10-man St Mirren were beaten 3-0 by Celtic in our first match of 2024.

Two goals in the opening six minutes from Daizen Maeda and Matt O'Riley had Celtic 2-0 up and Saints' afternoon was made a lot tougher when a VAR intervention saw Toyosi Olusanya sent off for a foul on Celtic goalkeeper Joe Hart. Greg Taylor then added a third for the visitors as they left Paisley with the points. 

There were three changes to the Saints side that defeated Aberdeen 3-0 on Saturday. Keanu Baccus dropped out after joining up with Australia for their Asian Cup campaign, while Mark O'Hara missed the game after picking up a thigh injury on Saturday. Lewis Jamieson was also benched with the trio replaced by Ryan Flynn, Caolan Boyd-Munce and Olusanya. 

Saints got off to the worst possible start when Maeda put the hosts ahead within the first minute. O'Riley's low pass found Maeda who has got in front of Scott Tanser and managed to slot beyond Zach Hemming. That poor start was compounded five minutes later when O'Riley turned from provider to goalscorer to double Celtic's lead. Bernardo picked up the ball from Luis Palma and spun well to get away from Alex Gogic and tee up O'Riley who took a touch before finishing low through the legs of the goalkeeper. 

It was an uphill task but Saints looked to find a way back into the match with Olusanya looking lively. He managed to get in behind Celtic's centre-half pairing of Liam Scales and Maik Nawrocki on 13 minutes but he lashed his effort well wide under pressure from the latter defender. 

Nawrocki missed a big opportunity to extend Celtic's lead shortly before the half hour mark when he didn't get the right connection on a header after being found unmarked in the Saints box. Kyogo Furuhashi flicked on Palma's free-kick for the Hoops defender but he only got the slightest of touches as he glanced wide of the far post. 

Saints were dealt a huge blow when Olusanya was shown a red card following a VAR check as the game was reaching its interval. The Buddies forward made an honest attempt to reach a cross but caught Celtic number one Hart late and was booked by referee David Munro. But the VAR, Steven McLean, advised the referee to check the monitor and he subsequently withdrew the yellow card and showed Olusanya a straight red to reduce Saints to 10 men.

A VAR intervention saw Toyosi Olusanya sent off and Saints reduced to 10 men (Image: Vagelis Georgariou)

The Buddies were trying their best to make a game of it after the restart despite the disadvantage. Greg Kiltie went on a marauding run into the Celtic half on 58 minutes and worked his way into the box but saw his shot blocked. But in truth it was the visitors who looked more likely and they came close to furthering their lead a minute later only for O'Riley to be thwarted by a terrific save from Hemming who touched over the bar. Celtic would add a third soon after when Greg Taylor got on to a Bernardo ball over the top and volleyed into the net on the hour mark. 

Elvis Bwomono was handed a St Mirren debut when he replaced Ryan Flynn on 65 minutes. He was part of a double substitution that saw Jonah Ayunga also come on in place of Mikael Mandron.

Furuhashi missed a big chance to add a fourth for Celtic as the game reached its final 20 minutes and that would be his last action as he was replaced by Hyeongyu Oh on 71 minutes. Another Celtic substitute - Liel Abada - came close to adding his name to the scoresheet 10 minutes after his introduction, but he was denied by a brilliant stop from Hemming. The Saints number one then made a good double save four minutes later to deny Oh and Hyunjun Yang from adding to Celtic's tally.

Full-Time: St Mirren 0-3 Celtic

St Mirren: Hemming, Bolton, Gogic, Taylor, Fraser, Flynn (Bwomono 65), Boyd-Munce (Greive 77), Kiltie, Tanser, Olusanya, Mandron (Ayunga 65)
Subs Not Used: Urminsky, Dunne, Small, McMenamin, Jamieson, Nahmani

Celtic: Hart, A.Johnston, Nawrocki (Lagerbielke 63), Scales, Taylor, O'Riley, McGregor, Bernardo (Hatate 71), Maeda (Abada 63), Furuhashi (Oh 71), Palma (Yang 55)
Subs Not Used: Bain, Ralston, Turnbull, M.Johnston

Referee: David Munro
Assistant Referee: Alan Mulvanny
Assistant Referee: Craig Ferguson
Fourth Official: Craig Napier
VAR: Steven McLean

Attendance: 6,943

Today is the final day to join #OurFamily and kick-off New Year with a cheer by purchasing a 2023/24 half-season ticket.

Half-season tickets are on sale now at the St Mirren Ticket Office and ONLINE and include all remaining home league matches with at least nine home matches guaranteed and represent a significant saving on walk-up prices.

Guarantee your seat for the rest of the season; get yours now and kick-off New Year with a cheer! 

Season Ticket Cards

A QR code will be emailed out when you purchase your half-season ticket and you can also download our Future Ticketing App HERE.

The last date to order to receive a physical season ticket card will be Tuesday 2nd January 2024 with cards ready in time for our home match against Rangers on Saturday 27th January. Any orders made after 2nd January will not receive a physical card. 

St Mirren kick off 2024 by hosting league leaders Celtic at The SMiSA Stadium on Tuesday.

Stephen Robinson's men ended 2023 in fine fashion with a 3-0 win away to Aberdeen to move within four points of third place. Mark O'Hara, Jonah Ayunga and Greg Kiltie all scored as we secured a second win at Pittodrie in 2023. The Buddies have won two, drawn one and lost two of our last five league outings.

Celtic come in to Tuesday's match after a 2-1 derby victory over Rangers at Celtic Park on Saturday. Goals from Paulo Bernardo and Kyogo Furuhashi saw Brendan Rodgers' side defeat their rivals and extend their lead at the top of the cinch Premiership to eight points. The Hoops have won their last three league matches in a row, having lost their previous two against Kilmarnock and Hearts. 

Match Details

St Mirren v Celtic
Competition: cinch Premiership
Date: Tuesday 2nd January 2024
Kick-off: 5pm
Venue: The SMiSA Stadium

Ticket Info

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 this season can only purchase directly at the St Mirren Ticket Office or by calling the Ticket Office on 0141-840-6130. There are no away ticket sales available from St Mirren.

International subscribers to St Mirren TV can watch the match live on tv.stmirren.com as part of their subscription. UK subscribers can listen to live audio commentary. There is no PPV as the match is being shown live on Sky Sports.

50/50 online half-time draw tickets are available now. Enter HERE now from just £1 for your chance to win half the takings or a signed shirt. 

Previous 

Saints were edged out at Celtic Park at the beginning of November in the only meeting between the two sides so far this season. Conor McMenamin scored an early goal to put us ahead, but David Turnbull levelled before a late winner from Hyeongyu Oh saw Celtic win 2-1.

The Buddies did, of course, defeat Celtic at The SMiSA Stadium last season, becoming the first team to inflict a domestic defeat on Celtic in almost a year. Mark O'Hara and Jonah Ayunga scored either side of half-time to secure a famous 2-0 victory in Paisley. 

Captain Mark O'Hara put us in front when we defeated Celtic at The SMiSA Stadium last season (Image: Jeff Holmes) 

The officials

David Munro is the referee on Tuesday. His assistants are Alan Mulvanny and Craig Ferguson. Craig Napier is fourth official. 

Steven McLean is on Video Assistant Referee (VAR) duty and he'll be assisted by Dougie Potter.   

It's been coming. I think the defensive performance was excellent."

Stephen Robinson praised his side as they closed out the year with a 3-0 win away to Aberdeen.

ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MAY 2023

The year to 31 May 2023 was one characterised by significant progress for the Club on and off the park. Accordingly, we are pleased to report results which are well ahead of what we forecast at the last AGM.

As a result of the stringent actions taken by the Board, the Operating Loss of £386,850 (2021/22 - £2,014,127) represents a major improvement compared to last year and the initial budget at the start of the financial year. Once profit on disposals of player registrations and interest receivable are added, as well as interest payable deducted, the Net Loss is £56,582 (2021/22 - £1,598,506). We remain on track to report a break-even trading position in the year to 31 May 2024 as forecast.

A copy of the club’s Annual Accounts can be found HERE.

St Mirren ended the year on a high with a brilliant victory away to Aberdeen in the cinch Premiership. Mark O'Hara, Jonah Ayunga and Greg Kiltie all scored as Saints defeated the Dons 3-0 at Pittodrie to secure our biggest league win on the road this season. 

Lewis Jamieson and Mikael Mandron came in from the start in place of Toyosi Olusanya and Ayunga as the manager made two changes from Wednesday night's 1-0 defeat to Kilmarnock.  

The two changes looked lively in the opening exchanges and almost linked up to give us a lead inside the opening 10 minutes. A deep cross from Scott Tanser found Jamieson who nodded down for Mandron, but the big forward couldn't get enough on it to divert beyond Aberdeen goalkeeper Kelle Roos who gathered comfortably. 

But the Buddies would take the lead just three minutes later when O'Hara fired us ahead from the edge of the area. It was a terrific strike from the skipper after Mandron's initial 

The captain had a chance to double his and St Mirren's tally when Saints were awarded a penalty on 19 minutes following a VAR check. Jamieson's shot was blocked by the hand of Richard Jensen and referee Grant Irvine was sent to the pitchside monitor to check. The spot-kick was awarded, but O'Hara dragged wide of the target. 

The home side looked to find their way back into it before the interval and in-form striker Bojan Miovski wasn't too far away with a volley that went wide of the left-hand post near the half hour mark. Zach Hemming was then called into action when he got down well to push away a powerful Clarkson strike at his near post on 32 minutes. 

Saints started the second-half brightly and came close when Kiltie's low cross almost found Jamieson, but the youngster just couldn't connect and Aberdeen would eventually deal with the danger. The 21-year-old had another good opportunity to double Saints advantage when he was sent clear on a fast counter. Jamieson skipped by the challenge of Richard Jensen but his low shot was tame and allowed Roos to gather with relative ease. 

A one-goal lead is always precarious and Hemming had to make a terrific save on 54 minutes when he got both hands behind a James McGarry strike to turn it wide as the Dons looked to pull themselves level.

Saints were dealt a blow just before the hour mark when goalscorer O'Hara pulled up with an injury. The skipper was checked out by St Mirren physio Gerry Docherty but had to come off with Caolan Boyd-Munce his replacement. Stephen Robinson made two further changes five minutes later when he introduced Olusanya and Ayunga in place of Jamieson and Mandron. 

Aberdeen tried to find a leveller and came close with less than 20 minutes remaining when substitute Dante Polvara headed just wide of the target. But it was Saints who would go on to seal the win when Ayunga was on hand at the back post to meet a brilliant Tanser cross and slam into the net to double our lead.

The cherry on top of the cake was added when the Buddies were awarded a stoppage time penalty after a VAR intervention following a foul on Olusanya. Kiltie fired high into the net to make it 3-0 and send the delighted travelling support back to Paisley with all three points. 

Greg Kiltie scores our final goal of 2023 to secure our win in Aberdeen

Full-Time: Aberdeen 0-3 St Mirren

St Mirren: Hemming, Bolton, Gogic, Taylor, Fraser, Baccus, O'Hara (c) (Boyd-Munce 59), Tanser, Kiltie, Mandron (Ayunga 64), Jamieson (Olusanya 64)
Subs Not Used: Urminsky, Dunne, Small, Flynn, Greive, Nahmani

Aberdeen: Roos, Gartenmann, Rubezic, Jensen (Morris 60), Devlin (Milne 61), McGrath, Clarkson, Shinnie (Polvara 60), McGarry (Hayes 81), Miovski, Duk (Sokler 72)
Subs Not Used: Doohan, Barron, Duncan, MacDonald

Referee: Grant Irvine
Assistant Referee: John McCrossan
Assistant Referee: Gordon McCabe
Fourth Official: Dan McFarlane
VAR: Greg Aitken

Attendance: 17,029

As we approach the end of 2023, I wanted to provide an update ahead of the winter break and to have a look back at what we have achieved together during the past 12 months. 

Before doing so, I want to thank all our fans, sponsors, volunteers and staff for their tremendous work and support throughout the year. We appreciate all the support that the club receives from everyone, SMiSA, Kibble, Kibble Skills Academy and every individual that contributes to our club. 

It’s been fabulous to see the increased attendances at The SMiSA Stadium and the healthy growth in income generated from gate receipts and commercial activities. With gates regularly exceeding 7,000, the work done by the Marching On group and our pre-match entertainment organised and delivered by Paisley Panda & our SLOs, I’m sure you’ll agree that there’s now a much better atmosphere at home games.  

On the park, the team secured a top six slot in the Scottish Premiership at the end of the 2022/23 season for the first time ever in the current format. Since then we’ve occupied the top half of the league for most of this season after a very encouraging start to the current campaign. Whilst results recently have been less positive, it’s important to note that we remain in fifth place and have amassed almost the same number of points as last year (26 after 20 matches compared to 27 after 20 matches last season). We all feel disappointed when results don’t go our way but if we back the team positively, I have no doubt that will translate into better results on the park. We have built a strong squad as evidenced by the increasing number of players being called up for international duty. 

During the year we have moved forward with our work on the alignment across all of our football activities with the pathway from our Academy to our first-team being mapped out clearly. We have also been working to support the development of our Women’s team and the Girl’s academy. A special mention and congratulations to our Girl’s Under-14 team that recently won their league cup! 

Off the field you will have noticed the new LED scoreboard and advertising boards. This will be followed early in the new year with LED advertising boards on the exterior of the Main Stand and these will result in welcome additional revenues for the club in future. Three new Executive Boxes have been built in the Main Stand and will be brought into use in early January and we are grateful to SMiSA for supporting investment in this area. Again, these will bring in extra income for the club as we build a more robust financial model for the future.

These projects, along with the community activities in primary schools and the partnership with local charity, Home-Start, are clear examples of how we are progressing on our mission of being the best community centred development football club in Scotland. Related to that community ethos I also want to highlight the fantastic work that’s been done by our Charitable Foundation and Street Stuff. They’ve delivered so many fantastic programmes for the benefit of people across Paisley and beyond throughout 2023.

We are still working on securing funding to replace The Dome. As soon as any decisions have been made I will update further. Early in January, work will begin to clear the site behind the North Stand. 

So, whilst there is still much to do, I hope you’ll agree that the Club has made good progress on a number of fronts in 2023. With your continued support there is no reason why we can’t continue that progress in 2024.

Meantime, I wish you and your families a happy and peaceful New Year when it comes.

St Mirren head to Pittodrie to face Aberdeen in our final match of 2023. 

Aberdeen vs St Mirren
cinch Premiership
Venue: Pittodrie Stadium, Aberdeen
Date: Saturday 30th December 2023
Kick-off: 3pm

This is a ticket only game. Please do not travel to the game unless you are in possession of a valid ticket as there are no tickets or cash gates for away fans on sale at the stadium. The away ticket pod will be open for all types of ticket collection only.

You can follow the action on our Twitter page @saintmirrenfc. 

UK subscribers to St Mirren TV can listen to live audio commentary as part of their subscription. St Mirren TV international subscribers can watch live on tv.stmirren.com as part of their subscription. International subscriptions start at £14.99 per month or £149.99 per year for access to all of our cinch Premiership matches.

Please note there is no PPV for Saturday's match. 

There will be bagpipers piping for New Year celebrations and will pipe the players on to the pitch at kick off.

• Turnstiles will open at 2.00pm.
• Kiosks will be card and cash.
• Please sit in your allocated seats.
• Flags should be within regulations and must have a fire certificate.
• No offensive or political flags will be allowed. Please display all flags/banners to the CCTV cameras before entering the stadium. Please be guided by the stewards on placement of any flags/banners which should be placed at the rear of the stand.
• No balaclavas or face coverings will be allowed on entering or within the stadium. Refusal of entry/ejection will occur if face coverings are seen.
• No Pyro or Megaphones.
• No bags bigger than A4 allowed.
• No surfing banners or telescopic poles allowed.
• One drum will be allowed inside stadium and will be required to be searched prior to entry. Drumsticks must be present with the drum at all times.
• Searching will be in place. If searching is refused you will be refused entry to the stadium in accordance with ground regulations.
• Any inebriated fans will not be allowed to enter the stadium.
• No smoking or vaping anywhere inside the stadium and no pass out is allowed.
• Buses to only drop off in the away car park and not in the vicinity of the stadium.
• Please be mindful when parking on the streets and not to block any driveways.

St Mirren head to Pittodrie to face Aberdeen in our final match of 2023. 

Stephen Robinson's men sit in fifth place in the cinch Premiership with 26 points from our opening 20 matches. The Buddies sit seven points ahead of Saturday's opponents Aberdeen, though Barry Robson's side have four games in hand over Saints. 

Aberdeen have seen their last two matches postponed having been due to face Dundee at Dens Park on Saturday and Motherwell at Pittodrie on Wednesday night. The Dons' last cinch Premiership match saw them come from behind to defeat bottom side Livingston 2-1 at Pittodrie a little over a week ago. 

Match Details

Aberdeen v St Mirren
Competition: cinch Premiership
Date: Saturday 30th December 2023
Kick-off: 3pm
Venue: Pittodrie Stadium

Ticket Info

Tickets for this match are on sale at the St Mirren Ticket Office and must be collected from the Ticket Office by 2pm on Friday. Full ticket info is available HERE.

International subscribers to St Mirren TV can watch the match live on tv.stmirren.com as part of their subscription. UK subscribers can listen to live audio commentary. 

Previous 

St Mirren were held to a 2-2 draw when we faced Aberdeen at The SMiSA Stadium in August. Second-half goals from Greg Kiltie and Alex Greive had us ahead after Jonny Hayes had put the visitors in front in the first-half. But Bojan Miovski scored a controversial penalty in the 10th minute of added on time to rescue a point for the Dons. 

Saints visited Pittodrie three times last season winning one and losing two. A Curtis Main double followed by a Declan Gallagher goal saw Saints win 3-1 at Pittodrie at the beginning of February. Aberdeen were victorious in the other two meetings at Pittodrie - winning 3-0 and 4-1. 

Greg Kiltie scored from the penalty spot when we last faced Aberdeen (Image: Allan Picken)

The officials

Grant Irvine is the referee on Saturday. He'll be assisted by John McCrossan and Gordon McCabe. Dan McFarlane is fourth official. 

Greg Aitken is the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) and he'll be assisted by Gordon Crawford.  

St Mirren travel to Pittodrie to face Aberdeen in our final match of 2023. 

Tickets are on sale at The St Mirren Ticket Office. All tickets purchased that were purchased online selecting ticket office pick-up must be collected from St Mirren Ticket Office by 2pm Friday 29th December 2023.

Aberdeen v St Mirren 
Competition: cinch Premiership
Date: Saturday 30th December 2023
Kick-off: 3pm
Venue: Pittodrie Stadium

Aberdeen Ticket Info

Adults - £26
Over 65 - £20
Over 75 - £16
Youth* - £16
Under 18 - £12
Under 12 - £6

*18-21

Please contact the St Mirren Ticket Office for wheelchair disabled or ambulant disabled tickets. 

Ambulant tickets are charged at the age-appropriate rate and can be issued with a free PA ticket should the supporter require it.