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St Johnstone Football Club
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The Saints, Saintees
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1885
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McDiarmid Park </br>Crieff Road</br>Perth PH1 2SJ</br>Scotland
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10,673
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Geoff Brown
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Owen Coyle
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Scottish First Division
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2004-05
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Scottish First Division (8th)
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are a
Scottish Football team. They play their home games at
McDiarmid Park in
Perth . Although they are officially recorded as being formed in
1884 , recent research by the club's historian has shown that they were actually founded in 1885.
At the end of the
2005 -
2006 season, they were confirmed as runners-up in the
Scottish First Division . This was the club's highest placing since being relegated from the
Scottish Premier League in 2002.
Although "Saints" have had two particularly tremendous periods in their history, the club remains without any wins in national competitions to this date, barring the Scottish Consolation Cup triumph of 1911-12. There have been two appearances in the final of the
Scottish League Cup , losing firstly to Celtic, 1-0 in 1969 and then 2-1 to Rangers in 1998, with Canadian internationalist Nick Dasovic scoring for Saints. The club also appeared once in the
Scottish League Challenge Cup final, losing 1-0 to
Stranraer F.C. in 1996.
In terms of the league, the club's highest-ever finish has been third place, on two occasions. The first was in
1970 -
1971 , when they were 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 excellent 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 , Hugarians
Vasas Budapest and 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
Scottish Premier Division at the first time of asking.
It took Saints until
1983 to get back - for a single season - before setting a record through suffering two successive
Relegation s in
1984 and
1985 - eventually finding themselves bottom of the entire league in
1986 and skirting with 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 Perth. This, plus the input of significant transfer funds and the appointment of manager
Alex Totten spurred Saints through the leagues, eventually stabilising in the
Scottish Premier Division by 1992.
The well-funded success could not continue forever, and after suffering another relegation under the following managers
John McClelland and particularly
Paul Sturrock , more emphasis was placed on the club rearing its own players.
Sturrock's
1996 -
1997 side achieved promotion - breaking all sorts of records along the way - returning the club to the top division. They more than held their own in the first season back up, establishing their membership of the newly-founded
Scottish Premier League for its opening season in 1998.
Although Sturrock soon left for
Dundee United , the club found a second 'golden period' in
1998 -
1999 under new man
Sandy Clark , when the club finished behind Rangers and Celtic. That season they also reached the final of the
League Cup and the semi-finals of the
Scottish Cup .
As a result, Saints enjoyed a further
UEFA Cup run in late 1999 - starting with a win over Finnish side
Vaasan Palloseura before being knocked out by French giants
AS Monaco .
However after a period of steady decline after that peak, the club were eventually relegated from the
Scottish Premier League in
2002 , and remain there today.
The team is currently managed by
Owen Coyle .
The club has had 21 managers in its history:
- Owen Coyle (2005-)
- John Connolly (2004-2005)
- Billy Stark (2001-2004)
- Sandy Clark (1998-2001)
- Paul Sturrock (1993-1998)
- John McClelland (1992-1993)
- Alex Totten (1987-1992)
- Ian Gibson (1985-1987)
- Alex Rennie (1980-1985)
- Alex Stuart (1978-1980)
- Jim Storrie (1976-1978)
- Jackie Stewart (1973-1976)
- Willie Ormond (1967-1973)
- Bobby Brown (1958-1967)
- Johnny Pattillo (1953-1958)
- Jimmy Crapnell (1947-1953)
- David Rutherford (1936-1947)
- Tommy Muirhead (1931-1936)
- David Taylor (1924-1931)
- Jimmy Buchan (1920-1922)
- Peter Grant (1919-1920)
Prior to this, the team was picked by committee - a practise in wide use at the time.
There are currently 31 players in the first-team squad:
- : 1982/83, 1989/90, 1996/97
- : 1923/24, 1969/70, 1962/63
- Between 1885 and 1924, St. Johnstone played their home games at Recreation Park in Perth, near to the prison, and then, from 1924 to 1989, at Muirton Park.
- 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.
- Their name comes about as the patron saint of Perth is St. John , hence St. John's Toun or St. Johnstone.
- St Johnstone is noted for not having many 'celebrity fans', but can count on the support of writer and broadcaster Stuart Cosgrove , as well as radio presenter and comedian Fred Macaulay and radio presenter Fraser "Tool" Thomson.
- St Johnstone are the only Scottish side to be unbeaten at home in European football.
Fan sites:
