St Mirren’s home is being renamed The SMISA Stadium in a show of recognition for the club’s fans as they start the final countdown to becoming its majority owners in the summer.

The club is gifting the naming rights for St Mirren Park to the St Mirren Independent Supporters Association (SMISA) for the rest of season 2020/21.

After that, the fans group will take its shareholding in the club to 51% by buying the club chairman Gordon Scott’s remaining shares.

The purchase had been due to complete by the end of 2021, but it has now been agreed this will happen sooner than planned – on a date to be decided in the summer.

And the club board has agreed the stadium-naming gesture to thank SMISA’s 1,150-plus members – whose monthly membership fees have been saved towards the share purchase since 2016 – for making that possible.

SMISA chair George Adam MSP said: "Our aim has always been the same – to see St Mirren stay forever at the heart of the Paisley community and in the hands of those who will care for it most.

"What better way to mark the ownership of the club moving into the hands of the fans than to put their name above the door?

"When we started off on the journey towards fan ownership five years ago we never expected to be in this position so soon – but the incredible commitment of our members made this possible. We are thrilled the club board have chosen to recognise SMISA members in this way."

The #BuyTheBuds deal had initially been expected to take ten years to complete but will be delivered in just five thanks to SMISA and St Mirren’s partnership with leading social enterprise and social care charity Kibble.

That partnership was overwhelmingly approved by SMISA’s members during a vote in February and is believed to be unique in Europe by making a charity the part-owners of a top-flight football club.

Kibble provide support services and commercial expertise to the club, while working with the club to creating job and training opportunities for the young people in their care.

Their purchase of some of Gordon’s shares reduced the sum SMISA needed to raise and means SMISA now expect by the summer to have banked the share purchase money plus a substantial cash reserve, which will help offer financial security to the club in future.

St Mirren chairman Gordon Scott added: "I always wanted to know I was handing over the ownership of the club to the fans when the time was right, and with the set-up we now have in place we believe that time will be in the summer.

"I and the rest of the board are delighted to be able to recognise the commitment of SMISA’s members over the past five years for making all of this possible.

"Sadly our fans can’t be in the stadium at the moment but we hope having SMISA’s name on the ground for the rest of the season shows how much we value them as the lifeblood and future of the club."

Kibble chief executive and St Mirren director Jim Gillespie, added: "With Kibble having been in Paisley for the best part of 200 years, our involvement with St Mirren helps bring together two of the town’s oldest institutions.

"But with SMISA taking on the majority shareholding, St Mirren’s future will be a fan-owned one. Kibble are delighted to be supporting that, and helping keep this club at heart of the community.

"SMISA’s members are the ones who made this happen and the stadium renaming is a great gesture to recognise them for their fantastic achievement."

For more information, see www.smisa.net

St Mirren make their return to action on Friday night as Saints host Dundee United at St Mirren Park in the Scottish Premiership.

The Buddies were last in action on 10 October when Jim Goodwin's men came from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Queen of the South in the Betfred Cup. 

Saints last Scottish Premiership match came over a month ago when Saints were edged out by a last minute winner away to Aberdeen.  

Dundee United, meanwhile, come into Friday's match on the back of a 2-1 win over Ross County at Tannadice on Saturday. 

Mickey Mellon's side sit nine points ahead of Saints in sixth place, but have played three games more than the Buddies. 

Match Details

St Mirren v Dundee United
Competition: Scottish Premiership
Date: Friday 6th November 2020
Kick-off: 7:45pm
Venue: St Mirren Park

Can I watch the match?

The match is available to all season ticket holders and international subscribers on St Mirren TV.

Non-season ticket holders and Dundee United supporters will be able to watch the match on PPV for £12.50 on ppv.stmirren.com. Former St Mirren goalkeeper Campbell Money will join match day host Ali De Foy.

Live coverage starts from 7:30pm. 

Manager's Thoughts

"We've got a fair idea of what to expect from Dundee United. I was at their game on Saturday against Ross County and they played really well. They are very well organised and Mickey Mellon has them working really hard.

"We're well aware of how dangerous Dundee United are on the attacking front, but we have to go into it with belief and confidence that we can cause them problems of our own and I believe we have the players within our ranks to do that. It should make for an entertaining game. 

"It's a fresh start for us. We can't affect what's happened and everyone knows we've had a tough time as of late. But there's a real air of excitement this week to be back at it and everyone is really looking forward to Friday night."

Previous

St Mirren have already faced Dundee United this season with the Buddies losing 2-1 at Tannadice in September.

Goals from Lawrence Shankland and Adrian Sporle either side of half-time gave United a 2-0 lead. Despite being reduced to 10 men after Richard Tait was sent off, Saints pulled a goal back through Dylan Connolly but were unable to find an equaliser. 

St Mirren came out on top, on penalties, when Dundee United last visited St Mirren Park in the Scottish Premiership play-offs in May 2019. 

Saints have won their last three league meetings against Dundee United at St Mirren Park winning 2-0, 3-0 and 3-2. 

Who are the officials?

David Munro is the referee on Friday. He is assisted by Graham Chambers and John McCrossan. Alan Newlands is the fourth official. 

St Mirren Football Club is delighted to announce the signing of Jake Doyle-Hayes on a deal until the end of the season subject to international clearance.

The Irish midfielder joins the Saints following the expiry of his contract at English Premier League side Aston Villa.

Jake, who has been capped at U21 level for Republic of Ireland, joined Villa in 2014 after being spotted playing for a local side in Ireland.

During his time at the Villains he had loan spells at League Two sides Cambridge United and Cheltenham Town. It was at Cheltenham where Jake featured regularly – appearing 36 times for the Robins last season.

Jake will wear will the number 7 jersey after completing his move.

Speaking to stmirren.com, Jake said: "I've had a lot of interest during the window but when I heard St Mirren were interested it caught my attention straight away.

"I've followed the league and I liked how enthusiastic the manager was when we spoke. I was delighted with the interest and I wanted to get it done as soon as I could.

"All the lads have helped me settle in really quick and I've really enjoyed the first few days I've been here."

Following the SPFL decision to proceed with disciplinary proceedings against St Mirren, St Mirren can confirm they will defend this robustly.

St Mirren FC has announced two significant appointments as the club takes direct action to strengthen its approach to Covid-19 and Quality measures.

Following a number of positive cases which have resulted in the postponement of two SPFL fixtures, the club has appointed former Scottish Police Federation chairman Brian Docherty as its first safeguarding and quality manager, and has also retained one of the country’s foremost risk management experts, Dr Kevin Pollock, to review and enhance the club’s internal processes.

Club chief executive Tony Fitzpatrick said: “The postponement of our two games following positive tests amongst playing staff was disappointing. Everyone associated with the club has a paramount duty to do whatever it takes to make sure we absolutely minimize the risk of any infection.

"That’s why we have appointed Brian and Kevin, both of whom have close and longstanding links to the club, to help us tackle this continued very real risk to society and our club."

Brian is well known to the club, having joined St Mirren as a schoolboy, making a scoring first team debut at 17. After three seasons, he made the move to Arbroath as their club captain, following which he joined Strathclyde Police in 1983, taking up the position of chairman of the Strathclyde Police Federation in 2010.

In 2012 he was appointed Chairman of the Scottish Police Federation where he held responsibility for the terms and conditions of approximately 17,500 officers. Brian contributed to the development and implementation of Police Scotland’s new protocols. He has worked at a UK level and held responsibility for investigating the planning of major events with policing involvement and chaired UK wide meetings to develop strategy and implementation of policy. He has contributed to the work of the European Policing Organisation, Eurocop, assessing issues impacting on UK and European policing, ensuring overall compliance with health and safety, employment law and employment and diversity protocols. Brian brings a wealth of knowledge to the club in areas such as policy management and stakeholder engagement, strategic planning, crisis communication and crisis management.

Lifelong St Mirren Fan Dr Kevin Pollock is one of the UK’s foremost experts in the fields of risk management and business continuity, with extensive experience in managing challenging incidents and joins the club in a consultancy role to review and enhance its processes in helping to address Covid-19.

He has designed, implemented, and embedded successful organisational resilience programmes incorporating risk, crisis, and business continuity and was commissioned by the UK Cabinet Office Civil Contingencies Secretariat to research lessons from UK emergencies and major incidents. He is an independent consultant at Pollock Ferguson Resilience and an Academic Fellow at the UK Cabinet Office Emergency Planning College.

Kevin has also lectured at Glasgow Caledonian University and was Assistant Professor of Policing and Security, Rabdan Academy, UAE.

Tony added: "These two senior appointments significantly strengthen the infrastructure within the club and will enhance our capabilities. Every single member of staff at the club, at all levels, knows that our approach to this challenge has to be as professional and robust as possible. We are committed to leaving no stone unturned and look forward to the contribution both Brian and Kevin will make."

St Mirren Football Club can confirm that tomorrow’s match against Hamilton Academical has been postponed following Public Health Scotland’s decision to place the entire first-team and coaching staff into isolation.

Chief Executive Tony Fitzpatrick said: "We appreciate this is a frustrating situation for all connected to the club and those involved at Hamilton Academical. 

"This continues to be a challenging time for the club but the health and wellbeing of our players and staff remains our utmost concern."

St Mirren Football Club can confirm that following another round of testing we have unfortunately received more positive COVID-19 cases.

In line with Government guidelines, those affected will self-isolate for 10 days.

This has been a hugely challenging time for the club but the health and wellbeing of our players and staff remains our utmost priority.

A further update on this matter will be made available tomorrow following meetings with health authorities.

St Mirren chief executive Tony Fitzpatrick has written to his Motherwell counterpart Alan Burrows to complain about unacceptable statements by Fir Park coach Maurice Ross during a BBC Radio Scotland broadcast in which Ross cast doubt on the reasons for St Mirren seeking the COVID-related cancellation of Saturday’s scheduled clash between the two clubs. 

The text of Tony’s letter reads: 

"I am writing to express my disappointment at the comments of Maurice Ross on the above Podcast following the postponement of the fixture between our respective clubs on Saturday 17 October. 

"In particular I deprecate any suggestion that we or any other football club would take advantage of this pandemic for personal gain.  Any notion that we have been “opportunistic” in seeking to discharge our public health responsibilities is a fallacy.  I cannot fathom why Mr Ross would seek to publicly call into question the integrity of a fellow SPFL member club for adhering to the agreed protocols which are in place to protect players, officials and clubs. 

"As we, and all football clubs in Scotland, try to navigate our way through these difficult times the comments of Mr Ross are both unfortunate and unhelpful. 

"With respect I would suggest Mr Ross might want to reflect on the comments which he broadcast to the nation and I am sure he will support your fellow clubs in being hyper vigilant as we work together to tackle this virus.  I would be grateful if he could avoid such derisory language in future." 

St Mirren Football Club are proudly continuing their support for the education charity, Show Racism the Red Card throughout the upcoming Fortnight of Action. Our club have supported the charity’s messages of tolerance and inclusion within football for many years. Now more than ever, the importance of this fortnight cannot be overstated.

All professional clubs in Scotland will show their support over one weekend – Friday 23rd, Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th October. Clubs will be united in calling for an end to racial discrimination and inequality throughout society.

Show Racism the Red Card work all year round with schools, workplaces, grassroots and youth football clubs and the prison service to educate young people and adults on challenging prejudice and stereotypes, using the power of football as a positive way to instigate conversation on anti-racism.

Covid-19 and events overseas have shone a light on the growing inequalities that some of us unfairly face. Still today, many experience this disproportionately due to the colour of their skin.

Last year in Scotland, 81% of young people felt more confident in identifying and safely challenging racism after working directly with Show Racism the Red Card.

In addition to raising awareness of the charity’s work in Scotland, the Fortnight of Action from 10th – 25th October 2020 shows commitment at the highest level of Scottish football in eradicating racism and discrimination in all its forms from our game.

We call on our supporters to continue to challenge racism. It is the responsibility of us all to ensure that the anti-racism message is carried out beyond the Fortnight of Action.

Sam Foley, St Mirren's Fortnight of Action Ambassador said: "Football is a game that is loved and played all around the world by people of all races, colours and religions.

"As a sport, football is the ultimate team game where everyone taking part is encouraged to bring their best game forward for the team's cause while at the same time showing respect and tolerance for all of those on the field of play, just as we all should strive to be in everyday life.

"All at St Mirren Football Club are fully behind and pleased to support Show Racism the Red Card's Fortnight of Action."

St Mirren stands with everyone who has had to endure racial prejudice in all areas of their lives. We condemn all forms of racism and any racist behaviour will not be tolerated at our club.

Football is a sport that is loved by people across the world and football matches should be an enjoyable experience for all, whatever your background. Education is the key and St Mirren will support Show Racism the Red Card to ensure our future generation are equipped with the tools to challenge and eradicate racism from football and society.

For useful resources and information, please visit www.theredcard.org

Follow Show Racism The Red Card on:

Instagram: @SRtRCScotland
Twitter: @SRtRCScotland
Facebook.com/theRedCardScotland

St Mirren Football Club can confirm that a further first-team player have returned a positive COVID-19 test and is now self-isolating. In line with Public Health and Scottish Government guidelines, a number of additional players are now required to self-isolate.

Chief Executive, Tony Fitzpatrick stated: "It is very disappointing that we are faced with this situation despite the numerous precautions and safeguards that are in place within the Club.

"As a result we regret this has caused our game against Motherwell to be postponed.

"This is hugely frustrating for our fans, the players and staff, and for everyone connected with the club. We will be working with the SPFL and relevant health authorities on this matter and will provide an appropriate update when more information is available.

"This once again underlines the absolute necessity of maintaining vigilance to ensure that players, officials and their families minimise the risk of infection to keep everyone safe."