St. Mirren Park
Encyclopedia
St. Mirren Park, more commonly known as Love Street, was a football stadium located on Love Street in Paisley
, Scotland
. At one time the stadium was capable of accommodating almost 50,000 spectators, however in its final years it had an all-seated capacity of 10,800. Until its closure in 2009, St. Mirren Park was the home ground of St. Mirren F.C.
.
The football grounds on Love Street were registered as Fullerton Park for St. Mirren's first season there as they were originally rented from a Mr Fullerton. The ground's record attendance was 47,438 for a match against Celtic
in 1949. St. Mirren completed construction of their new St. Mirren Park
in December 2008. St. Mirren F.C.
played their last game at Love Street, against Motherwell F.C.
, on 3 January 2009.
Following twelve years playing at Westmarch, St. Mirren moved in 1894 in response to a 100% rent increase by the landlord who appeared to have lost interest in hosting football on his land. The club found a former brickworks at the foot of Love Street which could be rented for an initial ten years on reasonable terms. The land at Westmarch had been laid out with two pitches, a grandstand and pavilion; the Love Street site was substantially smaller, barely wide enough to lay an football pitch
with some spare ground behind the goals; it was poorly drained and without grass. However, it would give St. Mirren the significant advantage of being nearer to Paisley town centre than any of the other football clubs in the town. Furthermore, the site was already well known to the townsfolk as an entertainment venue, as it was where travelling circus
es set up their Big Top
.
The original Love Street site housed the re-built club pavilion behind the Love Street end goal, and a new grandstand, squeezed along the full length of the pitch with five rows of seats and a total capacity of 1,000. St. Mirren played their first home game at Love Street, a 3–0 defeat to Celtic, on 8 September 1894.
Shortly after the original ten year lease ran out, the club was almost forced to move away from Love Street, much as it had already been from Westmarch. With the club approaching Mr Fullerton with an offer to buy the site, the landowner tried to take advantage of the situation by setting a lofty price, together with an ultimatum to either buy or face a hefty increase in rent. The club hastily looked for alternatives, and began negotiations with the owners of the Shortroods Estate where St. Mirren had played for its first season. However, with the prospect of losing out altogether, Mr Fullerton backed down, reducing his asking price and thus Saints stayed at Love Street.
Over the course of the next fifteen years the club’s aim was to expand the site by buying the land that bordered on two sides – towards the town and round onto Greenock Road. However, it was not until 1920 that the land was finally secured and St. Mirren owned pretty much the site that it occupied through to its closure.
set up above a 3,000 capacity terraced enclosure
, with a 440 yard running track round the pitch. However, before building began, the Great Depression in the United Kingdom
tightened its grip and costs more than doubled in the space of six months.
The part of the project to suffer most was the grandstand as the final price of the stadium rose from an estimate of £17,500, for the full plans, to around £30,000 for the scaled-down version that was completed six months later. The grandstand was reduced in size by almost two-thirds with the steel framework clad in corrugated sheeting to further reduce costs. The St. Mirren Directors' intention was to eventually complete the original plans for a full-length grandstand on Love Street in stages as funds permitted, however this did not materialise.
After 1921 there were no major changes to the grounds until the late 1950s when the North Bank was covered and floodlights
installed. Twenty years later new floodlight pylons were installed and plans appeared for redeveloping St. Mirren Park as an all-seater stadium
. There was also talk of incorporating airport car-parking, or a hotel, or commercial office space.
In the summer of 1979, the Love Street End terracing was knocked down and rebuilt ten yards from the goal. There was more talk of covering the new family enclosure at Cairter’s Corner and installing a stadium clock and even one suggestion to re-locate in Renfrew District
Council’s proposed £200 million national stadium planned for a site across the railway line from Greenhill Road.
With the Scottish Football Association
(SFA) preferring to redevelop Hampden Park
, St. Mirren remained at Love Street and seats were installed on the North Bank terrace in 1991. Four years later, after the owner of a large building company had joined the club's Board of directors
, the Caledonia Stand was built in a deal that saw some of the club’s land sold for development as housing. There were also plans to have a similar stand built at the Love Street End but the bottom fell out of the construction industry and there was the near closure of St. Mirren in 1998.
In the 2005–06 season St. Mirren were promoted to the Scottish Premier League
(SPL) as First Division
champions. In order to meet SPL regulations in their first season in the top flight, the club had to carry out further work on the stadium, installing seating on the Love Street terrace.
Stand, was on the Love Street side of the stadium and became used as the home support's Family Stand .
to the local airport which, at that time, was a mere three miles east, in Renfrew
. This meant that as well involving Paisley Town Council, Saints’ plans also had to satisfy three Government departments - the Ministry of Civil Aviation
, the Air Ministry
and The Admiralty
.
Initially there were roof-line lights set all the way along the newly built North Bank cover and the grandstand opposite. But, because the stand was considerably shorter than full-length there also had to be two pylons built to light the corners of the pitch on the stand side. And these could not be very tall because of the flight-path. They ended up therefore as two, strangely squat-looking, 40-foot pylons that weren’t even as tall as the stand roof and had three rows of lights .
Nonetheless, there came complaints from pilots that the pylon to the right of the stand was confusing their approach and a black-out order was imposed whilst aviation charts had this new landmark added. It then took a further eight months for the Air Ministry to run tests and finally pass the system fit for use. The first match under the floodlights was on 13 February 1959 against Peebles Rovers
in the Scottish Cup
, a match St. Mirren won 10–0.
In 1966 the airport was moved to less than a mile north of St Mirren Park and its current site in Abbotsinch, Paisley; later becoming known as Glasgow International Airport
. Almost immediately the club was being asked by the media when they would install "proper" floodlights, as the system was not highly regarded. Club finances at the time were extremely tight, with only two full-time employees, and so there was no possibility that money could be spent on improving the floodlights.
It took until 1978, with a new set of Directors at the helm and a Development Fund put in motion that 90-foot high pylons were erected.
. As the club was already planning to move to a new site, it was faced with installing an expensive heating system that might only be used for one season, a financial burden they would struggle to meet. The Directors considered requesting a period of grace from the SPL, but in the end decided to go ahead with installing the system.
Move to new stadium
On 16 August 2005 the Scottish Executive and Renfrewshire Council granted permission for the club to sell Love Street for supermarket
development and allow the club to build a new stadium in Greenhill Road, Ferguslie Park
, Paisley. The sale of their old ground financed the new stadium and cleared the financial debts of the club.
In April 2007 it was announced that a deal had been struck with Tesco
for a new Tesco supermarket to be built on the Love Street site. Under this deal, worth £15 million, Tesco would also pay for the construction of the new St. Mirren Park
, an 8,000 seat stadium. Work on the new ground started on 9 January 2008 and the club officially moved into the new St. Mirren Park on Wednesday 21 January 2009.
The last match to be played by St Mirren at Love Street - a goalless draw against Motherwell
- took place before a sell-out crowd on 3 January 2009, some 115 years after St Mirren moved into the stadium.
In the first match at the new stadium, St. Mirren played Kilmarnock
on 31 January 2009. The match ended with the score at 1–1, with the first Saints' goal at the new stadium scored by Dennis Wyness
.
. Following the ground's redevelopment, a visit of Rangers
in the 1923–24 Scottish Cup took the ground attendance record above 40,000 for the first time and twelve months later Celtic came to Love Street and the attendance record rose to 47,428.
During the post-World War II
boom in attendances, the record was broken again on 20 August 1949 with another visit by Celtic, this time in a Scottish League Cup
match in front of a crowd of 47,438.
Once the Love Street End had been squared off, the capacity fell and the largest crowd was another visit of Celtic in the Scottish Cup 1979-80
fourth round replay when 27,166 squeezed inside, leaving huge queues on Love Street locked out.
At the time of closure, the all-seated capacity was 10,800. The highest attendance under that capacity was 10,261 for an SPL game against Dunfermline Athletic
.
semi-finals, and Scotland Under-21
internationals. In 1904 the Scottish Football League
played the Irish Football League in front of 10,000 fans.
In 1923, 25,000 fans watched Scotland
played Wales
in the British Home Championship
. Local rivals Morton
played their home games at Love Street for part of 1949. The deal was that St. Mirren got to keep the stand and enclosure takings from the games. In 1970, it was used as a venue for one match in the UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship
hosted by Scotland.
events would have been a feature of the summer months. It is known that there was a Scottish Inter-Region rugby union
match played there in 1897 and at least one dog handicap race run around the track in the early years of the 20th century.
St. Mirren tried to introduce greyhound racing
on a regular basis in the early 1930s, and spent money on upgrading the track. However, only three weeks after the first race the SFA declared a ban on greyhound racing at football grounds and the club lost money on the venture. When the ban was lifted, and St. Mirren was approached to resume racing, the club declined.
In 1938, a World Title Flyweight
boxing
match was scheduled to take place at the stadium involving Scotland’s first-ever world champion boxer Benny Lynch
. Again money was spent with an anticipated pay-back from a 30,000 crowd. The event turned sour when Lynch was stripped of his title in the days before the fight for failing by a large margin to make the weight. It went ahead as a non-title bout but Lynch’s fans felt badly let down and the turnout was poor.
Paisley Lions
speedway
team raced in the British National Speedway League
at Love Street for two seasons in 1975 and 1976. The first meeting was held on 5 April 1975 in front of a crowd of over 6,000. However, despite the meetings being well attended the club folded after two seasons. Their last meeting was held on 25 September 1976 when the Lions beat Boston Barracudas
52-25.
Paisley
Paisley is the largest town in the historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland and serves as the administrative centre for the Renfrewshire council area...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. At one time the stadium was capable of accommodating almost 50,000 spectators, however in its final years it had an all-seated capacity of 10,800. Until its closure in 2009, St. Mirren Park was the home ground of St. Mirren F.C.
St. Mirren F.C.
St Mirren Football Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Paisley, Renfrewshire who play in the Scottish Premier League, having been promoted from the First Division in 2005–06.St...
.
The football grounds on Love Street were registered as Fullerton Park for St. Mirren's first season there as they were originally rented from a Mr Fullerton. The ground's record attendance was 47,438 for a match against Celtic
Celtic F.C.
Celtic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Premier League. The club was established in 1887, and played its first game in 1888. Celtic have won the Scottish League Championship on 42 occasions, most recently in the...
in 1949. St. Mirren completed construction of their new St. Mirren Park
St. Mirren Park
St. Mirren Park, more commonly known as Love Street, was a football stadium located on Love Street in Paisley, Scotland. At one time the stadium was capable of accommodating almost 50,000 spectators, however in its final years it had an all-seated capacity of 10,800. Until its closure in 2009, St....
in December 2008. St. Mirren F.C.
St. Mirren F.C.
St Mirren Football Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Paisley, Renfrewshire who play in the Scottish Premier League, having been promoted from the First Division in 2005–06.St...
played their last game at Love Street, against Motherwell F.C.
Motherwell F.C.
Motherwell Football & Athletic Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire. The club compete in the Scottish Premier League and are one of only seven teams to have remained in this league since it was founded in 1998...
, on 3 January 2009.
Early years at Love Street
When St. Mirren began to play on Love Street in the mid-1890s football clubs were still very much in their infancy and moved from ground to ground renting from local landowners. The best deal available was commonly a ten year lease and by the time St. Mirren arrived at Love Street, the club was only 17 years old and playing on its fifth rented ground. They had previously played on four sites in the north of Paisley; Shortroods Estate (1877 to 1878), Abingdon Park (1878 to 1879), Thistle Park, Greenhill Road (1879 to 1882), and Westmarch Estate, Greenhill Road (1882 to 1894).Association football pitch
An association football pitch is the playing surface for the game of association football made of turf. Its dimensions and markings are defined by Law 1 of the Laws of the Game, "The Field of Play".All line markings on the pitch form part of the area which they define...
with some spare ground behind the goals; it was poorly drained and without grass. However, it would give St. Mirren the significant advantage of being nearer to Paisley town centre than any of the other football clubs in the town. Furthermore, the site was already well known to the townsfolk as an entertainment venue, as it was where travelling circus
Circus
A circus is commonly a travelling company of performers that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, unicyclists and other stunt-oriented artists...
es set up their Big Top
Big Top
Big Top may refer to:* Big top , the biggest tent in early-20th century circuses, where the circus itself took place* Big Top , a Transformers character* Big Top , a children's television series in the 1950s...
.
The original Love Street site housed the re-built club pavilion behind the Love Street end goal, and a new grandstand, squeezed along the full length of the pitch with five rows of seats and a total capacity of 1,000. St. Mirren played their first home game at Love Street, a 3–0 defeat to Celtic, on 8 September 1894.
Shortly after the original ten year lease ran out, the club was almost forced to move away from Love Street, much as it had already been from Westmarch. With the club approaching Mr Fullerton with an offer to buy the site, the landowner tried to take advantage of the situation by setting a lofty price, together with an ultimatum to either buy or face a hefty increase in rent. The club hastily looked for alternatives, and began negotiations with the owners of the Shortroods Estate where St. Mirren had played for its first season. However, with the prospect of losing out altogether, Mr Fullerton backed down, reducing his asking price and thus Saints stayed at Love Street.
Over the course of the next fifteen years the club’s aim was to expand the site by buying the land that bordered on two sides – towards the town and round onto Greenock Road. However, it was not until 1920 that the land was finally secured and St. Mirren owned pretty much the site that it occupied through to its closure.
Development of Love Street
With a large site now owned, and the football pitch about to be moved 40 yards towards the town, the club had plans in 1921 for a 60,000 capacity ground with a large oval sweep of earth embankments on three sides, with the fourth side taken up by a 4,500 seater grandstandGrandstand
A grandstand is a large and normally permanent structure for seating spectators, most often at a racetrack. This includes both auto racing and horse racing. The grandstand is in essence like a single section of a stadium, but differs from a stadium in that it does not wrap all or most of the way...
set up above a 3,000 capacity terraced enclosure
Terrace (stadium)
A terrace or terracing in sporting terms refers to the traditional standing area of a sports stadium, particularly in the United Kingdom and Ireland...
, with a 440 yard running track round the pitch. However, before building began, the Great Depression in the United Kingdom
Great Depression in the United Kingdom
The Great Depression in the United Kingdom, also known as the Great Slump, was a period of national economic downturn in the 1930s, which had its origins in the global Great Depression...
tightened its grip and costs more than doubled in the space of six months.
The part of the project to suffer most was the grandstand as the final price of the stadium rose from an estimate of £17,500, for the full plans, to around £30,000 for the scaled-down version that was completed six months later. The grandstand was reduced in size by almost two-thirds with the steel framework clad in corrugated sheeting to further reduce costs. The St. Mirren Directors' intention was to eventually complete the original plans for a full-length grandstand on Love Street in stages as funds permitted, however this did not materialise.
After 1921 there were no major changes to the grounds until the late 1950s when the North Bank was covered and floodlights
Floodlights (sport)
Floodlights are broad-beamed, high-intensity artificial lights often used to illuminate outdoor playing fields while an outdoor sports event is being held during low-light conditions....
installed. Twenty years later new floodlight pylons were installed and plans appeared for redeveloping St. Mirren Park as an all-seater stadium
All-seater stadium
An all-seater stadium is a sports stadium in which every spectator has a seat. This is commonplace in football stadiums in nations such as the United Kingdom, Spain, and the Netherlands. Most soccer and American football stadiums in the United States and Canada are all-seaters, as are most baseball...
. There was also talk of incorporating airport car-parking, or a hotel, or commercial office space.
In the summer of 1979, the Love Street End terracing was knocked down and rebuilt ten yards from the goal. There was more talk of covering the new family enclosure at Cairter’s Corner and installing a stadium clock and even one suggestion to re-locate in Renfrew District
Renfrew District
Renfrew District 1975-96Renfrew District was one of nineteen local government districts in the Strathclyde region of Scotland, which existed between 1975 and 1996....
Council’s proposed £200 million national stadium planned for a site across the railway line from Greenhill Road.
With the Scottish Football Association
Scottish Football Association
The Scottish Football Association is the governing body of football in Scotland and has the ultimate responsibility for the control and development of football in Scotland. Members of the SFA include clubs in Scotland, affiliated national associations as well as local associations...
(SFA) preferring to redevelop Hampden Park
Hampden Park
Hampden Park is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The 52,063 capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland...
, St. Mirren remained at Love Street and seats were installed on the North Bank terrace in 1991. Four years later, after the owner of a large building company had joined the club's Board of directors
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
, the Caledonia Stand was built in a deal that saw some of the club’s land sold for development as housing. There were also plans to have a similar stand built at the Love Street End but the bottom fell out of the construction industry and there was the near closure of St. Mirren in 1998.
In the 2005–06 season St. Mirren were promoted to the Scottish Premier League
Scottish Premier League
The Scottish Premier League , also known as the SPL , is a professional league competition for association football clubs in Scotland...
(SPL) as First Division
Scottish Football League First Division
The Irn-Bru Scottish Football League First Division Championship is the highest division of the Scottish Football League and the second highest in the Scottish football league system....
champions. In order to meet SPL regulations in their first season in the top flight, the club had to carry out further work on the stadium, installing seating on the Love Street terrace.
The stands
At the time of the stadium closing, the 1921 main stand remained situated on the southern (town) side of the stadium. The largest stand was the West Stand (Caledonia Street), which housed away fans. The North Bank stand was sponsored by former shirt-sponsors LDV and was where the most vocal home fans usually sat. The most recently built stand, the East Stand, or Reid Kerr CollegeReid Kerr College
Reid Kerr College is a further education college in Paisley, Renfrewshire. According to its website, it is one of the fastest growing further education institutions in Scotland with over 20,000 students, 650 staff and 300 courses....
Stand, was on the Love Street side of the stadium and became used as the home support's Family Stand .
Floodlights
In the 1950s the club had a unique problem when it came to installing floodlights at Love Street. The ground was on the direct approach path for aircraftAircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...
to the local airport which, at that time, was a mere three miles east, in Renfrew
Renfrew
-Local government:The town of Renfrew gave its name to a number of local government areas used at various times:*Renfrew a town to the west of Glasgow*Renfrewshire, the present unitary local council area in which Renfrew is situatated....
. This meant that as well involving Paisley Town Council, Saints’ plans also had to satisfy three Government departments - the Ministry of Civil Aviation
Department for Transport
In the United Kingdom, the Department for Transport is the government department responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland which are not devolved...
, the Air Ministry
Air Ministry
The Air Ministry was a department of the British Government with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964...
and The Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
.
Initially there were roof-line lights set all the way along the newly built North Bank cover and the grandstand opposite. But, because the stand was considerably shorter than full-length there also had to be two pylons built to light the corners of the pitch on the stand side. And these could not be very tall because of the flight-path. They ended up therefore as two, strangely squat-looking, 40-foot pylons that weren’t even as tall as the stand roof and had three rows of lights .
Nonetheless, there came complaints from pilots that the pylon to the right of the stand was confusing their approach and a black-out order was imposed whilst aviation charts had this new landmark added. It then took a further eight months for the Air Ministry to run tests and finally pass the system fit for use. The first match under the floodlights was on 13 February 1959 against Peebles Rovers
Peebles Rovers F.C.
Peebles Rovers Football Club is a Scottish football club based in Peebles, Scottish Borders. The club name was resurrected in 2010 after playing since 2006 as Peebles Football Club...
in the Scottish Cup
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,, commonly known as the Scottish Cup or the William Hill Scottish Cup for sponsorship purposes, is the main national cup competition in Scottish football. It is a knockout cup competition run by and named after the Scottish Football Association.The...
, a match St. Mirren won 10–0.
In 1966 the airport was moved to less than a mile north of St Mirren Park and its current site in Abbotsinch, Paisley; later becoming known as Glasgow International Airport
Glasgow International Airport
Glasgow International Airport is an international airport in Scotland, located west of Glasgow city centre, near the towns of Paisley and Renfrew in Renfrewshire...
. Almost immediately the club was being asked by the media when they would install "proper" floodlights, as the system was not highly regarded. Club finances at the time were extremely tight, with only two full-time employees, and so there was no possibility that money could be spent on improving the floodlights.
It took until 1978, with a new set of Directors at the helm and a Development Fund put in motion that 90-foot high pylons were erected.
Under-soil heating
One of the criteria for admittance to the SPL, following promotion in the 2005–06 season, was that the pitch was equipped with under-soil heatingUnder-soil heating
Under-soil heating is a method used in various sports stadia which heats the underside of the pitch to avoid any bad weather, such as snow and ice, from building up and ultimately helps the club avoid having to postpone any matches.The first ground in England to have under-soil heating installed...
. As the club was already planning to move to a new site, it was faced with installing an expensive heating system that might only be used for one season, a financial burden they would struggle to meet. The Directors considered requesting a period of grace from the SPL, but in the end decided to go ahead with installing the system.
Move to new stadiumSt. Mirren ParkSt. Mirren Park, more commonly known as Love Street, was a football stadium located on Love Street in Paisley, Scotland. At one time the stadium was capable of accommodating almost 50,000 spectators, however in its final years it had an all-seated capacity of 10,800. Until its closure in 2009, St....
On 16 August 2005 the Scottish Executive and Renfrewshire Council granted permission for the club to sell Love Street for supermarketSupermarket
A supermarket, a form of grocery store, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...
development and allow the club to build a new stadium in Greenhill Road, Ferguslie Park
Ferguslie Park
Ferguslie Park is a housing area at the north-west extremity of Paisley in Renfrewshire, Scotland. It is bordered by the town of Linwood to the west and Glasgow International Airport to the north. In 2006, the Scottish Executive named it as one of Scotland's most deprived communities. This...
, Paisley. The sale of their old ground financed the new stadium and cleared the financial debts of the club.
In April 2007 it was announced that a deal had been struck with Tesco
Tesco
Tesco plc is a global grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and the second-largest measured by profits...
for a new Tesco supermarket to be built on the Love Street site. Under this deal, worth £15 million, Tesco would also pay for the construction of the new St. Mirren Park
St. Mirren Park
St. Mirren Park, more commonly known as Love Street, was a football stadium located on Love Street in Paisley, Scotland. At one time the stadium was capable of accommodating almost 50,000 spectators, however in its final years it had an all-seated capacity of 10,800. Until its closure in 2009, St....
, an 8,000 seat stadium. Work on the new ground started on 9 January 2008 and the club officially moved into the new St. Mirren Park on Wednesday 21 January 2009.
The last match to be played by St Mirren at Love Street - a goalless draw against Motherwell
Motherwell F.C.
Motherwell Football & Athletic Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire. The club compete in the Scottish Premier League and are one of only seven teams to have remained in this league since it was founded in 1998...
- took place before a sell-out crowd on 3 January 2009, some 115 years after St Mirren moved into the stadium.
In the first match at the new stadium, St. Mirren played Kilmarnock
Kilmarnock F.C.
Kilmarnock Football Club is a Scottish football team based in the town of Kilmarnock, Ayrshire. Founded in 1869, "Killie" is the oldest club currently in the Scottish Premier League. Home matches are played at Rugby Park...
on 31 January 2009. The match ended with the score at 1–1, with the first Saints' goal at the new stadium scored by Dennis Wyness
Dennis Wyness
Dennis Wyness is a Scottish association football player, who has played either as an attacking midfielder or as a striker.Wyness currently plays for Peterhead, and has previously played for Aberdeen, Inverness CT, Hearts, St...
.
Attendance Records
St. Mirren played in five Scottish Cup semi-finals at home on the original Love Street Grounds. Crowds regularly reached 10,000 and peaked at 16,000 for the 1906 semi-final clash with Third LanarkThird Lanark A.C.
Third Lanark Athletic Club was a football club that originally existed between 1872 and 1967, 95 years in existence, based in Glasgow, Scotland. Third Lanark were known as Thirds, the Warriors, the Redcoats and the Hi Hi's...
. Following the ground's redevelopment, a visit of Rangers
Rangers F.C.
Rangers Football Club are an association football club based in Glasgow, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Premier League. The club are nicknamed the Gers, Teddy Bears and the Light Blues, and the fans are known to each other as bluenoses...
in the 1923–24 Scottish Cup took the ground attendance record above 40,000 for the first time and twelve months later Celtic came to Love Street and the attendance record rose to 47,428.
During the post-World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
boom in attendances, the record was broken again on 20 August 1949 with another visit by Celtic, this time in a Scottish League Cup
Scottish League Cup
The Scottish League Cup is a football competition open to all Scottish Football League and Scottish Premier League clubs. At present it is also known as the Scottish Communities League Cup owing to the sponsorship deal in place with the Scottish Government. In the past it has been sponsored by...
match in front of a crowd of 47,438.
Once the Love Street End had been squared off, the capacity fell and the largest crowd was another visit of Celtic in the Scottish Cup 1979-80
Scottish Cup 1979-80
The 1979–80 Scottish Cup was the 95th staging of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. The Cup was won by Celtic who defeated Rangers in the final...
fourth round replay when 27,166 squeezed inside, leaving huge queues on Love Street locked out.
At the time of closure, the all-seated capacity was 10,800. The highest attendance under that capacity was 10,261 for an SPL game against Dunfermline Athletic
Dunfermline Athletic F.C.
Dunfermline Athletic Football Club are a Scottish football team based in Dunfermline, Fife, commonly known as just Dunfermline. They currently compete in the Scottish Premier League....
.
Other football matches at Love Street
St. Mirren hosted a women's football match at Love Street in 1895. The ground has been a regular venue for schoolboy internationals, Scottish Junior CupScottish Junior Cup
The Scottish Junior Cup, known as The Emirates Junior Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual football competition organised by the Scottish Junior Football Association for all its member clubs. The competition has been held every year since the inception of the SJFA in 1886 and as of the...
semi-finals, and Scotland Under-21
Scotland national under-21 football team
The Scotland national under-21 football team, controlled by the Scottish Football Association, is Scotland's national under 21 football team and is considered to be a feeder team for the Scotland national football team....
internationals. In 1904 the Scottish Football League
Scottish Football League
The Scottish Football League is a league of football teams in Scotland, comprising theScottish First Division, Scottish Second Division and Scottish Third Division. From the league's foundation in 1890 until the breakaway Scottish Premier League was formed in 1998, the Scottish Football League...
played the Irish Football League in front of 10,000 fans.
In 1923, 25,000 fans watched Scotland
Scotland national football team
The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872...
played Wales
Wales national football team
The Wales national football team represents Wales in international football. It is controlled by the Football Association of Wales , the governing body for football in Wales, and the third oldest national football association in the world. The team have only qualified for a major international...
in the British Home Championship
British Home Championship
The British Home Championship was an annual football competition contested between the United Kingdom's four national teams, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland from the 1883–84 season until the 1983–84...
. Local rivals Morton
Greenock Morton F.C.
Greenock Morton Football Club are a Scottish professional football club, who currently play in the Scottish Football League First Division. The club was founded as Morton Football Club in 1874, making it one of the oldest senior Scottish clubs....
played their home games at Love Street for part of 1949. The deal was that St. Mirren got to keep the stand and enclosure takings from the games. In 1970, it was used as a venue for one match in the UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship
UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship
The European Under 19 Football Championship is an annual football competition organised by the sport's European governing body, UEFA. The competition has been held since 1948. It was originally called the FIFA junior tournament, until it was taken over by UEFA in 1955...
hosted by Scotland.
International and other matches
- British Home Championship
- Scotland 2, Wales 0, 17 March 1923. Attendance 25,000
- Inter-League International
- Scottish Football League 3 Irish Football League 1, 7 February 1904. Attendance 10,000
- Under-23 International
- Scotland 0 Northern Ireland 1, 28 April 1972.
- Under-21 Internationals
- ScotlandScotland national under-21 football teamThe Scotland national under-21 football team, controlled by the Scottish Football Association, is Scotland's national under 21 football team and is considered to be a feeder team for the Scotland national football team....
2 BelgiumBelgium national under-21 football teamThe Belgium national under-21 football team is the national under-21 football team of Belgium and is controlled by the Belgian Football Association. The team competes in the European Under-21 Football Championship, held every two years...
2, 18 November 1998. Attendance 5,087 - Scotland 2 Bosnia and HerzegovinaBosnia and Herzegovina national under-21 football teamBosnia and Herzegovina U21 national football team is a youth team of Bosnia and Herzegovina that represents the country in the European Under-21 Football Championship and friendly matches....
0, 5 October 1999. Attendance 1,518 - Scotland 1 Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland national under-21 football teamThe Northern Ireland national under-21 football team is the national under-21 football team of Northern Ireland.-Former coaches:* To 20 August 2008.-2008/09 Matches:-Current squad:Squad to play San Marino.-Other Recent Call-Ups:...
1 6 September 2002. Attendance 2,351
- Scotland
- UEFAUEFAThe Union of European Football Associations , almost always referred to by its acronym UEFA is the administrative and controlling body for European association football, futsal and beach soccer....
23rd International Youth TournamentUEFA European Under-19 Football ChampionshipThe European Under 19 Football Championship is an annual football competition organised by the sport's European governing body, UEFA. The competition has been held since 1948. It was originally called the FIFA junior tournament, until it was taken over by UEFA in 1955...
1970- Bulgaria 3 Sweden 0, 18 May 1970
- Amateur International
- Scotland 1 Wales 0, 29 February 1964
- 1995 UEFA Women's Championship qualification1995 UEFA Women's Championship qualificationThe qualification for the 1995 UEFA Women's Championship was held between August 15, 1993 & October 30, 1994. The winner of the quarter-finals qualified.-Group 1:-------------------------------------------------Group 2:--------...
- Scotland 0 Belgium 3, 26 November, 1995,
- Women's International
- Scotland 0 England 4, 6 May 1990
- Scottish Challenge Cup FinalScottish Challenge Cup 1992-93The 1992–93 Scottish Challenge Cup was the 3rd season of the competition, which was also known as the B&Q Cup for sponsorship reasons, and was competed for by the 26 clubs in the Scottish Football League Division One and Two. The defending champions were , who defeated 1–0 in the 1991...
- Hamilton AcademicalHamilton Academical F.C.Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Academical, or Accies, are a Scottish football club from Hamilton in South Lanarkshire. They were established in 1874 from the school football team at Hamilton Academy. They remain the only professional club in British football to have...
3 MortonGreenock Morton F.C.Greenock Morton Football Club are a Scottish professional football club, who currently play in the Scottish Football League First Division. The club was founded as Morton Football Club in 1874, making it one of the oldest senior Scottish clubs....
2, 13 December 1992
- Hamilton Academical
- Scottish Junior Cup semi-finals
- PollokPollok F.C.Pollok Football Club are a Scottish football club based in Newlands in the southside of the city of Glasgow. They are one of the biggest football clubs operating in Scottish Junior football, regularly attracting crowds of around 550, more than many clubs in the third division and even some in the...
vs TayportTayport F.C.Tayport F.C. are a Scottish Junior football club from Tayport, Fife. Formed in 1947, they play their home games at The Canniepairt. Nicknamed the Port, the club's colours are red, white and black....
, 15 April 1996 - ArthurlieArthurlie F.C.Arthurlie Football Club are a Junior Scottish football team based in Barrhead, East Renfrewshire, near Glasgow. They play at Dunterlie Park, on Carlibar Road, adjacent to Barrhead railway station. They currently play in the Stagecoach Super League, Premier Division...
vs Kilwinning RangersKilwinning Rangers F.C.Kilwinning Rangers are a Scottish football club from Kilwinning, Ayrshire. Formed in 1899 they have had periods of success throughout their history although not as much as their rivals Irvine Meadow....
, 30 April 1999 - Johnstone BurghJohnstone Burgh F.C.Johnstone Burgh are a Scottish football club based in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, and play in Central Division Two of the Scottish Junior Football Association, West Region....
vs Shotts Bob AccordShotts Bon Accord F.C.Shotts Bon Accord Football Club are a Scottish football club based in the town of Shotts, North Lanarkshire.-History:Playing at Hannah Park, they were formed in 1950 and currently compete in the West Region of the Scottish Junior Football Association....
, 5 May 2000 - RenfrewRenfrew F.C.Renfrew F.C. are a Scottish football club from the town of Renfrew. Formed in 1912, they play in the Western Region of the Scottish Junior Football Association.The club play home games at Western Park...
vs Auchinleck TalbotAuchinleck Talbot F.C.Auchinleck Talbot F.C. are a Scottish football club based in Auchinleck, near Cumnock, Ayrshire. Members of the Scottish Junior Football Association, they currently compete in the SJFA West Super League Premier Division...
, 6 April 2001 - Renfrew vs Tayport, 12 April 2005
- ArthurlieArthurlie F.C.Arthurlie Football Club are a Junior Scottish football team based in Barrhead, East Renfrewshire, near Glasgow. They play at Dunterlie Park, on Carlibar Road, adjacent to Barrhead railway station. They currently play in the Stagecoach Super League, Premier Division...
v Linlithgow RoseLinlithgow Rose F.C.Linlithgow Rose F.C. are a Scottish junior association football club from Linlithgow, West Lothian who play in the East Region Super League...
, 13 April 2007
- Pollok
- Schoolboy internationals
- Under-16
- Scotland 5 Northern Ireland 2, 1951
- Scotland 1 Northern Ireland 0, 1963
- Scotland 2 Northern Ireland 1, 1973
- Scotland 0 EnglandEngland national under-16 football team-Latest squad:The following players were named in the squad for the Victory Shield match against Scotland.-Recent call-ups:The following players have also been called up to the England U-16 squad and remain eligible.-External links:*...
1, 1984 - Scotland 1 FranceFrance national youth football teamThe France national youth football team are the national under-20, under-19, under-18, under-17 and under-16 football teams of France and are controlled by the Fédération Française de Football. The youth teams of France participate in tournaments sanctioned by both FIFA and UEFA and also...
1, 1988 - Scotland 1 Austria 0, 1999
- Scotland 4 Switzerland 0, 2001
- Under-17
- Scotland 3 Switzerland 1, 1992
- Under-18
- Scotland 3 - 0 Wales 0, 1978
- Scotland 2 EnglandEngland national under-18 football team-Latest squad:The following players were named in the squad for the friendly match against Slovakia.-Recent call-ups:The following players have also been called up to the England under-18 squad and remain eligible.-References:...
1, 1981 - Scotland 2 Republic of Ireland 4, 2003
- Under-16
Other sports at Love Street
St. Mirren was a Football and Athletic Club until 1905 and annual sports such as running and cyclingBicycle racing
Bicycle racing is a competition sport in which various types of bicycles are used. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, bike trials, and cycle speedway. Bicycle racing is recognised as an Olympic sport...
events would have been a feature of the summer months. It is known that there was a Scottish Inter-Region rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
match played there in 1897 and at least one dog handicap race run around the track in the early years of the 20th century.
St. Mirren tried to introduce greyhound racing
Greyhound racing
Greyhound racing is the sport of racing greyhounds. The dogs chase a lure on a track until they arrive at the finish line. The one that arrives first is the winner....
on a regular basis in the early 1930s, and spent money on upgrading the track. However, only three weeks after the first race the SFA declared a ban on greyhound racing at football grounds and the club lost money on the venture. When the ban was lifted, and St. Mirren was approached to resume racing, the club declined.
In 1938, a World Title Flyweight
Flyweight
Flyweight is a class in boxing which includes fighters weighing less than 112 lb but above 108 lb .-Professional boxing:...
boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
match was scheduled to take place at the stadium involving Scotland’s first-ever world champion boxer Benny Lynch
Benny Lynch
Benny Lynch was a Scottish professional boxer who fought in the flyweight division. He is considered by some to be one of the finest boxers below the lightweight division in his era and Ring Magazine has described him as the greatest fighter that Scotland has ever produced...
. Again money was spent with an anticipated pay-back from a 30,000 crowd. The event turned sour when Lynch was stripped of his title in the days before the fight for failing by a large margin to make the weight. It went ahead as a non-title bout but Lynch’s fans felt badly let down and the turnout was poor.
Paisley Lions
Paisley Lions
Paisley Lions were a motorcycle speedway team that participated in the British National League in 1975 and 1976.The team was based at Love Street in Paisley, Scotland, home of St Mirren F.C..The club's colours were red and gold with a Rampant Lion...
speedway
Motorcycle speedway
Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. Speedway motorcycles use only one gear and have no brakes and racing takes place on a flat oval track usually...
team raced in the British National Speedway League
Speedway National League
The National League was the top division of Speedway in the United Kingdom from 1932 until 1965 when it became known as the British League. Prior to 1932 there were only small regional leagues competing within the sport in the UK. The National League was re-incarnated in 1975 as the second division...
at Love Street for two seasons in 1975 and 1976. The first meeting was held on 5 April 1975 in front of a crowd of over 6,000. However, despite the meetings being well attended the club folded after two seasons. Their last meeting was held on 25 September 1976 when the Lions beat Boston Barracudas
Boston Barracudas
The Boston Barracudas are a speedway team in the British Conference League. Originally founded mid-season in 1970 when the Kings Lynn Starlets changed name, they competed in the National League until 1987. In 2000 the club was reformed, entering the Conference League....
52-25.
External links
- From Love Street to Greenhill Road, St. Mirren F.C.