St Mirren are back in action at the Simple Digital Arena on Saturday for the first time in over a month and that means a return for our matchday entertainment. 

Paisley Panda and the St Mirren Supporter Liaison Officers have a range of different activities taking place from 1:30pm outside the Family Stand which are open to all. 

Among the activities involved are:

*Football skills zone
*Magician
*Live music 
*Face painting
*Balloon Modelling
*Free sweets from the Panda sponsored by Black & White Army
*Bung a Baw sponsored by Glen Bun bakery
*Pick the winning team and win £100 on our giant football card
*Win donuts by predicting who will score #saints1stgoal 
*Vote for #SMFCMOM and be in with a chance of winning a voucher for the club shop.

All fans are welcome to attend, so get yourself along to the Family Stand from 1:30pm on Saturday to get involved!  

St Mirren FC Charitable Foundation in conjunction with SPFL Trust are delighted to announce they will be hosting a Festive Friends event within the stadium on Christmas Day.

Festive Friends is a wonderful community program created to accommodate elderly people, and those in need, who will be isolated and alone on Christmas Day.

The fun-filled festivities will commence at 12 noon where all of our senior Buddies will be shown into the 1877 lounge, we will have live music & games, some Saint's legends dropping by to share fond memories of St Mirren's history, the provision of a delicious Christmas dinner and a visit from father Christmas & helpers to give all a hand made gift.

St Mirren FC Charitable Foundation wish to invite all of the fans, local community, business partners and friends to nominate individuals they wish to attend the event and nominations are now open, simply email gayle.brannigan@stmirren.com to enter.

To add to the magic and ensure the success of the day we will require small Christmas gifts to be donated and also additional funds to be raised. The more funds we raise and the more gifts we receive the more nominations we can accept.

Should you wish to donate a gift or volunteer as helper or driver on the day please email gayle.brannigan@stmirren.com or call us on 0141-889-2558 ext 6124 or visit our JustGiving page where we are looking to raise £1500.

We are pleased to announce that we are now offering digital/print at home tickets for matches at the Simple Digital Arena.

The process is straight forward with digital tickets accessed through your smfctickets.co.uk account.

To access digital tickets for home matches, please follow the below instructions. 

Step 1 - Go into your Account tab at the top of the page.

Step 2 - Select the Purchase History tab.

Step 3 -  Select the appropriate Transaction ID for the game you are attending.

Step 4 -  Scroll down and select the view button at the bottom right hand side of the page.

Step 5 -  Select the Download Digital Ticket and your ticket will be shown on the screen.

Step 6 -  Your ticket will look like this. 

Entry with our digital tickets is easy! When entering the stadium you simply put the barcode underneath the turnstile scanner's red illuminated beam and this will allow you entry as it would with a normal paper ticket. 

Please note - anyone who has any issues with digital tickets on match day is urged to contact their nearest steward.

St Mirren skipper Stephen McGinn says the Buddies are looking forward to being back at the Simple Digital Arena as they aim to bounce back from Saturday's disappointing 5-2 loss away to Hearts.

While Saints aren't in action this weekend due to the international break, they'll face two home games in the space of four days when Ross County and Hibernian visit Paisley in a little over a week's time.

And coming off the back of three away losses in a row, Stephen believes it will be a welcome relief being back at home where the Buddies have only lost one game and one goal all season.

It’ll be nice to be back home," Stephen told stmirren.com.

"Our away record is not good and it’s something we really need to address, but we like playing at home. We are good at home and with back-to-back home games coming up we need to put points together and good performances.

"Everyone in that dressing room is desperate to get Saturday out of our system.

"St Mirren Park always has to be a fortress and I feel it is always a hard place for teams to go to. It’s something we are proud of and something we want to continue. We don’t want Ross County to come down next week and enjoy coming to Paisley.

"We’ll approach it as we do every game and try to win the game. But there’s probably an added significance with the three losses we’ve just had away from home.

"It’s not nice when you look at the table and it’s not nice when people ask how you are doing and you have to tell them we are bottom of the league, but I don’t feel like we are the worst team in the league.

"We’ve got a game in hand, we’ve got games coming up thick and fast over the Christmas period and we want to try to put results together. If we can we’ll quickly find ourselves where we feel we should be."

The Buddies have been praised for a defensive record that, prior to Saturday's match against Hearts, was only bettered by first and second placed Celtic and Rangers. 

Saints had only conceded 11 goals in their opening nine league matches, but were left shocked as they conceded five at Tynecastle on Saturday.

Stephen admits it was disappointing and the players have to prove it was a one-off. 

We want to make sure that was just a blip and it won't ever happen again," he said.

"It was strange because at half-time we are well in the game and at times we were pretty comfortable at a difficult venue but we were losing 3-2. We have not lost goals like that all season so it was a bit of a shell-shocked dressing room at half-time. 

"We have taken a lot of credit as a team for our defensive record and we are gutted to have lost so many goals, especially the manner of the goals. There were some really poor goals we lost, uncharacteristic goals.

"We lost the third and fourth goals at terrible times and ultimately it cost us the game.

"The one right before half-time we were really disappointed with and then 30 seconds into the second-half you are 4-2 down and the reaction after that wasn't great. It turned out to be a really disappointing day.

"We have to make sure it doesn’t happen again and react better. Goals are so hard to come by in this league that we can’t afford to give them away at the other end."

The captain admitted he can understand fans frustrations as the Buddies find themselves at the bottom of the league.

But he emphasised their importance and knows Saints can count on their backing.

The fans will stick with us," he said.

"If ever a group of fans were going to turn on a team it was last year and they didn’t. They stuck with us right to the end and we both got our rewards together.

"They were brilliant again on Saturday and they have been brilliant in my whole time at the club.

"I’ve no doubt that they will stick with us and when Ross County come to our place a week on Saturday the place will be rocking and they’ll get behind us like every other Saturday."

Saturday's match away to Hearts saw Stephen made his 198th appearance in the black and white of St Mirren.

The skipper says he's been aware of being close to the 200 mark and given his affinity for the club he's full of pride as he approaches the milestone.

It’s something I’m really proud of," he confessed. 

"When I was a young player in the youth team here I was just dying to get one game and then you are dying to get two games so to get to 200 at this club means a lot to me and it will be great to finally hit that mark.

"The last two and a half years have been amazing," he continued.

"There have been low times but I have loved every minute since I have come back. People say don’t go back but I couldn’t disagree more. It’s a place I know well and it means a lot to me.  Every win feels twice as good because it’s here and all the memories I am now wracking up here.

"On a personal level reaching 200 games for this club is something I’m really proud of."

Tickets for next weekend's match are on-sale at the St Mirren Ticket Office and online. 

We are also giving clubs/groups the chance to attend our upcoming home matches against Ross County and Livingston at a reduced price.

Two adults and up to 20 under-12s can attend either match for just £24 or can take advantage of our special double offer to attend both matches for just £36. 

The St Mirren FC Youth Academy are offering a fantastic opportunity for a Head of Football Science & Medicine to oversee the academy youth squads (U11-U18) and the Reserve League squad.

Reporting to the Youth Academy Director, the successful candidate will be given the platform to work in a vibrant, intelligent & challenging sporting environment with the potential to develop and become the best at what you do. 

The role will be on a full-time permanent basis.

You will be a highly reliable and enthusiastic individual who is able to motivate and enthuse others. You will also be willing to work irregular hours to include evenings and weekends, (as and when games are scheduled).

You will also be a positive role model within the club, have exceptional record keeping & organisational skills, and be willing to travel to away games with the squads.

In addition to working with the Reserve League and Academy squads, you will have the opportunity to manage the Youth Academy Physiotherapy Clinic and work with our highly-skilled first team physiotherapist to gain invaluable experience of working within  a professional sporting environment, assessing acute injuries and developing and progressing rehabilitation programmes.

Duties Include

• Provide pitch side physiotherapy at both home and away matches
• Assess acute injuries
• Devise appropriate rehabilitation programmes
• Attend the Youth Academy Physiotherapy Clinic
• Attend staff in-service training

Essential Qualifications

• BSc Physiotheraphy
• MSc Physiotherapy, Sports Science or related field.
• Three years working experience
• HCPC Registration
• Sports First Aid Certificate (Recognised by the Scottish FA)
• Membership with the Protection of Vulnerable Groups Scheme (PVG)

Salary

Competitive dependent on experience and qualifications.

How to Apply

Please send a CV with covering letter to recruitment@stmirren.com. 

The St Mirren Reserves are in action this afternoon (12th November) as they travel to St Andrews to face Dundee United in the SPFL Reserve League.

Kick-off at Whitton Park, Broughty Ferry is 2pm. 

To find out more about the SPFL Reserve League please click here.

St.Mirren's 2019/20 away kit is back in stock at the St Mirren club shop and online.

Kit prices are as follows : 

Away kit

Adult Shirt - £45
Adult Shorts - £16
Kids Shirt - £32
Kids Shorts - £13.50
Socks - £7.50

Tickets for St Mirren's trip to face Aberdeen in the Ladbrokes Premiership on Saturday 30th November are now on-sale at the St Mirren Ticket Office and online.

Aberdeen v St Mirren
Ladbrokes Premiership
Venue: Pittodrie Stadium, Aberdeen
Date: Saturday 30th November 2019
Kick-off: 3pm

The ticket prices as follows:

Prices

Adult - £26
Over-65 - £20
Over-75 - £16
Youth (18-21) - £16
Under-18 - £12 
Under-12 - £6

Any ambulant disabled supporter who requires the aid of a PA in order to view the event in comfort and will be sold a ticket at a concessionary price. Their PA will be admitted free of charge.

If the requirement for a PA is not obvious, the club will be entitled to ask for evidence of PA necessity. This would comprise of a letter from a registered GP stating that the supporter cannot attend without the aid of a PA.

It was a day to forget in the capital as Saints fell to a 5-2 defeat against Hearts at Tynecastle in the Ladbrokes Premiership.

The Buddies twice came from behind in the first-half to level but still went into the break 3-2 down. And a disappointing day was compounded by second half goals from Jamie Walker and Jake Mulraney gave the Edinburgh side an emphatic win. 

Jim Goodwin made two changes to the side that lost 2-0 at Celtic Park the previous midweek. Tony Andreu and Danny Mullen came in for Ryan Flynn and Ilkay Durmus who dropped to the bench.

Saints came into the match bottom of the table but level on points with Hearts and could have moved up to eighth place with a win depending on results elsewhere.

But it was the hosts who seized the initiative, taking the lead with just six minutes on the clock. The Jambos won a corner after a good break from Uche Ikpeazu. Andy Irving swung the low ball in to Steven Naismith who peeled away from the Saints defence and clipped into the back of the net at the front post. 

It was the exactly the sort of start the Buddies wanted to avoid, but despite a half-chance from Ikpeazu a few minutes later the Saints response was decent. Good pressure on the Hearts defence by Jon Obika won the away side a corner on 16 minutes. Danny Mullen went down inside the box after the ball was swung in but referee Euan Anderson was unmoved. 

Five minutes later Saints were level. Stephen McGinn forced Hearts goalkeeper Joel Pereira to push away a drive from the edge of the area. The Jambos couldn't clear their lines allowing the ball to come back into the box with Sam Foley swinging the ball into the box on to the head of Andreu who nodded down perfectly into the direction of an unmarked Obika. The striker finished with aplomb to make it 1-1 and get his second goal in St Mirren colours.

However, less than 10 minutes later Hearts were in-front for a second time. A throw-in from the left found Ikpeazu at a tight angle. Vaclav Hladky came out to close the angle but the striker still got a shot away that unfortunately came off the face of defender Sean McLoughlin and landing in the back of the net.

It was setback for Saints who had settled into the game, but they responded in perfect fashion - levelling just three minutes later. The Hearts defence switched off as Hladky launched the ball forward allowing Mullen the chance to race clear on goal. The striker made no mistake as he kept his composure to slot beyond Pereira to get the Buddies level for a second time. 

With just two minutes to go until half-time Hearts went 3-2 ahead. The Saints defence didn't deal with Michael Smith's cross allowing Ollie Bozanic to head home from close range. 

Sam Foley went close to getting Saints level for a third time a minute later when he rose highest to meet an Andreu free-kick from the left but nodded just wide.

Coming out after the break it was imperative that Saints got the next goal if they wanted to get anything from the match. But the second half got off to the worst possible start as Jamie Walker headed home within the first minute of the restart to put Hearts 4-2 ahead.

That goal looked to effectively seal the match for the hime side. Not long after the hour mark Andreu smashed a free-kick well over the bar from 30 yards, while a few minutes later the Frenchman also flashed a half-volley over from the edge of the area. 

There were 13 minutes remaining when Jake Mulraney put the seal on a good day for the home side with an excellent finish from 20 yards. The substitute played a neat one-two with Naismith on the left touchline, drifted inside and curled high into the right corner of the net to make it 5-2.

Sean McLoughlin almost grabbed a consolation with less than 10 minutes remaining after a powerful effort from 35 yards that Pereira did brilliantly to tip over the bar, while Hladky made a good stop to push Mulraney's attempt wide to deny Hearts a sixth a few minutes later. 

Up next is Ross County at home following the international break and with three of the next four matches at the Simple Digital Arena Jim Goodwin's men will be desperate to put today's result behind them and try to lift themselves from the foot of the table. 

Full-Time: Hearts 5-2 St Mirren

St Mirren: Hladky, P.McGinn, Broadfoot (MacKenzie 68), McLoughlin, Waters, S.McGinn (Durmus 58), Foley, Magennis, Andreu (Morias 78), Mullen, Obika
Subs Not Used: Lyness, MacPherson, Flynn, Djorkaeff

Hearts: Pereira, Smith, White (Mulraney 50), Berra, Dikamona, Hickey, Bozanic, Irving, Walker (Damour 62), Naismith, Ikpeazu (Meshino 80)
Subs Not Used: Zlamal, Whelan, Maclean, Brandon

Referee: Euan Anderson
Assistant Referee: David Roome
Assistant Referee: Alastair Mather
Fourth Official: Kevin Clancy

Attendance: 16,165 (766 St Mirren supporters)

Gallery pictures by Allan Picken © - Allan Picken Photography

A disappointed Jim Goodwin gives his reaction to today's 5-2 loss away to Hearts.