We can confirm that Jimmy Nicholl has left the club following the expiry of his contract to join Dundee.

We'd like to thank Jimmy for his service and wish him all the best in his new role.

The next meeting of The St Mirren Business Club takes place in the Westmarch Suite at the Simple Digital Arena tomorrow evening (Thursday 30th May).

Our guest speaker on the evening will be Darren McAllister, Business Development Manager at our partners Utilita Energy.

5.30pm-6pm
Tea & coffee and refreshments served

6.30pm-7 pm
Presentation by Darren McAllister, Utilita Energy.

7pm-8pm
Networking

The Business Club, offers the chance for our sponsors and business partners the opportunity to network in unique surroundings.

Events will be held frequently, taking different formats and with a selection of quality guest speakers covering a wide range of themes.

The Business Club is completely free to join with members receiving invites to a series of exclusive events throughout the year.

St.Mirren Commercial Manager, Campbell Kennedy said: "The St.Mirren Business Club is a unique and exciting opportunity to get like-minded local and national businesses together and gives our sponsors and business partners the opportunity to promote their businesses and services to each other."

If you are interested in attending the event or looking for more details please forward your full name and company details to commercial@stmirren.com or phone Commercial Manager Campbell Kennedy (direct) on 0141 840 1337.

The draw for group stage of the Betfred Cup took place this afternoon, and St Mirren’s South Section group is as follows:

Group H
St Mirren
Dunfermline
Albion Rovers
Edinburgh City
East Kilbride

The group stage draw sees the 40 participating clubs scheduled to play four games across five match dates – 13/14 July, 16/17 July, 20/21 July, 23/24 July and 27/28 July - subject to broadcast selections.

The format, announced in advance of the 2016 Betfred Cup, sees all drawn group stage matches go straight to a penalty shoot-out with the winners earning an extra ‘bonus point’ in addition to the traditional point given for a draw.

The eight group winners and four best runners-up progress to the last 16 where they are joined by holders Celtic and fellow European representatives Aberdeen, Kilmarnock and Rangers.

The full group stage fixture list, including BT Sport live TV selections, will be confirmed in due course.

The draw for the group stage of the 2018/19 Betfred Cup will be this afternoon and will be broadcast live on the SPFL's YouTube channel at 1.30pm.

The 40-team group stage includes the 38 SPFL clubs not involved in European competition plus Highland League winners Cove Rangers and Lowland League champions East Kilbride.

The draw will produce eight groups of five teams on a regionalised basis. The four north and four south groups will each be made up of a first seed, a second seed and three unseeded clubs, with seeding based on league positions at the end of season 2018/19.

The format sees all drawn group stage matches go straight to a penalty shoot-out, with the winners earning a bonus point in addition to the point given to each team for a draw. 

The eight group winners and four best runners-up progress to the last 16 of the competition on the weekend of August 17/18, where they will be joined by holders Celtic and fellow European representatives Rangers, Kilmarnock and Aberdeen.

The full group stage fixture list, including BT Sport live TV selections, will be confirmed in due course, with ties to be played on the following dates:

Betfred Cup dates 2019/20

Group stage MD1 – Weekend of July 13/14, 2019
Group stage MD2 – Midweek of July 16/17, 2019
Group stage MD3 – Weekend of July 20/21, 2019
Group stage MD4 – Midweek of July 23/24, 2019
Group stage MD5 – Weekend of July 27/28, 2019

Second round – Weekend of August 17/18, 2019

Quarter-finals – Midweek of September 24-26, 2019

Semi-finals – Weekend of November 2/3, 2019

Final – Weekend of December 7/8, 2019

The St Mirren airdome has been brought down this week due to high winds.

All classes/lets have been cancelled this week. Anyone with dome bookings is advised to contact info@stmirren.com for enquiries and updates.

St Mirren Football Club apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. 

A delighted Oran Kearney gives his thoughts on St Mirren's penalty shoot-out win against Dundee United in the Ladbrokes Premiership Play-Off Final.

Saints will be playing Premiership football next season after holding their nerve to see off Dundee United on penalties in the play-off final.

The visitors had shown their prowess from the spot in the first half when Nicky Clark scored after Jack Baird was deemed to have handled inside the box. However, the lead didn't last long as a few minutes later Danny Mullen pounced on Mark Reynolds' mis-hit clearance to fire past Benjamin Siergrist.

That was the end of the scoring in normal time and there were no more goals in extra-time, although Saints did have sub Duckens Nazon sent off for a challenge on Mark Connolly.

And so it was on to the drama of penalties. Incredibly, United failed to convert any of the first three while Saints scored their first two. Mateo Muzek hit the post with his effort but when Vaclav Hladky saved Callum Booth's effort with his legs, it was party time in Paisley.

There was a tremendous atmosphere from the off with the Simple Digital Arena packed to capacity. Saints were first to threaten, a free-kick being cleared as far as Stephen McGinn who thumped it towards goal only for Siegrist to turn it away. When Mullen got in behind the United defence he had to wait what seemed an age for support to arrive and when it did, Kyle McAllister sliced his shot out for a throw-in. Moments later, Paul McGinn delivered a wonderful cross that Mullen couldn't quite get on the end of, although it didn't matter as the offside flag was already up.

It wasn't all Saints, United having enjoyed plenty of possession in the final third but unable to do anything with it. However, that was all to change midway through the first half. After some penalty box pinball, the ball sat up for Pavol Safranko whose shot took a deflection and looped up in the air. Hladky reacted brilliantly to turn it away but when Booth got onto the loose ball he smashed it against Baird's arm. Ref John Beaton wasted little time in pointing to the spot and Clark made no mistake as he tucked away the penalty.

The Saints response had to be swift – and it arrived within minutes. As Reynolds tried to make a relatively simple clearance he instead managed little more than a fresh air swipe and the ever alert Mullen was on it in a flash, drilling a first time shot past Siegrist to level things up. Things could have been even better a few minutes later when McAllister's shot found the bottom corner, but again the flag was up for offside.

The game was beginning to open up, Clark shooting over from Jamie Robson's cross as United tried to retake the lead before a fine run by Lee Hodson saw him tee up Kyle Magennis, however his shot always looked as if it was heading a yard or two over.

The start of the second half was equally frantic and Saints should have been front when they hit United on the break. Hodson released Mullen on the left and while his cross was too high for Cody Cooke it found the unmarked McAllister at the back post but he could only shoot into the side netting. Hladky did brilliantly to turn Paul Watson's header behind from a United corner before McAllister collected a wonderful cross field pass from Baird only to send his shot wide.

It was beginning to look as if it would be a mistake or a moment of magic that would decide it, Cooke nicking the ball as Booth was short with his header back to Siegrist but the keeper blocked the shot with his legs. The goalie was in action again seconds later as he did brilliantly to keep out Paul McGinn's header from Hodson's wonderful cross, Siegrist getting back up quickly enough to tip the spinning ball over the bar.

As the game entered its final stages United looked the likelier side to score, their fans behind the goal trying their best to suck the ball into the net. There was a blow for Saints in stoppage time as Gary MacKenzie, who had already taken a sore one to the head from Safranko earlier in the half, went down and this time it was the end of his afternoon as he was replaced by Anton Ferdinand.

As extra-time began it was another Saints sub who almost made the difference, Nazon's cross being diverted towards goal by United's Mark Connolly before a team-mate knocked the ball behind to safety. United sub Osman Sow dragged a shot well wide as he snatched at a chance before Siergirst comfortably saved an ambitious effort from Cooke.

The striker had the first chance of the second period, taking down Mateo Muzek's cross on his chest before his shot was deflected behind. An unlikely figure then nearly put Saints in front, Baird striding on to a lose ball before his long range shot was turned behind by Siegrist.

The Buddies were definitely on top and a glorious chance fell to Nazon after United duffed a clearance but he lashed it wide. The striker's brief afternoon was about to get much worse as when he jumped with Connolly, the United defender hit the deck. Mr Beaton felt an elbow had been used and showed Nazon the red card. That gave United some hope but they couldn't threaten and it was down to the lottery of penalties.

United went first, shooting into the Saints support, and Hladky kept out Peter Pawlett's effort. Paul McGinn scored his before Hladky was the hero again, this time denying Safranko. With Mihai Popescu making no mistake, Osman Sow had to score to give United any hope – but he could only hit the post. Muzek stepped forward knowing if he scored it was done, but he also hit the woodwork. However, it was just delaying the inevitable as Hladky stopped Booth's effort with his legs to secure Saints' survival and spark a pitch invasion of joy.

A few months ago Saints looked dead and buried but a fantastic run of form from February saw them narrowly miss out on 10th place before securing survival through the play-offs. It may not quite match the great escape of two years ago but Oran Kearney, his staff and players can be rightly proud of an incredible turnaround that means there will be Premiership football in Paisley next season.

St Mirren: Hladky, Popescu, Baird, MacKenzie (Ferdinand 90), P.McGinn, S.McGinn, Magennis (Muzek 86), Hodson, McAllister (Nazon 84), Cooke, Mullen 
Subs Not Used: Holmes, Erhahon, MacPherson, Flynn

Dundee United: Siegrist, Robson (Pawlett 55), Watson, Reynolds, Connolly, Booth, Bouhenna (Butcher 85), Harkes, McMullan, Clark (Sow 69), Safranko
Subs Not Used: Laidlaw, Frans, Stanton, Smith

Referee: John Beaton
Assistant Referee: David McGeachie
Assistant Referee: Graeme Stewart
Fourth Official: Greg Aitken

Attendance: FULL HOUSE!

Gallery pictures by Allan Picken © - Allan Picken Photography

Today's match has now become our first ever sell out at our new stadium. 

There will be no tickets available to buy at the stadium but the ticket office will remain open for pick-ups. 

We are opening the turnstiles at 1:30pm and have additional stewards working to try and ensure everybody is seated before kick-off.

It is vitally important that people get to the ground and sit in the seat that corresponds with their ticket to ensure everybody gets to enjoy the full match. 

We appreciate your continued support and thank you for making this a historic day for our football club.

Let's get right behind the team, make some noise and show the watching world what it means to be part of the St Mirren family. 

Come on you Saints!!

Please note that the Stadium, Ticket Office and Club Shop will all be closed this coming Monday (27th May) for the bank holiday. 

The Stadium, Ticket Office and Club Shop will all be open as usual on Tuesday.

Football Memories will still take place at the stadium on Monday.

We are giving fans the opportunity to vote for the man of the match and also put two lucky fans in with the chance of winning a £10 voucher for the Club Shop.

Every home game we’ll throw open the voting on the 60 minute mark for 20 minutes where votes can be cast on Facebook and Twitter. All you have to do is use the hashtag #SMFCMOM followed by the name of the player you are voting for, eg ‘#SMFCMOM MAGENNIS’.

With 10 minutes of the game remaining all the votes will be counted then the Stadium Announcer will confirm the winning player over the tannoy system.

From all the fans who nominate the winning player one will be picked at random from the Facebook account and another from the Twitter account and they will each be awarded a £10 voucher for the Club Shop. The winners will be notified through the account they posted from.

Please note that the winners must collect their voucher after the game.

So get yourself ready on the hour mark of Sunday’s game against Dundee United and get voting with #SMFCMOM.