| Full name | St. Johnstone Football Club | ||
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| Nickname(s) | The Saints | ||
| Founded | 1884 | ||
| Ground | McDiarmid Park Perth, Scotland (Capacity: 10,456) |
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| Chairman | Steve Brown | ||
| Manager | Steve Lomas | ||
| League | Scottish Premier League | ||
| 2010–11 | Scottish Premier League, 8th | ||
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| Current season | |||
St. Johnstone F.C. is a professional football club based in Perth, Scotland. Although it is officially recorded as being formed in 1884, the club did not play its first game until February 1885. The club's home since 1989 has been McDiarmid Park.
St. Johnstone won the Scottish Football League First Division, the second tier of league football in Scotland, in 2008–09. This gained them promotion to the Scottish Premier League, bringing a return of SPL football to McDiarmid Park for the 2009–10 campaign, after a seven-year absence. The club have historically floated between the top two divisions of Scottish football, obtaining the reputation of being a "yo-yo club". Their traditional rivals are the two Dundee clubs, Dundee and Dundee United, with matches between St. Johnstone and either Dundee club being called Tayside derbies. St. Johnstone have a stronger rivalry with Dundee than Dundee United.
The club has had limited success in cup competitions. It has reached two Scottish League Cup Finals, losing them to each of the Old Firm clubs. The club has never reached a Scottish Cup Final in its history, although it has been in a number of semi-finals in recent years, and were only defeated on penalties at that stage by eventual winners Rangers in 2008. St. Johnstone won its first national cup competition of the modern era by winning the Scottish Challenge Cup in 2007, the club had won the Scottish Consolation Cup in 1911. They have competed in European competitions on two occasions via finishing high enough in the league table to qualify.
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The club was formed by members of the local cricket team seeking to occupy their time once the cricket season had finished. The cricketers were kicking a football around the South Inch, a large public park beside the River Tay during the autumn of 1884. This is widely acknowledged to be the date of the formation of St. Johnstone Football Club, although it wasn't until early in the following year that a group of footballers, led by John Colborn, held an official meeting that led to the formation of the club as a separate entity rather than a 'spin-off' of the cricket club.[1]
Football was becoming more popular and although there were several local teams playing the sport, including Fair City Athletic, Erin Rovers and Caledonian (based at Perth Railway station) it was St. Johnstone that became the club most associated with the town that 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]
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 – and regular problems with flooding – 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 65 years.[1]
The club has had little success in national competitions. It has never won the top league, nor won either of the two major cup tournaments: the Scottish Cup or the League Cup. 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, who have yet to reach a Scottish Cup final. The club have also appeared twice in the Scottish Challenge Cup final, losing 1–0 to Stranraer in 1996, and winning the trophy in 2007 with a 3–2 victory over Dunfermline. They also won the Scottish Consolation Cup in 1911–12.
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 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 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.
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 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 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-finals, 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-finals 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.
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 the fitness level of his players. 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 place and a Scottish Cup quarter-final. 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), but Saints won 3–1 in the other game.[4] Their finishing position in the league meant Saints had qualified for the 1999–00 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 meant that international stars such as Fabien Barthez, John Arne Riise and David Trézéguet played at McDiarmid Park. St. Johnstone remain unbeaten at home in European competitions.
After a period of steady decline, the club were eventually relegated from the Premier League in 2002. Clark's replacement Billy Stark oversaw this relegation, and left the club in 2004 after two seasons of varying success. With the club in eighth place after a poor 2004–05 season under Stark's replacement John Connolly, Owen Coyle took charge in April 2005, ushering in a promising new period in which St. Johnstone earned second-place finishes in 2005–06 and 2006–07.
There was also cup success under Coyle. On 8 November 2006, St. Johnstone beat Rangers 2–0 at Ibrox to reach the semi-finals of the League Cup. Steven 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 beat Rangers in a cup competition, and the first time that Rangers had been eliminated from a major cup competition at home by lower-division opposition. On 31 January 2007, Saints were knocked out of the League Cup at the semi-finals stage by Hibs.[6]
On 14 April 2007, St. Johnstone were beaten 2–1 by Celtic at Hampden in the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup. By then Coyle's name was being linked with managerial vacancies in the SPL.
On 21 April 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] minutes after the St Johnstone game had finished. The results maintained Gretna's one-point lead and they achieved promotion to the Premier League under former Saints player Davie Irons.
Owen Coyle left the club on 22 November 2007, to become manager of English club Burnley. Saints' next game, the Challenge Cup Final against Dunfermline three days later, saw them win their first cup since the Scottish Consolation Cup of 1911, with a 3–2 scoreline.[10]
St. Johnstone midfielder Derek McInnes was appointed as Coyle's replacement as manager on 27 November 2007,[11] after Coyle's assistant, Sandy Stewart, who had been in charge in a caretaker-manager capacity for the Challenge Cup Final, decided to follow Coyle south to Burnley. McInnes began as a player-manager. Results to the end of 2007 continued the indifferent form shown under Coyle, leaving St. Johnstone in third place, some way behind the leaders. In 2008 the club did, however, reach the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup for the second consecutive season, losing out to Rangers on penalties after extra time.[12] It was the club's seventh appearance in the semi-finals, and their seventh defeat.
On 2 May 2009, Saints beat Greenock Morton 3–1 at McDiarmid Park to clinch the First Division title and a return to the Premier League after a seven-year absence.[13] They finished eighth in their first season back.
In November 2011, on the same day the club announced the appointment of new manager Steve Lomas, it was also announced that club chairman Geoff Brown was retiring and therefore stepping down from his post. His son, Steve Brown, has been handed control of the club. He had been the longest serving club chairman in Scottish football.
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.
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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For a list of all St. Johnstone players with a Wikipedia article, see Category:St. Johnstone F.C. players.
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St. Johnstone has had 22 managers in its history. The longest-serving manager was David Rutherford (14 years). The club has, on average, appointed a new manager every four years. Willie Ormond and Bobby Brown both left Saints to manage the Scotland national team.
Prior to this, the team was picked by committee – a practice in wide use at the time.
Below is a list of all of St. Johnstone's shirt sponsors:
The average league-game attendance at McDiarmid Park for the season 2007–08 was 2,913, which is 27.29% of the 10,673 capacity and up 3.59% on the 2006–07 season.[15]
Past averages:
| Season | Competition | Round | Opponent | 1st leg | 2nd leg | Aggregate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971–72 | UEFA Cup | First round | Hamburg | 2 – 1 | 0 – 3 | 4 – 2 |
| Second round | Vasas | 2 – 0 | 0 – 1 | 2 – 1 | ||
| Third round | Željezničar | 1 – 0 | 1 – 5 | 2 – 5 | ||
| 1999–00 | UEFA Cup | Qualifying round | VPS | 1 – 1 | 2 – 0 | 3 – 1 |
| First round | AS Monaco FC | 0 – 3 | 3 – 3 | 3 – 6 |
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