ST.MIRREN FOOTBALL CLUB


ST.MIRREN football club formed in 1877 taking their name from the Patron Saint of
Paisley, St Mirren. St Mirren who were previously a rugby football club decided to
change to football as we know it Soccer.
The game of Soccer (Football) is when a round ball is kicked and passed round a
park. A team is made up of 11 players. The pitch has two goals, each the same size, a
referee who decides if a foul has been committed and supporters who pay money to
see their club and this money is used to buy and sell players
St. Mirren's stadium is called Love Street or St. Mirren Park. It lies at the lower end
of Love Street, Paisley near Glasgow Airport. The stadium was opened in 1894 and
beside the stadium there was a Slaughterhouse. It was bought for £3,900 in 1905.
Back then there was an idea to raise money for the rent, it was to dump your rubbish
(well only clean rubbish) the idea failed and was abandoned. In 1911 sleepers were
bought (used for the terracing and cost sixpence). Work began on the main stand in
1921. Greyhound racing was tries in the 1930's in several grounds. This attempt also
failed and so did a speedway attempt in the 1970s. In 1957 a cover was built over the
enclosure and floodlights at the Caledonia end has since been built and where the
terracing lies at present at the Love Street end, a similar stand is to be built in January
2000. The stadium has one of the best playing surfaces at the moment, and when
teams come to play Glasgow Rangers or Glasgow Celtic for a European game, or the
Scotland team heading for Glasgow Airport they always train at Love street.
St. Mirren's first ever game was against Johnstone Britannia and St. Mirren won the
match 1 - 0, John Goold the scorer. Early players were Richard Hunter, John
Patterson, the captain, Andrew Brown, John Taylor and Davy Crawford.
In 1890 the SPL (Scottish Premier League) was formed, St. Mirren had rivals called
Abercorn who were founder members as well as St. Mirren. Today only, Rangers,
Celtic, St. Mirren and Dumbarton are the only founder members remaining. The first
ever league was won by Dumbarton but now they have fallen to the third division.
Things improved for St. Mirren though because in 1893 they finished 3rd. At that time
the saints moved to Love Street and Professional football was recognised. Bovril was
becoming familiar with fans and players and still is to this very day.
St. Mirren's first ever Scottish cup was in 1908 and they were beaten 5 - 1 by Celtic.
However, in 1919 Saints won the national trophy or Victory cup defeating Heart of
Midlothian at Parkhead, where Celtic Played. In the season 1920 - 21 the Saints were
relegated but 45 goals from Duncan Walker had them Promoted again. In the season
1921 - 22 Barcelona were opening their new stadium and held a cup to see what team
would officially open it. St. Mirren beat Notts County 2 - 1, Duncan Walker getting
both goals. This is thought to be the first European Trophy won by a Scottish team.
New players like Braceford, Sommers, Howison, Morrison and McCrae made an
impact.
The Scottish cup was to come to Paisley in 1926 when Saints beat Celtic 2 - 1 at
Hampden, April 10th. Celtic played in white but it was thought to be unlucky after
McCrae and Howison scored the two goals. In 1934 St. Mirren lost 5 - 0 to
Rangers. Morale was low and Saints were relegated but scored 114 goals the next
season to be promoted to the Premier League. There was a summer cup final against
Rangers. New players such as Deacon, McGarry and Linwood saw the Saints beat the
Gers 1 - 0 after Alex Linwood's Goal.
All the players seemed to go to fight in the Second World War but new players made
a name for themselves. Telfer, Milne, Steel and Cowan were some of them. It was a
time to be happy and attendances averaged between 15,000 and 20,000. Davy Lapsley
was a legend at the club. The manager then was Bobby Rankin and signed Lapsley
before he decided to go to Everton. Lapsley admires a player called Drinkwater who
played right half infront of Lapsley. Another legend was Davy Lesley known as
"Killer" as he was quick on the ball and sharp.
In the Mid 1950s Neilson, Telfer and Holmes led St. Mirren to Hampden in 1955
for the league cup final versus Aberdeen. The first half saw no goals but the final score
was 2 - 1 to Aberdeen.
In 1959 Saints played Aberdeen again but in the Scottish Cup Final. In the first
round of the competition th Saints beat Peebles 10 - 0 and in the semi final the score
was 4 - 0 versus Celtic to St. Mirren. In the final Players like Walker, Leishman,
Rodgers, Bryceland, Gerry Baker, Millne and Tommy Gemmil ensured the Saints beat
the Dons 2 - 1. In the season 1960 - 61 Gerry baker scored 10 goals in a 15 goal
thriller against Glasgow University - a record! After that game Baker transferred to
Manchester City following his 10 goal tally in the 15 - 0 defeat of Glasgow University.
Saints reached the final in 1962 after beating Celtic 3 - 0 in the Semi - Final. It was
Rangers in the final who won 2 - 0.
St. Mirren were relegated in 1967 but went up again in season 1967 - 68. In 1974
we were back in Division two and finished 11th. Bryceland left as manager and the
board brought in a man called Alex Ferguson now Sir Alex Ferguson. He finished 6th
in Division two and the saints were promoted to the First Division which saints went
on to win! In 1977 St. Mirren played Rangers in a close game the final score was
three all. To mark 100 years of the club they played European Champions Liverpool.
Not long after this game Sir Alex Ferguson left the reins and in came Clooney. St.
Mirren beat Rangers 2 - 1 shortly after.
St. Mirren were in the anglo - Scottish Cup and were to beat Bristol City 5 - 1 on
aggregate and to be the only Scottish team ever to win it. The league in 1980 gave
good results, 2 - 1 against Celtic, 1 - 0 against Aberdeen and 2 - 0 versus Clydebank.
Frank Macavennie made an impact. That year Saints reached the Semi - Final but
were knocked out by Aberdeen.
The next year at the Semi - Final stage It was Rangers and St. Mirren were beaten 1
- 0, however the goal never crossed the line and I have video evidence to prove it!
Saints hit Europe in 1985. The first round of the Uefa cup saw Saints beat Slavia
Prague 3 - 1 on aggregate but went out in the next round.
St. Mirren had yet anothernew manager Alex Smith and in 1987 Saints beat Rivals
Greenock Morton 3 - 0 in the Scottish Cup 4th round to meet Raith Rovers. Then the
Saints met Hearts and won by 2 goals to 1. In the final it was Dundee United and Ian
Ferguson scored in extra - time with United getting a goal disallowed.
The team was Money, Watson, Hamilton, Magarvey, Ferguson, McDowell, Winnie,
Abercromby, Lambert, Cooper and Hamilton.
Today the Manager is Tom Hendrie and we are in the SPL! I know that we can oncw
again prove our critics wrong and finish mid table! Go Saints!