Colors: Blue, White Nickname: The Saints Rivals: Dundee, Dundee United
Description:
St Johnstone Football Club hail from the small town of Perth in central Scotland, located along the Tay River. The Saints are one of Scotland's yo-yo teams, never quite good enough to survive long at the top but often just a bit too good for the second tier. Though still lacking a league title in top division football, St Johnstone have won seven second tier league titles (the most recent in 2009) which is tied with Falkirk for the most at that level. The Saints' cup form has been rather more erratic, with only a Scottish Challenge Cup and two Scottish League Cup finals to their name.
And speaking of that name, St Johnstone is a reference to the town of Perth, which in ancient times was known as St John's Town. In the center of town is an old church known as St John's Kirk, dedicated to St John the Baptist.
St Johnstone was formed by members of the St Johnstone cricket club, who were looking for an off-season sport to play. While the first kickarounds must have taken place in 1884 (and that date still appears on the club logo) it wasn't until 1885 that St Johnstone Football Club was established as a club in its own right. The club purchased land for its first ground in an area just south of the South Inch, a large public park in Perth. This became known as the Recreation Ground, St Johnstone's home until 1924.
St Johnstone played in a number of local leagues before joining the Scottish Football League for the 1912-13 season. The Saints completed only three seasons before the league was suspended for the First World War, and St Johnstone did not join the Scottish Football League again until 1921.
Three years later St Johnstone moved north to Muirton Park, in the Muirton section of town. Muirton would be the club's long-time home until moving to McDiarmid Park in 1989.
The Saints have twice finished third in the top league of Scottish football, the first in 1971 and the second in 1999. Both occasions qualified the Saints for the UEFA Cup (their only two European campaigns to date) and in the 1971-72 season reached the Round of 16, knocking out German giants Hamburg in the process.
McDiarmid Park:
St Johnstone's first ground was the Recreation Ground near the South Inch, a large public park on the south side of Perth. The stadium was eventually deemed too small for the club and in 1924 St Johnstone moved to a new ground on the north side of town, Muirton Park. This was the Saints home for 65 years until the Asda supermarket chain offered to purchase the land where Muirton Park stood to build a supermarket and also pay for the construction of a new stadium in the Tulloch area on the northwestern edge of town. This new stadium, McDiarmid Park (named for local farmer Bruce McDiarmid who donated land for its construction) was the first purpose-built all-seater stadium in the UK.
Previous Stadiums: Recreation Grounds (1885-1924), Muirton Park (1924-89)
Major Trophies:
Second Tier League Titles:
Scottish Second Division (1924, 60, 63)
Scottish First Division (1983, 90, 97, 2009)
Cup Titles:
Scottish Challenge Cup (2008)
Logo:
The symbol at the center of St Johnstone's club crest (a lamb holding a Christian banner) can be found on St John's Kirk, a church dedicated to St John the Baptist. From this church the town was once known as St John's Town and is the source of the club's name as well. It is surrounded by the double-headed eagle found in the crest of the town of Perth (officially the Perth and Kinross council area).
Sports map specialist Bill Turianski contributes an article to Albion Road roughly once a month, bringing us something from his collection of sports maps.
