St Mirren and Falkirk meet for the first time this season tomorrow in an early evening kick-off at The Paisley 2021 Stadium.

Falkirk made it to the promotion playoffs final last season and while they eventually lost out to Premiership side Kilmarnock it was expected that Peter Houston’s side would make another strong challenge for promotion again this season. The Bairns early season form looked to be contradicting that prediction but over the last month or so they look to have got themselves back on track.

Over the summer Houston lost the services of the impressive duo Will Vaulks and Blair Alston who both moved on to new pastures but he has done well in plugging in replacements for a squad that hasn’t changed too much since last season. Pick of the bunch is midfielder John Rankin, the former Dundee United, Hibernian and Inverness Caley Thistle player is sure to bring a lot of strength and drive to the Falkirk midfield. The Bairns gaffer also weakened some of his promotion-chasing opponents by snapping up Lewis Kidd from Queen of the South and James Craigen from Raith Rovers. Another nice pick-up was Luca Gasparotto, the former Rangers man impressed in a loan spell with Morton last season where he slotted nicely into the Greenock side’s defence.

Falkirk had a poor start to the season losing to Stirling Albion in the first Betfred Cup outing. They redeemed themselves with a 3-0 win over Elgin City which was followed by a 3-0 loss to Premiership side St Johnstone. The group was rounded off with a 2-0 win over Brechin City but The Bairns didn’t tally-up enough points to advance to the next round.

It was a tough start to the league season with fixtures against Hibernian, Morton and Queen of the South as their opening trio of matches. After going down 2-1 at home against Neil Lennon’s Hibernian side, The Bairns nabbed a point at Cappielow with Luke Leahy’s 90th minute equaliser against Morton. A trip to Dumfries followed but a Stephen Dobbie double kept the points with Queen of the South.

The following week their match against Dumbarton looked to be running out as a no-scoring draw until Lee Miller scored an 86th minute winner, since then Falkirk have forged ahead. After a 6-1 win over Elgin City in the IRN-BRU Cup league wins against Raith Rovers (2-0), Dundee United (3-1) and Ayr United (2-0) have catapulted The Bairns up to third place in the league, four points off top spot.

St Mirren got themselves ahead twice in last Saturday’s match at East End Park but somehow managed to still lose out by the odd goal in seven against Dunfermline. John Sutton gave Saints the lead on the half-hour mark which only lasted ten minutes as Nicky Clark pulled The Pars level again. But that man Sutton was on target again just before the break to send Saints into a half-time lead. A freakish own-goal from Andy Webster saw Dunfermline level again and then Clark put them into the lead for the first time. Saints thought they had grabbed a share of the points when Ryan Hardie’s shot flew into the back of the net but Farid El Alagui took advantage of some slack defending from Saints to nab the points for Dunfermline.

Saints didn’t do well against Falkirk last season losing three of the four league outings, the other match saw them get a share of the points in a goalless draw in Paisley at the beginning of March. You have to go back to 17th October 2009 for St Mirren’s last win against Falkirk when goals from Craig Dargo, Billy Mehmet and Tom Brighton countered Brian McLean’s opener for Falkirk.

It has been nearly two weeks since we made the decision to change our manager. The process of appointing a new manager can be a lengthy one and we have spent those near two weeks reviewing the 50 plus applications we have received and trying to reduce that to a manageable number to interview. Tony's experience has been invaluable and a couple of our existing board members have past experience when it comes to this so, as a board, we are not entirely new to it all. 

We started the process by aiming high and approached a couple of ex-English Premier League managers. It was always going to be a long shot but I believed, after meeting them, that one of them might have paid off but it wasn't to be. With the breaking news in England regarding the managerial scandal, I feel it's no coincidence that one of them may be waiting it out to see if anything becomes available down south. However, it was worth a try and we thank him for coming in to speak to us. We had a few productive chats and I gained valuable insight into what it takes to be a top manager. 

After that we then looked closer to home and had another worthwhile conversation with one of the leading agents in Scottish football. One of his clients was high on our list to interview but unfortunately, as it stands, he wants another crack at trying to be a success in England and we wish him well. 

We have now whittled down our list and hope to finish the interviewing process early next week with the aim of having someone in place prior to next Saturday's trip to Easter Road to face Hibernian in the IRN-BRU Cup. That list contains a good blend of experienced and up-and-coming managers. We know how important it is to get the right person in and rest assured that when we appoint someone we'll have done everything we can and carried out all due diligence to ensure that they are the best person for the job. For us it is important to get some stability and start planning for the long term. 

I also have to ask you for your support at tomorrow's game against Falkirk. It was a big, and costly, decision to change manager and we need all the support we can get through the turnstiles. While the result against Dunfermline last week was not what we wanted, you could see the commitment from the players for 90 minutes and I can assure you that they are working as hard as they can to turn things around. 

As a club we need your support more than ever right now, so please come to the game on Saturday and drag along any doubters and get right behind the team. 

Gordon. 

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

This issue, for the Ladbrokes Championship match against Falkirk, is a 48 pager with a £3 cover price.

The latest edition includes the following:

Front Cover – Lewis Morgan.
The Chairman - St Mirren Chairman Gordon Scott’s message to the fans ahead of the game.
Matchday Gallery – A gallery of pictures from the post-match presentations in the corporate suite after the recent home game against Queen of the South.
Buddies News Update – News of the latest happenings in and around the Paisley 2021 Stadium.
Last Time Out – A look back at last week’s match against Dunfermline Athletic.
Football, Bloody Hell – Alan Gallacher looks back at the BBC's recent four-part documentary 'Scotland's Game'.
The Opposition – Brian Corry gives the lowdown on Saturday’s visitors – Peter Houston's Falkirk side.
Hall of Fame – David Cochran highlights the St Mirren career of Bobby Rankin.
Player Interview – John Sutton says it is important that we all stick together to get St Mirren back on the right road.
Action Shot (Centre Pages) – Lewis Morgan.
Fans Corner – Ticket prices, travel clubs update, match info and dates for fans to keep in their diary.
Championship Round-Up – Kyle Gunn’s run down on weeks 5 and 6 of the Ladbrokes Championship season.
Saints in the Community – A catch-up with the latest happenings at St Mirren in the Community.
The Academy – A look at the under-20 side’s recent outings in the SPFL Development League.
Kit Sponsors 2016/17.
Marketing Matters – Commercial Manager, Campbell Kennedy brings us up to date with all the commercial activities within the Club.
St Mirren Fixtures & Results 2016/17 – A handy reference page of all the fixtures for this season.
Team Lines – The two squads and match officials for Saturday’s match.

To buy this issue or to place your programme subscription for the 2016/17 season click HERE.

Paisley Panda will be a busy mascot once again at this Saturday’s match with match day competitions ‘Bung a Baw’ and 'Spot Prizes'.

To take part in ‘Bung a Baw’ fans need to purchase a small foam ball which is numbered and they will then have a chance to throw their ball towards our club mascot Paisley Panda in front of the Family Stand. Each person will have 60 seconds to do this and the winner will be the person who has thrown the ball closest to the feet of the Panda with the winner being confirmed over the PA system.

The competition is sponsored by The Linwood Farm Restaurant who are supplying a family meal voucher as the prize for the contest winner.

Each ball will cost £1 to buy. The balls will be available from sellers inside the Family Stand in the 30 minutes leading up to kick-off and then again in the first 5 minutes of half time before the competition starts (subject to availability). Each ball is numbered and participants will also get a ticket with the corresponding number which they will use to claim the prize if they win.

'Spot Prizes' gives all Season Ticket holders and anyone who buys a ticket for Saturday’s match against Falkirk before the St Mirren Ticket Office closes on Friday, will be entered into a prize draw.

On the 30th and 60th minute of the match a seat will be selected at random which will be displayed on the scoreboard with the winners each receiving a family munchy box (4 slush puppies, 4 hot dogs, 4 ice creams and 6 packets of traditional sweets) from Tasty Treats of Bridge of Weir.

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 MALLAN’.

With 10 minutes of the game remaining all the votes will be counted then Stadium Announcer Phil Clark 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 Saturday’s game against Falkirk and get voting with #SMFCMOM.

If you live outside the UK & Ireland, St Mirren TV is your way to watch Paisley’s top football side 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 in the Ladbrokes Championship.

As usual the St Mirren TV team will be presenting all the action from the Paisley 2021 Stadium when Falkirk are the visitors on Saturday evening.

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

St Mirren v Falkirk
Ladbrokes Championship
Venue: Paisley 2021 Stadium, Paisley
Date: Saturday 1st October 2016
Kick-off: 5:15pm 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

St Mirren in the Community are delighted to confirm that the SMiSA Panda Club will be open as usual for Saturday’s Ladbrokes Championship fixture against Falkirk at the Paisley 2021 Stadium.

Due to the later than usual kick-off the Panda Club will open at 3:00pm on Saturday. Parents please note that you should pick up your kids after the final whistle from the community office at 7:00pm.

The cost is just £2 per child (aged 5-12) for those without a season ticket and completely FREE to our young season ticket holders (remember and bring your smartcard with you).

Panda Club details for Saturday’s game are as follows:

St Mirren v Falkirk
Saturday 1st October 2016
3:00pm – 7:00pm

To find out more about the Panda Club click here

St Mirren v Falkirk
Ladbrokes Championship
Venue: Paisley 2021 Stadium, Paisley
Date: Saturday 1st October 2016
Kick-off: 5:15pm

The match day officials for Saturday’s Ladbrokes Championship fixture against Peter Houston’s Falkirk side are as follows:

Referee: John Beaton.
Assistant Referee: Douglas Ross.
Assistant Referee: Calum Spence.
4th Official: Gavin Ross.

If you are thinking about coming to the Paisley 2021 Stadium for the first time on Saturday please click HERE for all the info you will need to make sure your match day experience runs as smoothly as possible.

Match Details

The game kicks-off at 5:15pm.

Season Tickets ARE valid for this game.

Match is all ticket – tickets will be on sale (subject to availability) UNTIL KICK OFF.

On the match day St Mirren fans can purchase their tickets (subject to availability) at the St Mirren Ticket Office from 10:00am to kick-off time (5:15pm).

We also now have a Ticket Booth sited at the West Stand beside turnstiles T11-14 on a match day.  The Ticket Booth is only for the purchase of tickets (subject to availability) for the West Stand, and also the pick-up point for pre-ordered tickets for the West Stand.  The Ticket Booth will be open from 4:15pm to 5:15pm (kick-off).

The Falkirk fans can purchase their tickets (subject to availability) from the window at the away end of the ground (North Stand) from 4:15pm to kick-off time (5:15pm).

Tickets can also be purchased from the Online Ticket Shop.

The St Mirren Ticket Office (Main Stand) opening hours in the build up to this match are as follows:

Fri, 30 Sep: 10:00am to 2:00pm
Sat, 1st Oct 10:00am to 5:15pm

The Ticket Booth (West Stand) opening hours in the build up to this match are as follows:

Sat, 1st Oct – 4:15pm to 5:15pm (kick-off)

Ticket Office Phone No: (0141) 840-6130.
St Mirren Ticket Office E-Mail: tickets@stmirren.com.

Please note that the Club Shop is also open the same hours as the Ticket Office.

Ticket Information

Visitor Information

St Mirren in the Community are now taking bookings for the upcoming October Week Holiday Football Camps.

The Camps will run over the school October Week holiday at the club’s exclusive Carbrini@JD Airdome from Monday 17th October to Friday 21st October.

There will be camps for 3 to 5 year olds and 6 to 12 year olds, a Goalkeeper Camp and a Breakfast Club for those who need to drop their kids off at the camps a bit earlier.

Participants at the Football Camps are required to bring with them suitable indoor clothing and footwear (no metal studs or blades), shin guards and goalkeeper gloves (if appropriate) in addition to a light healthy snack and plenty of water/non-fizzy drinks.

Bookings can be made by downloading and printing the booking form, completing it in full and returning it to the address provided.

To download the booking form please click here.

For further information please contact the St Mirren in the Community team by e-mail: communityadmin@stmirren.com.

The St Mirren Under-20 side are back in action again next Tuesday evening when they head down to Ayrshire to face their counterparts from Kilmarnock.

The SPFL Development League fixture between the young Buddies and Killie on Tuesday, 4th October will take place at Rugby Park and it will kick-off at 7:00pm.

For more news on the SPFL Development League please click HERE.