St Mirren Football Club is delighted to announce that both Fraser Taylor and Kieran Offord have agreed contract extensions until 2025.

The St Mirren Youth Academy graduates will both go out on loan to continue their football development with Fraser Taylor joining Ballymena United and Kieran Offord joining Edinburgh City until the end of the season. The club will retain the option to recall both in January. 

Stephen Robinson confirmed that the pair will continue to train with Saints during the early part of the week while on their respective loan spells. 

The manager told stmirren.com: "Both are players that we feel have got a long-term future at the club.

"They are still developing and we feel the next stage of their development is to go out and play competitive football. 

Both will train with us on a Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday which is perfect for us as it means they are still in our system.

"We will revisit it again at Christmas in the hope that they will come back in either January or ahead of the new season and become regular first team players.

"Everybody wants academy players in the system but they have to be game ready. We think we are doing this well with the two loans and ideally they come back in January or next season and are a big part of things going forward.

"Other players will stay that are a wee bit closer to the first team in terms of positions and numbers. It's two different ways to get the players to develop - going out on loan and staying and training with the first team in that environment. Fraser and Kieran will get the best of both worlds." 

Midfielder Fraser Taylor added: "I'm delighted.

It gives me another year to develop into the St Mirren first team player I want to be.

"Hopefully, when I go on loan, I play a lot of minutes at a good standard and it'll make me a better player with more experience to come back ready for the first team. 

"The manager, Diarmuid [O'Carroll] and all the coaching staff have helped me develop a lot in terms of the physical and technical side of the game."

Forward Kieran Offord said: "I'm buzzing with it.

This is a great place to be to try and develop my football and I know I'll get opportunities. I feel like I've come on a lot since I signed my last deal and have played more first team games than I thought I would.

"It gives me another year to work on my football. I'm hoping the loan deal with give me the opportunity of consistent games to go and show what I can do." 

St Mirren Football Club can confirm that Trevor Carson has departed the club to join Dundee for an undisclosed fee.

Over the summer, Trevor made clear his desire to move on from St Mirren. The club has now agreed a deal with the Tayside outfit for Trevor to move on a permanent contract.

We thank Trevor for his contributions to the club and wish him well in his future.

Tickets for our opening match of the 2023/24 cinch Premiership season against Hibernian are available to buy now. 

Tickets are on sale at the St Mirren Ticket Office and can be purchased online for collection.

Please note that online sales will be available until 10am on Friday 4th August for Ticket Office pick-up. All tickets purchased selecting Ticket Office pick-up must be collected from St Mirren Ticket Office by 2pm on Friday 4th August. The Ticket Office will close at 2pm on Friday.  

There are around 400 away tickets remaining for this match. 

Hibernian v St Mirren 
Competition: cinch Premiership
Date: Sunday 6th August 2023
Kick-off: 3pm
Venue: Easter Road

Hibernian Ticket Info

Adults - £26
Concession* - £16
U18s - £14
U13s - £12

*Over 65s, full-time student with valid matriculation card

Ambulant disabled tickets will be charged at the age-appropriate rate. Must be in receipt of Higher Rate DLA or Enhanced PIP for a carer ticket. If a carer is needed and proof can be provided this will be free of charge. 

We have been allocated 10 wheelchair & carer pairs for this match. These are only available at the St Mirren Ticket Office and charged at the regular match price with carer free of charge. 

Please note that parking is not available within the stadium footprint at Easter Road. Supporters are urged to travel via public transport where possible. 

St Mirren Ticket Office Tel: (0141) 840-6130.

St Mirren Ticket Office E-Mail: tickets@stmirren.com 

St Mirren B exited the SPFL Trust Trophy despite coming back from 2-0 down to force the game to penalties. 

Niyah Joseph and Sean Fagan had the visitors in control at half-time. But goals from Matthew Turner and Ethan Sutherland took the game to spot kicks. Aiden Gilmartin and Gallagher Lennon saw their efforts saved for Saints, while Albion scored all four of theirs to progress. 

The Buddies started brightly with Gilmartin knocking Callum Penman's deep cross just wide on 10 minutes, while Kieran Offord had a strike well saved by Rovers goalkeeper Ross Connelly six minutes later. 

But it was the visitors who took the lead on 27 minutes when a Saints defender was robbed of possession by Callum Wilson deep in the Saints half. He slipped the ball through to Joseph who ran clear and slotted beyond Shay Kelly. 

Rovers doubled their advantage on with four minutes of the first-half remaining when Fagan rose the highest to head home a second and leave the Buddies with it all to do. 

There was a double change at the break as James Bolton and Stav Nahmani were replaced by Owen Foster and Carrick McEvoy.

Saints started the second-half sharper and took advantage of their bright start by pulling a goal back just six minutes after the break when Matthew Turner managed to prod home from close-range. 

There was plenty of endeavour from the Buddies in the second-half, but it looked like Saints were heading for the exit when Andrew Gaffney curled wide in the final few minutes from the edge of the area. 

But there was still time for drama when visitors were reduced to 10 men as Bright Prince was shown a second yellow card on 88 minutes. And within a minute, Saints made the man advantage count when Ethan Sutherland slammed home an equaliser to force the game to penalties. 

The Buddies missed twice from the spot and the visitors netted all four of theirs to progress to the second round of the competition. 

Ethan Sutherland celebrates his equaliser with Gallagher Lennon (Image: Allan Picken)

Full-Time: St Mirren B 2-2 Albion Rovers (Albion Rovers win 4-2 on penalties)

St Mirren B: Kelly, Kenny, Bolton (Foster 46), Lennon, Penman, Turner, Gaffney, Sutherland, Offord (Keegan 84), Nahmani (McEvoy 46), Gilmartin
Subs Not Used: McLelland, Porter, Grady, Sambi 

Albion Rovers: Connelly, Fernie, Fagan, Wilson, McMahon, Joseph, McCaw, Duncan, Paterson (Henderson 86), Tran, Prince
Subs Not Used: Semirimu, Bevan, Walker, McMeneny

Attendance: 363

St Mirren B host Albion Rovers at The SMiSA Stadium this evening in the first round of the SPFL Trust Trophy. 

St Mirren B vs Albion Rovers
The SPFL Trust Trophy
Venue: The SMiSA Stadium, Paisley
Date: Tuesday 1st August 2023
Kick-off: 7:30pm

The match day officials for tonight's match against Albion Rovers are as follows:

Referee: Greg Soutar
Assistant Referee: Alastair Taylor
Assistant Referee: Kenny Brown

Match Details

Tickets are priced at £10 for adults, £5 for concessions and U12s go FREE!  

Tickets are available online HERE and at the St Mirren Ticket Office. Season tickets are not valid for this match.

The match is all ticket and tickets will be on sale (subject to availability) UNTIL KICK-OFF. The Ticket Office will re-open at 6:30pm. The fastest and easiest way to buy tickets for the home end is online at stmirren.com/matchtickets.

Please note that only the Main Stand is open this evening and entry is via turnstiles 1, 2 and 3. Turnstiles will open at 7pm this evening. The Pie Sports Kiosk in the Main Stand will be running a limited menu. 

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

How to follow

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

There will be no livestream at tonight's match. 

Ahead of our cinch Premiership season getting underway this weekend, the club would like to provide an update to supporters.

Season Tickets

We have reached record full season ticket sales at The SMiSA Stadium for 2023/24 with the support of Kibble and SMiSA's community season tickets helping us to our highest full season ticket sales since we moved into the stadium in 2009.

The second batch of physical cards are due to be received by the club this week. We are hopeful that these will be posted out to supporters that requested physical cards within the next week. If your card doesn't arrive in time for the first home match against Dundee on Saturday 12th August, you can either download our digital app (details below) or visit the St Mirren Ticket Office where our team will print off a paper ticket. 

We would like to thank all supporters for their backing. There's still time to be a part of the journey and be a part of #OurFamily with season tickets still available ONLINE and at the St Mirren Ticket Office.

Digital app 

St Mirren 2023/24 digital season tickets are LIVE for supporters to add to their Apple and Android devices. These replace the e-tickets and physical cards from previous years unless you have opted for the physical card option when purchasing your season ticket. 

Please click HERE for full instructions on how to download your new digital season ticket. If you require any assistance, please contact the St Mirren Ticket Office or email tickets@stmirren.com and they can help. 

Kits

Our 2023/24 #Connected home and #TogetherAsOne away kits have been very well received and sold in similar numbers to last season's kits. 

Home and away kits are still available to purchase now at the St Mirren Club Shop and online at stmirrendirect.co.uk.  

Community 

Help a Buddie

The Help a Buddie initiative will be relaunched this season after a successful first season. Launched in last June, Help a Buddie is an initiative where St Mirren supporters can purchase and donate a match ticket for those less fortunate. 

The club received welcome contributions from many fans, which allowed groups to come to your club such as ACCORD Hospice, Ukrainian families, The Disability Resource Centre, Barnardo's Paisley Threads and Spinners Gate Resource Centre who would not normally be able get to The SMiSA Stadium.

More details on the relaunch will be available soon. 

Schools programme

Following the success of our schools programme last season, in which schools within Paisley and Renfrewshire were donated match tickets for home matches, we are pleased to say it will be returning in 2023/24. 

A number of first-team players visited schools throughout Renfrewshire last season, taking part in coaching sessions and Q&As before handing over tickets to selected matches. This remains an integral aim of ours to engage with our local community. 

Tony Fitzpatrick Family Stand Matchday Entertainment

Our hugely popular matchday entertainment in the Tony Fitzpatrick Family Stand and around The SMiSA Stadium will return bigger and better this season after the club agreed to up its funding.

Colin Bright and the SLOs do a terrific job in providing lots of FREE pre-match fun to supporters in and around the Tony Fitzpatrick Family Stand and we are excited for its return this season. 

Facilities

Executive Boxes

Final approval is imminent on the building warrants for work to get underway for new executive boxes within the Main Stand of The SMiSA Stadium. The new executive boxes will offer a bespoke hospitality package for clients and will be an important way of generating new income at the club.

The boxes will be located on the top floor of the Main Stand and we expect work to begin on these asap. 

SMiSA Donations

SMiSA have very kindly donated ice baths as well as other medical & gym equipment for the St Mirren Training Ground.

These additions will be used by our first-team and academy and will help our players with rehabilitation and injury prevention. 

We thank SMiSA and its members for their continued support in improving our training environment. 

Scoreboard and digital advertising

Software developments over the last few years as well as general wear and tear have rendered the current scoreboard obsolete. As such, the club has taken the decision to invest in a new scoreboard at The SMiSA Stadium. 

A new scoreboard will offer more commercial opportunities and help us enhance the matchday experience. As well as the scoreboard, we will also be taking delivery of new LED pitchside advertising boards as well as two new digital advertising screens that will be placed outside the Main Stand.

The club had been hopeful of delivery of these in time for our first cinch Premiership home match against Dundee, however, logistical delays mean that delivery is anticipated at the end of August/beginning of September. 

1877 Club

A new committee has been formed to take leadership of the 1877 Club and they will be working more closely with the club.

The club will be opened to members as normal for our first home league match against Dundee on Saturday 12th August. 

St Mirren Airdome 

The planned decommission of the airdome site will begin shortly. The airdome has been out of use after an act of vandalism rendered it beyond repair last season.

We are exploring a number of options for a new facility on a new site. Planning at is at an early stage and will keep supporters updated on the progress. 

St Mirren Training Ground Upgrades | Kibble Skills Team

With a focus on the continual improvement on the training environment and with continued help and support from Kibble Skills Team, the following upgrades have taken place at Ralston: 

• First-team changing room has had a partial floor rebuild and new flooring added.
• Extension to the gym has been created.
• Physio room extended, re-floored and decorated. 
• Portacabin changing rooms re-floored, new ceiling and decorated. 
• Academy offices have had the roof sealed, with the water tank plant room having a completely new facing. 

This continual improvement of facilities is vital for the progression of the club and we thank Kibble and their Skills Team for their support. 

Environmental Impact

We are currently working on a carbon reduction plan as we aim to become more sustainable and environmentally conscious. 

We have already developed our own waste and recycling initiative #BuddieBinIt - becoming one of the first senior clubs to create a waste and recycling scheme for our stadium and we encourage all fans to support our efforts.

To read more about our commitment to the environment, please click HERE.

Volunteers

We would like to thank our wonderful, dedicated group of volunteers who have been working hard over the past couple of weeks to get the stadium in condition for the new season. 

The club recently held a 'volunteers night' at The SMiSA Stadium with manager Stephen Robinson, Diarmuid O'Carroll and a selection of players coming along to thank volunteers for all their hard word.

Ahead of our cinch Premiership season getting underway, St Mirren 2023/24 digital season tickets are LIVE for supporters to add to their phone.

These will replace the e-tickets and physical cards from previous year unless you have opted for the physical card option when purchasing your season ticket.

The new digital season ticket app is easy to set up on your phone. Season ticket holders should click the 'Download Now' button and follow the instructions below. 

DOWNLOAD NOW

How to setup

iPhone users can simply add to their home screen by tapping the share button in the top right hand corner and click 'add to home screen'.

For Android devices, please click the three dots or three lines and press 'install to home screen' or click the 'add page to' button as shown below and then 'home screen'. 

Once the app is added to your home screen, please click to open.

When you open for the first time, registered season ticket holders will have to create their password for their Future Ticketing account. To do this, please click on 'Forgot Credentials' and then enter the email address that is registered with the club. This MUST be the email address you used when purchasing your season ticket from the club.

An email will then be sent to you to create or reset your password. When you have done that, login to the app with your email address and new password. Once logged in you will be able to see and display your season ticket QR code for scanning on matchdays at The SMiSA Stadium.

If you have any issues with the new app, please contact tickets@stmirren.com and our ticket office staff will be happy to help. Thank you for your support and we can’t wait to see you at The SMiSA Stadium. 

Ticket Transfer

If you have more than one person on your account and wish to transfer their ticket across to their smartphone, please follow the below steps:

• Within the order screen, find the ticket you want to transfer.
• Select the blue share icon below the ticket you want to transfer.
• Fill in the required fields (this person will now be a saved contact should you wish to send them a ticket in the future) and click Transfer.
• You can cancel the transfer up until the time the recipient has accepted the ticket.
• Once the ticket has been accepted, it will disappear from your account and you will no longer have access to it.
• Please note that if you permanently transfer a ticket, it will remove the ticket from your account and you will be unable to use it again unless the person you shared it with shares it back.

St Mirren have been drawn at home to Motherwell in the second round of the Viaplay Cup.

Stephen Robinson's men progressed to the last 16 after winning Group H - wrapping up top spot with an emphatic 4-0 win against Forfar Athletic on Saturday.

Saints will host the Steelmen at The SMiSA Stadium on the weekend of 19/20th August. 

Full ticketing arrangements will be announced in due course. 

I thought we were very good."

Stephen Robinson gives his reaction after today's 4-0 win against Forfar Athletic saw us top Group H.

St Mirren finished top of Group H and qualified for the next round of the Viaplay Cup with a first-half blitz of Forfar Athletic at The SMiSA Stadium.

Mikael Mandron scored two goals in five early first-half minutes before Mark O'Hara and Alex Gogic added to the score in the final minutes of the half to put Stephen Robinson's men in the hat for tomorrow's last 16 draw. 

Conor McMenamin made his first start at The SMiSA Stadium as he returned from injury in place of injured Charles Dunne, while Mark O'Hara returned from suspension in place of Caolan Boyd-Munce as the manager made two changes from Tuesday night's win at Cowdenbeath. 

Saints hit the front on 14 minutes when Mandron was in ahead of a ruck of bodies to bullet home Ryan Strain's corner on 14 minutes.

The Frenchman scored his second of the afternoon five minutes later after a lovely bit of football from the Buddies. Strain's wonderful flick saw him burst away from a Forfar player before a neat interchange with McMenamin allowed the Australian to lay the ball on a plate for Mandron to knock into the net from six yards out. 

Mikael Mandron scores his second of the afternoon after some neat play from Strain and McMenamin (Image: Allan Picken)

Strain almost turned goalscorer a few minutes later after a mazy run gave him the chance to poke just wide of the target. 

Forfar tested Zach Hemming for the first time on 22 minutes after winning a free-kick on the edge of the Saints area. Josh Skelly took it but the Saints goalkeeper got two hands behind it to push away. 

But it was Saints who were in control and Keanu Baccus came close to adding a third when he volleyed inches wide on 33 minutes. The Australian midfielder won a penalty kick after being fouled in the box in the final few minutes of the first-half. Captain Mark O'Hara stepped up and the skipper sent the goalkeeper the wrong way to make it 3-0.

There was time for one more before the interval when Gogic forced home from close range in the final act of the first 45. A corner deep into the box was met by Scott Tanser who headed back across goal with Gogic getting in ahead of the Forfar defence to net. 

Manager Stephen Robinson made three changes at half-time with James Bolton on for his debut in place of Gogic, while Lewis Jamieson and Toyosi Olusanya replaced Stav Nahmani and Mandron. 

The Buddies could have added a fifth just four minutes into the second-half when Lewis Jamieson broke forward at speed and found McMenamin in acres of space. The Northern Irishman took a touch, but had his low shot saved by Marc McCallum who was out quickly to block.  

Jamieson should have scored his first Saints goal with a little over 20 minutes of the match remaining. Tanser's cross from the left found the forward in plenty of space, but he headed wide from close range. 

Four first-half goals were enough for the hosts as we go into tomorrow's last 16 draw. 

Full-Time: St Mirren 4-0 Forfar Athletic 

St Mirren: Hemming, Fraser, Gogic (Bolton 46), R.Taylor, Strain (Kenny 63), Baccus, O'Hara (c) (Boyd-Munce 62), Tanser, Nahmani (Jamieson 46), Mandron (Olusanya 46), McMenamin
Subs Not Used: Urminsky, Sutherland, Offord, Greive

Forfar: McCallum, Allan, Hutchison (Thomson 46), Morrison, Nditi, Robson (Paterson 62), Whatley, Brindley (Munro 75), Ross, Skelly (Watson 68), Inglis
Subs Not Used: Paris, Whyte

Referee: Matthew MacDermid
Assistant Referee: Daniel McFarlane
Assistant Referee: Graham McNeillie 

Attendance: 2,380