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*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/st_johnstone/default.stm BBC Sport's St. Johnstone page]
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/st_johnstone/default.stm BBC Sport's St. Johnstone page]
: with [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/s/st_johnstone/fixtures/default.stm Fixtures], [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/s/st_johnstone/results/default.stm Results], [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/s/st_johnstone/tables/default.stm League Table], and [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/s/st_johnstone/club_stats/default.stm Statistics]
: with [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/s/st_johnstone/fixtures/default.stm Fixtures], [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/s/st_johnstone/results/default.stm Results], [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/s/st_johnstone/tables/default.stm League Table], and [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/s/st_johnstone/club_stats/default.stm Statistics]

Fan sites:
*[http://www.saintjohnstone-mad.co.uk/ Saints MAD]
*[http://www.grange.demon.co.uk/saints/sjfc.htm Temple of Saints]
*[http://www.blueheaven.org.uk/home/ Blue Heaven fanzine]
*[http://www.stjohnstone.vitalfootball.co.uk/ Vital St Johnstone]
*[http://www.weareperth.co.uk We Are Perth fans' forum]
*[http://www.neilbrown.newcastlefans.com/stjohnstone/stjohnstone.htm Independent statistics site]

Other:
*[http://www.caledonianfc.co.uk/Scottish%20Cup/sntsaway.html A St. Johnstone match programme cover from the 1991/92 season]


{{St. Johnstone F.C.}}
{{St. Johnstone F.C.}}

Revision as of 16:11, 7 June 2007

St. Johnstone F.C.
File:Image-St Johnstone FC logo.jpg
Full nameSt. Johnstone Football Club
Nickname(s)The Saints
Founded1885
GroundMcDiarmid Park
Capacity10,673
ChairmanScottish Geoff Brown
ManagerIrish Owen Coyle
LeagueScottish First Division
2006-07Scottish First Division, 2nd

St. Johnstone Football Club is a Scottish football team based in Perth. Although they are officially recorded as being formed in 1884, recent research has shown that they did not play their first game until February 1885. The club plays its home games at McDiarmid Park.

At the close of the 2006-07 season, St. Johnstone finished second in the Scottish First Division. For the second season running, this was the club's highest placing since being relegated from the Scottish Premier League in 2002.

The team is currently managed by former Republic of Ireland international Owen Coyle.

History

For St. Johnstone's season-by-season stats, see here.

Origins

The club was formed by members of the local cricket team seeking to occupy their time once the cricket season was finished. The cricketers were kicking a football around the North Inch, a large public park beside the River Tay, and decided to get enough players together to form a team. This was in the autumn of 1884, and is generally acknowledged to be the date of the formation of St. Johnstone Football Club, although it wasn't until early in the following year that this team of footballers, playing on a casual basis, held an official meeting which led to the forming of the club as a separate, permanent entity rather than a "spin-off" of the cricket club.[1]

Football was beginning to become popular, and although there were several local teams playing the sport, it was St. Johnstone who would become the club most associated with the town which gave the club its name. In the Middle Ages, Perth was colloquially known as St. John's Toun because the church at the centre of the parish was dedicated to St. John the Baptist. Agnus Dei (The Lamb of God), the symbol associated with John the Baptist, is a part of the St. Johnstone club crest.[2]

The club members leased a piece of land adjacent to the South Inch, known as the Recreation Grounds, which became the club's first home. After several decades it became clear they had outgrown those grounds so, in 1924, they moved to the other side of Perth and built Muirton Park, which would serve as their home for the next sixty-five years.[3]

Although St. Johnstone have had two relatively successful periods in their history, the club remains without any wins in national competitions to date, barring the Scottish Consolation Cup triumph of 1911-12. There have been two appearances in the final of the League Cup, losing first to Celtic 1-0 in 1969, and 2-1 to Rangers in 1998, with Canadian internationalist Nick Dasovic scoring for Saints. The club also appeared once in the League Challenge Cup final, losing 1-0 to Stranraer in 1996.

Willie Ormond era

In terms of the league, the club's highest-ever finish has been third place in the old First Division, which occurred on two occasions. The first was in 1970-71, when Saints finished behind Celtic and Aberdeen but ahead of Rangers. The team was mostly comprised of the 1969 League Cup team, managed by Willie Ormond, who eventually went on to manage Scotland. The club had some notable players during this period, who later went on to success at other clubs - such as Henry Hall, Alex MacDonald, John Lambie, John Connolly, and Jim Pearson.

This third-placed finish led to a European adventure in the UEFA Cup, beating German giants SV Hamburg and Hungarians Vasas Budapest before finally going out narrowly in Yugoslavia to NK Zeljeznicar Sarajevo. The club continued to play in the top division of the Scottish Football League until reconstruction in 1975, but were relegated from the new Premier Division in its first season.

McDiarmid Park's south stand is named the Ormond Stand in his honour.

Relegations and rebuilding

It took Saints until 1983 to return - albeit for a single season - before setting a record through suffering two successive relegations in 1984 and 1985. They eventually found themselves bottom of the entire league in 1986 and skirted with financial oblivion, before local businessman Geoff Brown stepped in.

An unprecedented change in the club's focus occurred over the next decade or so, with the move from long-term home Muirton Park to the new purpose-built McDiarmid Park on the outskirts of the city, the first purpose-built all-seater stadium built in the United Kingdom. The new stadium was named to recognise the generous donation of land by local farmer Bruce McDiarmid. This plus the input of significant transfer funds and the appointment of manager Alex Totten spurred Saints through the leagues. They obtained promotion to the First Division in 1988. Saints then memorably won the First Division championship and promotion to the Premier Division in 1990 during the first season of football at McDiarmid Park.

Saints finished 1990-91 in 7th place, but their season was buoyed by an appearance in the Scottish Cup semi-final, in which they lost to Dundee United.

The following season proved to be Totten's last at the helm, an eighth-placed finish bringing to an end his five-year reign as manager. He was succeeded by John McClelland for the 1992-93 season. The Irishman didn't fare much better, however, leading the club to 6th place. Another semi-final cup appearance, this time the League Cup, sweetened the campaign slightly.

St. Johnstone's four-year run in the Premier Division came to an end in 1993-94, a 10th-placed finish sending them back to the First Division. McClelland left the club before the season ended, and was replaced by former Dundee United striker Paul Sturrock.

Success in the 1990s

Under Sturrock's stewardship, more emphasis was placed on the club rearing its own players. This bore fruit in the form of Callum Davidson and Danny Griffin. Sturrock also introduced – at least in principle – the concept of morning and afternoon training sessions in an attempt to raise his squad to the peak of fitness.

In Sturrock's first full season in charge, Saints finished 5th in the First Division and reached the quarter-finals of the League Cup. In 1995-96, he led them to fourth.

League success returned in 1996-97 with the First Division championship and a return to the top flight.

The club more than held their own in the first season back. Their 5th-placed finish meant they became founder members of the SPL the following season.

Although Sturrock soon left for Dundee United, the club found a second 'golden period' in 1998-99 under new manager Sandy Clark, when the club finished third in the SPL behind Rangers and Celtic. Saints also reached the final of the League Cup and the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup in that season, losing to Rangers in both competitions. They lost to Rangers in five of the six meetings between the two clubs that season (including a 7-0 home defeat). Saints won 3-1 in the other game.[4] Their finishing position in the league meant Saints had qualified for the 1999-2000 UEFA Cup campaign. They started with a 3-1 aggregate win in the qualifying round over Finnish side VPS Vaasa, but were beaten 6-3 on aggregate by French giants Monaco in the first round proper. The return leg saw international stars such as Fabien Barthez, John Arne Riise and David Trézéguet playing at McDiarmid Park.

The new millennium

After a period of steady decline, the club were eventually relegated from the Premier League in 2002, and remain in the First Division.

On November 8, 2006, St. Johnstone beat Rangers 2-0 at Ibrox to reach the semi-finals of the League Cup. Steve Milne scored both of the goals.[5] This was the club's first victory at Ibrox since April 1971. It was also the first time the club has beaten Rangers in a cup competition, and the first time that Rangers have been eliminated from a major cup competition at home by lower-division opposition. On January 31, 2007, Saints were knocked out of the League Cup at the semi-final stage by Hibs.[6]

On April 14, 2007, St. Johnstone were beaten 2-1 by Celtic at Hampden in the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup.

On April 21, 2007, second-placed Saints won 3-0 at home to Queen of the South, while table-toppers Gretna played out a goalless draw against the visiting Clyde, which put the Perth club just one point (and seven goals) behind Gretna. As a result, the First Division championship was to be decided on the final day of the season.[7]

Seven days later, St. Johnstone were pipped to the First Division championship by Gretna, who had led the division for the majority of the season. Saints won 4-3 at Hamilton Academical,[8] but James Grady scored an injury-time winner for Gretna at Ross County.[9] The results maintained Gretna's one-point lead and they achieved promotion to the Premier League. Gretna's caretaker-manager is former Saints player Davie Irons.

Local rivals

St. Johnstone share a Tayside rivalry with both Dundee and Dundee United. It was against the former on New Year's Day 1997 that they recorded their biggest league win in recent memory, 7-2.

Current squad

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
— GK Scotland SCO Kevin Cuthbert
— GK Scotland SCO Alan Main
— GK Scotland SCO Gordon O'Brien
— DF Scotland SCO Steven Anderson
— DF Scotland SCO Willie Dyer
— DF Scotland SCO Kevin James (c)
— DF Scotland SCO Andy Lawrie
— DF Scotland SCO Allan McManus
— DF Germany GER Simon Mensing
— DF Scotland SCO Kevin Rutkiewicz
— DF North Macedonia MKD Goran Stanić
— MF Scotland SCO Bobby Barr
— MF Scotland SCO Martin Hardie
No. Pos. Nation Player
— MF Scotland SCO Derek McInnes
— MF Scotland SCO Willie McLaren
— MF Scotland SCO Kevin Moon
— MF Scotland SCO Paul Sheerin
— FW Ireland EIR Owen Coyle
— FW Netherlands NED Dyron Daal
— FW Scotland SCO Steven Doris
— FW Ireland EIR Andy Jackson
— FW Scotland SCO Peter MacDonald
— FW Scotland SCO Neil McCallum
— FW Scotland SCO Steven Milne
— FW Scotland SCO David Weatherston

Non-playing staff

  • Chairman: Geoff Brown
  • Managing Director: Stewart Duff
  • Club Directors:
    • Dougie McIntyre
    • Steve Park
    • Steve Brown
    • Stan Harris
    • Abby Ramsay

Honours

League

Managers past and present

St. Johnstone has had 21 managers in its history:

Prior to this, the team was picked by committee - a practice in wide use at the time.

Notable players

For a complete list of former St. Johnstone players with a Wikipedia article, see here.

1 - Began professional career with St. Johnstone

Statistics

Records

Average attendances

As of February 17, 2006, the average league-game attendance at McDiarmid Park for the 2006-07 season is 3,804, which is 36% of the 10,673 capacity.[10]

Past averages:
2005-06: 2,667 (25% of capacity)
2004-05: 2,414 (23%)

Source: Soccerbase.com

Trivia

  • Their current McDiarmid Park home, built in 1989, was the first purpose-built all-seater football stadium in the country.
  • They are the only league team in England or Scotland to have the letter "J" in their name.
  • St. Johnstone are the only Scottish side to be unbeaten at home in European football.[citation needed]
  • On his DVD 1000 Years of Popular Music, singer-songwriter Richard Thompson explains in his introduction to the song "Bonnie St. Johnstone" how the town itself has been mostly absorbed into Perth —- the most prominent recognition of the name now being the football club.

References

  1. ^ Official club website history section
  2. ^ St. John's Kirk website
  3. ^ Official club website history section
  4. ^ St. Johnstone 3-1 Rangers 1 - Soccerbase
  5. ^ Rangers 0-2 St. Johnstone - BBC Sport
  6. ^ St. Johnstone 1-3 Hibernian - BBC Sport
  7. ^ Gretna 0-0 Clyde - BBC Sport
  8. ^ Hamilton Accies 3-4 St. Johnstone - BBC Sport
  9. ^ Ross County 2-3 Gretna - BBC Sport
  10. ^ Soccerbase

Further reading/bibliography

  • Bannerman, Gordon (1991). Saints Alive! St Johnstone Football Club Five Years on a High. Sportsprint Publishing, Edinburgh. ISBN 0 85976 346 3.
  • Blair, Alastair (2003). St. Johnstone FC (Images of Sport). Tempus Publishing, Limited. pp. 128pp. ISBN 0-7524-2183-2.
  • Slater, Jim. Who's Who of St Johnstone 1946 to 1992.
with Fixtures, Results, League Table, and Statistics

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