St. Mirren F.C.
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| Full name | St. Mirren Football Club |
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| Nickname(s) | The Buddies or The Saints | |||
| Founded | 1877 | |||
| Ground | St. Mirren Park Greenhill Road Paisley Renfrewshire PA3 2EA (Capacity: 8,008) |
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| Chairman |  Stewart Gilmour |
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| Manager | Gus MacPherson |
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| League | Scottish Premier League | |||
| 2009–10 | Scottish Premier League, 11th | |||
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 Current season |
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Saint Mirren Football Club (commonly known by the shorter St. Mirren or by the nicknames; The Buddies and The Saints) are a Scottish professional football club based in Paisley, Renfrewshire. St. Mirren play in the Scottish Premier League, having been promoted from the First Division in 2005–06.
St. Mirren have won the Scottish Cup three times in 1926, 1959 and 1987 and have played four times in European competition (UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1987–88 and the UEFA Cup 1980–81, 1983–84 and 1985–86).
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[edit] History
Saint Mirren were formed as a gentlemen's club which included amongst other sports, cricket and rugby in the late 19th century. The increasing popularity of football ensured that by 1877 the members had decided to switch codes and play association football. 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".
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 and not 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 League along with fellow Paisley club Abercorn. Of the 10 founder clubs, currently only 5 survive today 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. 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 F.C. 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 & John Sutton.
The club originally wore scarlet and blue strips, however after one season changed to the current black and white striped shirts, which have been worn all bar one season in the 1900s where cream tops were used. The black and white strip wore by St. Mirren was chosen because of the black and white cart that flows through the town of paisley, where the team originate
In 1922, St. Mirren 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.
[edit] Stadium
St. Mirren played at four different venues before moving to their ground of 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 East 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 whilst 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 planning permission for the club to develop their old ground. this involved the sale of the grounds to a supermarket chain, and the construction of a new stadium in Greenhill Road, 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 the debts of the club. 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 10,000 seat stadium, also called St. Mirren Park, or New St. Mirren Park.
The new ground is also known as St Mirren Park and is in close proximity to St James' Station and is only 300yds along Murray Street from the old ground at Love Street. It has four stands and is similar to the other Barr identikit stadiums occupied by Airdrie Utd, Clyde, and Hamilton Academical. 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 from a Billy Mehmet penalty in the quarter final of the Homecoming Scottish Cup.
[edit] Training Ground
The club have recently completed the training ground in the Ralston area of Paisley. The clubs day to day training venue will be secured with this centre. This facility run in conjunction with Renfrewshire Council was completed for the start of the 2009-10 SPL season.
[edit] Colours and sponsors
The traditional home colours of St. Mirren are black and white strips, however for the first season the colours were Scarlet and Blue. It is unknown as to how exactly the colours black and white were chosen, however popular theories include that the colours come from the black and white of the freemasons or the black and white carts that run through paisley. The strips have varied very little, however the thickness of the stripes has often varied, with pinstripes being popular, and indeed some years have seen horizontal stripes.
Away tops are traditionally red or all black, however in some cases strips have varied from orange to light blue, as seen on last season's 2007–08 strip. Since 2007, the Danish firm, Hummel International, have replaced Xara as kit-manufacturers.
St. Mirren has had a number of main sponsors, mainly in the transportation 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. St.Mirren, although not the best team in the SPL are notable for winning the Scottish Cup 3 times which for a small is team is quite an achievment. Others honors include winning the Scottish Anglo Cup and the Barcelona cup which no other team in Scotland has managed.
[edit] Honours
- Scottish First Division: 1967–681 1976–77, 1999–2000, 2005–06
- Scottish Cup: 1926, 1959, 1987
- 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, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10
- Victory Cup: 1919
- Anglo-Scottish Cup Winners: 1979–80
- Summer Cup: 1943
- Epson Invitational Tournament: 1986–87
1As the 'old' Scottish Second Division
[edit] Club records
- Highest home attendance: 47,438: .v. Celtic on 20 August 1949[1]
- Highest average home attendance: 17,333, 1949–50 (15 games)[1]
- Biggest victory: 15-0: .v. Glasgow University on 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.[2]
- Youngest Player: Scott Gemmill 16 years & 60 days - vs. Raith Rovers (Starks Park) 8 August 2003.
- Most League appearances: Hugh Murray, 352 (1997-present)
- Most European appearances: Campbell Money, 8 (1985-1988)
- Most League goals: David McCrae, 221 (1923-1934)[3]
- 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 (1967-1968)
- 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 (18/11/1967 - 30/3/1968)
- Longest unbeaten league run: 34, 18/11/1967 (Division Two) - 16/11/1968 (Division One)
- Most Goals Scored in a season: 114, Division Two (1935-36)
- Most Goals Conceded in a season: 92, Division One (1920–21)
[edit] Current squad
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- For recent transfers, see List of Scottish football transfers 2009–10.
[edit] Reserves and Youths
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[edit] Non-playing staff
[edit] Boardroom
| Name | Role |
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| Stewart Gilmour |
Chairman |
| George Campbell |
Vice -Chairman |
| Allan Marshall |
Director/Secretary |
| Gordon Scott |
Director |
| Bryan McAusland |
Director |
| Ken McGeoch |
Director |
[edit] Management
[edit] Admin & Marketing
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Gus MacPherson |
Manager |
| Andy Millen |
Assistant Manager |
| Stuart Balmer |
First team Coach |
| Paul Mathers |
Goalkeeping Coach |
| David Longwell |
Head Of Youth Development |
| Frazer Robertson |
Youth Team Coach |
| Dr. Gerry Canning |
Club Doctor |
| John McCreadie |
Head Physiotherapist |
| Andy Sommerville |
Sports Scientist |
| Robert Campbell |
Asst Community Coach |
| Alan Gray |
Kit Man |
| Tommy Docherty |
Groundsman |
| Grant Cassidy |
Video Analyst |
| Norrie Jamieson |
Press Officer |
| Name | Role |
| Brian Caldwell |
General Manager |
| Campbell Kennedy |
Commercial Manager |
| Stephanie Lawrie |
Youth Development Administrator |
| Marion Barr |
Accountant |
| Kath Steel |
Office Administrator |
[edit] Managers
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[edit] References
- ^ a b Ross, David (2005). The Roar of the Crowd: Following Scottish football down the years. Argyll publishing. pp. 94, 214. ISBN 9-8781902-831831.
- ^ Camara has not been capped while with St. Mirren
- ^ St Mirren Records, some sources indicate McCrae scored 222
[edit] External links
- Official St. Mirren F.C. website
- 'Historical Database' of St. Mirren F.C.
- Black and White Army Unofficial St. Mirren website
- Mirren Mad
- St. Mirren BBC My Club page
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