As we approach the busy festive season I thought it worthwhile to give you all an update on happenings in and around the club.

Womens Football

One of the points that was raised at nearly all of the Supporters meeting prior to our takeover was the desire to see the creation of a St Mirren Women's football team. I am delighted that we have taken the first steps towards achieving that goal and I believe we have the people with the qualifications and drive in place to ensure it is a success.

Tony Fitzpatrick has been in communication with the girls for a long time with the view to forming a Women's team and SMiSA’s recent involvement allowed us to gain the momentum required to get it off the ground.

Trials for players interested in joining the new team are being held at Renfrew High School 4G pitch on Thursday 30th November. Players should aim to be there for 19.15, 19.30 start.

Buddievision

One of the reasons for creating a full time head of media post last year was to provide regular website updates on things that were happening in and around the club. James has helped achieve that with an enthusiasm and commitment that sees him working many unsociable hours to get content up and online for fans all over the world to enjoy.

The website has continued to evolve and it’s been great to see the e-store taking off with tremendous sales of replica kit, books and corporate hospitality being recorded since its launch.

We are now ready to make further improvements and James has been tasked with launching the next stage of that digital revolution with the imminent launch of our new "Buddievision" platform which is currently free to air prior to an official launch on 8th December.

With the help of of Invest in Renfrewshire’s Graduate Internship Initiative we are in the process of recruiting an individual to assist James in making this a success and giving Saints fans new insights into everyday events at the club and “behind the scenes” access.

We have tried to keep subscriptions at an affordable level (£4.99 per month and £49.99 per year) and you can trust that the subs will be used directly for funding additional resources and technologies to provide the best possible service to our supporters.

Supporters Liaison Officers

We are still at a very early stage in the development of the Supporters Liaison Officers at St.Mirren but I am certain we have two very committed and forward thinking supporters in place who will help to nurture a positive relationship between the club and our fans.

It is difficult at times to balance the wishes of the supporters with the needs of the football club and, as I have said on previous occasions, sometimes difficult decisions have to be made for the good of the club even if they are not popular. There are usually plenty of factors to consider which are not always obvious for those not involved in the day to day operations of the football club.

Banner versus Morton

The situation with the banner at the Morton game was a good example of trying to get the balance right.

The banner was reported in the independent SPFL delegates match report under the heading “Discriminatory behaviour-sectarian, racial, abusive behaviour”.

It is unlikely that we will receive any punishment from the SPFL for this given we have no history of similar indiscretions in previous reports, but we have to take action to mitigate the chances of a recurrence and the likelihood of us incurring fines which would have an obvious adverse affect on club.

We have also worked hard with Police Scotland to allow us to have all our home games police free with the exception of the derby match. This healthy relationship with the Police comes as a result of historic good behaviour in the stands and represents a substantial cost saving to us over the course of a season.

The banner in question led to some awkward questions in our discussions about maintaining this police free environment going forward.

We discussed how best to handle this at our monthly SLO meeting and agreed it was best for the SLOs to engage directly with the singing section involved and to keep the issue as low key as possible.

There was a bit of confusion and outrage on social media as this dialogue took place which was a little unfortunate but I hope the 2 month withdrawal of the banners was a reasonable outcome in the end and all parties now appreciate why action was taken.

As a result of our positive actions in tackling the issue we have been allowed to retain our Police free status at the 2021 stadium.

Everyone at the club can see the benefit and added atmosphere created by the singing section both home and away and we all appreciate the time, money and energy that has gone into evolving this. We want to see this continue to grow as it genuinely makes a big difference to the team.

Street Stuff

I recently attended the ROCCO awards where our Street Stuff program won yet another award as “Community champions”. To date Street Stuff has won just short of 20 awards both locally and nationally!

The tangible results achieved in the community by this program continues to astound me and we should all be proud of our football club being part of it in partnership with Renfrewshire Council. It is of no surprise to me that it forms one of the cornerstones of the towns bid to be 2021 City of Culture.

SMiSA

We continue to develop our relationship with SMiSA in working towards creating a sustainable and successful supporter owned club. Every bump along the way makes us stronger as it helps both sides have a better understanding of how decisions affect the other organisation.

In the last £2 SMiSA quarterly spend one of the items proposed was the purchase of new balls for the first team training. This created some negative feedback.

At first glance I can understand the view that this is something the club should fund but again there is slightly more to it than meets the eye and in future we will explain things better before the vote is put to the supporters.

The first team have plenty of balls to train with and this is of course part of our budget, however, the match ball manufacturer changed this year and we are given only a limited number of the new balls from the supplier. 

Jack, being the perfectionist he is, wanted to ensure that training was all conducted with the new balls to ensure total consistency with those used on match day.

These balls retail at nearly £100 each so it was actually a significant amount of money required to fulfil the managers request and something we had not budgeted for.

 Your support in favour of the proposal was greatly appreciated and whilst it’s hard to quantify the benefits you can be sure that it is Jack’s belief that these small things all matter as he works to bring the on field success we all crave.

Thank You

The festive period is always a busy (and expensive) time for everyone.

The support at Inverness on Saturday was truly sensational and I know the management and players really appreciate it.

As Chairman of your football club I’d like to personally thank each and every one of you for your continued support of the team, both financially and emotionally!

#COYS #KTF

Gordon

Saints manager Jack Ross gives his assessment on St Mirren's 3-1 win over Livingston at the Paisley 2021 Stadium.

The Buddies return to the top of the table after tonight's win - two points clear of second place Dundee United.

St Mirren returned to the top of the Ladbrokes Championship after coming from behind to defeat Livingston at the Paisley 2021 Stadium. 

The visitors stunned the Paisley crowd on 30 minutes when Dale Carrick opened the scoring. But second half goals from Lewis Morgan, Adam Eckersley and Ian McShane sealed the comeback and earned Saints another valuable three points. 

Much like Saturday's clash with Inverness Caledonian Thistle, the match started off slowly with the first real chance of the game not registered until the 14th minute. Morgan sent across a nice ball into the area where it was met by the head of Kyle Magennis. The 19 year-old leaped above the Livingston defender to get the flick on it but the ball drifted just by the right hand post. 

The Buddies had the ball in the net just after 20 minutes when Cammy Smith headed home from a corner. But referee Gavin Duncan quickly blew his whistle to rule out the effort after judging their to be a foul on Livi keeper Neil Alexander. The Lions quickly burst up the park and almost caught Saints out with Craig Samson making a good stop to deny Nicky Cadden. 

Livingston took the lead on the half hour mark when Carrick netted against Saints for the second time this season. The midfielder, who scored in Livi's Betfred Cup triumph over St Mirren in July, was on hand to fire home after Josh Mullin's initial attempt had been blocked by Samson. 

Gavin Reilly fashioned himself a good chance when he outmuscled Craig Halkett to get himself one-on-one with Alexander. But his strike was straight at the goalkeeper from a tight angle. Stephen McGinn also had a go five minutes before half-time but his long range shot on his weaker foot was held by the Livi goalkeeper. 

Saints looked to have grabbed a leveller just minutes before the break when an Adam Eckersley cross came crashing off the underside of the bar and hitting off Alexander before then coming off the post and a Livingston player as it rolled out for a corner. 

Half Time: St Mirren 0-1 Livingston

Livingston almost extended their lead five minutes into the second half when a great ball across the box looked set to be met by the head of Keaghan Jacobs, but the Livi player couldn't get himself on to what would likely have been a tap-in from close range. 

And before they knew it, Saints were back on terms. Morgan took a short corner to McShane who played the ball back to the winger. He burst into the box and unleashed a shot that squirmed under the arms of Alexander. 

The Buddies could have had a quickfire second after a wonderful move ended in Cammy Smith finding Ian McShane in a good area in the box, but the midfielder ballooned the effort high and wide. 

St Mirren would take the lead though when Adam Eckersley helped the ball into the net on 66 minutes. The defender burst forward and took the ball from Morgan before beating Alexander. The ball was cleared off the line by Declan Gallagher only for it to cannon off the goalkeeper's back and nestle into the net. 

Saints sealed the points with a little over 10 minutes to play when Ian McShane netted from the penalty spot. Jack Baird was fouled as the ball came into the box from a corner and the referee showed no hesitation as he awarded the Buddies a spot kick. McShane who scored the opener in Saturday's win over Inverness with a penalty made no mistake as he sent Alexander the wrong way from 12 yards to put St Mirren 3-1 ahead. 

That was enough to give Saints all three points and put them back to the top of the table - two points clear of Dundee United. 

Full Time: St Mirren 3-1 Livingston

St Mirren: Samson, L.Smith, Baird, Davis, Eckersley, McShane, McGinn, Magennis (Stelios 88), C. Smith (Buchanan 79), Morgan, Reilly (Sutton 89)
Subs Not Used: Stewart, McCart, Kirkpatrick, Duffy

Livingston: Alexander, Lithgow, Halkett, Gallagher, Byrne, Pittman, Longridge, Jacobs, Mullin (De Vita 60), Cadden (Mackin 70), Carrick (Todorov 60)
Subs Not Used: Maley, Penrice, Knox, Henderson

Referee: Gavin Duncan
Assistant Referee: Gavin Harris
Assistant Referee: David Doig

Attendance: 3,177

Tickets for St Mirren's trip to Palmerston to face Queen of the South on 23rd December will go on general sale at 10:00am tomorrow (Wednesday 29th November) from the St Mirren Ticket Office

The ticket prices and match details for this match are as follows:

Queen of the South vs St Mirren
Ladbrokes Championship
Venue: Palmerston Park, Dumfries
Date: Saturday 23rd December 2017
Kick-off: 3:00pm

Ticket Prices

Adult - £16
Over 65* - £9
16-21 year olds* - £9
Under 16* - £5

*Proof of status must be shown.

This match will be all ticket so tickets must be purchased in advance. Tickets can either be purchased online, over the phone or in person at the Ticket Office.

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

Wed, Nov 29th – 10:00am - 2:00pm
Thu, Nov 30th – 10:00am - 2:00pm
Fri, Dec 1st – 10:00am - 2:00pm
Sat, Dec 2nd – 10:00am - 3:00pm
Sun, Dec 3rd - CLOSED

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

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

St Mirren are back in action at the Paisley 2021 Stadium tonight - one month to the day since their last home game - as they play host to third place Livingston.

The Buddies have faced away trips to Dundee United, Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale and Inverness Caledonian Thistle since the 2-2 draw with Morton in the Ladbrokes Championship last month, but are back in Paisley this evening to face David Hopkin's Livi. 

That run of away games began with a 2-1 loss to Dundee United at Tannadice on November 4th. Adam Eckersley scored a 93rd minute consolation for Saints after Mark Durnan and Sam Stanton had put the Tangerines 2-0 up. Saints got back to winning ways in the William Hill Scottish Cup with seven first half goals seeing St Mirren defeat Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale 7-1 to reach the fourth round. 

The Buddies come into tonight's match on the back of a battling 2-0 win over Inverness at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium on Saturday. Ian McShane opened the scoring from the penalty spot early in the second half after Liam Polworth fouled Lewis Morgan in the box. Gavin Reilly showed great composure to seal the points for Saints deep in stoppage time as he raced clear on goal and finished beyond Inverness goalkeeper Mark Ridgers to net his 16th goal of the season. 

Livingston continue to defy the odds in the Championship this season after their promotion from League One. David Hopkin's side come into this side sitting in third place in the league and know a win can take them top. They are unbeaten their last four matches in all competitions - beating Brechin, Glenafton and Queen of the South, while drawing with Inverness and boast a strong away record in the league with four wins from six. It was their impressive 3-0 win away to Queen of the South on Saturday that took them to third place in the league with goals from James Penrice, Josh Mullin and Shaun Byrne seeing the Lions leapfrog Dunfermline. 

Interestingly, Livingston, founded as Ferranti Thistle in 1943 and renamed Meadowbank Thistle in 1974, haven't lost away to St Mirren since being renamed and relocated in 1995. The Lions relocated to Livingston, West Lothian and were named after the town. Since then the two sides have met on 12 occasions with neither winning a home game in that time. St Mirren's six wins in those 12 matches have all come at the Tony Macaroni Arena, while Livingston's four wins have come at Love Street and the Paisley 2021 Stadium. 

That continued at this start of this season when Livingston visited the Paisley 2021 Stadium in July, coming away with three points in the Betfred Cup group stages when an early strike from Dale Carrick gave them a 1-0 win.

Just over a month later, Saints made the trip to West Lothian in the Ladbrokes Championship and came out on top despite having Gary Irvine sent off in the first half. St Mirren took an early lead when Stephen McGinn's shot deflected off Craig Halkett's on the ninth minute. But the Livi defender got his side six minutes later when he equalised from a corner. Irvine was given a red card a little over 10 minutes before half time after his challenge on Carrick. However, it didn't affect Saints as two second half goals in the space of nine minutes from Gavin Reilly gave the Buddies a valuable three points.

The last league meeting between the sides at the Paisley 2021 Stadium came on Boxing Day 2015 when Livingston leapfrogged the Buddies in the league with a 4-1 win. Liam Buchanan put the Lions ahead before ex-Saint Ben Gordon doubled their advantage on 32 minutes. Lawrence Shankland pulled a goal back for St Mirren before half time, but a sensational Gary Glen free kick put Livingston 3-1 up in the second half with Buchanan netting his second on 66 minutes to give the visitors a big win. That was the biggest winning margin between the two sides since two 4-0 wins for St Mirren over Meadowbank Thistle in 1976. 

Barring that 4-1 win on Boxing Day, matches between Saints and Livi in recent times have proved to generally be quite tight. With both clubs able to go top of the table with a win tonight there's every chance we'll be in for another close affair. That will be the prize on both teams' minds tonight, while there's also the chance for St Mirren to beat Livingston at home for the first time since they rebranded in 1995. 

You can find all the match information ahead of tonight's game here.

The St Mirren Fans Council Panda Club will not be running any pre-match football activity before tomorrow's match against Livingston at the Paisley 2021 Stadium due to pre-booked lets. 

However, there are a small amount of FREE kids tickets available to those whose are regular attendees at Panda Club who would still like to attend the match. This is on a first-come-first-served basis and those who wish to take advantage of this should email communityadmin@stmirren.com no later than 2pm tomorrow (Tuesday 28th November). 

Staff will supervise the kids at the match as normal and would require them to be at the stadium one hour before kick-off. 

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 Tuesday’s game against Livingston and get voting with #SMFCMOM.

Paisley Panda is pleased to confirm that ‘First Scorer’ will be back for Tuesday's game against Livingston.

‘First Scorer’ gives fans the opportunity to predict in advance of the game who they think will score St Mirren's first goal in Tuesday’s match against Livi.

The winner will be picked at random from those who guessed correctly and they will win a box of a dozen doughnuts which will be delivered to your 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.

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

This issue, for the Ladbrokes Championship match against Livingston, is a 48 pager with a £3 cover price.

The latest edition includes the following:

Front Cover – Dale Hilson.
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 Scottish Cup tie against Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale.
The Opposition – Brian Corry runs the rule over Tuesday's visitors, David Hopkin's Livingston side.
Hall of Fame – David Cochran highlights the St Mirren career of Mark Yardley.
Player Interview – We talk with St Mirren foward, Cammy Smith.
Action Shot (Centre Pages) – Stelios Demetriou.
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.
Kit Sponsors 2017/18.
Football, Bloody Hell – Alan Gallacher looks back on his recent visit to the home of Real Madrid.
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 Tuesday’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 Livingston are the visitors on Tuesday evening.

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

St Mirren vs Livingston
Ladbrokes Championship
Venue: Paisley 2021 Stadium, Paisley
Date: Tuesday 28th November 2017
Kick-off: 7:45pm 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