St Mirren FC have confirmed that their South stand will be retained for home supporters only from next season meaning a harder task for Rangers supporters wanting to follow the team to Paisley.
The locals had been disgruntled that on the three guaranteed occasions per season that they hosted Rangers or Celtic, both the usual Away end in the North stand as well as the Tony Fitzpatrick Family (South) stand would be filled by those very vocal visitors. That is despite that revenue coming in at around £120,000 for the three games, with the potential of a fourth depending on St Mirren securing a top six finish alongside the Old Firm clubs.
The crux of the matter is, with an average attendance of approx 4500 in the 8000 capacity new build ground, can they plug the shortfall?
Pledges have been made from the St Mirren support to contribute, with the club making the announcement on the back of that commitment.
Some of their fans were very happy with the news whilst others were concerned about the finances taking away crucial funds from the budget available for players on the pitch.
The statement from the Paisley club included:
“There was a significant response to our survey and we would like to thank everyone that gave up their time to take part in the survey. A majority of those who responded told us they wished to see home supporters retain the Tony Fitzpatrick Family Stand for all home league matches for the coming season.”
“Beyond the 2022/23 season, season tickets in the Tony Fitzpatrick Family Stand will include all home league matches. However, we hope season ticket holders will ‘top up’ their season tickets for the upcoming campaign so they can attend all matches in their chosen seats.”
“Season ticket holders in the Tony Fitzpatrick Family Stand will be required to make a one-off payment of £30 for adults or £15 for concessions if they wish to add these matches and guarantee their own seat for fixtures against Celtic and Rangers in the 2022/23 season.”
Perspective
St Mirren fans, in the majority, appear to have been granted their wish so it is up to them to now support the club.
From their point of view, they want less away supporters in their stadium and that is their prerogative, even if it comes with a financial loss, as well as empty seats when Rangers or Celtic come along.
It is very frustrating when there will likely be empty seats at Rangers games in Paisley from next term, when plenty of fans would be willing and ready to snap up tickets to support the team. The obvious knock on effect is that the away allocation for this fixture is now cut in half meaning demand outweighs supply even more.
From a commercial perspective, St Mirren will be hoping that their sums add up whilst the empty spaces won’t exactly look good for the league as a product. Now their fans need to do their bit, including those who turn out for the big cup games. If not, an unpopular u-turn may lie ahead.
Time will tell on this one.