St Mirren Park: St Mirren
From St Mirren FC
St Mirren were actually formed as a gentleman’s club, allowing them to play the likes of rugby and cricket. When football began to be popularised in the latter half of the 19th century, it was decided that they would also play football, putting 1877 as the club’s official date of creation. In the years since, St Mirren have enjoyed bouts of success, including victory in the Scottish Cup in 1926, 1959 and 1987, with a Scottish League Cup victory coming in 2013.
Also known as The Simple Digital Arena and The SMISA Stadium because of sponsorship, St Mirren Park opened in 2009 after the club’s former stadium at Love Street was sold to Tesco for £15 million. It cost £7 million to build and Alex Salmond, the then-First Minister of Scotland, was present to watch the first match. For a time, a deal with Renfrewshire Council saw the stadium labelled as Paisley 2021 Stadium, supporting Paisley’s bid to become City Of Culture in 2021.
Stats
| St Mirren Park Stats | |
|---|---|
| Year Opened | 2009 |
| Capacity | 7937 |
| Average Attendance | 6646 |
| Record Attendance | 7937 (St Mirren v Kilmarnock (22 April 2023)) |
| Pitch Size | 105 x 68 (7140) |
| Former Name | The Simple Digital Arena, The SMISA Stadium |
| Owner | St Mirren Football Club |
| Sponsor | Simple Digital Solutions |
| Clubs Hosted | St Mirren, Scotland Under-19s |
| First Fixture | St Mirren v Kilmarnock (2009) |
| St Mirren Stats | |
|---|---|
| Year Founded | 1877 |
| Nickname | The Buddies, The Saints |
| Club Mascot | Paisley Panda |
| Rivals | Greenock Morton |
| Previous Stadiums | Love Street |
| Kit | Black & White Stripes (Home) / Red (Away) |
| Training Ground | Ralston Training Complex |
| Shirt Sponsor | Consilium |
| Team Owner | St Mirren Independent Supporters Association (SMiSA) |
| Record Goalscorer | David McCrae (251) |
| Record Appearances | Hugh Murray (462) |
St Mirren Park Photos
Thomas Nugent / Greenhill Road
St Mirren Park Seating Plan and Where to Sit
Even though St Mirren Park is quite new in football stadium terms, it has stuck with the traditional British look of football grounds by having a stand on each side of the pitch, separate from each other. The Tony Fitzpatrick Stand on the south of the stadium is the one for families, whilst visiting supporters find themselves in the North Stand.
St Mirren Ticket Prices
How much you’ll pay for tickets at St Mirren will be the same wherever in the ground you want to sit. You’re looking at £27 if you’re an adult, £17 for concessions.
How To Get St Mirren Tickets
You can look for tickets online, but it might actually be easier to call the ticket office.
Where to Buy
Getting To St Mirren Park
Train – If you’re hoping to get the train to St Mirren Park then it is relatively easy to do so. You need to travel from Paisley Gilmour Street to Paisley St James, at which point you’ll exit the station straight on to Greenhill Road and see the stadium right in front of you.
Bus – Most buses in the area stop at Paisley Cross and Mill Street, where you can see Paisley Town Hall from. Get off there, cross the High Street and walk towards the town centre until you get to Gilmour Street, at which point you can either get the train or walk.
Car – You’ll want to get on the M8 if you’re travelling by car, following signs for Paisley & Glasgow Airport before coming off at Junction 29. Make sure not to exit onto the A737, which is signposted for Irvine, instead heading to the St James’ Interchange. From there, you’ll want to get over to the left and keep an eye out for signs to the ground.
By Air – Glasgow Airport is the closest to the football ground, being a matter of mere miles from St Mirren Park. With that in mind, it is the one that you’ll want to fly into if you’re heading to watch a St Mirren match, though Edinburgh Airport isn’t too far away.
Taxi – A taxi from the centre of Paisley out to St Mirren Park shouldn’t cost you any more than £10, usually being closer to £5.
Parking Near St Mirren Park
There is some street parking around the stadium, though heavy restrictions are in place. There have also been examples of inconsiderate parking that has stopped busses being able to get down roads or residents unable to get out of their drives, so do bear this in mind when you’re looking to park in the area.
Useful Resources
- Parking - Just Park
St Mirren Park Hotels
Being in Paisley just outside of Glasgow, the area gets a lot of visitors, so hotels are not hard to come by. Here are a few we like.
Motel Air - Glasgow Airport - £70+
Glynhill Hotel - £80+
The Lynnhurst Hotel - £120+
Pubs and Bars Near St Mirren Park
Come on. We’re in Scotland. Of course there are plenty of brilliant pubs to choose from.
Wee Howff
St Mirren 1877 Supporters Club
Lumins Cocktails & Sports Bar
Facilities
Given the fact that the ground only opened in 2009, it is fair to say that the facilities at St Mirren Park are amongst the best in Scotland. All of the usual things like bars and places to get a bite to eat are available, in addition to toilets and disabled facilities.
Prices
- Programme: £3
- Pie: £2.3
- Cup of tea: £2
Hospitality
There are numerous different hospitality packages available at St Mirren Park, whether you’re there with business associates or just for a celebration with friends and family. As long as there are two or more people in your group, you’ll be able to find a package that suits, including the likes of a meal, champagne reception and drinks. The cost will depend on the match that you want to go and see.
Private Hire
Obviously the club hopes that there is always a reason to party at St Mirren Park, but sometimes you need to bring your own party to the table. If that’s what you’re looking to do then there are numerous different private hire options, which is also the case if you’re hoping for a more formal setting for something like a business meeting.
Stadium Tours & Museum
A tour of St Mirren Park doesn’t seem to be available any more. They were running for a while though, and they were reasonably priced, costing £5. For that, you got to head to all sorts of different places, including the board room and pitch side. The traditional visit to the dressing rooms that you get on stadium tours was also included. So it sounded pretty good. Shame it stopped.
About St Mirren
In football’s more formative years, the sport was played mainly during the winter in order to give members of cricket clubs something to do. That is how St Mirren was formed, coming out of a gentleman’s club that originally played cricket and rugby. The club is named after Saint Mirin, the Patron Saint of Paisley who founded a church at Paisley Abbey. Having worn scarlet and blue kits originally, the club switched to wearing black and white stripes that have been used ever since.
The club’s first match was a victory over Johnstone Britannia on the sixth of October 1877. Over the years that followed, it is fair to say that St Mirren have enjoyed their share of ups and downs. Though they have never won the Scottish top-flight, they have won the second tier several times and have enjoyed success in the Scottish Cup on three occasions to date. Added to that, they club won the Scottish League Cup in 2013 and placed in Europe a number of times. Though there is little competition, they have won the Renfrewshire Cup 55 times at the time of writing.
St Mirren Park History
St Mirren Park opened its doors on the 31st of January 2009, with working having began a year before. It cost £8 million, with Barr Construction being the ones responsible for it. Talks about St Mirren building a new home ground had begun in 2003 when Lidl and Aldi representatives met with the club and discussed buying the old stadium in order to build retail developments. In the end, it was sold to Tesco for £15, giving the club £7 profit from it.
There have been numerous sponsors of the ground over the years, with St Mirren doing well to make money from companies wanting to get their name out there. In 2018, for example, a four-year deal was signed with a Glasgow-based IT company called Simple Digital Solutions, seeing the stadium renamed as The Simple Digital Arena. It became the SMISA Stadium in 2020, referencing the St. Mirren Independent Supporters Association.</p
Future Developments
In 2019, the club confirmed that a number of improvements were being carried out the stadium. The likes of new sound equipment was put in, as were some new LED lights. Branded seats were put in in the director’s box, whilst pitch lights were installed in order to minimise damage to the pitch. With this in mind, it is unlikely that any major changes will be carried out to the stadium in the near future.