Saints are back in William Hill Premiership action this weekend as we host Celtic at The SMiSA Stadium on Sunday.

Stephen Robinson's men go into Sunday's match after matches away to Dundee United in the Premier Sports Cup and SK Brann in the UEFA Conference League last week. 

The Buddies have won one and lost won of their opening two league matches. Saints won 3-0 against Hibernian at The SMiSA Stadium on the opening day with a Roland Idowu strike as well a brace from Oisin Smyth seeing us pick up three points. Aberdeen defeated Saints 3-1 at Pittodrie the following weekend on matchday two. 

Match Details

St Mirren v Celtic
Competition: William Hill Premiership
Date: Sunday 25th August 2024
Kick-off: 12pm 
Venue: The SMiSA Stadium 
Live on Sky Sports

The Opposition

Saints were edged out at Celtic Park when the sides met on the final day of last season. A brace from Mark O'Hara twice had us ahead, but a late Luis Palma goal saw the Hoops win 3-2 in Glasgow.

Celtic's defence of the Premiership title has seen Brendan Rodgers' side defeat Kilmarnock 4-0 at Celtic Park on the opening day before a 2-0 win away to Hibernian.

The Hoops also booked their place in the quarter-finals of the Premier Sports Cup last weekend at the expense of the Hibees, winning 3-1 at Celtic Park. 

Our last victory over Celtic came just less than two years ago. Goals either side of half-time from Mark O'Hara and Jonah Ayunga saw Saints win 2-0 at The SMiSA Stadium and consign Celtic to their first league defeat in 38 matches. 

From the Manager | "We know how we have to play to get a result"

Speaking to the media ahead of Sunday's match, manager Stephen Robinson said: "Celtic have proved over time that they are a really tough opposition with real quality.

"They've started the season, as always, really well and they have a fantastic manager in Brendan Rodgers.

We know what the task is. We know how we have to play to get a result.

"We've got results, played very well and taken Celtic all the way on lots of different occasions and little bits of indecision, tiredness or sheer quality in the end have undone us.

"We want to make a really good game of it. We believe at home we are a match for anybody and we go into it with confidence."

The Officials

The referee on Sunday is Chris Graham. He'll be assisted by Calum Spence and Colin Drummond. 

Gavin Duncan is fourth official and Steven McLean is the VAR.

St Mirren Football Club can confirm that Lewis Jamieson has joined Raith Rovers on loan until the end of the season, with the club retaining an option to recall in January.

The St Mirren Youth Academy graduate heads to the William Hill Championship side to gain vital playing time to aid his development.

The forward has made 36 appearances for the Saints first-team and now joins up with the Kirkcaldy side on a temporary transfer. 

Manager Stephen Robinson said: "We’re very much trying to develop our young players. There are two ways to do that: either by playing in the first team or by getting them really good loan deals. I believe Raith is a very good loan for him.

Lewis needs to play football at his age and he's going out with the view of coming back as a first-team player.

"The system we are playing this season doesn't really suit him so it's important we continue his development and get him games at a really good level."

Lewis' loan follows fellow academy graduate Kieran Offord, who joined Crusaders FC on a season-long loan in June. Offord has scored two goals in the NIFL Premiership side's opening two league matches, leading them to 1-0 wins over Glentoran and Ballymena.

Everyone at the club wishes Lewis all the very best during his time out on loan. 

St Mirren Football Club is delighted to announce the signing of Killian Phillips on loan until the end of the season subject to clearance.

The 22-year-old joins on a season-long loan from English Premier League side Crystal Palace with an obligation to buy next summer. The deal will see Killian contracted to the club until summer 2026 with the club holding an option to extend for a further year. 

Born in the United States, Killian has been capped six times by Republic of Ireland at U21 level and began his professional career with Irish side Drogheda United. The midfielder then made the move to Crystal Palace in January 2022 after a successful trial.

During his time at the Eagles, Killian would have loan spells with Shrewsbury Town and Wycombe Wanderers as well as experience in the SPFL with Aberdeen.

Speaking to stmirren.com, Killian: "I'm buzzing.

"I spoke to the gaffer and he sold the club to me. He told me about all the players that have come through St Mirren and how he likes to develop players. 

I played here last season and the ground was rocking. I know how passionate the fans are up here and how good the standard is so it was something I wanted to play in again. 

"I'm a box-to-box midfielder and I'll always give 100%. It's been a long summer, but I'm delighted this deal is done and can't wait to get going."

Manager Stephen Robinson was pleased to add Killian to the ranks and admitted it’s someone he’s had his eye on for a period of time.

"Killian is somebody we have looked at for a while," the manager said.  

He needs a home and somewhere to settle. He’s still a young boy finding his way in his career and we have to give him that home.

"He’ll improve with the coaching, but he has the physical attributes. He’s a big boy, he can run, and he’ll hopefully help provide goals in the team as well. With a couple of bumps and knocks in the midfield it’s important we strengthen our numbers in there."

Tickets for our away match against Dundee are now on sale online. 

St Mirren head to Dundee to face Tony Docherty's side on Saturday 31st August and tickets are available online HERE through Dundee ticketing platform.

Match Details
Dundee v St Mirren
William Hill Premiership
Venue: Scot Foam Stadium at Dens Park, Dundee
Date: Saturday 31st August 2024
Kick-off: 3pm

Ticket Prices

Adults - £26
Over 65/Student - £16
U18 - £12
U12 - £5*

*Must be bought with full paying adult

Disabled and wheelchair tickets are available at the St Mirren Ticket Office. We have six wheelchair and 14 ambulant disabled tickets available. 

Disabled and Wheelchair - £16 (carer free)

St Mirren exited the Premier Sports Cup after a narrow defeat to Dundee United at Tannadice.

A first-half header from Ross Graham was enough to see the Terrors progress to the quarter-finals at the expense of Saints.

Dennis Adeniran and Caolan Boyd-Munce missed out with injuries picked up on Thursday night, while captain Mark O'Hara was still unavailable. St Mirren Youth Academy graduate Fraser Taylor made his first start for Saints, while Thursday's goalscorer Alex Iacovitti also came in. Scott Tanser, Oisin Smyth and Mikael Mandron made up the five changes with Richard Taylor, Jaden Brown and Jonah Ayunga dropping to the bench. 

Saints made a bright start with Iacovitti forcing a good save from United goalkeeper David Walton. The defender was first on to a flick from Toyosi Olusanya and he powered an effort into the ground that Walton did well to push wide. 

United had their first opportunity on 10 minutes with Craig Sibbald coming close with a strike from distance. Ellery Balcombe couldn't gather a cross which fell to the feet of a United player whose shot was well blocked by Tanser. But the ball came back to Sibbald who cracked a shot off the bar from 25 yards. 

Mandron came close three minutes later when he met a terrific cross from Taylor. The striker craned his neck to get to it and Walton was at full-stretch to tip over the bar. 

The hosts took the lead with a little over 10 minutes of the first-half remaining when Ross Graham headed home from a Will Ferry corner. Ferry stuck the ball to the near post and defender Graham got himself ahead of Balcombe to nod into the net. Balcombe had to pull off a big save on 40 minutes to deny Luca Stephenson the chance to double United's advantage. 

Saints won a free-kick in a good area around 20 yards from the United goal quickly after the half-time interval. Olusanya was brought down by Graham who was subsequently shown a yellow card. Smyth took the free-kick but sent it well over. Ferry joined Graham in the book three minutes later when he took out Olusanya as the forward looked to race forward. Olusanya himself was booked a few minutes later for what referee John Beaton deemed to be simulation in the box. Mandron was quickly on to the loose ball but saw his shot blocked. 

Stephen Robinson was forced into a change when Fraser Taylor went down and was replaced by Richard Taylor. That saw Gogic move into midfield. Three minutes later, on the hour mark, the manager made a triple change as he introduced Brown, James Scott and Ayunga in place of Tanser, Idowu and Mandron. 

United could have killed the game off on 73 minutes when substitute Louis Moult ran on to a pass from Trapanovski. He twisted and turned before getting his shot away but smacked his strike off the bar. Taylor did brilliantly to block on the follow up to deny David Babunski the chance to roll into the net. 

Brown came agonisingly close to grabbing an equaliser in injury time with his effort deflected just by the post. 

Full-Time: Dundee United 1-0 St Mirren

St Mirren: Balcombe, Fraser (c) (Sutherland 82), Gogic, Iacovitti, Rooney, Idowu (Scott 60), Smyth, F.Taylor (R.Taylor 57), Tanser (Brown 61), Olusanya, Mandron (Ayunga 61)
Subs Not Used: Urminsky, Bwomono, Kenny, Mooney

Dundee United: Walton, Adegboyega, Gallagher, Graham, Ferry, Stephenson, Holt, Sibbald, Trapanovski (Middleton 86), Babunski (c) (Docherty 78), van der Sande (Moult 68)
Subs Not Used: Richards, Odada, Fotheringham, Thomson, Cleall-Harding, Ubochioma

Attendance: 4,285 (568 St Mirren supporters)

Manager Reaction

Stephen Robinson gave his reaction to our defeat to Dundee United in the Premier Sports Cup.

Tickets for our William Hill Premiership match at home to Celtic are on sale at the St Mirren Ticket Office and online.

Saints host Celtic at The SMiSA Stadium on Sunday 25th August on matchday three of the William Hill Premiership season.

Fixture Details

St Mirren v Celtic
Competition: William Hill Premiership
Date: Sunday 25th August 2024
Kick-off: 12pm
Venue: The SMiSA Stadium
Live on Sky Sports

This match is included in the season ticket. As is standard for matches against Celtic and Rangers, additional tickets are only available to season ticket holders from this season and last season online using the email address they used when buying their season ticket.

Non-season ticket holders that have purchased tickets for (and subsequently attended) at least two home league matches at The SMiSA Stadium (not including versus Celtic) last season can only purchase directly at the St Mirren Ticket Office or by calling the Ticket Office on 0141-840-6130. 

St Mirren Football Club reserve the right to cancel any tickets it feels have been purchased for or by away supporters with no refund. Away end tickets will be sold directly by Celtic.

Ticket Prices

Adults - £35
Concession* - £25
Junior** - £20
U12*** - £14

*65+, full-time student and unemployed. 
**12-17
***Must be accompanied by an adult. 

St Mirren are in Premier Sports Cup action on Sunday with Saints heading to Tannadice to face Dundee United.

The Buddies face Jim Goodwin's side on Sunday afternoon with a place in the quarter-finals up for grabs. 

Tickets are available online, with the match also streamed live on Premier Sports Streaming Platform.

Match Details

Dundee United v St Mirren
Competition: Premier Sports Cup
Date: Sunday 18th August 2024
Kick-off: 2pm
Venue: Tannadice Park

The Opposition 

This will be Saints' first meeting with United since a 1-1 draw at Tannadice in March 2023. Mark O'Hara's second-half penalty earned the Buddies a point in the William Hill Premiership.

Dundee United reached the round of 16 as one of the best group stages runners up. The Arabs finished second in Group B behind Championship side Falkirk. Jim Goodwin's side lost 2-0 to the Bairns in their opening match, but bounced back with wins over Stenhousemuir (3-0), Ayr United (2-1) and Buckie Thistle (5-2). 

United's return to the William Hill Premiership has saw them draw their opening two league fixtures. An opening day Dundee derby finished 2-2 at Tannadice, while they were held to a 1-1 draw away to Ross County last Saturday.

Mark O'Hara celebrates after scoring from the penalty spot the last time we faced Dundee United (Image: Andy Barr)

Tickets

Tickets for Sunday's match are available to purchase online.

Tickets are priced at £20 for adults, £10 for concessions and £5 for under-12s. To buy yours please click HERE.

Wheelchair Users requiring tickets should contact the Dundee United Ticket Office directly via emaill tickets@dundeeunitedfc.co.uk or by calling 01382 833 166 option 1.

How to watch

Sunday's match will be streamed online via Premier Sports Streaming Service on Sunday at 2pm.

International subscribers to St Mirren TV can watch live as part of their subscription. 

From the Manager // "We have to go with positivity" 

"We'll put out the fittest team available after a few knocks and injuries picked up during the game so we'll need to see how they react in training or once they've been assessed by the physio. 

"It's a good game to come back to. It's a good chance to get the quarter-finals and get closer to Hampden. 

"I watched their [Dundee United's] game against Dundee and Jim [Goodwin] has got them playing well. It'll be a hard game and we'll have to go there with a real positivity."

Referees

John Beaton is the referee on Sunday. Graeme Stewart and Paul McAvinue are his assistants, while Peter Stuart is the Fourth Official. 

• Dundee Utd v St Mirren will be streamed exclusively live on Premier Sports streaming service this Sunday at 2pm.
• Premier Sports will broadcast live coverage of all 8 Premier Sports Cup Second Round games this weekend.
• St Mirren fans can use promo code FITBA99 to access Premier Sports for £99 annual fee – a saving of almost 50% on standard monthly pricing over a full year.

This weekend Premier Sports will broadcast all 8 games live from the Premier Sports Cup Second Round, with St Mirren’s trip to Dundee United being streamed online via Premier Sports Streaming Service on Sunday at 2pm.

Premier Sports will be broadcasting over 75 live games in total from the William Hill Premiership, Scottish Cup and the Premier Sports Cup this season, featuring exclusive St Mirren games including Sunday’s clash with Dundee United, with more to be confirmed soon.

St Mirren fans can watch these exclusive games on Premier Sports – who are offering a special, limited-time annual offer of £99 for an entire year of Premier Sports by using promo code FITBA99, saving you £92 on the standard monthly price over a full year – almost 50%!

Simply select the ‘Pre-Paid Annual’ or ‘Annual Upfront’ subscription option when subscribing via Sky or Premier Sports streaming service platforms, and enter the promo code FITBA99 to avail of this special, limited time offer. This offer is applicable only to Sky and Premier Sports streaming service platforms, and only available to new / returning customers of Premier Sports. NOTE: Sky customers can free access to the Premier Sports Streaming Service where you can watch tomorrow’s game.

This will give you live and on-demand access to all Scottish football games and all other channel content including the LALIGATV channel, every United Rugby Championship and Investec Champions Cup game live and much more!

St Mirren's European journey came to an end with defeat in Norway against SK Brann. 

The Buddies fell behind early to a Joachim Soltvedt goal inside five minutes, but Stephen Robinson's men looked to be taking the match to extra-time when substitute Alex Iacovitti equalised with a little over 15 minutes remaining. But SK Brann scored two goals in three minutes in the final moments of the game to secure their place in the UEFA Conference League Play-Off Round. 

The manager spoke pre-match about the need for Saints to perform better than the first leg tie against Brann in Paisley and his side got off to a bright start with Shaun Rooney volleying over from inside the box on four minutes. The summer signing got himself on the end of a Richard Taylor cross which evaded the home defence, but he fired over the bar. 

That miss would be punished almost instantly a SK Brann took an early lead. Felix Myhre got the better of Alex Gogic, with the Cypriot defender slipping on the sodden pitch. Myhre slid the ball back to Soltvedt who tucked an effort low into the left-hand corner to give the hosts the perfect start. 

But Saints weren't deterred by the set back and pushed for a way back into the match. Taylor sent a header into the arms of Brann goalkeeper Dyngeland just two minutes later after meeting a Caolan Boyd-Munce free-kick, while Rooney sent a wonderful cross into a dangerous area but there were no takers to meet his teasing delivery. 

The Buddies had to be alert at the start of the second-half as Brann looked for a second that might have put the game beyond doubt. Taylor made a brilliant last-gasp defensive block to turn Bård Finne's strike wide. 

Manager Stephen Robinson made the game's first change on 54 minutes when he introduced Oisin Smyth in place of his compatriot Boyd-Munce. The Northern Irish midfielder was so close to making an instant impact with a low volley that was saved by Dyngeland. It was a terrific save from the Brann goalkeeper as he pushed it wide after Smyth had caught it sweetly on the edge of the area. 

Saints were continuing the search for an equaliser and came close again on 67 minutes when Rooney's corner was headed wide by Taylor who just got too much on it. 

The Buddies made a triple substitution on 71 minutes and it would pay dividends with two of the changes combining for the leveller. St Mirren Youth Academy graduate Fraser Taylor's corner was perfect as it met the head of Iacovitti who bulleted home a header to send the 750+ travelling support into raptures.

It could have got even better for Saints just a few minutes later when Mandron robbed the ball from a Brann defender deep in their half. He drove into the box and looked to pick out Olusanya, but the forward had slipped on the rain soaked pitch and was denied what would have been a tap in.

SK Brann re-took the lead with just five minutes remaining. Myhre nodded home from close range and substitute Aune Heggebø sealed the Norwegian's place in the play-offs just three minutes later when he finished beyond Ellery Balcombe from a tight angle. 

For St Mirren it was heartbreak, but supporters are bound to take a lot of pride in what Stephen Robinson, his staff and the players gave them, not only on the night, but during this first European adventure since 1987.

Full-Time: SK Brann 3-1 St Mirren

St Mirren: Balcombe, Fraser (c), Gogic, R.Taylor (Iacovitti 71), Rooney, Adeniran, Boyd-Munce (Smyth 54), Idowu (F.Taylor 71), Brown, Olusanya (Scott 79), Ayunga (Mandron 71)
Subs Not Used: Urminsky, Kelly, Kenny, Bwomono, Tanser, Sutherland, Mooney

SK Brann: Dyngeland, Pedersen, Knudsen, Kristiansen, Soltvedt, Kartum (Sande 73), Kornvig, Myhre, Blomberg, Finne (Heggebø 78), Castro
Subs Not Used: Børsheim, Johansen, Opsahl, Sery Larsen, Warming, Mathisem, Helland, Holten

Referee: Radoslav Gidzhenov
Assistant Referee: Georgi Todorov
Assistant Referee: Petar Mitrev
Fourth Official: Kristiyan Kolev
VAR: Nikola Popov

Attendance: 14,500

St Mirren travel to Bergen to face SK Brann in the second leg of our UEFA Conference League Third Qualifying Round tie on Thursday night. 

The Buddies face the Norwegian side at Brann Stadion with the tie poised at 1-1 following last week's first leg at The SMiSA Stadium.

Match Details

SK Brann v St Mirren
Competition: UEFA Conference League
Date: Thursday 15th August 2024
Kick-off: 7pm CEST, 6pm UK
Venue: Brann Stadion

The Second Leg

Toyosi Olusanya's 90th minute equaliser saw St Mirren draw 1-1 with SK Brann in the first leg of our UEFA Conference League Third Qualifying Round tie. 

The Norwegians took the lead on 75 minutes when Felix Myhre opened the scoring at The SMiSA Stadium, but Olusanya's late leveller means it's all square heading into the second leg. 

SK Brann have had a strong season in the Eliteserien with Eirik Horneland's side sitting in third place after 18 matches. 

In our only other visit to Norway in competitive action, Saints drew 0-0 with Tromso in the UEFA Cup Winners Cup back in 1987 to progress to the second round after a 1-0 win at Love Street in the first leg. 

Bergen

Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway and has nicknames such as 'the city between the seven mountains' and 'the heart of the fjords'. Click HERE to find out more about Bergen. 

Supporter travel information is available HERE. Supporters without tickets are strongly advised not to travel to Brann Stadion ahead of the match.

How to watch

Thursday night's match will be shown live on Solidsport. PPV passes are available from Solidsport at a cost of €12. 

Click HERE to buy a pass. 

From the Manager // "We have to embrace the occasion" 

Speaking to the press ahead of Thursday's match, manager Stephen Robinson said: "We have to embrace these occasions. 

"I thought out of possession we were good. We were very well drilled and very organised, but we didn't play. It was arguably one of our worst performances on the ball in a few months so that has to improve. 

We believe we are much better than we showed and we have to be against a very good Brann side. If we can perform at a 10/20% better level then it's all to play for."

Referees

The referee on Thursday night is Bulgarian Radoslav Gidzhenov and he'll be assisted by Georgi Todorov and Petar Mitrev. 

Kristiyan Kolev is the fourth official, while Nikola Popov is the Video Assistant Referee (VAR).