This month marks the 20th anniversary of St Mirren being crowned Millennium Champions.
A 3-0 win over Raith Rovers at Love Street on April 29 2000 saw the Buddies win the then First Division title and seal a return to the top flight for the first time since 1992.
The Millennium Championship winning side still holds a close place in the hearts of St Mirren fans as they won the title playing an exciting brand of football - scoring 75 goals and finishing five points ahead of second place Dunfermline.
Saints had been written off by all and sundry before a ball was kicked with the Buddies being many bookmakers' second favourites to be relegated. But a win over then SPL champions Rangers in a pre-season friendly at Love Street gave the side confidence that it could be a year to remember heading into the season.
Junior Mendes, Head of Sports Science at the club, was a player for the Buddies during that memorable season and spoke to stmirren.com about the feeling at the club at the start of that season.
Nobody in the changing room had really spoken about predictions of us finishing bottom," he said.
"We beat Rangers in pre-season and all the lads looked really strong, really fit and we felt that something was going to happen that season.
"We maybe didn’t envisage what actually happened but we felt something good would happen.
"We had a really good pre-season and as soon as we started winning games things were really jovial and it was a nice atmosphere to be in."
Despite a fine start to the league that saw six goals put past Raith, five goals put past Airdrieonians and wins against Inverness, Clydebank and Morton, many believed that the St Mirren bubble would burst.
But Junior didn't buy that talk and believed performances spoke for themselves.
When we started building up a head of steam folk were talking about the bubble bursting and I wasn’t really sure why people were talking about that because it wasn’t like we were backs against the wall in games.
"When we went top of the league that’s all we were focused on and we just wanted to keep our noses out in front ahead of Dunfermline.
"I think because they were a real worthy adversary at the time that kind of pushed us. In any kind of rivalry you need that competition and we definitely had that in Dunfermline as they kept us on our toes."
Dunfermline pushed the Buddies all the way, but with just three matches of the season remaining, Saints picked up a massive win away to Ayr United to inch ever closer to the title.
Junior netted in that 2-1 win at Somerset Park and it's a match that remains a favourite away day for many supporters especially given Paul McKnight's 90th minute winner moved the Buddies to within touching distance of claiming the title.
These teams we were playing against back then had thrown quite a bit of money into their squads," Junior said.
"Going down to Somerset Park to play Ayr was a tough one. They came to Love Street and won so to go to Somerset Park with its tight pitch and get that win was brilliant.
"These teams kept us on our toes and they were tough games to play in.
"For me to get that first goal was really important and then Paul McKnight steps up and does what he does there and it was a great day knowing we’d get promoted and be champions if we won the game against Raith the next week.
"I don’t know about anybody else but me personally I was really quite nervous because I knew if we didn’t get a win against Raith we’d have to go to Inverness to get a result and we were hopeless up at Inverness historically.
"We didn’t want to leave it for then and I was nervous."
But Junior needn't have worried as Saints defeated Raith Rovers 3-0 at Love Street a week later to clinch the title and a return to Scotland's top division.
It was the culmination of a year's hard work and reminded the 43 year-old of what the beautiful game meant to him.
I’d been at St Mirren for maybe three and a half years or something and it was just great to see all the faces of supporters and people you had been working with all that time.
"From Stewart Gilmour all the way down to the kitman and Tam the groundsman just seeing everyone come together was really nice.
"That season kind of gave me belief in my ability. The seasons before that I felt I was just learning my trade really but that season made me feel like I might do okay in the game.
"The couple of seasons beforehand you put a lot of work in that folk don’t see but that season it all came together and you get that tangible reward at the end of it. It just reaffirms your love for the game and why you fell in love with it."
It was a dressing room of big characters and none more so than captain Tommy Turner.
Junior recalled when Tommy had first joined the club and made his presence felt early on.
It was a really good dressing room," he said. "Even in the previous seasons I had always really enjoyed it.
"Tommy Turner was a really big character and I remember when he just joined. I think it was one of his first games was at Stark’s Park where we faced Raith.
"I always remember I didn’t even really know him yet and I lost the ball and he came down on me like a ton of bricks. That’s not really normal for someone new to just come in and start hammering people and I remember thinking after that that our relationship was going to be interesting.
"But Tommy is the sort of person that off the pitch is such a nice guy and after that game we never had a problem. I really liked Tommy, he was a great character.
"I don’t keep in touch with many of the guys back then frequently but we’ll speak once in a while through various social media platforms. That’s one of the great things about social media. There are some bad things involved with it but that’s one of the really good things about it."
After retiring as a player, Junior returned to the club in October 2018 as the club's Head of Sports Science.
He gave an insight into what his role at the club involves.
In any organisation I think you need to be multi-disciplined.
"I try to make sure the players keep fit physically and mentally and give them the best opportunity to do well on a Saturday.
"Nutrition is really important as well as recovery strategies, hydration strategies and strength sessions too.
"We monitor their performance during the week as well so we know that they aren't doing too much that would mean they won’t be as good on a Saturday so there’s quite a bit involved in the role.
"Supporters will also see me on a match day doing the warm-ups and half-time warm-ups for the lads on the bench as well. It’s really busy but really enjoyable."
With the coronavirus crisis ongoing Junior says all is well with him and his family in what is a surreal situation.
The players have all been given individual training programmes to make sure their fitness is topped up and he keeps in close contact with them through WhatsApp.
Everything’s good, everybody is good. We’ve never had anything like this before and it’s all really quite strange. I’m a bit older and it reminds me of the storylines you’d see from films in the 80s.
"We’ve given the players programmes to do on a weekly basis as we don’t know when the players are going to be back and I’ve been progressing them each week. So the players should be able to deal with it no problem and be at a good level whenever they return.
"We’re in group chat where we send the programmes and the lads send in their runs as well and keeps everyone else motivated. The lads are working hard but I’m kind of glad I’m not playing anymore."
