Saints are back in action on Sunday afternoon at the SMiSA Stadium where we host Micky Mellon's Dundee United side for a Scottish Premiership fixture that will bring down the curtain on the 2020/21 season.

We have a limited edition run of programmes, published in partnership with Curtis Sport, for the behind closed doors Scottish Premiership fixture played on Sunday 16th May.

This issue is a 32 pager with a £3 cover price.

This latest edition includes the following:

Front Cover – Jay Henderson.
Jim Goodwin - The St Mirren manager looks back on recent matches as well as looking ahead to Sunday's season closer against United.
The Opposition – We take a closer look at Micky Mellon's Dundee United squad.
St Mirren Programme Archive - Derek Drennan reviews the programmes for both legs of the 2019 Play-off final between Saints and United.
Centre Page Poster – Collin Quaner.
Player Kit Sponsors 2020/21 – Check in to see who is sponsoring your favourite player's shirt for the season.
Marketing Matters – Campbell Kennedy updates on the latest events and happenings at the club's Commercial Department.
Yesterday's Saints – David Cochran looks back on the St Mirren career of George Walker.
Football Bloody Hell - Alan Gallacher selects his Scotland starting XI for their opening Euros match against the Czech Republic.
St Mirren Fixtures & Results 2020/21 – A handy reference page of all the fixtures and results for this season.
Team Lines – The two squads and match officials for Sunday's match.

To buy this issue or to place your programme subscription for the 2020/21 season click HERE.

The 2020/21 season draws to a close on Sunday as St Mirren host Dundee United at the SMiSA Stadium. 

It's been a season of progress for Saints who narrowly missed out on a top finish and reached two national cup semi-finals for the first time since 1981/82.

Jim Goodwin's side are looking to end the season with their highest ever finish in the current league setup. For Saints to achieve that and finish seventh they would have to beat Dundee United and hope Motherwell fail to win at home to Ross County. The Buddies could also finish in seventh if they draw with United and Motherwell lose. 

Dundee United could also finish seventh in their first season back in the Scottish Premiership. The Arabs currently sit a point behind Saints and would have to win on Sunday and hope Motherwell lose against Ross County. 

Both sides come into the match on the back of draws on Wednesday night. Saints completed a comeback at Rugby Park to draw 3-3 with Kilmarnock, while Dundee United were held to a 2-2 draw at home to Motherwell. 

Match Details

St Mirren v Dundee United
Competition: Scottish Premiership
Date: Sunday 16th May 2021
Kick-off: 12pm
Venue: The SMiSA Stadium

How to watch the match

The St Mirren Player of the Year 2020/21 awards sponsored by Walker Laird will take place following the conclusion of the match.

Season ticket holders and international subscribers can watch the match and awards live on tv.stmirren.com. 

Non-season ticket holders can watch Sunday's match and awards live on PPV for £12.50. 

Previous

The two sides have met three times this season with each side boasting a win.

Saints defeated United 5-1 at Tannadice in January, while the only meeting at the SMiSA Stadium this season ended in a 0-0 draw back in November.

United's win came in September as they edged out 10 man St Mirren 2-1 at Tannadice. 

The officials

Euan Anderson is the referee on Sunday. The linesmen are Daniel McFarlane and John McCrossan, while John Beaton is the fourth official. 

The St Mirren Player of the Year Awards 2020/21 sponsored by Walker Laird will take place this Sunday live on St Mirren TV following the conclusion of our Scottish Premiership match at home to Dundee United. 

Awards will be presented for our Player of the Year, Young Player of the Year, Social Media Player of the Year and Goal of the Season as the season draws to a close. 

Campbell Money will join our match day host Ali DeFoy, while Chief Executive Tony Fitzpatrick will join the broadcast at half-time to give his reflections on the 2020/21 season. Manager Jim Goodwin will also be live post-match to give his thoughts on the season as a whole. 

Season ticket holders and international subscribers can watch the match live on St Mirren TV as normal, while non-season ticket holders can watch live on ppv.stmirren.com for £12.50. 

Our thanks go to our sponsors on the day:

Player of the Year - Walker Laird
Young Player of the Year - Acre Industrial Services Ltd
Goal of the Season - Gennaro Glass and Glazing Ltd
Social Media Player of the Year - Purple Imp

St Mirren picked up a share of the spoils in their final away match of 2020/21 after a pulsating 90 minutes at Kilmarnock.

The Buddies looked to be heading for defeat when a Kyle Lafferty brace had the home side in control. Goals from Jamie McGrath and Cammy MacPherson dragged back on to level terms only for Killie to take the lead again through Greg Kiltie with less than 10 minutes to go. 

But Collin Quaner's first St Mirren goal earned Saints a point as our season get sets to draw to a close on Sunday.

Kilmarnock, fighting for their lives in the relegation battle, got off to the perfect start when they took the lead on eight minutes. The Saints defence was sleeping as Lafferty ran on to Chris Burke's low corner to slam beyond Jak Alnwick. 

The Buddies should have found themselves level four minutes later when Conor McCarthy sent a brilliant cross in from the left. Jay Henderson only needed the faintest of touches to turn in but couldn't get anything on it as it drifted wide. And less than a minute after that Jon Obika spurned a glorious chance for a leveller as he headed Henderson's cross over from close range when he should have hit the target.

Kilmarnock could have doubled their lead with a little more than 10 minutes of the half remaining. Burke went on a driving run before breaking into the St Mirren box and forced a strong save from Alnwick. Mitch Pinnock was following up on the rebound which was well blocked by Marcus Fraser before Lafferty went down in the box and received a yellow for simulation. 

The home side nearly made it two almost immediately after the restart when Daniel Finlayson was forced to head Lafferty's hooked effort off the line. Saints goalkeeper Alnwick fumed at the officials as he believed the ball had already crossed the byline.

Killie again could've have extended their advantage when Pinnock's pinpoint cross met the head of Burke who headed straight at Alnwick from six yards out. 

Kilmarnock's pressure would tell as they did grab a second when Lafferty headed home Calum Waters' cross on 62 minutes.

But within a minute Saints would reduce the deficit with Jamie McGrath netting for the 17th time this season. The Irishman's first strike was blocked by Zeno Ibsen Rossi before he slammed in the follow-up. 

Saints began to have the bulk of the possession with Killie pinned in their own half and the equaliser came with only 12 minutes to go. Jay Henderson rolled the ball into the path of MacPherson who took it first time and lasered into the top corner. 

It was a terrific comeback for Saints but it wouldn't last as three minutes later Kilmarnock scored their own screamer to retake the lead. Kiltie ran on to McCarthy's header and ferociously volleyed into the back of the net as the home side looked to have secured the three points. 

But just two minutes after, Quaner netted his first goal for the Buddies to draw Jim Goodwin's side level.

The drama didn't end there with Alnwick, captain in place of the absent Joe Shaughnessy, made a sensational block in injury time to deny Burke a winner and ensure the Saints would take a point back to Paisley.

Full-Time: Kilmarnock 3-3 St Mirren

St Mirren: Alnwick, Fraser, Finlayson (McAllister 82), McCarthy, Henderson, Doyle-Hayes (MacPherson 66), Flynn, Durmus (Connolly 46), McGrath, Obika (Quaner 66), Erwin (Dennis 66)
Subs Not Used: Lyness, Tait, Mason, Erhahon

Kilmarnock: Rogers, Millen, Broadoot, Ibsen Rossi, Waters (Haunstrup 84), Power, Dicker, Pinnock, Burke, Kiltie (Whitehall 90), Lafferty
Subs Not Used: Doyle, McGowan, Medley, Mulumbu, Thisbola, McKenzie, Oakley

Referee: David Munro
Assistant Referee: Graeme Stewart
Assistant Referee: Daniel McFarlane
Fourth Official: Chris Graham

St Mirren's final away match of the 2020/21 season takes place on Wednesday night as Jim Goodwin's side travel to Kilmarnock in the Scottish Premiership.

Saints are looking to put the disappointment of defeat in the Scottish Cup behind them and keep up the chase for a seventh place finish which would represent the highest the Buddies have finished in the current league setup.

Currently sitting in eighth place, a win for Saints on Wednesday could push them back up to seventh depending on Motherwell's result away to Dundee United.

Kilmarnock are still mired in the relegation battle with Tommy Wright's men currently sitting in the relegation play-off spot with two matches remaining. A win for the Ayrshire side on Tuesday would go some way towards avoiding automatic relegation, while defeat would set up a tense final day encounter away to Hamilton.

Match Details

Kilmarnock v St Mirren
Competition: Scottish Premiership
Date: Wednesday 12th May 2021
Kick-off: 19:45pm
Venue: BBSP Stadium Rugby Park

How to watch the match

UK based supporters can watch Wednesday night's match live on PPV for £12.50. 

International subscribers can watch on tv.stmirren.com as part of their subscription.

Previous

This is the fifth and final meeting between the two sides this season.

It was only two weeks ago that the Buddies faced Kilmarnock at Rugby Park in the Scottish Cup with Jim Goodwin's men coming out on top on penalties after a 3-3 draw in 120 minutes of action. 

Saints are unbeaten against Killie in the three meetings in 2021. As well as the aforementioned Scottish Cup tie, Saints won 2-0 at the SMiSA Stadium in February and picked up a point in a 1-1 draw at Rugby Park in January.

Killie were the winners in the first match of the season between the two - winning 1-0 at the SMiSA Stadium in September.

The officials

The referee is David Munro and he's assisted by Graeme Stewart and Daniel McFarlane. Chris Graham is the fourth official. 

Two goals in two minutes for St Johnstone put St Mirren out of the Scottish Cup at the semi-final stage.

After an evenly fought first half, goals from Chris Kane and Glenn Middleton gave Callum Davidson’s men a lead the Buddies could not quite come back from.

With less than ten minutes to go Conor McCarthy pulled one back and despite throwing all they had in the closing stages St Mirren were unable to get the crucial equaliser.

St Mirren began the match on the front foot, pressing from Jamie McGrath earning an early opening but the cross went beyond the head of Lee Erwin.

There were two more near misses for the Buddies in the opening ten minutes, as a cross from Ilkay Durmus and free kick from Jak Alnwick were both inches out of reach for their targets.

Referee Willie Collum then waved away the Buddies protests when a volley hit by Kristian Dennis appeared to strike Jamie McCart’s hand.

From a hand in the St Johnstone box to one in St Mirren’s box. Alnwick was called upon at the other end and pulled off a stunning save to deny Rooney’s 20-yard effort.

Erwin had the best chance of the first half getting to a Dennis cross first but could only direct the ball at Zander Clark in the St Johnstone goal.

St Johnstone started the second half well on top, but it was the Buddies who had the better of the chances. Ethan Erhahon’s incisive pass found Dennis inside the box. The striker struggled to get the ball under control though and both Dennis and Erwin lashed efforts into St Johnstone defenders.

St Johnstone continued to threaten from range, Wotherspoon’s turn and hit going just wide.

The Buddies then spurned a great chance to take the lead just after the hour mark, Durmus skinning Rooney easily but Quaner was unable to turn home the fizzed cross.

The missed chances were then punished. With 20 minutes left to play, Kane turned home a cross from substitute Glenn Middleton.

Middleton struck immediately after to double St Johnstone’s advantage, hitting a free kick into the top corner.

It could have been three soon after, a great reaction save from Alnwick denied Rooney from close range.

St Mirren kept pushing forward and with the introduction of Brophy had plenty of firepower available.

It was through Brophy that the Buddies forced their way back into the tie, the striker winning a free kick. The resulting cross swung in by McGrath and bulleted home by McCarthy. Brophy almost hauled St Mirren level straight after but his curling effort went wide.

Then it was Quaner’s turn to try to force a leveller but his volley from McCarthy’s knockdown flew high over the bar.

The Buddies threw everything forward in the final minutes but couldn’t get the equalising goal.

Full-Time: St Mirren 1-2 St Johnstone

JIM GOODWIN POST-MATCH REACTION

St Mirren: Alnwick, Fraser, McCarthy, Shaughnessy (c), Tait (Connolly 68), Doyle-Hayes, Erhahon (Brophy 76), Durmus, McGrath, Dennis (Quaner 57), Erwin
Subs Not Used: Lyness, Finlayson, Flynn, McAllister, Henderson, Obika

St Johnstone: Clark, Booth, McCart, Kerr, Gordon, Rooney, Bryson, McCann, Wotherspoon, Melamed (Middleton 66), Kane (O'Halloran 86)
Subs Not Used: Zlamal, Brown, Conway, Gilmour, Robertson, Ferguson

Referee: William Collum
Assistant Referee: Sean Carr 
Assistant Referee: Calum Spence
Fourth Official: Craig Napier

Ahead of tomorrow's Scottish Cup semi-final, the club would like to remind supporters to please continue to follow the Scottish Government's Covid-19 guidance.

All of Scotland is currently at Covid-19 Protection Level 3. To find out more about the current guidance please follow this link.

St Mirren Football Club is delighted to announce that Marcus Fraser has agreed a two-year contract extension.

The defender joined St Mirren in July on a one-year deal and has become a mainstay in the Saints side this season with his consistent performances seeing him become a firm fans favourite.

The 26-year-old has made 45 appearances for Jim Goodwin’s men - scoring three goals including a late winner in our Scottish Cup clash against Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

The new deal sees Marcus tied to the club until summer 2023.

Speaking to the press after signing his new contract, Marcus said: "I have thoroughly enjoyed this season.

"I have played a lot of games, the team has done well and I have fitted into that so I am really looking forward to the next two years."

Manager Jim Goodwin said: "I am really pleased to get Marcus tied down for another couple of seasons.

"He has been a star performer for us from day one and he will no doubt be in the running for a player of the year award as well.

"It is a step in the right direction and to extend the contracts of those players who deserve to be rewarded is something we have been trying to do since the turn of the year.

"I am delighted with him and he’s a great professional and a great example for the rest of the group.”

Our final home league match of the season will take place on Sunday 16th May when we play host to Dundee United at the SMiSA Stadium. 

As we do every year we will be remembering all the St Mirren supporters that have sadly passed away throughout season 2020/21. 

If you would like the name of someone who has passed away this season to be included on the big screen during the applause or on the website then please email scoreboard@stmirren.com by Friday 14th May.

Our thoughts to all the families who have lost loved ones throughout the season. 

It's Hampden for St Mirren again as Saints get set for the Scottish Cup semi-final.

A nail-biting penalty shoot-out win over Kilmarnock saw Saints reach the semi-final after wins over Inverness and Hamilton Academical in the previous rounds.

It's the first time the Buddies have reached the semi-final in both the League and Scottish Cups since 1981/82. 

St Johnstone, who won the League Cup in February, road to Hampden began with a 1-0 win over Championship side Dundee at Dens Park. They followed that up with a 2-0 victory over Clyde at McDiarmid Park two weeks later before knocking Rangers out with a penalty shoot-out win at Ibrox. 

St Mirren haven't reached the Scottish Cup final since 1987 when an injury time Ian Ferguson goal saw Saints defeat Dundee United to win the national cup for a third time. 

Ironically, Dundee United were also the side that St Johnstone beat in their only Scottish Cup final back in 2014. Current St Johnstone manager Callum Davidson was assistant manager when the Perth side defeated United 2-0 at Celtic Park.

Match Details

St Mirren v St Johnstone
Competition: Scottish Cup
Date: Sunday 9th May 2021
Kick-off: 2:15pm
Venue: Hampden Park

How to watch the match

Sunday's match is available on both BBC One Scotland and Premier Sports. 

International subscribers can watch on tv.stmirren.com as part of their subscription.

Previous

The two Saints have met three times this season - all in Scottish Premiership action.

Jim Goodwin's side have won one of the three matches - defeating St Johnstone 3-2 at the SMiSA Stadium in December.

The Perth Saints won both matches at McDiarmid Park this season by a 1-0 scoreline. 

The officials

The referee on Sunday is William Collum. Sean Carr and Calum Spence are the linesmen. The fourth official is Craig Napier.