St Mirren

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Oxford United midfielder Oisin Smyth is close to joining St Mirren. (Belfast Telegraph), external

Read Friday's Scottish gossip

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Former St Mirren striker Jon Obika has retired from playing and taken a role on Motherwell's coaching staff for next season.

Obika, 33, joined the Buddies in summer 2019 for a two-year spell, making 77 appearances and scoring 20 goals.

After a spell with Morecambe he returned north to join Motherwell, initially on loan, in February 2023, but was restricted to just 14 appearances last season because of a recurring hamstring problem.

He hangs up his boots having played more than 400 games in a 15-year career that started at Tottenham and included spells at clubs including Crystal Palace, Brighton and Oxford.

Players come and go, but sometimes a new face will arrive and win the hearts of supporters unexpectedly.

Who's the lesser-remembered player that showed up at St Mirren with little expectation and perhaps had more passion than talent, but turned into a hero loved across the fanbase?

Give us your shout. , external

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Chief executive Neil Doncaster says crowd figures are "hugely promising" after the SPFL broke its attendance record for the second year running.

Over 5.15m supporters took to the stands to watch their side across all SPFL competitions in 2023-24, covering the Premiership, Championship, League 1, League 2, League Cup and the SPFL Trust Trophy.

The year-on-year figure marks an increase of 64,122 on the season prior's record high, when the number of people attending SPFL matches surpassed 5m for the first time.

A total of of 4,746,052 fans attended games across the four divisions, with Premiership matches attracting 3,760,765.

Scotland continues to have the best attendances figures per capita across its top four divisions in Europe with 21.3 per 1000 people - 65% ahead of second-placed the Netherlands.

Doncaster said: “After topping five million fans across an SPFL season for the first time in season 2022/23, it is hugely promising to see attendances growing even further this season.

“Our supporters are renowned across the world for their dedication and passion and regularly record the highest per capita attendance in Europe."

David Currie
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

The Nat 5’s and Highers are over (or just about) but there’s still plenty of swotting going on in Paisley. Geography of course and a bit of economics.

Along the lines of where is Kutaisi? Or Dudelange? And how can I afford to get there?

All because the Buddies are returning to the European stage for the first time since the 1980s. Their reward for a fifth-place finish in the Premiership is one of the 86 places in the ‘main path’ of qualifying for the Europa Conference League.

Stephen Robinson’s side enter at the second qualifying round. (there’s two more after that) so the road to Wroclaw starts on 25 July.

That’s where the final is, but let’s not get carried away. Reaching the revamped Conference League of 36 teams would be a big achievement.

A couple of new faces have already been recruited for the big European push. Defender Shaun Rooney, who scored the winning goals in both the Scottish Cup and League Cup finals with St Johnstone in 2021, joins after a couple of seasons at Fleetwood Town.

Then there’s the new goalkeeper, Ellery Balcombe, who moves on loan from Brentford. Surely more will follow, perhaps attracted by the promise of European football.

The core of the team that qualified for Europe is still there, including player of the year Alex Gogic, who has signed a new contract. So far so good but more new arrivals are required.

We’ve seen clubs suffer domestically when trying to balance the challenge of performing in European competition – that’s the big test. Is it likely the Buddies can do well in Europe and pull off another top-six finish in the Premiership?

I can’t wait to find out.

Now, which budget airline flies to Azerbaijan?

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Four Premiership players from three clubs feature in Australia's squad for their upcoming World Cup qualifiers.

Hibernian forward Martin Boyle has been named in Graham Arnold's 25-man set-up, along with Hearts duo Cammy Devlin and Kye Rowles.

Departing St Mirren right-back Ryan Strain, who is set to leave the club when his contract expires this summer, is also in there.

The Socceroos take on Bangladesh and Palestine next month.

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Just five players featured in every single minute of their side's Scottish Premiership season.

Jack Butland, Liam Kelly, Dimitar Mitov, Zach Hemming and, finally, Alex Gogic. There's one crucial difference between St Mirren's Cypriot warrior and the rest of the quintet.

He's not allowed to use his hands.

While the goalkeepers deserve credit for their durability - including fellow Buddie Hemming - Gogic spent the season getting stuck into the action as Stephen Robinson's side ended their long wait for European football.

St Mirren's player of the year earned the adoration of the Paisley faithful with his bravery, in-game intelligence and ultimately, his commitment in the form of a three-year contract extension.

Could he repeat the feat next year?

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St Mirren boss Stephen Robinson is hoping for a quieter summer of recruitment as his side gear up for a first European campaign in 37 years.

The Northern Irishman brought in seven players last summer but says securing safety early in the season has allowed him to get business done and could lead to less movement in the transfer window.

Robinson has already added Brentford goalkeeper Ellery Balcombe on a season-long loan and signed former St Johnstone defender Shaun Rooney from Fleetwood.

"Being relatively successful means we were able to give people early contracts, like Alex Gogic," Robinson said.

"It just gives a level of stability at the football club that may not have been here.

"The hard bit is bringing players here that are better than what we have. We will work very hard to make sure we do that.

"There will perhaps be not as much [movement] this year because we have got a lot of people in the building."

Robinson revealed which areas he still hopes to strengthen, adding: "I think we need another midfielder. We perhaps need another forward player with a little bit more pace just to give us something different.

"They're probably the only areas we're really looking to strengthen. Other than that, we'll sit back and see."

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St Mirren have signed Brentford goalkeeper Ellery Balcombe on loan for next season.

The 24-year-old becomes the Paisley side's second signing of the summer, having already added former St Johnstone defender Shaun Rooney on a pre-contract.

Balcombe came through the Brentford academy and made his first-team debut last August, saving two penalties in an EFL Cup shootout win over Newport County.

With Zach Hemming returning to parent club Middlesbrough, Stephen Robinson was searching for a new goalkeeper and says he's been an admirer of the Englishman, who has had previous loan spells at clubs including Bristol Rovers and Doncaster.

"I’ve watched Ellery for a while," manager Robinson said.

"His distribution is very good, he’s commanding in his box and I believe he’s someone that will enhance our already good record of goalkeepers.

"We were keen to keep Zach but we spoke to Middlesborough and he's their player so we have to respect that. He'll go back for pre-season and fight for a number two jersey there, but we already knew that would come."

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Stephen Robinson says he has "no complaints" regarding the departures of St Mirren players who refused new contracts at the club.

The Paisley side announced on Wednesday that Ryan Strain, Charles Dunne, Alex Greive and Keanu Baccus - who has already signed for Mansfield Town - will not return for their European campaign next term.

"It's just football, unfortunately," manager Robinson told club media.

"We made offers to players that weren't quite at the level they can get elsewhere and we accept that.

"I've no complaints because every player that's leaving the football club gave me everything.

"Keanu Baccus has been a terrific signing. Nobody knew him, he became an Australia international and played in the World Cup against Lionel Messi. We're very proud of him and he goes with our best wishes.

"Ryan Strain, the same. He was unheard of. We managed to bring him in and [he became] another Australia international."

Robinson added: "Charles Dunne has been terrific, he's been with me for a long period of time. Charles is going on to pastures new.

"We wish these three boys nothing but luck, they know I'm always at the end of the phone to help them."

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Keanu Baccus, Charles Dunne, Alex Greive and Ryan Strain will all leave St Mirren this summer when their contracts expire, the club have announced.

Australia midfielder Baccus has already signed for English side Mansfield Town on a two-year deal.

Fellow Socceroos international Strain scored five goals in 64 appearances for the club, while Dunne played 91 games.

Striker Greive scored nine goals in 76 appearances and spent the second half of this season on loan at Dundee United as they earned promotion back to the top flight.

Meanwhile, loanees Jaden Brown, Zach Hemming and Hyeok-kyu Kwon all return to their parent clubs.

The Buddies have offered 35-year-old Ryan Flynn a player-coach role, and have also proposed new deals to Luke Kenny and Gallagher Lennon.

Mark Jardine
Fan writer

In the Saturday sun, the Saints were in no mood to show up and simply participate in the trophy day festivities. Any notion of that was eradicated by the right boot of Mark O’Hara after a mere seven minutes.

The St Mirren captain has made something of a habit in scoring against Glaswegian opposition, and he doubled down on that tendency before the end of the first half.

Celtic eventually clawed this all back and ensured Santa walked out on to Celtic Park with three points as well as the league trophy. I don’t think that’ll live long in the memory of many Buddies - it’ll be beach balls, unexpected leads and fond farewells that come to mind.

Charles Dunne, Ryan Strain and Keanu Baccus all made their final bows in St Mirren colours. The trio have been incredibly popular in their time in Paisley.

Dunne was an integral piece in establishing that mobile back three which has defined this more organised and resolute era in Paisley. We’ll always have that suit in that training ground court case, Chilli D.

Baccus and Strain arrived in the same summer, two vital early signings as Stephen Robinson planned for his first full season in Paisley. The Australian duo, both capped multiple times during their time in black and white, were tangible evidence of the improvement in structure and recruitment that has delivered back-to-back top-half finishes.

Their ambition to move on expected but painful nonetheless. In the case of Baccus, Paisley waited 92 years to have one of its own take the field at a World Cup. Hopefully the wait for the next World Cup Buddie will be far shorter.

Lastly, and as of yet unconfirmed, Saturday had the feeling of a farewell to Ryan Flynn. Arriving at a key period of transition for the Saints, Flynn applied himself over several years in a manner which ensures he’ll be written in to club history.

Mark Jardine can be found at Misery Hunters, external

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Alex Gogic says it's "very special" to be named St Mirren's player of the year after helping the Paisley side to European football.

The 30-year-old, who signed a new three-year deal recently, picked up two prizes at the club's awards dinner, including players' player of the year.

"It's very special," Gogic said. "What the players think of you, that's the biggest judgement.

"For them to give me this trophy, it's one that will stay with me forever. It's one big family, a special group.

"Going into Europe, the gaffer knew what we could achieve and he kept repeating it. Knowing we're coming back to play in European qualifiers is something amazing.

"On a personal note, I always try my best and it's good that the highs and the lows pay off in the end. I love it here. All the fans show me."

Gogic also gave a nod to manager Stephen Robinson, who moved the Cypriot from midfield to defence in an inspired move.

"They can see things that you can't," he adds.

"A special mention to him because without him, I'm probably not getting these awards."

The Sportscene team reflect on St Mirren scaring Celtic despite succumbing to a 3-2 defeat away to the champions.

Available to UK users only.

Jonathan Sutherland
Sportscene presenter

On his day Mark O'Hara is capable of being hugely impressive at the heart of the St Mirren midfield. He almost delivered a show-stopping performance at Celtic Park.

We asked for your thoughts after St Mirren fell to a 3-2 defeat at Celtic Park - despite leading twice in the first half.

Here's what some of you said:

Douglas: A good performance from Saints but baffled that the game finished on 89 minutes and 56 seconds. How? 10 subs used and Hart's two minutes salute to the Celtic fans.

Eddie: Three poor defensive mistakes led to the goals, however we played a lot of good football. Celtic are the best team in the country for a reason as soon as we made mistakes their good players know how to punish teams. I want to thank every player who played for us this season. I wish good luck to the ones who move on.