This week the inspiresport and St Mirren 'Train and Play' programme went full circle as we welcomed Belfast Metropolitan College to the St Mirren Academy for a second time.

Belfast Met were the first group to visit St Mirren with inspiresport back in 2016 and enjoyed their trip so much back then that they decided to visit again.

On their arrival at the academy on Monday they were met by St Mirren chairman Gordon Scott, manager Oran Kearney, captain Stephen McGinn and chief executive Tony Fitzpatrick. They watched the St Mirren Reserves defeat Ross County 3-0 in the SPFL Reserve League before receiving a VIP tour of the Simple Digital Arena with Tony.

On Tuesday they had two high quality training sessions with Academy coach Sam Mawuena and enjoyed a competitive game against an SYFA West region side.

Stephen Small, Football Coordinator for Belfast Metropolitan College, said: "We had such a good visit a couple of years ago to St Mirren that when we were thinking of another tour there was only one place we were going and that was back to St Mirren.

"To have the chairman, manager, captain and chief executive meet you says what a wonderful family club St Mirren are. Sam put on two wonderful sessions and Tony really inspired the students with his tour and passion for the club."

Jed McCabe of inspiresport said: "Having Belfast Metropolitan College return to St Mirren shows we are getting it right and our philosophy is working.

"My job is to get the name of this wonderful club to the world and get as many people as possible to visit. Not just for a one of visit but to return time and again."

Tony Fitzpatrick said: "This is truly humbling to welcome Belfast Metropolitan college back as when we started this programme we were not sure how it would go.

"To have over 500 players and parent’s from different countries visit and now groups coming back for a second time shows we have something special happening."

Yet another group from the Republic of Ireland visited the St Mirren Training Academy at Ralston with over 100 players, coaches and parents from the North Eastern County Schoolgirls League making the journey over to Scotland at the end of March.

They NECSL group received training sessions from the St Mirren Academy coaches and got the chance to watch the Buddies take on Dundee in the Ladbrokes Premiership, while also seeing the St Mirren Women's team in action against Clyde. 

Sam Mawuena, a St Mirren Academy coach who lead the training sessions, said: "It was a pleasure to have the NECSL girls and deliver our methodology as we do in the Academy to them. The feedback from NECSL Girls and other groups who have visited us from Ireland has been fantastic."

On the Sunday afternoon they enjoyed evenly matched games against local teams and received a special visit from St Mirren Women's Head Coach, Kate Cooper. 

Kate said: "It was a privilege to meet and spend time with the players and coaches from NECSL girls.

"Their enthusiasm for the game, desire to learn and ultimately improve and develop was evident throughout their visit. I have no doubt some will go on to have great careers in the game. We also greatly appreciated their support at our match vs Clyde."

As always, a highlight of the tour was the VIP stadium tour delivered by St Mirren Chief Executive, Tony Fitzpatrick.

Speaking on the visit, Tony said: "It was fantastic to have our first all-girls group at the club and it was great that Kate Cooper took time to come down for a chat.

"It shows the club are making a huge impression to boys and girls teams from all over the Republic of Ireland. To have over 100 players, parents and coaches shows how much our good name is spreading which is our main objective."

Jed McCabe of inspiresport, the organisers of the tour, said: "As official partners of Scottish Women’s Football it was great to have our first girls group to St Mirren.

"The group absolutely loved the tour from high quality coaching, stadium tour with Tony Fitzpatrick, quality matches and to top it off, Kate Cooper, the St Mirren Women's team head coach, taking time to have meet the group. This really shows why inspiresport are proud partners of St Mirren."

Karen Byrne from NECSL girls said: "As the lead organiser I was so impressed by the professionalism of inspiresport, in particular Jed and our superb weekend guide Bruce.

"The timetable was well organised and we squeezed as much as possible in to the time we were there. To get a VIP tour of the stadium from a club legend and CEO was very inspiring.

"The most important aspect from us as NECSL coaches was that our team would have an opportunity to spend quality time together and gel as a unit. The trip definitely afforded us with these goals being met for sure.

"We look forward to engaging inspiresport in future tours and have now formed new relationships with St Mirren coaching staff. I am already looking forward to my own personal return in the middle of May to foster a coaching relationship and friendship with Kate Cooper who so generously gave up her time during the weekend."

Following the success of our special ticket offer at the recent match against Dundee, we are offering the same deal for our final two Ladbrokes Premiership home matches of the season.

More than 5,000 Buddies turned up to see St Mirren defeat Dundee at the end of March and we are again offering the same deal for our matches against St Johnstone and Hamilton Academical with two adults and up to 20 under-12s able to attend either match for just £24. 

These offers can be redeemed by filling out the application forms below and returning them to the St Mirren Ticket Office or sending by email to tickets@stmirren.com. 

St Johnstone application. 

Hamilton Academical application.

Please note the offer is only available in the Family Stand.

The offer for the St Johnstone match must be redeemed by Friday 26th April by 2pm and the offer for the Hamilton match must be redeemed by Friday 10th May by 2pm. They will NOT be available on match day. 

Pre-ordered tickets can be collected in advance of the game or from ticket uplift window in the Main Stand on match day. 

Any youth clubs who wish to be notified when more offers like this are available should email info@stmirren.com to be added to our mailing list.

Young footballers will have the opportunity to sample life as a professional and take to the field at the Simple Digital Arena.

Part of the celebrations to mark Street Stuff's ten-year anniversary of working in the Renfrewshire community, aspiring footballers can cross the white line and play on the pitch as part of a festival of football.

Matchday -  Wednesday 15 May
Kick off - 6pm for 6.30pm
Ticket price - Free
Squad - 5-a-side
Age group - 8 to 16

Players can register individually or as a team, with all consent forms to be returned to St Mirren in advance of the tournament taking place.

St Mirren FC Manager, Oran Kearney, said: "The people of Paisley and Renfrewshire have given the team brilliant support in my time at the club so it's great that the young people of Renfrewshire will get the opportunity to play on the pitch at the stadium and have the chance to emulate their heroes."

Since its inception in 2009, Street Stuff has seen more than 200,000 young people come through its doors, each having the opportunity to take part in sport, make new friends and engage in social activities.

Councillor Marie McGurk, Convener of Renfrewshire Council's Communities, Housing and Planning Policy Board, said: "What a fantastic opportunity for our young people to make it out of the stands and onto the pitch at St Mirren and hopefully we can inspire the next generation of footballers for the club.

"Street Stuff works hard to provide opportunities for sport and exercise for young people that they may not otherwise have the chance to experience and the work of our staff, coaches and volunteers really is changing the lives of young people in Renfrewshire."

How do I sign up?

Head to Street Stuff Football Festival to download a consent form.

Send it back to St Mirren and look out your boots!

What is Street Stuff?

A firm fixture of the community for a decade, the programme has contributed to a sustained reduction of 65% in reported youth disorder and anti-social behaviour in Renfrewshire.

Street Stuff provides activities such as football, dance and gaming six days a week, as well as hosting four holiday camps throughout the year where a healthy meal is provided to each young person who attends - with more than 26,000 healthy meals provided in the last four years.

The project runs in partnership between Renfrewshire Council, St Mirren Football Club, Police Scotland, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and Engage Renfrewshire.

The St Mirren FC Community Trust have a mission to recruit 100 of the Black & White Army to march in the Kilt Walk on Sunday 28th April 2019 to raise essential funds to support their elderly, mental health & children's community programs for the next year. 

We are still keen to add more marchers to our team and whether you walk 'The Wee Wander' at six miles, 'The Big Stroll' at 14 miles or 'The Mighty Stride' at 23 miles all your efforts will be greatly appreciated. 

Our Kilt Walk team name is 'Saints Come Marching In' and if you want to join us and take part you can use the link details here. 

Select 'St Mirren in the Community' in the charity section or email gayle.brannigan@stmirren.com for more details. 

Should you wish to show your support by donating you can use the link or email Gayle. You can also find out more about what we are up to here.

St Mirren supporters are now able to purchase tickets for Saturday's match through Livingston's ticketing website. 

Supporters can choose a seat in Section L of the Nordan East Stand and can have a digital ticket, which can be on their phone or printed at home or choose to have them posted. 

The St Mirren Ticket Office will also be open between 5pm-7pm tomorrow (Thursday 18th April) for the sale of tickets for Saturday's match.

The Buddies travel to West Lothian to face Gary Holt's side at the Tony Macaroni Arena in our first match following the league split.

Tickets for the match are also on at the St Mirren Ticket Office and online. 

The match and tickets info is as follows:

Livingston vs St Mirren
Ladbrokes Premiership
Venue: Tony Macaroni Arena, Livingston
Date: Saturday 20th April 2019
Kick-off: 3:00pm

Prices

Adult - £24
Concessions (over 65, registered disabled* and full-time students) - £16
Under 16s - £10
Wheelchair and carer - £16

*Registered disabled fans are entitled to a free carer if required. 

Please note that anyone who has ordered a ticket for collection at the St Mirren Ticket Office must do so by 2pm on Friday. 

The St Mirren Ticket Office opening hours for the remainder of this week are as follows:

Wed, 17th April - 10:00am - 2:00pm
Thu, 18th April - 10:00am - 2:00pm and 5:00pm - 7:00pm
Fri, 19th April - 10:00am - 2:00pm
Sat, 20th April - CLOSED
Sun, 21st April - CLOSED

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

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

Street Stuff celebrated the start of its 10-year anniversary in style as more than 1200 young people took part in the free Spring Break programme.

Hundreds of young people flocked to activities every day of the two-week holiday camp, as football, gaming and more was made available at venues across Renfrewshire.

A free healthy meal was provided to all participants at the afternoon activities, meaning 675 young people were refuelled throughout the duration of the programme.

Stevie Gallacher, Street Stuff Manager, said: "We’re delighted to see more and more young people spending their school holidays with us.

"Our holiday programmes are so important as they provide an opportunity for young people from all walks of life to take part in sport and exercise while they don’t have school as an outlet.

"To see so many young people leave with a smile on their face is brilliant and we have our fantastic coaches and volunteers to thank for making it so enjoyable."

The spring programme marked the start of Street Stuff’s 10th anniversary celebrations which will be marked with a series of events throughout the year.

Councillor Marie McGurk, Convener of Renfrewshire Council’s Communities, Housing and Planning Policy Board, said: “What a fantastic start to Street Stuff’s tenth anniversary celebrations and to see more than 1200 young people taking part is a great achievement.

"By providing the programme for free, we are giving all young people the opportunity to take part in sport and exercise and this can be vital in keeping them on the right track in life.

"The programme has changed so many lives over the past ten years and we’re proud of the work carried out by our staff, coaches and volunteers to provide these opportunities for young people."

Street Stuff is a diversionary project run in partnership between Renfrewshire Council, Police Scotland, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, Engage Renfrewshire and St Mirren Football Club.

The programme began in 2009 in Renfrewshire and has contributed to a sustained reduction of 65 percent.in youth disorder and anti-social behaviour.

The programme runs six days a week, all-year-round, at venues across Renfrewshire and young people aged 8 to 16 are encouraged to turn up and take part for free.

For more information, visit www.renfrewshire.gov.uk/streetstuff or follow @SMFCStreetStuff on Facebook and Twitter.

Please note that football centres at Gryffe High School on Friday 19th April and the St Mirren Airdome on Saturday 20th April are off, due to the Easter weekend.

Centres will resume at the normal times on the week beginning Monday 22nd April.

St Mirren in the Community apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

The St Mirren Ticket Office will open between 5pm-7pm this Thursday (18th April) for the sale of tickets for Saturday's match away to Livingston.

The Buddies travel to West Lothian to face Gary Holt's side at the Tony Macaroni Arena in our first match following the league split.

Tickets for the match are on at the St Mirren Ticket Office and online. 

The match and tickets info is as follows:

Livingston vs St Mirren
Ladbrokes Premiership
Venue: Tony Macaroni Arena, Livingston
Date: Saturday 20th April 2019
Kick-off: 3:00pm

Prices

Adult - £24
Concessions (over 65, registered disabled* and full-time students) - £16
Under 16s - £10
Wheelchair and carer - £16

*Registered disabled fans are entitled to a free carer if required. 

The St Mirren Ticket Office opening hours for the remainder of this week are as follows:

Tue, 16th April - 10:00am - 2:00pm
Wed, 17th April - 10:00am - 2:00pm
Thu, 18th April - 10:00am - 2:00pm and 5:00pm - 7:00pm
Fri, 19th April - 10:00am - 2:00pm
Sat, 20th April - CLOSED
Sun, 21st April - CLOSED

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

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

The St Mirren Reserves picked up three deserved points in the SPFL Reserve League this afternoon as they defeated Ross County 3-0 at Ralston.

It was a comfortable win for Allan McManus' side as they dominated against their Highland opponents from start to finish. 

The Buddies started brightly with Liam Jamieson, Matthew Grant and Cameron Breadner all having good chances inside the opening 20 minutes.

But it was Alex McCaw who got the scoring underway just after the half hour mark. Kyle Magennis, who played 45 minutes as he makes his comeback from injury, had a shot from inside the box blocked. It fell kindly to McCaw who stroked home from inside the box to put the Buddies 1-0 ahead.

Saints were two up less than 10 minutes later when an exquisite pass from Sam Jamieson on the right channel picked out strike partner Liam Jamieson. The forward charged clear and slotted beyond Ross County goalkeeper Ross Munro. 

County were reduced to 10 men just before half-time with Tom Kelly given his marching orders after he scythed down McCaw who was about to go one-on-one with Munro.

Saints weren't as fluid in the second half and County had an opportunity to get themselves back into the match with 20 minutes remaining when they were awarded a penalty. Max Potter was adjudged to have fouled a County player inside the area, but David Wilson was equal to James Wallace's effort from 12 yards. 

The Buddies grabbed a third in injury time as Lewis Jamieson got his second of the match. The striker tapped home from about a yard out as he profited from a mix-up in the County defence.

St Mirren: Wilson, Grant, Walker, Glover, Girvan, Frew, Breadner, Magennis, S. Jamieson, L. Jamieson, McCaw
Subs: Bodea, Potter, Miller, Smith, McFarlane, Henderson, Jack