St. Mirren F.C. - History

History

St. Mirren was formed as a gentlemen's club which included, among other sports, cricket and rugby in the second half of the 19th century. The increasing popularity of football ensured that by 1877 the members had decided to play association football and 1877 is the football club's official foundation date. They are named after Saint Mirin, the founder of a church at the site of Paisley Abbey and Patron Saint of Paisley. There is also a street in Paisley named St. Mirren Street.

The club originally wore scarlet and blue strips, however after one season changed to the current black and white striped shirts, which have been worn all bar one season in the 1900s where cream tops were used.

St. Mirren played their first match on 6 October 1877, defeating Johnstone Britannia 1–0 at Shortroods. Two years later, the club moved to another ground; Thistle Park, Greenhills. St. Mirren's first Scottish Cup match came on 4 September 1880, a 3–0 victory over Johnstone Athletic. The following year, the Buddies reached their first cup final but were beaten 3–1 by Thornliebank in the Renfrewshire Cup. In 1883 however the scores were reversed with the Saints winning the Renfrewshire Cup, 3–1 against Thornliebank. It is in 1883 that move to their third home, that of West March (early maps indicate area as West March and not Westmarch), defeating Queen's Park in the first game. In 1885, St. Mirren played their first match against Morton, resulting in a defeat.

The 1890 season was an historic season for St. Mirren, as they became founder members of the Scottish League along with fellow Paisley club Abercorn. Of the 10 founder clubs, currently only 5 survive today in the current league system. It was during the match against Morton at Cappielow in this year, that St. Mirren played one of the first night games under light from oil lamps.

St. Mirren moved to Love Street in 1894 and reached their first Scottish Cup final in the 1907–08 season but were defeated 5–1 by Celtic. The Buddies went on to lift the trophy in 1926, 1959 and 1987.

In 1922, St. Mirren were invited to play in the Barcelona Cup invitational tournament to celebrate the inauguration of the Les Corts, the then home of FC Barcelona. They won the tournament by beating Notts County in the final.

In the 1979–80 season, St. Mirren achieved their equal highest-ever finish in the top-flight finishing third behind Aberdeen and Celtic. That season Saints also became the first and last Scottish club to win the Anglo-Scottish Cup, defeating Bristol City F.C. in a two-legged final. The following season, St. Mirren competed in European competition for the first time and won their initial game 2–1 vs. IF Elfsborg in Sweden, followed by a 0–0 draw in the second leg. The next round saw them play French team Saint-Étienne. Although St. Mirren's home leg ended up a 0–0 draw, Saint-Étienne pulled off a 2–0 victory in the second leg to put St. Mirren out of the cup.

The club have been relegated from the Scottish Premier League once (2000–01) and the Premier Division of the Scottish Football League once (1991–92) having escaped relegation from the latter in 1991 after league re-construction. In 2001, St. Mirren finished bottom of the Premier League despite losing only one of their final seven matches. The Saints however managed promotion after clinching the First Division title in 2005–06, a season which also saw St. Mirren win the Scottish Challenge Cup, defeating Hamilton Academical 2–1 in the final at Airdrie United's ground, the Shyberry Excelsior Stadium, with goals from Simon Lappin and John Sutton.

In 2010, they reached the final of the Scottish League Cup where they were defeated 0–1 by Rangers after having a two man advantage. However, three days later, they recorded a famous win over Celtic, a match that The Buddies won 4–0, with doubles from Andy Dorman and Steven Thomson.