St Mirren F.C.

History

The club began as a gentlemen's club that played cricket and rugby before its members decided to adopt association football in 1877, which is recognised as the official foundation date. The name derives from Saint Mirin, the founder of a church at the site of Paisley Abbey and the Patron Saint of Paisley; a street in Paisley also bears the name St Mirren Street. The first strip was scarlet and blue, but after one season the club changed to black and white striped shirts, which have been worn every season except one in the 1900s when cream tops were used.

The first match took place on 6 October 1877, a 1–0 victory over Johnstone Britannia at Shortroods. Two years later the club moved to Thistle Park at Greenhills. The first Scottish Cup match was a 3–0 win over Johnstone Athletic on 4 September 1880. The following year St Mirren reached its first cup final but lost 3–1 to Thornliebank in the Renfrewshire Cup; in 1883 the scores were reversed with a 3–1 win over Thornliebank for the same trophy.

In 1883 the club moved to West March, defeating Queen's Park in the first game there. The first match against Morton in 1885 ended in defeat. In 1890 St Mirren became a founder member of the Scottish Football League alongside fellow Paisley club Abercorn; only five of the eleven founder clubs survive in the current league system. During a match against Morton at Cappielow in 1890, the club played one of the first night games under light from oil lamps.

The team moved to Love Street in 1894 and reached its first Scottish Cup final in the 1907–08 season, losing 5–1 to Celtic. The club later won the Scottish Cup in 1926, 1959 and 1987. A short-lived side under the club's umbrella, St Mirren Juniors F.C., won the Scottish Junior Cup in 1917, making St Mirren the only senior club name on that trophy as of 2025. In 1922 the club was invited to the Barcelona Cup invitational tournament to celebrate the inauguration of Les Corts, Barcelona's then home, and won the tournament by beating Notts County in the final.

Stadium

Before moving to St Mirren Park (Love Street) in 1894, the club played at four different venues. The record attendance at Love Street was 47,438 for a match against Celtic in 1949. Extensive redevelopment in the late 1990s, complying with the Taylor Report and SPL regulations, turned the ground into a 10,866-seater venue. The four stands included the West or Reid Kerr Family Stand, built in 2000 to meet Scottish Premier League criteria; the oldest was a basic wooden main stand.

The north bank attracted hardcore fans, while the largest stand, the steeply raked West Stand, housed a sporting facility underneath. On 24 May 2005 Renfrewshire Council granted permission for the club to develop the old ground, involving its sale to a supermarket chain and construction of a new ground in Ferguslie Park, Paisley. A deal with Tesco was announced in April 2007, and on 15 January 2009 the club moved to a new 7,937-seat stadium also called St Mirren Park.

The opening game ended 1–1 with Kilmarnock; Kevin Kyle scored the first goal and Dennis Wyness equalised. The first notable win at the new stadium was a 1–0 victory over Celtic in the Scottish Cup quarter-final on 7 March 2009. The seating capacity was reduced from 8,023 to 7,937 in 2017 after installation of a new disabled access platform. The stadium was known as The Simple Digital Arena after a four-year deal with Simple Digital Solutions on 13 June 2018, and is currently known as The Marbill Coaches Stadium.

Colours and sponsors

The traditional home colours are black and white stripes, though the first season saw scarlet and blue. A popular theory for the choice of black and white is that the stripes represent the Black and White Cart rivers running through Paisley; evidence has also emerged that monks in the local abbey wore black and white striped habits. The thickness of the stripes has often varied, and some years have seen horizontal stripes. Having first played in black and white vertical stripes in 1884, Saints were the first club in the world to do so, six years before Notts County.

Away tops are traditionally red or all black, but have varied from orange to light blue, as seen on the 2010–11 strip. Kit manufacturers have included Hummel International, Xara, Carbrini, Diadora, Joma, and currently Macron. Main sponsors have included local bus companies and car dealerships such as Arriva and Phoenix Honda; Braehead Shopping Centre sponsored the club from 2005 to 2017. The current sponsor is Consilium Contracting Services.

In August 2010, Compass Private Hire, co-owned by former player, captain and manager Tony Fitzpatrick, had its name displayed on the back of first team shirts and on shorts.

Other sports

Robert Mitchell, representing St Mirren F.C., claimed the Scottish 880 yards championship five times between 1889 and 1894, with his only absence from the winners' list in 1893. This tally ties him with Duncan McPhee for the most victories in that event in Scottish AAA history. Mitchell also set two Scottish records. On 19 July 1890, at the St Mirren FC Sports in Paisley, he clocked 2:00 2/5 for the 880 yards, surpassing Thomas Moffat's 1883 mark. Earlier, on 3 August 1889 at the Rangers Sports in Glasgow, his 1:15 3/5 for 600 yards set both Scottish All-comers and Native records. In 1898, he received a permanent suspension from amateur athletics for involvement in betting on races.