom

^[16]

Coaching staff

Administration and marketing

Managers

European record

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

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to St. Mirren FC.

• Official St Mirren F.C. website
• 'Historical Database' of St Mirren F.C.
• The St.Mirren Programme Archive
• St Mirren BBC My Club