St Mirren Football Club can confirm that it has reached an agreement with Sunderland AFC in relation to manager Jack Ross.

Gordon Scott, the board of directors and everyone at St Mirren would like to thank Jack for the role he has played at the club since taking over as manager in October 2016. 

Jack helped the club retain its place in the Ladbrokes Championship in his first year in charge when relegation to the third tier had seemed inevitable, before leading the club to the Championship title and promotion back to the Premiership. 

The club would also like to express its gratitude to Jack for ensuring that St Mirren FC were protected at all times and commend his commitment to the job throughout periods of speculation.

We wish Jack every success in his new challenge at Sunderland. 

We can also confirm that James Fowler will leave the club to join Jack at Sunderland. We would like to also thank James for his hard work and dedication in his time as assistant manager and wish him the best in the new challenge.

The St Mirren board has already began the formal process of recruiting a new manager and will keep supporters updated through official club channels.

St Mirren Football Club can confirm we received a formal approach from Sunderland AFC for permission to speak to our manager Jack Ross.

After agreeing to our terms we have reluctantly given them permission to speak to Jack about their vacant managers position.

All at St Mirren Football Club are saddened to hear that former Official Website Webmaster, Kenny Pointon passed away on Saturday morning after a two year battle with cancer.

Kenny, along with his wife Karin, set up the club's first official website in 2000 with Kenny continuing his role as Webmaster up till the summer of 2016.

Former official website editor, Norrie Jamieson said of Kenny: "Kenny was inventive with his design of the website and helped push the club towards being one of the first football clubs to work with a database driven website.

"His work at St Mirren had him in demand by other clubs also as he was often approached for help and advice in the early days of internet mania when clubs were looking to get an online presence secured. Something Kenny was more than happy to help out with.

"Kenny will be a loss to all who knew him".

Away from St Mirren, Kenny worked as a structural engineer and was well regarded within his field. He and Karin eventually tied the knot in 2011 and lived in Elderslie up till Kenny's illness.

All at St Mirren Football Club pass on our condolences to Karin and Kenny's family at this sad time for their loss.

Once the funeral arrangements are confirmed we will relay the details.

The thoughts and prayers of everyone connected with St Mirren Football Club are with our former manager, Sir Alex Ferguson and his family following Saturday's news.

Sir Alex underwent emergency surgery yesterday for a brain haemorrhage.

Manchester United confirmed that the procedure went very well but he will require a period of intensive care to optimise his recovery.

With promotion now official we are actively beginning to plan for life back in the Premiership next season.

Everything that we have achieved to date has been built on the premise of a return to the top flight. That brings a lot of excitement, but it also presents some operational challenges that we have not had in the Championship.

One of those challenges is how best we segregate our stadium on Premiership matchdays.

Segregation Arrangements for Season 18/19

We have looked at all the available options for segregation next season with the dual aim of maximising our match day revenue to give us the best possible budget to compete in the Premiership but also bearing in mind the massive influence our incredible home support has had in achieving our success this season.

The obvious and probably best financial model open to us was to revert to the previous arrangement of allocating away fans in the North Stand and allocating W6 and W7 in the West to the larger away supports, however we felt that we had to explore other options to allow us to maintain the exclusive use of the West stand for our own supporters, an arrangement which has been a great success this season.

We investigated the option of building a temporary stand in the corner between the South and West stands to house our singing section but due to sightline restrictions and prohibitive costs this was unfortunately ruled out.

We examined attendance data for our previous home matches with Celtic and Rangers and found that attendances in the South Stand were significantly lower than on other match days, potentially for a whole variety of different reasons.

And so we explored the option of selling a reduced price season ticket for the family stand which would cover all home games with the exception of those featuring Celtic and Rangers. We believe this represents the best plan for us going forward but appreciate it is not without its challenges.

Our plan is to give all away fans the full use of the North Stand.

For games involving Celtic and Rangers those visiting teams will also be allocated full use of the South Stand.

Season tickets for the South Stand will be reduced in price to reflect this arrangement.

The West and Main Stands will once again be St Mirren fans only for ALL matches.

Priority booking will be given to South Stand season ticket holders who wish to relocate to either the Main or West Stands for fixtures involving Celtic and Rangers and these tickets will be at a heavily discounted rate.

We appreciate that there will be season ticket holders who have sat in the South Stand since day one so I would like to apologise in advance for any potential upheaval this will cause, but rest assured this is a decision we have not taken lightly and one we are taking with the best intentions of our club at heart. The additional six figure sum the club will bring in from this is vital in helping us build a squad capable of competing in the Premiership.

We feel that this strikes a balance between maximising our income and ensuring that we provide a safe and enjoyable atmosphere for our own fans.

W7 Singing Section & Safe Standing

Fans will of course be able to buy season tickets for anywhere within the West Stand but please bear in mind that W7 will be very much the home of the singing section again next season.

We have also started down the road of introducing some form of safe standing area in W7.

We have had discussions with Celtic, safe seating suppliers, and held preliminary talks with both the SPFL and our local council.

This will not be something that happens next season but it is something we are looking at very seriously and will continue to investigate.

We'll have more news on season tickets including price and date of sale here on stmirren.com at the beginning of next week.

St Mirren Football Club is delighted to announce that captain Stephen McGinn has agreed a new two-year deal with the club.

The skipper has been instrumental in our promotion campaign and will now lead the Buddies in the Premiership next season after signing his new deal this afternoon.

Speaking to stmirren.com, Stephen said: "I'm delighted to commit my future to the club.

It's a club that holds a special place in my heart and to sign on for another two years after achieving promotion this season means a lot to me.

"We'll enjoy the next few weeks as we lift the Ladbrokes Championship title and then we can start to look forward to next season." 

St Mirren manager Jack Ross said: "I have spoken often enough about how much of an influence he has been in what we have achieved here in the last sixteen months.

He took a big gamble returning to the club and I'm so pleased he has played such a big part in us achieving what we have.

"I'm sure everybody associated with the club will be delighted that he will be here for the next couple of years at least." 

The club would also like to thank Paul McGrath and Consilium for their support with this deal.

As we look forward to a hectic run in to the season's climax I thought it was a good time to give you all an update on goings on in and around the club.

On The Park
As we near the end of the third quarter of the season I think it is fair to say that we are all delighted with the position we find ourselves in. There is still a long way to go and there will doubtless be more twists and turns in the remaining games, but we have given ourselves a wonderful opportunity to achieve our goal of reclaiming our place in the Premiership.

Players
This year's transfer window was a completely different prospect to last year. We were in a position of strength both financially and in terms of our position in the league. 

This allowed us to focus on bringing in the quality of player that we felt would be capable of matching both our short and long-term ambitions. This places us in a strong position going forward no matter where we end up next season. 

Family Champions
We have just been awarded the accolade of family champions for 2017. Given the ethos of the way we want to take the club forward this is a great reward for all the hard work that goes into organising and running our match days. 

It is a massive compliment to all the club staff, catering team, stewards & management and it is thoroughly deserved. 

We will not rest on our laurels though and through an initiative championed by our SLOs and our very own Paisley Panda, and with the financial support of the Fans Council and SMiSA membership we are looking at further enhancing the match day experience. 

Look out for additional match day activities aimed at encouraging families to both attend matches for the first time and of course come back again.

Buddieivision
Buddievision is slowly growing into must watch viewing. We were conscious that the initial content was not as plentiful as it should have been due to the workload of our media department over the start-up period. But we have now employed a new member of staff to help increase the number of articles without diminishing the quality. 

We hope to steadily increase the viewing numbers as a result. Remember, however, that this is a platform aimed at YOU. If you have any ideas on things you would like to view, then feel free to contact the team by emailing buddievision@stmirren.com. 

You can sign up for Buddievision commitment free here for just £4.99 a month. 

Paisley 2021 Stadium 
I would like to add my own personal commiserations to all the people who put in so much of their time and enthusiasm into the Paisley 2021 City of Culture bid. 

I think they did everything they possibly could to try and submit a successful bid but unfortunately it wasn't to be. 

We look forward as a club to working with the council and building on all the good work that was done to raise people's awareness of all that Paisley has to offer. 

Teamwork off the Park
The Dundee United game over the festive period was a great example of where we are as a club right now. 

Due to the heavy overnight snowfall the game was a major doubt primarily due to the condition of the surrounding roads and pavements.

Without even being asked, a squad of supporters got together through social media and turned up to help clear the snow, and with the help of Malcolm's snow ploughs & gritting trucks the surrounding areas were cleared. 

It was an eye opener to both myself and I am sure to many volunteers how much was involved in clearing only a couple of inches from the pitch itself even with the help of undersoil heating. I would hate to be trying to clear off three or four inches!

The game went ahead and the turnout and support on the day was magnificent ensuring our biggest crowd in years. 

The team on the pitch did not disappoint us either turning in another match winning performance for a national TV audience. 

This truly was an example of how the fans can be the 12th man. 

Thank You! 
We now move into the business end of the season and I know you will be as excited as I am about the prospect of what that might bring. 

Your continued positive and vocal support of the team, both home and away, is a vital ingredient to the success we are currently enjoying, and is genuinely appreciated by everyone at the club. 

There were times last season when the whole stadium rung out with cries of "Come on Ye Saints". There will be times during the run-in that the team will need this vocal support again. I have no doubt we can count on you all providing the support when it is needed most. Thank you once again for all the efforts you make in following the team all over the country.

Hopefully we will all be rewarded in the best possible way as the season reaches its finale.

See you on Saturday!
Gordon.

#COYS #ThisLove

The Club would like to address the decision to rearrange our match with Falkirk from its scheduled Tuesday 27th February date to Saturday 24th March. 

The team were due to face Dumbarton in a Ladbrokes Championship fixture on Saturday 24th March. However, Dumbarton's win over The New Saints last Saturday saw them reach the final of the IRN-BRU Cup meaning that match would have to be rearranged. Falkirk were due to face Inverness Caledonian Thistle the same day, but as Inverness also made the final it too would have to be rearranged. This would have left ourselves and Falkirk with a free weekend. 

The Club discussed the potential for moving the match and came to an agreement with Falkirk to move the match from Tuesday 27th February to Saturday 24th March. This was approved yesterday by the SPFL. 

We understand the frustration and disappointment this fixture change has caused some supporters. However, we can assure supporters that this decision wasn't taken lightly. 

The team are due to play Brechin City this Saturday (24th February) and Dundee United a week on Friday (2nd March). The decision taken means the players won't now face three matches in six days. 

We would like to apologise to any supporters who have been inconvenienced by the fixture change, but hope they can understand the reason behind the decision.

Tickets purchased for the Falkirk match will be valid for the rearranged date. If anyone is unable to attend they can contact the ticket office at 0141-840-6130 or email tickets@stmirren.com for a refund. 

Anyone who had booked hospitality for the Falkirk match is advised to contact Commercial Manager, Campbell Kennedy on 0141-840-1337 or email commercial@stmirren.com. 

St Mirren Football Club are delighted to announce that Jack Ross will remain manager after recent speculation.

The club received an approach late on Tuesday night and had reluctantly given Barnsley permission to discuss their vacant managerial position with Jack, but he has decided he is committed to St Mirren.

St Mirren Chief Executive Tony Fitzpatrick said: “We are delighted with the news that Jack remains committed to St Mirren Football Club.

"Jack has built something special here and has really pulled everyone together in the right direction.

"It is excellent news for the club and all focus is on trying to meet our targets for the season."

The St Mirren Ticket Office is SOLD OUT of tickets for tomorrow's match away to Dumbarton.

However, there are 100 general sale tickets and 30 adult and free Under-12 tickets available from Dumbarton on a first come first serve basis. 

Dumbarton's reception is open today from 0930 till 1530 if people want to call and book them. Their number is 01389 762569.

Please note that the St Mirren Ticket Office, Club Shop and Stadium offices will all close today at 2pm. Anyone who needs to collect a ticket that they have already purchased for tomorrow's match must do so by 2pm.