A gallery of pictures from the Westmarch Suite on Friday night following St Mirren's 0-0 draw with Celtic in Oran Kearney's first match in charge of Saints.

Thanks to our match sponsors McGeady Civil Engineering Contractors for their support. 

Gallery pictures by John Millar © - Millar Pictures

We can confirm that next weekend's match away to Hamilton in the Ladbrokes Premiership will be pay-at-the-gate. 

Hamilton v St Mirren
Ladbrokes Premiership
Venue: Hope CBD Stadium, Hamilton
Date: 22nd September 2018

Gate Prices 

Adults - £22
Concessions* - £12 

*Under 18s and over 65s

Oran Kearney reflects on his first match in charge of St Mirren as the Saints picked up a point at home to Premiership champions Celtic.

Oran Kearney got his Saints' managerial career off to a fine start as his side picked up a deserved point against champions Celtic.

The Buddies were the better side in the first half, Ryan Flynn and Lee Hodson going closest with the many chances the side created. And when Olivier Ntcham was sent off for two yellows before the break it gave Saints a great chance of picking up their first win since the opening day of the season.

But in the second half Celtic dominated possession, the hosts unable to get out of their own half for large parts of the game. However, it wasn't until the final quarter that the champions started creating chances and when they did they were denied by poor finishing or Craig Samson. They thought they'd finally made the breakthrough in the dying seconds of injury time when Leigh Griffiths found the net but the flag was already up for offside. Had the goal stood, it would have been a cruel end for a Saints team who worked their socks off for their new manager.

Kearney made five changes for his first game in charge, Friday signing Anton Ferdinand the most notable as he started in defence alongside Jack Baird. There was also a debut for Hearts loanee Ryan Edwards and Danny Mullen was the lone man in attack with Paul McGinn returning at rightback. Celtic started with Odsonne Edouard up front and there was a debut for defender Filip Benkovic, former Buddie Lewis Morgan out through injury.

Edwards made a lively start to his Saints career he was booked inside two minutes after a coming together with Kieran Tierney. Seconds later the Buddies could have been front, Ntcham being penalised for handball and Cammy Smith firing in a free-kick that Craig Gordon palmed away. The bright start continued as Kyle Magennis lashed a shot over from a tight angle after the ball broke kindly for him before Celtic got a sight of goal for the first time, James Forrest robbing Hodson and charging forward only to drag his shot across goal.

Saints were creating by far the better chances, Hodson delivering a great cross for the flying Flynn but he headed over. Smith was denied by Gordon at close range before Ntcham was finally booked for persistent fouling after a poor tackle on Edwards. Saints went close again when a corner found Jack Baird and he turned before trundling his shot wide.

The Buddies had looked by far the better in attack and almost took the lead when Paul McGinn's cross was only knocked out as far as Hodson, his drive being deflected inches past the post with Gordon beaten. Celtic then went even closer, Kris Ajer heading on a corner for Dedryck Boyota whose header was nodded off the line by Flynn. The champions had suddenly come to life but were dealt a blow when Ntcham was sent off. The midfielder had continued to run about fouling folk after his yellow card and when he flew in late on Stephen McGinn it was obvious what was coming next – the tackle almost worthy of a straight red, let alone a second booking.

Despite being a man down, Celtic controlled the early stages of the second half as Saints seemed happy to let them have plenty of possession. However, they weren't able to do a great deal with it so Leigh Griffiths was introduced at the expense of Benkovic in the hope he could make the breakthrough. His arrival added some fresh impetus as Celtic quickly forced a corner but Ajer's shot was blocked before Tierney sent a hopeful shot well wide.

Saints were sitting deeper and deeper and the defending was a bit frantic at times, clearances going straight to the opposing backline. Tom Rogic was booked for shoving over Mullen after winning a free-kick before Griffiths blazed a shot over after being set up by Forrest. Ferdinand had strolled through his Saints debut but a lack of match fitness meant it came to an end 20 minutes from the end, Cammy MacPherson taking his place. Another change soon followed, the tiring Smith replaced by Hayden Coulson. Scott Brown was booked after halting Mullen's run before his team created a great chance, Samson unable to hold Edouard's shot only for Callum McGregor to knock the ball by the post. 

Excursions into the visiting half had been few and far between for Saints after the break but a ball over the top allowed Mullen to race through only for Brown to intercept his pass. McGregor fashioned himself a chance as he danced past a Saints defender but his weak shot was easy meat for Samson. As the final five minutes approached the hard-working Mullen was replaced by Matty Willock as Celtic replaced Edouard with Ryan Christie. Just before the changes, Stephen McGinn had given away a free-kick for a foul on Forrest. The initial ball was only cleared as far as the winger at the edge of the box but his attempt to chip Samson was plucked out of the air by the keeper. 

The visitors looked to be getting closer and closer to snatching all three points, a corner bouncing around the box before Boyota headed over then Samson held a header from Christie. In virtually the final second of the game Griffiths was sent through but before he could pull the trigger the flag was up for offside, much to the relief of the Saints fans who were soon able to celebrate a point. They had witnessed a tremendous display from a well organised team that gave everything for their new boss, providing plenty of optimism for the weeks ahead. 

St Mirren: Samson, P.McGinn, Baird, Ferdinand (MacPherson 73), Hodson, Magennis, McGinn, Flynn, Smith (Coulson 78), Edwards, Mullen (Willock 86)
Subs Not Used: Muir, Coulson, Jones, Kirkpatrick, Willock, Erhahon

Celtic: Gordon, Boyata, Ajer, Benkovic (Griffiths 60), Tierney, Ntcham, Brown, McGregor, Rogic, Forrest, McGregor, Edouard (Christie 87)
Subs Not Used: Bain, Lustig, Mulumbu, Sinclair, Johnston

Referee: Andrew Dallas
Assistant Referee: David Roome
Assistant Referee: Daniel McFarlane
Fourth Official: Nick Walsh

Attendance: 7,288

St Mirren Football Club is delighted to announce the signing of Anton Ferdinand. 

The English defender puts pen to paper on a deal until the end of the season.

The 33 year-old began his career at English Premier League side West Ham United where he made over 150 appearances. 

Capped by England at U21 level, Anton has also had spells with Sunderland, Queens Park Rangers, Antalyaspor, Reading and Southend United.

We have now completed the installation of the new readers at The Simple Digital Arena.

The readers are easy to use – if you are a season ticket holder just place your season ticket against the reader as per the first picture below. When the screen goes green you will be able to enter.

If you have a match day ticket then put the barcode side of the ticket under the reader – again this will go green and allow you entry.

If for any reason there was an issue when trying to gain entry then the screen will tell you the issue I.e. blocked, already entered, invalid – if you receive any error messages please relay this to the Turnstile Supervisors who will aim to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.

With tonight's match heading towards a sell out, supporters are advised to get to the stadium early and into their seats as soon as possible to avoid any delays.

Our match day programme, published in partnership with Curtis Sport, will be available from the Club Shop ahead of Friday’s game.

This issue, for the Ladbrokes Premiership fixture against Celtic, is a 48 pager with a £3 cover price.

This latest edition includes the following:

Front Cover – Hayden Coulson.
The Gaffer - Meet the new St Mirren manager, Oran Kearney.
Last Time Out – A look back at the Premiership match away to Hearts on 1st September.
The Opposition – Brian Corry runs the rule over Brendan Rodgers' Celtic side.
St Mirren Greats – David Cochran looks back on the St Mirren career of Iain Munro who had two spells as a player with the club.
Matchday Gallery - Pictures from the post match presentations in the corporate suite after the last home match against Livingston.
Action Shot & Q&A (Centre Pages) – Midfielder Kyle Magennis. Kyle also fires back answers for our quick-fire questionnaire.
Kit Sponsors 2018/19 – Check in to see who is sponsoring your favourite player's shirt for the season.
St Mirren Colts - A look back at the Colts 3-2 win against Hamilton Accies Colts in the IRN-BRU Cup.
Street Stuff – Feedback from the Street Stuff coaches after this summer's camps.
Paisley Panda's Fun Corner – Some puzzles to keep the youngsters entertained during the half-time break.
Football, Bloody Hell – Alan Gallacher looks at the growth of women's football in Scotland as the Scots get set for the World Cup next year in France.
Marketing Matters – Campbell Kennedy updates on the latest events and happenings at the club's Commercial Department.
Fans Corner - Ticket prices, travel clubs update, match info and dates for fans to keep in their diary. And Fan's Music Pick!
St Mirren Fixtures & Results 2018/19 – A handy reference page of all the fixtures and results for this season.
Team Lines – The two squads and match officials for Friday’s match.

To buy this issue or to place your programme subscription for the 2018/19 season click HERE.

If you live outside the UK & Ireland, St Mirren TV is your way to watch Paisley’s Premiership club live in action each and every home match day.

This service, which is delivered by media students from the University of the West of Scotland, will cover all of St Mirren’s home games.

As usual the St Mirren TV team will be presenting all the action from The Simple Digital Arena when Celtic are the visitors for Friday evening's Ladbrokes Premiership fixture.

If you want to tune in here is the info you will need:

St Mirren vs Celtic
Ladbrokes Premiership
Venue: The Simple Digital Arena, Paisley
Date: Friday 14th September 2018
Kick-off: 7:45pm BST

To access this match day service:

1 Day Pass – €6.99 EUR
Season Pass – €69.99 EUR

To view Terms & Conditions and get started with St Mirren TV please click HERE.

For technical support with St Mirren TV please e-mail tvsupport@stmirren.com

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 SMITH’.

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.

So get yourself ready on the hour mark of Friday’s game against The Bhoys and get voting with #SMFCMOM.

Paisley Panda is pleased to confirm that ‘First Scorer’ will be back for the game on Friday against Celtic.

‘First Scorer’ lets fans predict in advance of the game who they think will score St Mirren's first goal in Friday’s match against The Bhoys.

From all of those who guessed correctly, a winner will be picked at random and they will win a box of a dozen doughnuts which will be delivered to their seat right after the goal is scored!

To enter all you have to do ahead of the game is post your prediction of the first St Mirren scorer on Facebook or Twitter using the hashtag #Saints1stgoal. The lucky winner will then be contacted to confirm which stand they will be in with the row and seat number so that the prize can be delivered to them.