Kyle Magennis has become the latest St Mirren Youth Academy graduate to reach 100 appearances for St Mirren after his start in last night’s Ladbrokes Premiership match against Motherwell.
The midfielder joins the likes of Jack Baird, Sean Kelly, Stevie Mallan, Marc McAusland, Stephen McGinn, Kenny McLean, Lewis Morgan and Jason Naismith as youth academy graduates to have made 100 or more appearances in the last decade.
Kyle, who has been with St Mirren since the age of five, made his Saints debut as an 18-year-old when he came on at half-time in a 2-0 defeat against Hibernian at Easter Road in October 2016. He then made his first St Mirren start at the Simple Digital Arena against Dumbarton the following month.
All-in all Kyle made 32 appearances in the 2016/17 season as he helped Saints reach the IRN-BRU Cup final and complete their famous ‘great escape’ to avoid relegation to the third tier of Scottish football as well as being named as the club's Young Player of The Year.
After becoming a first-team regular for Saints, Kyle was dealt a blow during the 2017/18 pre-season when he suffered an injury in a friendly with Dundee in July that would rule him out for the first few months of the season.
Kyle eventually made his return as a substitute in a 2-0 win away to Dumbarton before making his first start of the season a week later in a 0-0 draw away to Falkirk. The midfielder would make 29 appearances in what was a successful year for club and player as Saints won the Ladbrokes Championship and promotion back to the Premiership after a three-year absence, while Kyle was named as the club's Young Player of the Year for a second year in a row.
Injury restricted Kyle to only 19 appearances last season, but he played his part in the club securing Premiership survival after returning for the run-in scoring against Motherwell and Hamilton after the split.
With Stephen McGinn missing the start of the 2019/20 league season with injury, Kyle was given the captain’s armband and has made 20 appearances so far this season scoring once while also earning international recognition with call-ups to the Scotland U21 squad.
