Saints are back in action this Saturday afternoon at the SMiSA Stadium where we host Ross County for a Scottish Premiership fixture.

We have a limited edition run of programmes, published in partnership with Curtis Sport, for the behind closed doors Scottish Premiership fixture played on Saturday 27th February.

This issue is a 32 pager with a £3 cover price.

This latest edition includes the following:

Front Cover – Richard Tait.
Jim Goodwin - The manager's thoughts on recent matches and he also looks ahead to Saturday's fixture against the Staggies.
The Opposition – We cast an eye over John Hughes' Ross County squad.
St Mirren Programme Archive - Derek Drennan reviews the programme for the 9-goal thriller against County on 29th September 2012.
Centre Page Poster – Ryan Flynn.
Player Kit Sponsors 2020/21 – Check in to see who is sponsoring your favourite player's shirt for the season.
Marketing Matters – Campbell Kennedy updates on the latest events and happenings at the club's Commercial Department.
Yesterday's Saints – David Cochran looks back on the 12-season St Mirren career of Jamie Thomson.
Football Bloody Hell - Alan Gallacher looks at the postponement of matches due to extreme weather conditions..
St Mirren Fixtures & Results 2020/21 – A handy reference page of all the fixtures and results 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 2020/21 season click HERE.

St Mirren's final home match before the split takes place on Saturday as Jim Goodwin's men welcome Ross County to Paisley.

It marks the end of a run of seven home matches and eight matches overall in February.

Saints have drawn each of their last four matches. That started with a 0-0 stalemate away to Aberdeen at Pittodrie, before draws at home against Hamilton (1-1), Livingston (1-1) and Motherwell (0-0). 

Ross County hauled themselves off the bottom of the Scottish Premiership on Sunday night with a 1-0 win over Celtic. That was the Staggies' second win in three matches after having beaten Hamilton Academical 2-1 at the start of February. Their only other match this month saw them lose 2-0 at home to Dundee United. 

Match Details

St Mirren v Ross County
Competition: Scottish Premiership
Date: Saturday 27th February 2021
Kick-off: 3pm
Venue: The SMiSA Stadium

How to watch the match

St Mirren season ticket holders and international subscribers to St Mirren TV can watch the match live on tv.stmirren.com.

The match is also available on PPV (ppv.stmirren.com) to supporters inside the UK and Ireland for £12.50. Click here to buy now. 

Gary Peebles will once again join matchday host Ali De Foy with Allan McManus on co-commentary duty. 

Previous

St Mirren and County have faced off twice this season with the Buddies unbeaten.

Saints picked up all three points when they travelled to Dingwall on Boxing Day in a 2-0 win thanks to goals from Marcus Fraser and Kristian Dennis. 

The two couldn't be separated when County visited the SMiSA Stadium in August 2020. Jon Obika gave Saints an early lead, but a red card for Joe Shaughnessy allowed County back into the match and they grabbed a point after an own goal from Nathan Sheron. 

The officials

Greg Aitken is the referee on Saturday. He'll be assisted by Sean Carr and Joseph Lawson. Alan Newlands is the fourth official.

St Mirren Football Club is dedicating this weekend's match against Ross County to The British Heart Foundation, the largest independent funder of research into heart and circulatory diseases in Scotland and the UK. February is National Heart Month and during this time, awareness of a variety of heart conditions are bought to the fore.

With the public’s support and donations, British Heart Foundation will drive new medical discoveries to end the suffering these conditions cause. We are proud to play for the individuals and families affected.

Across the country, 700,000 people are living with heart and circulatory diseases. Heart diseases, stroke, vascular dementia cause grief and misery; but British Heart Foundation offer hope. They fund world-leading research into causes, prevention, treatment and cure. Advances from their research have saved and improved many lives, but there are many more people to save.

St Mirren manager Jim Goodwin said: "As professional athletes we know the importance of staying fit and having good heart health. We are delighted to show our support for The British Heart Foundation during National Heart Month."

Find out more and how you can help by visiting bhf.org.uk.

A goalless draw with Motherwell saw St Mirren move two points clear of Dundee United to remain in sixth place with three games to go until the Scottish Premiership split.

Jim Goodwin made two changes to the side that drew 1-1 against Livingston on Saturday with the surprise inclusion of Jake Doyle-Hayes and Jamie McGrath in place on Ryan Flynn and Dylan Connolly.

The first-half was a dreary affair with very little to shout about. Jordan Roberts dragged a shot wide from distance from the visitors on 12 minutes while Joe Shaughnessy headed well wide just after the half-hour mark after getting on the end of a pinpoint McGrath free-kick. 

Barry Maguire went closest for the visitors on 35 minutes when his effort from 20 yards was deflected just by. The Steelmen felt they should have had a penalty four minutes later when Tony Watt stayed on his feet after being slightly clipped by Conor McCarthy. The forward played on and moved away from the defender to send a tempting ball across the face of the St Mirren goal with no takers. 

A brilliant stop from Motherwell goalkeeper Liam Kelly denied Jon Obika less than a minute into the second-half. McGrath worked the ball wide to Durmus with the Turkish winger picking out Obika in the Motherwell box. The striker took it blisteringly on the half-volley with Kelly doing well to push behind. 

The visitors then started to have the better of the second 45. Allan Campbell lashed over after a good move on 53 minutes, before Devante Cole shot straight at Jak Alnwick after wriggling clear of McCarthy. 

Saints made two changes to try and turn the game in their favour with Lee Erwin and Kyle McAllister replacing Cammy MacPherson and Richard Tait. But still it was the away side who had the more clear-cut chances. Alnwick had to be alert to deny Cole on 72 minutes and it was the striker who thought he had put Motherwell in front when he got the merest of flicks on a Roberts corner only for it to come off the post. 

The Buddies would have one final opportunity themselves in added time, but substitute Kyle McAllister's curling effort from inside the box was deflected over as the Saints had to settle for just a point on the fourth game on the spin. 

Full-Time: St Mirren 0-0 Motherwell

JIM GOODWIN POST-MATCH REACTION

St Mirren: Alnwick, Fraser, McCarthy, Shaughnessy (c), Tait (McAllister 73), McGrath, MacPherson (Erwin 69), Doyle-Hayes, Erhahon, Durmus, Obika (Connolly 82)
Subs Not Used: Lyness, Urminsky, Finlayson, Flynn, Henderson, Jamieson

Motherwell: Kelly, O'Donnell, Magloire, Lamie, Carroll, Campbell, Crawford, Maguire, Roberts, Cole, Watt
Subs Not Used: Morrison, Cornelius, Long, Devine, Lawless, Hastie, McGinley, Johnston, Polworth

Referee: Kevin Clancy
Assistant Referee: Calum Spence
Assistant Referee: Gary Hilland
Fourth Official: David Lowe

St Mirren look to strengthen their push for top six on Wednesday night with Motherwell the visitors to the SMiSA Stadium.

Jim Goodwin's side have drawn their last three matches - sitting in sixth place in the Scottish Premiership. Saints will be looking to open up a gap on Dundee United and St Johnstone who sit one and two points behind the Buddies respectively. 

Motherwell have won three and lost three of their last six Scottish Premiership fixtures. Wins over Ross County (2-1), Dundee United (2-1) and Kilmarnock (1-0) were sandwiched between a narrow defeat (1-2) at Celtic Park.

But the Steelmen, who sit four points off the bottom, will be looking to make amends for heavy home defeats against Hamilton Academical (1-4) and St Johnstone (0-3) in their last two matches. 

Match Details

St Mirren v Motherwell
Competition: Scottish Premiership
Date: Wednesday 24th February 2021
Kick-off: 6pm
Venue: The SMiSA Stadium

How to watch the match

St Mirren season ticket holders and international subscribers to St Mirren TV can watch the match live on tv.stmirren.com.

The match is also available on PPV (ppv.stmirren.com) to supporters inside the UK and Ireland for £12.50. Click here to buy now. 

Previous

Saints are unbeaten in the last five against Motherwell - winning three and drawing two. 

In the most recent fixture this season, a late Jamie McGrath penalty earned a 1-1 draw for the Buddies when Motherwell visited the SMiSA Stadium in January.

Saints were victorious when they travelled to Motherwell in December picking up a 1-0 win at Fir Park. 

The officials

The referee on Wednesday night is Kevin Clancy. The linesmen are Calum Spence and Gary Hilland, with David Lowe is the fourth official.

St Mirren drew their third match in a row following a stalemate with Livingston at the SMiSA Stadium.

A Conor McCarthy own-goal gave the visitors an early lead before a stunning Cammy MacPherson goal got Saints level before the break. And 1-1 was how it would finish as Jim Goodwin's side stayed in sixth and moved a point ahead of Dundee United. 

The manager made two changes to the side that drew 1-1 with Hamilton Academical on Wednesday with Ryan Flynn and Dylan Connolly in for Kyle McAllister and Lee Erwin.

Saints had started brightly - winning a free-kick in a good area, centrally, 25 yards from goal on three minutes. Ilkay Durmus took as he looked to add to his goal on Wednesday night, but slammed into the wall.

Then, with just seven minutes played, Livingston went in front. It was fortuitous for the visitors as Richard Tait's headed clearance bounced off McCarthy and into the Saints net. 

But immediately, St Mirren went in search for a quick equaliser with MacPherson using the horrendous conditions to let fly from distance. It was an awkward one for Livingston goalkeeper Robby McCrorie who just managed to punch clear. 

Craig Sibbald then had a go from 20 yards which Jak Alnwick had to get down well to push away on the half-hour mark. 

Two minutes later, the Buddies were level thanks to a stunning strike from MacPherson. A good passage of play saw Jon Obika flick the ball on to the Saints Academy graduate who drove forward before cracking into the top corner of the net from 20 yards with his weaker foot.

The conditions were getting the better of the match in the second-half with swirling wind and rain making it difficult for either side to get the ball down and play. It took until the last 10 minutes of the game for Saints to really exert pressure in search of a winner. 

Lee Erwin, who came on for the goalscorer, did brilliantly to nod down a Marcus Fraser pass into the path of fellow substitute Kyle McAllister. The number 10 had his shot blocked by a Livi defender. It then fell to Durmus whose hit was deflected over by Efe Ambrose. 

A minute later McCrorie was forced into a stop from Tait's powerful effort from the edge of the area. The 'keeper couldn't take it at the first attempt but managed to smother before Erwin could get on the end of it. 

Full-Time: St Mirren 1-1 Livingston

JIM GOODWIN POST-MATCH REACTION

St Mirren: Alnwick, Fraser, McCarthy, Shaughnessy (c), Tait, Flynn, MacPherson (Erwin 73), Erhahon, Durmus, Connolly (McAllister 60), Obika
Subs Not Used: Lyness, Urminsky, Finlayson, Henderson, Jamieson

Livingston: McCrorie, Devlin, Ambrose, Guthrie (c), Serrano, Holt, Sibbald (Lawson 64), Mullin (Emmanuel-Thomas 69), Pittman, Forrest (Taylor-Sinclair 56), Reilly (Kabia 64)
Subs Not Used: Stryjek, McMillan, Pignatiello, Tiffoney, Poplatnik

Referee: William Collum
Assistant Referee: Graeme Leslie
Assistant Referee: Michael Banks
Fourth Official: Gavin Ross

Saints are back in action on Saturday afternoon as we host Livingston at the SMiSA Stadium for a Scottish Premiership fixture.

We have a limited edition run of programmes, published in partnership with Curtis Sport, for the behind closed doors Scottish Premiership fixture played on Saturday 20th February.

This issue is a 32 pager with a £3 cover price.

This latest edition includes the following:

Front Cover – Ryan Flynn.
Jim Goodwin - The manager's thoughts on recent matches and his take on Saturday's fixture against Livi.
The Opposition – We run the rule over David Martindale's Livingston squad.
St Mirren Programme Archive - Derek Drennan's review of the programme for Saints vs Livi on 28th November 2017.
Centre Page Poster – Dean Lyness.
Player Kit Sponsors 2020/21 – Check in to see who is sponsoring your favourite player's shirt for the season.
Marketing Matters – Campbell Kennedy updates on the latest events and happenings at the club's Commercial Department.
Yesterday's Saints – David Cochran looks back on the St Mirren career of George Stewart.
Football Bloody Hell - Alan Gallacher pays tribute to the St Mirren side who beat Celtic 3-0 at Celtic Park on 7th April 1990.
St Mirren Fixtures & Results 2020/21 – A handy reference page of all the fixtures and results 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 2020/21 season click HERE.

It's the second of four home matches in a row for Saints as Jim Goodwin's side welcome Livingston to the SMiSA Stadium on Saturday.

The Buddies picked up a point on Wednesday night with a 1-1 draw against Hamilton which took Saints back into the top six. 

Livingston sit five points above St Mirren in fifth place in the Scottish Premiership. The West Lothian side have lost their last two Scottish Premiership matches after having gone on an 11 match unbeaten run in the league.

A 3-0 loss to Dundee United at Tannadice followed a 2-1 defeat against St Johnstone at the Tony Macaroni Arena. 

Match Details

St Mirren v Livingston
Competition: Scottish Premiership
Date: Saturday 20th February 2021
Kick-off: 3pm
Venue: The SMiSA Stadium

How to watch the match

St Mirren season ticket holders and international subscribers to St Mirren TV can watch the match live on tv.stmirren.com.

The match is also available on PPV (ppv.stmirren.com) to supporters inside the UK and Ireland for £12.50. Click here to buy now. 

Campbell Money joins match day host Ali De Foy, while Head of Academy Allan McManus is on co-commentary duty.

Previous

The Buddies have won both league fixtures against Livingston this season - winning 1-0 at the SMiSA Stadium on the opening day of the season thanks to Richard Tait's first St Mirren goal.

Jake Doyle-Hayes then netted his first, and so far only, Saints goal in a 1-0 win at Livingston in November. 

Livingston won by the same scoreline when the two sides met in the Betfred Cup semi-final at Hampden in January.

The officials

William Collum is the referee for Saturday's match. Graeme Leslie and Michael Banks are the linesmen, while Gavin Ross is the fourth official.

St Mirren were held to a 1-1 draw against Hamilton Academical at the SMiSA Stadium in the Scottish Premiership. 

Ilkay Durmus' third goal of the season gave Saints the lead early in the second-half, but Accies levelled thanks to a deflected strike from Bruce Anderson on 68 minutes.

Ethan Erhahon had the ball in the net with just over 10 minutes remaining though Jon Obika was ruled out for offside in the build-up despite replays showing the forward to be onside. 

The Buddies started brightly with a Cammy MacPherson free-kick on eight minutes deflecting just wide from range. Erhahon curled wide from the resulting corner, while Lee Erwin and Durmus both sent efforts over from distance. 

Saints continued to pressure with Brian Easton heading off his own bar on 22 minutes following a stramash in the Accies box. 

Richard Tait twice went close to grabbing the opener. The full-back struck the post with a low effort after a well-worked Saints move before forcing a really good save from Hamilton goalkeeper Ryan Fulton who has to stretch to his left to keep the header from creeping over the line. 

Despite having the best of the first-half, the Buddies almost found themselves behind in the dying moments of the first 45. A loose Marcus Fraser header across the St Mirren box was pounced upon by Anderson whose low drive had to be cleared by Fraser after the defender raced back onto the line.

Anderson really should have given the visitors the lead five minutes into the second-half when he was presented with free header six yards out. But somehow he nodded over. 

Then, within three minutes, St Mirren found the opener. Obika brilliantly brought the ball down in the Hamilton box before feeding it to Kyle McAllister on the edge of the area. The Saints number 10 shuffled the ball between his feet as he looked for an opportunity to get a strike away under pressure from the Accies defence. He eventually rolled the ball to the left where Durmus took one touch before cracking home into the far corner from 18 yards. 

It was the visitors who seemed galvanised by the goal as they put the Buddies under pressure. And that pressure would tell when Anderson's hit from just inside the St Mirren box deflected off Saints skipper Joe Shaughnessy to take it beyond Jak Alnwick to level.

With 15 minutes remaining the visitors looked like they would go in front when Marios Ogkmpoe was sent racing clear one-on-one with the goalkeeper. Alnwick was quick off his line to make a tremendous block to deny the Accies frontman. 

St Mirren should have been back in front on 79 minutes when Erhahon blasted home Obika's brilliant nod down, only for the far side linesman to flag for offside even though the Saints striker appearing to be on. It was a frustrating decision on what proved to be a frustrating night for Jim Goodwin's men. 

Full-Time: St Mirren 1-1 Hamilton Academical

JIM GOODWIN POST-MATCH REACTION

St Mirren: Alnwick, Fraser, McCarthy, Shaughnessy, Tait (Connolly 84), McAllister, MacPherson, Erhahon (Flynn 77), Durmus, Erwin, Obika
Subs Not Used: Lyness, Urminsky, Finlayson, Henderson, Jamieson

Hamilton: Fulton, Hamilton, A. Martin (S. Martin 25), Easton, Hodson, Odoffin, Trafford (Hughes 81), McMann, Callachan, Anderson (Moyo 90), Ogkmpoe 
Subs Not Used: Gourlay, Stirling, Mimnaugh, Winter, Munro, Smith

Referee: Steven McLean
Assistant Referee: Daniel McFarlane 
Assistant Referee: Stuart Stevenson
Fourth Official: Steven Reid

St Mirren Football Club is delighted to announce that the manager, Jim Goodwin and assistant manager Lee Sharp have signed new three-year contracts with the Club through to June 2024.

The Board recognise the dedication and commitment that Jim has given to the club and the initial benefits of this can be seen with the developing success on the park.  In this challenging season, Jim has led the Club to a Hampden semi-final and achieved league success with historic wins. Jim continues to be an excellent ambassador for the Club and his work with the St Mirren Foundation and the causes they support is evidence of his passion and commitment for the Club and the wider community it supports.

Jim’s commitment to a longer-term deal will allow us to build on the Club's ambitious plans. In the last year the club has signed a Scottish internationalist, an ex-English premiership player, have invested in The Academy, and Stadium and Ralston infrastructure upgrades. The Board will now be looking to extend contracts of key players in coming period, and develop an enhanced scouting department to ensure we have the right platform on the park to allow Jim Goodwin to continue to build on the success of this season.

It is an exciting time for St Mirren on the park, as we strive to achieve the footballing ambitions that we set at the beginning of this season. We are also working hard to prepare for the future and the return of our fans to the SMISA Stadium. We are working to develop all non-football commercial activity to make sure that when our fans return, they can have a new, contemporary, enhanced experience when we all get back to backing the Buddies safely from the stands.

Chief Executive, Tony Fitzpatrick explained: "The Board has recognised the excellent results and progress this season under Jim and to continue developing as a club we see this as an integral piece of the plan.  Jim has been given one of the highest player budgets of any St Mirren manager and he is now the highest paid manager in club’s history. The immediate focus will continue to be on Jim leading the team to a potential top six finish. This deal allows everyone to plan longer term to bring further success to our Club.  We are an ambitious Club and we believe with Jim ambitions we have an exciting, successfully future ahead."

Jim Goodwin commented: "I'm delighted to extend my contract here. I appreciate the board offering the new deal to me and for the recognition of the hard work that myself and my staff are doing here. 

"It's a great time to be a part of this club. I feel there is a real air of positivity and we have SMiSA soon to take over the ownership of the club and the introduction of Kibble which is a fantastic step in the right direction. There are really good people on the board who are as keen as I am to take the club forward and take it to the next level."

Watch the manager's interview in full on St Mirren TV.