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St Mirren v St Johnstone 1976

Programme of the Week St. Mirren vs St. Johnstone 11th December 1976

The latest in the series of football programmes from my collection that relates to a game in the next few days.

So, the international break is over and league football returns. We turn our attention to Scotland and the Premiership meeting of the two Saints – Mirren and Johnstone.

St. Mirren vs St. Johnstone

It’s not been a great to start to the season for these teams. St. Johnstone sit bottom of the Scottish Premiership and St. Mirren just one place and one point ahead of them in 11th. Recent form sees both teams losing three and drawing two of their last five games.

A win could see either team overtake Hibernian and Heart of Midlothian who occupy the two places above. Each of the Edinburgh teams have tricky fixtures this weekend.

So what was happening 46 years ago?

In 1976, this fixture is played in the Scottish League Division One, the second tier at that time. Both teams have played 18 games and St. Mirren sit one point behind league leaders Clydebank with a game in hand. They are unbeaten at home!

St. Johnstone are fourth from bottom in the league which comprises 14 teams. They are 16 points behind St. Mirren and have managed only 3 wins so far compared to the ‘Buddies’ 11.

St. Mirren are managed by former St. Johnstone player (Sir) Alex Ferguson. He is in the middle of his four year tenure before moving to the Granite City to manage Aberdeen. St. Johnstone are managed by former St. Mirren player Jim Storrie!

In his programme notes, Ferguson looks forward to the Christmas Day fixture at Clydebank. (The last Christmas Day fixture in England was in 1965, when Blackpool played Blackburn Rovers. That programme is also available to buy).

St Mirren v St Johnstone 1976 match programme

As for the match programme, it has an orange and black cover with an interesting drawing of two footballers on the cover. It’s a 16 page edition with the inside content all black and white. Good to see that the content is not overwhelmed by advertisements. It’s mostly about the club and the league.

Also, there is a decent quiz on the inside front cover. (Who were the first club to become a limited liability company??!!) Alongside Sir Alex’s notes is an article by Len Wright of the Paisley Daily Express. He comments that ‘Ferguson’s problems nowadays all seem to be good ones..’.

There is an extraordinary picture of the St. Johnstone goalkeeper Derek Robertson, from the earlier fixture between the two at Muirton Park. The poor man looks quite possessed!

The Main Man

The teams are listed in the centre pages. The name of Frank McGarvey leaps out. He plays 132 times for the Buddies between 1975 & 1979 and scores 52 goals. In season 1976/77 he is St. Mirren’s leading goal scorer.

He then transfers to Liverpool for £270,00 never to make an appearance for them! Ten months later he is back north of the border with Celtic. In 1985, he returns to St. Mirren for a five year spell, racking up another 134 appearances and 20 goals.

So, what happened on the day? Well the match is postponed as Love Street is deemed unplayable! It is rescheduled for 8th March 1977 when the teams drew 1-1. Centre half Bobby Reid scored for St Mirren. There is a picture and short article about him in the programme. I can’t identify the St. Johnstone scorer. Perhaps it was Iain Anderson who was leading scorer with 8 goals, that season. Doubtless he was somewhat hampered by having to carry that flute around!

Good luck to both this weekend in what is a real six pointer.

You can buy St. Mirren vs St. Johnstone 1976 here.

Finally, the quiz question – Small Heath (Birmingham City)

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