History St Johnstone F.C.

1 history

1.1 origins
1.2 1886 1972
1.3 scottish cup , league cup
1.4 willie ormond era
1.5 relegations , rebuilding
1.6 success in 1990s
1.7 new millennium

history

origins

chart of yearly table positions of st johnstone in scottish league.

the club formed members of local cricket team seeking occupy time once cricket season had finished. cricketers kicking football around south inch, large public park beside river tay during autumn of 1884. acknowledged date of formation of st johnstone football club, although wasn t until in following year group of footballers, led john colborn, held official meeting led formation of club separate entity rather spin-off of cricket club.

football becoming more popular , although there several local teams playing sport, including fair city athletic, erin rovers , caledonian (based @ perth railway station) st johnstone became club associated town gave club name. (in middle ages, perth colloquially known st john s toun because church @ centre of parish dedicated st john baptist. agnus dei (the lamb of god), symbol associated john baptist, part of st johnstone club crest.)

club members leased piece of land adjacent south inch, known recreation grounds, became club s first home. after several decades – , regular problems flooding – became clear had outgrown grounds so, in 1924, moved other side of perth , built muirton park, serve home next 65 years.

1886 1972

st johnstone made debut appearance in scottish cup in 1886–87 tournament defeated 7–1 in first round replay erin rovers club, based in perth, after 3–3 draw @ home. in 1910–11 scottish division 2 season, port glasgow athletic f.c. finished next bottom , declined apply re-election. replaced 1911–12 scottish division 2 season st johnstone, finished fifth in first season ten wins , 8 defeats.

st johnstone promoted old first division in 1924–25, winning second division title, , appointed david taylor team manager. remained in top flight until 1929–30 when finished bottom of division one. 2 years later, under new manager tommy muirhead, saints runners-up in division 2 gain second promotion. performed in division 1 through 1930s, reaching semi-finals of scottish cup in 1933–34 , finishing fifth in 1934–35. in final season before world war ii, st johnstone played under manager david rutherford finish eighth.

the scottish football league suspended competition duration of war sixteen clubs able form regional southern football league managed operate each season. st johnstone closed of war , lost top flight status result. southern football league continued through post-war 1945–46 season 2 divisions incorporate clubs restarting, including st johnstone. saints played in 1945–46 b division , finished sixth of fourteen clubs. when scottish league restarted in 1946, southern league set-up used first post-war competition, division became new first division , b division new second division. st johnstone had lost ground gained in 1930s , finish ninth in division 2 in 1946–47.

jimmy crapnell became team manager 1947–48 season , succeeded johnny pattillo 1953–54. saints remained in second division throughout tenures of these 2 managers. bobby brown took on in summer of 1958 and, in second season 1959–60, club won promotion again. brown , successor willie ormond both managed scotland after leaving st johnstone. in 1970–71, under ormond, saints finished third in league , qualified 1971–72 uefa cup.

scottish cup , league cup

the club historically has had little success in national competitions. prior winning scottish cup in 2014 cup successes limited successes in consolation cup – competition clubs knocked out of rounds of scottish cup – in 1911 , 1914. club have appeared twice in scottish challenge cup final, losing 1–0 stranraer in 1996, , winning trophy in 2007 3–2 victory on dunfermline. saints scottish cup win came after 7 semi-final appearances dating 1934. have never won top league. there have been 2 appearances in final of league cup, losing first celtic 1–0 in 1969 , 2–1 rangers in 1998, canadian internationalist nick dasovic scoring saints.

willie ormond era

in terms of league, club s highest-ever finish has been third place in old first division, occurred on 3 occasions. first in 1970–71, when saints finished behind celtic , aberdeen ahead of rangers. team 1969 league cup team, managed willie ormond, went on manage scotland. club had notable players during period, later went on success @ other clubs – such henry hall, alex macdonald, john lambie, john connolly, , jim pearson.

this third-placed finish led european adventure in uefa cup, beating german giants sv hamburg , hungarians vasas budapest before going out in yugoslavia nk zeljeznicar sarajevo. club continued play in top division of scottish football league until reconstruction in 1975, relegated new premier division in first season.

mcdiarmid park s south stand named ormond stand in honour.

relegations , rebuilding

it took saints until 1983 return – albeit single season – before setting record through suffering 2 successive relegations in 1984 , 1985. found bottom of entire league in 1986 , skirted financial oblivion, before local businessman geoff brown stepped in.

an unprecedented change in club s focus occurred on next decade or so, move long-term home muirton park new purpose-built mcdiarmid park on outskirts of city, first purpose-built all-seater stadium built in united kingdom. new stadium named recognise donation of land local farmer bruce mcdiarmid. plus input of significant transfer funds , appointment of manager alex totten spurred saints through leagues. obtained promotion first division in 1988. saints won first division championship , promotion premier division in 1990 during first season of football @ mcdiarmid park.

saints finished 1990–91 in 7th place, season buoyed appearance in scottish cup semi-finals, in lost dundee united.

the following season proved totten s last @ helm, eighth-placed finish bringing end five-year reign manager. succeeded john mcclelland 1992–93 season. irishman didn t fare better, however, leading club 6th place. semi-finals cup appearance, time league cup, sweetened campaign slightly.

st johnstone s four-year run in premier division came end in 1993–94, 10th-placed finish sending them first division. mcclelland left club before season ended, , replaced former dundee united striker paul sturrock.

success in 1990s

under sturrock s stewardship, more emphasis placed on club rearing own players. bore fruit in form of callum davidson , danny griffin. sturrock introduced – @ least in principle – concept of morning , afternoon training sessions in attempt raise fitness level of players. in sturrock s first full season in charge, saints finished 5th in first division , reached quarter-finals of league cup. in 1995–96, led them fourth place , scottish cup quarter-final. league success returned in 1996–97 first division championship , return top flight. club more held own in first season back. 5th-placed finish meant became founder members of spl following season.

although sturrock left dundee united, club found second golden period in 1998–99 under new manager sandy clark, when club finished third in spl behind rangers , celtic. saints reached final of league cup , semi-finals of scottish cup in season, losing rangers in both competitions. lost rangers in 5 of 6 meetings between 2 clubs season (including 7–0 home defeat), saints won 3–1 in other game. finishing position in league meant saints had qualified 1999–00 uefa cup campaign. started 3–1 aggregate win in qualifying round on finnish side vps vaasa, beaten 6–3 on aggregate french giants monaco in first round proper. return leg meant international stars such fabien barthez, john arne riise , david trezeguet played @ mcdiarmid park. st johnstone remained unbeaten @ home in european competitions until tie against fc minsk in 2013.

the new millennium

matchday @ mcdiarmid park

after period of steady decline, club relegated premier league in 2002. clark s replacement, billy stark, oversaw relegation, , left club in 2004 after 2 seasons of varying success. club in eighth place after poor 2004–05 season under stark s replacement, john connolly, owen coyle took charge in april 2005, ushering in promising new period in st johnstone earned second-place finishes in 2005–06 , 2006–07.

there cup success under coyle. on 8 november 2006, st johnstone beat rangers 2–0 @ ibrox reach semi-finals of league cup. steven milne scored both of goals. club s first victory @ ibrox since april 1971. first time club beat rangers in cup competition, , first time rangers had been eliminated major cup competition @ home lower-division opposition. on 31 january 2007, saints knocked out of league cup @ semi-finals stage hibs. on 14 april 2007, st johnstone beaten 2–1 celtic @ hampden in semi-finals of scottish cup. coyle s name being linked managerial vacancies in spl. on 21 april 2007, second-placed saints won 3–0 @ home queen of south, while table-toppers gretna played out goalless draw against visiting clyde, put perth club 1 point (and 7 goals) behind gretna. result, first division championship decided on final day of season. 7 days later, st johnstone pipped first division championship gretna, had led division majority of season. saints won 4–3 @ hamilton academical, james grady scored injury-time winner gretna @ ross county minutes after st johnstone game had finished. results maintained gretna s one-point lead , achieved promotion premier league under former saints player davie irons.

owen coyle left club on 22 november 2007, become manager of english club burnley. saints next game, challenge cup final against dunfermline 3 days later, saw them win first cup since scottish consolation cup of 1911, 3–2 scoreline. st johnstone midfielder derek mcinnes appointed coyle s replacement manager on 27 november 2007, after coyle s assistant, sandy stewart, had been in charge in caretaker-manager capacity challenge cup final, decided follow coyle south burnley. mcinnes began player-manager. results end of 2007 continued indifferent form shown under coyle, leaving st johnstone in third place, way behind leaders. in 2008 club did, however, reach semi-finals of scottish cup second consecutive season, losing out rangers on penalties after time. club s seventh appearance in semi-finals, , seventh defeat.

on 2 may 2009, saints beat greenock morton 3–1 @ mcdiarmid park clinch first division title , return premier league after seven-year absence. finished eighth in first season back.

in november 2011, on same day club announced appointment of manager steve lomas, announced club chairman geoff brown, longest-serving chairman in scottish football, retiring , therefore stepping down post. son, steve, handed control of club. in june 2013 steve lomas left club manage millwall , tommy wright appointed replacement. in first competitive game in charge, wright lead st johnstone 1–0 victory against rosenborg bk in norway. club s first away win in europe in on 40 years.

on 13 april 2014, st johnstone reached first-ever scottish cup final, after defeating aberdeen 2–1 @ ibrox stadium. won final against tayside rivals dundee united on 17 may, 2–0 @ celtic park.