Saints manager Jack Ross reflects on today's 2-1 triumph over Rivals Morton.

He talks about finally getting to lift the Championship Trophy and how hard the team have worked all season.

St Mirren will lift the Ladbrokes Championship trophy this afternoon in front of a sold out Saints crowd at the Paisley 2021 Stadium. 

The Buddies secured the title last weekend with a 0-0 draw against Livingston and will hoist the trophy aloft following tomorrow's match against Renfrewshire rivals Morton. 

It's the final home game of an incredible campaign for Saints who have won 22 of 34 league matches this season with 13 of those coming from 17 home matches. The 13 home league wins is a new record at the Paisley 2021 Stadium since we moved into Greenhill Road in 2009.

The Buddies will be keen to end the season on a high with a first win of the season against Morton. Saints lost the first meeting between the two back in August when they travelled to Cappielow. Cammy Smith scored a screamer to level before half time after Michael Tidser's penalty had given the hosts the lead. Jack Baird received his marching order early in the second half and Tidser stepped up to score his second from the spot. Further goals from Bob McHugh and Andy Murdoch gave the home side a 4-1 win.

The two next met in a controversial match in October when Morton came to the Paisley 2021 Stadium. Ian McShane put Saints 1-0 up in the second half from the penalty spot after Lewis Morgan was fouled. But the Ton equalised less than two minutes later courtesy of an Andy Murdoch strike from 25 yards out. St Mirren re-took the lead on 72 minutes when Gavin Reilly swept home a cross from Cammy Smith. The Ton equaled things up again though six minutes later when Gary Harkins squeezed the ball past Samson form the spot after Gregor Buchanan pulled down Thomas O'Ware at a corner.

Saints made their second and final trip to Greenock on January 2nd. The Buddies looked to be heading for all three points after Morgan's first half effort. But with a little over 10 minutes remaining Thomas O'Ware headed home for Morton to grab them a share of the spoils. 

Morton haven't been on their finest form recently, having only won two of their last eight league games, which has seen them drop out of a play-off position and down to sixth in the table. Failure to win today for the Greenock side would officially rule them out of play-off contention.

The home side, despite securing the league title against Livingston last week, haven't been firing all cylinders the last couple of weeks either - losing twice and drawing once. Jack Ross will be keen to see the side return to winning ways in their last home game of the season.

The only team news for Saints is Adam Eckersley will miss out for Jack Ross' side with a calf problem, while Gavin Reilly is also a doubt. 

St Mirren Football Club is delighted to announce that captain Stephen McGinn has agreed a new two-year deal with the club.

The skipper has been instrumental in our promotion campaign and will now lead the Buddies in the Premiership next season after signing his new deal this afternoon.

Speaking to stmirren.com, Stephen said: "I'm delighted to commit my future to the club.

It's a club that holds a special place in my heart and to sign on for another two years after achieving promotion this season means a lot to me.

"We'll enjoy the next few weeks as we lift the Ladbrokes Championship title and then we can start to look forward to next season." 

St Mirren manager Jack Ross said: "I have spoken often enough about how much of an influence he has been in what we have achieved here in the last sixteen months.

He took a big gamble returning to the club and I'm so pleased he has played such a big part in us achieving what we have.

"I'm sure everybody associated with the club will be delighted that he will be here for the next couple of years at least." 

The club would also like to thank Paul McGrath and Consilium for their support with this deal.

Our match day programme, published in partnership with Curtis Sport, will be available from the Club Shop ahead of Saturday’s game.

This issue, for the Ladbrokes Championship match against Morton, is a 52 pager with a £3 cover price.

This latest edition, which celebrates the winning of the 2017/18 Ladbrokes Championship, includes the following:

Front Cover – Celebrating Buddies.
The Gaffer - St Mirren manager Jack Ross reflects on winning the Ladbrokes Championship and his pre-match message for the fans.
Buddies News Update – News of the latest happenings in and around the Paisley 2021 Stadium.
Last Time Out – Match report and pictures from the Championship clinching match against Livingston.
The Opposition – Brian Corry runs the rule over Saturday's visitors, Jim Duffy's Morton side.
Hall of Fame – David Cochran looks back on the St Mirren career of Steven Thompson.
Player Interview – Stuart Gillespie talks with Club Captain, Stephen McGinn who gives his thoughts on winning the Championship.
Party Time! – Gallery of pictures from last week's post-match celebrations after clinching the 2017/18 Ladbrokes Championship.
Champions (Centre Pages) – St Mirren Championship winning squad.
Road to the Premiership – A pictorial look back at the first half of the 2017/18 Championship winning season.
Road to the Premiership – A pictorial look back at the second half of the 2017/18 Championship winning season.
Matchday Gallery – Pictures from the post-match awards in the corporate suite after the recent match against Livingston.
Kit Sponsors 2017/18.
Football, Bloody Hell – Alan Gallacher looks back on how Jack Ross built a Championship winning side.
Marketing Matters – Commercial Manager, Campbell Kennedy brings us up to date with all the commercial activities within the Club.
St Mirren Fixtures & Results 2017/18 – A handy reference page of all the fixtures for this season.
Player Interview – Stuart Gillespie chats with goalkeeper Craig Samson about lifting his second piece of silverware with St Mirren.
Team Lines – The two squads and match officials for Saturday’s match.

To buy this issue or to place your programme subscription for the 2017/18 season click HERE.

If you live outside the UK & Ireland, St Mirren TV is your way to watch Paisley’s top football side live in action each and every home match day.

This service, which is delivered by media students from the University of the West of Scotland, will cover all of St Mirren’s home games.

As usual the St Mirren TV team will be presenting all the action from The Paisley 2021 Stadium when Morton are the visitors for the home season closer on Saturday afternoon.

If you want to tune in here is the info you will need:

St Mirren vs Morton
Ladbrokes Championship
Venue: Paisley 2021 Stadium, Paisley
Date: Saturday 21st April 2018
Kick-off: 3:00pm BST

To access this match day service:

1 Day Pass – €6.99 EUR
Season Pass – €69.99 EUR

To view Terms & Conditions and get started with St Mirren TV please click HERE.

For technical support with St Mirren TV please e-mail tvsupport@stmirren.com

Come along to the Paisley 2021 Stadium tomorrow afternoon and join in with the Matchday Experience which kicks-off at 1:45pm in and around the Family Stand.

Building on the successful initiatives that have seen St Mirren win the accolade of Most Family Friendly Ground in the Scottish Supporters Association Fan Awards, the Club's SLO and Paisley Panda with support from SMiSA and the SMFC Fans' Council present a range of activities to improve the matchday experience for families and all younger Buddies.

Although all the activities will be taking place behind the Family Stand they are available to all fans regardless of what stand you are sitting in for the match.

Some of the activities lined up for tomorrow are as follows:

* 500 flags to give away.

* Inflatable 'Beat the Goalie' challenge.

* Football free-stylist.

* DJ playing St Mirren songs.

* Face painting.

* Balloon artist.

* Paisley Panda giving out free sweets courtesy of Black and White Army.

So come along early and get involved in the fun activities before getting ready to back the Buddies in the Ladbrokes Championship match against Morton. #BackTheBuds

We are giving fans the opportunity to vote for the man of the match and also put two lucky fans in with the chance of winning a £10 voucher for the Club Shop.

Every home game we’ll throw open the voting on the 60 minute mark for 20 minutes where votes can be cast on Facebook and Twitter. All you have to do is use the hashtag #SMFCMOM followed by the name of the player you are voting for, eg ‘#SMFCMOM MORGAN’.

With 10 minutes of the game remaining all the votes will be counted then the Stadium Announcer will confirm the winning player over the tannoy system.

From all the fans who nominate the winning player one will be picked at random from the Facebook account and another from the Twitter account and they will each be awarded a £10 voucher for the Club Shop. The winners will be notified through the account they posted from.

So get yourself ready on the hour mark of Saturday’s game against The Ton and get voting with #SMFCMOM.

For the last time this season, Paisley Panda will host the ever-popular match day competition ‘Bung a Baw’ at Saturday’s match against Morton.

To take part in ‘Bung a Baw’ fans need to purchase a small foam ball which is numbered and they will then have a chance to throw their ball towards our club mascot Paisley Panda in front of the Family Stand. Each person will have 60 seconds to do this and the winner will be the person who has thrown the ball closest to the feet of the Panda. The winner will be confirmed over the PA system.

The competition is sponsored by The Linwood Farm Restaurant who are supplying a family meal voucher as the prize for the contest winner.

Each ball will cost £1 to buy. The balls will be available from sellers inside the Family Stand in the 30 minutes leading up to kick-off and then again in the first 5 minutes of half-time before the competition starts (subject to availability). Each ball is numbered and participants will also get a ticket with the corresponding number which they will use to claim the prize if they win.

‘Bung a Baw’ continues to be very popular so Paisley Panda advises that you get in early tomorrow to purchase your ball to take part.

As well as taking care of ‘Bung a Baw’, Paisley Panda will be giving away sweets to the kids in and around the stadium courtesy of the Black and White Army website.

Paisley Panda has also teamed up with the St Mirren Club Shop so you will be able to buy hats and scarves for the game from the 'Bung a Baw' stands.

Paisley Panda is pleased to confirm that ‘First Scorer’ will be back for the game on Saturday against Morton.

‘First Scorer’ lets fans predict in advance of the game who they think will score St Mirren's first goal in Saturday’s match against The Ton.

From all of those who guessed correctly, a winner will be picked at random and they will win a box of a dozen doughnuts which will be delivered to their seat right after the goal is scored!

To enter all you have to do ahead of the game is post your prediction of the first St Mirren scorer on Facebook or Twitter using the hashtag #Saints1stgoal. The lucky winner will then be contacted to confirm which stand they will be in with the row and seat number so that the prize can be delivered to them.

St Mirren in the Community are delighted to confirm that the SMFC Fans Council Panda Club will be open as usual for our last home game of the season on Saturday for the Ladbrokes Championship fixture against Morton at The Paisley 2021 Stadium.

The Panda Club will open at 1:00pm on Saturday. Parents please note that you should pick up your kids after the final whistle from the community office at 5:00pm.

Participants can look forward to pre-match football activities delivered by qualified St Mirren FC coaches inside the Airdome.

The Panda Club is open to boys and girls aged 5 to 12 years olds and costs £3 per child for the coaching session, the match ticket is provided FREE OF CHARGE.

Places will be limited for this match and bookings should be made by e-mail to ross.paterson@stmirren.com. Please note that walk-ons will not be accepted on the day.

SMFC Fans Council Panda Club details for Saturday’s game are as follows:

St Mirren vs Morton
Saturday 21st April 2018
1:00pm – 5:00pm

To find out more about the Panda Club click here