UNDER 12s can go free to all SPFL Championship matches during the two weekends of the Premiership winter break next month in an initiative supported by all 10 second-tier clubs.

Children under the age of 12 will be permitted free admission to any of the 10 games played in the Ladbrokes Championship on January 6 and January 13 if they are accompanied by a paying adult.

The move is aimed at encouraging families to get along to a match, even if their favourite top-tier side is not in action.

Games on January 6 include Livingston versus Queen of the South, Dumbarton against Dunfermline Athletic and St Mirren versus Inverness Caledonian Thistle, while on January 13 Dunfermline are at home to Dundee United, Morton take on Falkirk and Brechin City host Livingston.

SPFL Chief Executive Neil Doncaster said: “Football goes on even during the Ladbrokes Premiership winter break and I commend the Ladbrokes Championship clubs for coming up with this welcome initiative.

“Hopefully many supporters will take the chance to get out to a match next month, with free admission for under-12s making it more affordable for families to attend together.”

Falkirk director Martin Ritchie, one of two Championship representatives on the SPFL Board, added: “With no Premiership fixtures in early January the spotlight will fall on the Ladbrokes Championship for a few weeks.

“We hope that this offer will encourage fans to take in a game, even if they haven’t been for a while. Matches in this league tend to be exciting and entertaining, and hopefully people, especially families, will take the opportunity to discover that for themselves next month.”

St Mirren in the Community are delighted to announce details of our Christmas Football Camp, ‘Jingle Balls’, the perfect stocking filler for all young Footballers!

The Camp will take place at St Mirren’s Aridome at The Paisley 2021 Stadium over 22nd, 23rd and 24th December with the option of half-day and full-day camps.

The full-day camp, for boys and girls aged 6 to 12 years old, will run from 9:00am to 3:00pm and cost £25.

There will be half-day camps from 9:00am to 12:00pm and 12:00pm to 3:00pm (for boy and girls aged 3 to 5 years) and they will cost £12.50.

As always we expect the camps to be really busy so to avoid disappointment we advise that you book your place as soon as possible. You can do that by picking up an application form from the stadium reception or alternatively you can download it by clicking HERE.

For more details please e-mail communityadmin@stmirren.com.

We hope to see you all there, Merry Christmas!

Jack Ross gives his thoughts on this afternoon's 1-0 win over Dunfermline at the Paisley 2021 Stadium as his side returned to the top of the Ladbrokes Championship. 

A first half Cammy Smith goal was enough to send St Mirren back to the top of the Ladbrokes Championship after a tough fought 1-0 win over Dunfermline. 

The forward's ninth goal of the season gave Saints a big three points and saw them move one clear of Dundee United and 12 clear of The Pars. 

It was the visitors who went closest to opening the scoring in the early exchanges when, with just five minutes on the clock, Ryan Williamson burst into the Saints box and saw his effort deflected by for a corner. 

The game had it's fair share of controversial moments, the first coming just before 10 minutes when Sean Murdoch was lucky to escape red when he wiped out Gavin Reilly on the edge of the box. The Saints striker had broken on to a terrific long ball from Lewis Morgan and just as he looked to round the Pars keeper he was brought down. Referee Craig Charleston awarded a free kick and consulted with his linesman before deciding only to book the goalkeeper much to the annoyance of the Saints support. Ian McShane stepped up to take but sent it over.  

Dunfermline had a few half chances in the next period of the match with Adam Eckersley doing well to block a Nicky Clark shot before a corner kick led to a scramble in the box which Saints eventually managed to get clear.

Reilly wasn't far away from netting against the side he was on loan at last season on 23 minutes. A Nat Wedderburn handball saw The Buddies awarded a free kick on the right hand side. McShane swung the ball into the Dunfermline box where Morgan nodded into the path of Reilly who then flicked goalwards with Murdoch doing well to palm away. 

The Buddies took the lead on 38 minutes after Cammy Smith finished off a nice move from the Saints. Kyle Magennis sent through a wonderful pass to find McShane who had run into the box. It really was a pass of the highest quality with McShane cutting it across the box to Gavin Reilly. The striker, who had his back to goal, took the ball in and on the turn had it pinched off him by Smith who knocked beyond Murdoch to put Saints in front. 

Saints had a huge chance to double their advantage when McShane picked out Reilly who found himself clear on goal. Murdoch raced off his line with Reilly electing to try and lob the keeper but sent the ball over the bar. 

Half Time: St Mirren 1-0 Dunfermline

While St Mirren were well worthy of their first half lead on the balance of play, the second half saw the home side have to dig deep to eek out the three points. But they could have made it 2-0 very early into the second half when a Kyle Magennis ball in from the left was headed just wide by Jack Baird.

Joe Cardle went mightily close for Pars on 51 minutes when his effort from the edge of the box whistled just beyond Craig Samson's post.

Nicky Clark will feel he should have done better on 63 minutes when he was found unmarked by Jason Talbot's cross but he sent his header wide. 

A minute later saw the game's second big controversial moment when Craig Charleston awarded Dunfermline a penalty as Ryan Williamson fell under the challenge of Adam Eckersley. The Saints team were angered at the award as it looked like Williamson had dived anticipating contact. The referee consulted with his linesman and came to the conclusion that no penalty should be awarded with Williamson picking up a yellow card for simulation. 

Dunfermline were having a lot of pressure but weren't creating many clear cut chances. Substitute Fraser Aird would have been desperately disappointed he didn't get them level with just a few minutes remaining when he was picked out in the box. The Canadian had time and space but blootered the ball over the bar. 

In the end St Mirren held out to pick up another vital three points in their quest for promotion and move to the top of the league following the abandonment of Dundee United's match away to Queen of the South.

Full Time: St Mirren 1-0 Dunfermline

St Mirren: Samson, L. Smith, Baird, Davis, Eckersley, McGinn, McShane, Magennis, C.Smith (MacPherson 88), Morgan, Reilly (Mullen 75)
Subs Not Used: Stewart, Buchanan, MacKenzie, Kirkpatrick, Sutton

Dunfermline: Murdoch, Williamson, Talbot, Morris, Ashcroft, Higginbotham (Paton 82), Shiels, Wedderburn, Cardle (Aird 82), McManus, Clark
Subs Not Used: Gill, Martin, Mvoto, Ryan, Callum Smith

Referee: Craig Charleston
Assistant Referee: Gordon Crawford
Assistant Referee: Scott Leslie

Attendance: 3665

Ahead of tomorrow's match against Dunfermline at the Paisley 2021 Stadium, we would like to inform fans of the SPFL Regulations on the use of mobile phones and smartphones during matches. 

18. MOBILE TELEPHONES, SMARTPHONES and other similar mobile telephonic devices ("Mobile Devices"), excluding cameras which are not part of and subsidiary to a Mobile Device, are permitted within the Ground, PROVIDED THAT, (i) they are used for personal and private use only, which, and by way of example only, shall not include the capturing, logging, recording, transmitting, playing, issuing, showing, or any other communication of any material ("Capturing), for any commercial purpose; and (ii) no material that is Captured by a Mobile Device or other device may be published, communicated, transmitted, sent, broadcast and/or otherwise made available by any means to any third party including, without limitation, social networking sites or any other means of communication and/or transmission.

19. Save as provided in paragraph 18 above, NO PERSON (other than a person who holds an appropriate licence) MAY RECORD, TRANSMIT, PLAY, ISSUE. CAPTURE, LOG, BROADCAST, SHOW OR OTHERWISE COMMUNICATE ANY MATERIAL including and/or comprising any audio, visual or audio-visual Material or any information or data, by digital or other means, in relation to a Match taking place in the Ground, any players or other persons present in the Ground and/or the Ground, nor may they bring into the Ground or use within the Ground (or provide to, facilitate or otherwise assist another person to use within the Ground) any equipment or technology which is capable of capturing, logging, recording, transmitting, playing, issuing, showing or otherwise communicating (by digital or other means) any such Material as described above. Any person failing to comply with these restrictions is deemed to be liable to have such equipment, technology and Material in whatever form, confiscated without compensation by the Club/Event Organiser. Copyright, Database Rights and any other intellectual property rights in any such unauthorised recording or transmission is assigned (by way of present assignation or assignations of future rights) to the relevant Football Authority organising the Match in its relevant Competition. You further agree (if and whenever required to do so by said relevant Football Authority to promptly execute all instruments and do all things necessary to vest the right, title and interest in such rights to said relevant Football Authority absolutely and, where legally permissible, with full title guarantee.

St Mirren are back at the Paisley 2021 Stadium this weekend as Allan Johnston's Dunfermline come to town. 

Tomorrow's clash with the Pars will be the 200th St Mirren match played at the Paisley 2021 Stadium since it opened back in 2009. In the 199 matches played at the Greenhill Road Stadium, Saints have won 67, drawn 59 and lost 73, scoring 263 goals and conceding 250 in the process. Three of those 67 wins have come against Dunfermline with the Buddies also drawing twice and losing once to the Pars since making the move from Love Street.

Saints bounced back from a 1-0 defeat to Dumbarton at home two weeks ago to beat Brechin City 2-1 at Glebe Park last Saturday. Gavin Reilly netted his 17th goal of the season to give St Mirren the lead on 20 minutes. Ex-Alloa striker Isaac Layne levelled for the division's bottom side on 28 minutes. But Cammy Smith was fouled by City goalkeeper Graeme Smith just after the hour mark with the Saints forward stepping up to score from the spot to seal three important points for St Mirren.

Meanwhile, Dunfermline have failed to win in their last six league matches with just one win from their last nine Ladbrokes Championship matches. That form has saw the Championship contenders fall from the top of the league while last Saturday's 5-2 loss at home to Queen of the South saw the Pars drop out of the play-off spots for the first time this season.

They do, however, have a good recent record against St Mirren having not lost any of the last seven league meetings between the two. The only clash between this two this season saw the Buddies made a trip to Fife back in September. It was a disappointing afternoon for Saints as they fell to a 3-0 defeat to the Pars with goals from Declan McManus, David Hopkirk and Callum Morris easing the home side to victory. 

Dunfermline came out on top of two of the four matches against Saints last season - a 4-3 win at East End Park and a 1-0 triumph at the Paisley 2021 Stadium. Saints took a point in the final two meetings of the season as a Gary MacKenzie header in the second half helped the Buddies to a 1-1 draw before both battled out a stalemate in Paisley in March. 

St Mirren's last win over Dunfermline came in October 2015 in the Challenge Cup. Allan Johnston's side were flying high in League One at the time but a double from Stevie Mallan, along with goals from Calum Gallagher and Scott Agnew gave The Buddies a decisive 4-0 win.  

Tomorrow's match will likely be a tight affair with Saints aiming to keep up their good form and keep the pressure on league leaders Dundee United. Despite their dip in form, the Pars have a strong side with players such as Declan McManus, Nicky Clark and Kallum Higginbotham likely to cause problems as the Pars look to give their season a shot in the arm. 

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 Dunfermline Athletic, is a 48 pager with a £3 cover price.

The latest edition includes the following:

Front Cover – Kyle Magennis.
The Gaffer - St Mirren manager Jack Ross with his thoughts on recent matches 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 of the recent Championship match against Dumbarton.
The Opposition – Brian Corry runs the rule over Saturday's visitors, Allan Johnston's Dunfermline Athletic side.
Hall of Fame – David Cochran highlights the St Mirren career of Norrie McWhirter.
Player Interview – James Hunter talks with Saints' top scorer, Gavin Reilly.
Action Shot (Centre Pages) – Liam Smith.
Supporters Trust – John White brings us up to date with the latest news from SMiSA.
Fans Corner – Ticket prices, travel clubs update, match info and dates for fans to keep in their diary.
Matchday Gallery – Pictures from the post-match presentations in the corporate suite after the recent home match against Dumbarton.
Kit Sponsors 2017/18.
Football, Bloody Hell – Alan Gallacher does a report card on St Mirren.
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.
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 Dunfermline Athletic are the visitors on Saturday afternoon.

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

St Mirren vs Dunfermline Athletic
Ladbrokes Championship
Venue: Paisley 2021 Stadium, Paisley
Date: Saturday 16th December 2017
Kick-off: 3:00pm GMT

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

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 Dunfermline and get voting with #SMFCMOM.

Paisley Panda will once again be hosting the ever-popular match day competition ‘Bung a Baw’ at Saturday’s match against Dunfermline Athletic.

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.