Saints in the Groove (1969)

(first published in the match programme for St. Mirren v Hibernian, 8^th November 2025)

When St. Mirren met Ayr United at Love Street on 8^th November 1969 for a First Division league match, both Clubs were languishing at the wrong end of the table. After eleven games played, Saints were in fourteenth place with a tally of seven points, whilst the Honest Men were one place and three points better off than their hosts.

There were signs that St. Mirren were starting to show some of the spirit that they had exhibited during much of the previous season when they defeated Aberdeen 2-0 at Paisley in a rearranged fixture in midweek. It was hoped that they could carry on this form against the men from Ayrshire and pull away from the danger zone.

Ayr were back in the top flight after two seasons out and were already turning heads with their entertaining and attractive performances, notably in an opening day 3-0 defeat of Hibs and a memorable 2-1 home victory over Rangers in September. However, they came to Paisley reeling from a chastening 4-2 defeat by Celtic at Somerset Park on the previous Saturday.

St. Mirren's programme was a neat, twelve-page issue printed entirely in black on white semi-gloss paper and measuring 5 inches by 7.5 inches. The front cover photo showed Hugh Gilshan's memorable winning goal against Rangers from the previous season's match at Love Street.

While the cover listed the opponents and competition, the date could only be determined from the fixture list inside. However, somewhat confusingly, the full details of the next match were prominently displayed at the bottom of the page and this practice still causes identification problems for unwary dealers and collectors to this day.

The timeliness of the programme was illustrated by Alex Wright's "Manager's View", in which he reported on the midweek match against the Dons. He praised goalkeeper Denis Connaghan for steering the side through an early sticky spell and he also commended strikers Jim Blair and Hugh Gilshan for exposing gaps in the visitors' defence. Second half goals by these two players put the finishing touches to a match which really should have been won by a bigger margin.

The Manager then turned to the visitors from Ayr and made no apology for dwelling on their achievements thus far in the season which, as well as their notable wins in the League, had also seen them reach the League Cup semi-finals in which they fell to Celtic after a replay. Saints were meeting the Somerset Park men in a confident mood and a dour struggle was anticipated.

Statistics dominated pages four and five, including season 1969/70 player appearances and goals, fixtures, results and the current league table.

The centre pages, as ever, were allocated to the team line ups and match officials, surrounded by adverts for local firms. The Saints side was in the form of a thirteen-man squad, but this omitted Jim Young, who did take the field at centre-forward. The names of the visiting players were left blank, to be selected before the game.

Page seven's "St. Mirren Pen Picture" focussed on Denis Connaghan who, after a few weeks out, had returned to the side for the match against Aberdeen. It was hoped that the confidence he had shown in that game would help the Club to a successful run.

"Half-Time Scoreboard" on page eight completed the reading matter of the issue, which contained five pages of adverts. This issue was priced at sixpence, but can still be readily obtained nowadays for a couple of pounds.

A crowd of 5,050 witnessed an entertaining match in which both sides deserted safety-first football to go on an all-out attack. Ayr justified their recent plaudits with an opening burst which resulted in an 8^th minute goal. A corner kick was cleared by the Buddies' defence, but the ball fell to Ayr's Dick Malone who, from fully 30 yards out, sent in a low shot which deceived Connaghan and ended up in the net.

In the opening twenty minutes, the visitors could have been further ahead but for a brilliant display by the St. Mirren goalkeeper. The woodwork also came to the rescue by preventing a tremendous drive from Bobby Rough from adding to the tally.

St. Mirren gradually pulled themselves into the game and equalised after 34 minutes. An Eric Murray header was touched on to the crossbar by Ayr goalkeeper Dave Stewart and Hugh Gilshan was on hand to tap home the rebound.

The home side began to take control in the second half and appeared to be just that bit sharper than their opponents. In 62 minutes, they got what proved to be the winner when Jim Blair lobbed the ball forward to Jim Young. The centre nodded it down for Ian Lister, recently signed from Dunfermline Athletic, to score his first goal for the Club from the edge of the box.