Introduction

It’s the 25^th of December 1982, and a 6-year-old boy living in Glenburn is opening his presents on a perfect snowy and crisp Christmas Paisley morning. Glancing out of the window, he momentarily loses his concentration as he thinks about the still untouched white streets and the fun he could potentially have later, but his focus is back on more serious business when is handed a small but soft present to open.

Inside the carefully folded wrapping paper contained a most precious gift, admittedly it wasn’t a unique present, particularly in these parts, but the shiny brand-new Adidas St Mirren shirt meant the world to this boy who would now be the envy of his Moorfoot Avenue neighbours.

The shirt itself was beautiful, not just because it had a St Mirren badge on it, the official trademark of authentic football quality of course, but the thick black and white stripes with black collar and the iconic three stripes down the shoulders just looked like absolute perfection. Even that brand new smell you only get with new football shirts added to the magic. This was one happy 6-year-old.

Aside from being my first ever St Mirren shirt, this replica was unique for another reason; it was the last ever sold or worn by our club not to include the shirt sponsor. The final St Mirren shirt of a simpler time.

Fast forward only a few months, and the club signed our first ever shirt sponsor contract with local bus company Graham’s Buses, and their G logo was emblazoned in the centre of the middle white stripe of the shirt for the next 18 months, until this was changed in 1984 to predominantly white with the black pinstripes and their name replaced the logo until the 1987 Scottish Cup Final.

However, history was made with this 1982 sponsorship deal, and football purists all over Renfrewshire were struck a fatal blow in the process as this general practice would mark a permanent and worldwide change to football kits. Saints were now completely in the world of football commercialism, and there was no turning back.

In these early days, sponsorships tended to be local, and for most of the next decade Saints shirts were adorned with more Paisley based organisations; Clydeside Scottish, Ingram Motors, Clanford and Phoenix Honda, before sponsorship from nationally known brands took over. Even a financial company based in The Avenue of Stars, Los Angeles, had the honour of having their name across our shirt, as the game has changed and grown this century, although admittedly at a much more comfortable rate in Scotland compared to elsewhere.

Back to this 6-year-old in Glenburn, however. His dream, like all fans, was to play for Saints and wear the shirt on the pitch, but unfortunately that never did materialise and at 48 years of age I will grudgingly concede that my time has come and gone. However, as I could never fulfil the dream of the playing side, I thought a decent alternative would be to get involved commercially with the club and I have been fortunate enough over the past few years to have my company sponsor the back of the team shirt and be involved in various other commercial opportunities at the club.

As a supporter of the club for almost 5 decades, this has been a huge honour for both me and my family, however becoming the principal sponsor of St Mirren is one of the proudest moments of my life and b/ rings sponsorship of the club the full circle; as like Graham’s Buses 40 years ago, we are a Paisley based company, run by St Mirren supporting Paisley buddies and this type of partnership would definitely be the first this century at the club.

Additionally, this return to localisation fits into our community club narrative, however as Saints embark on our first European adventure for 37 years, I should clarify that like the football club, we are a modern and progressive company with great ambition, and we plan to grow in tandem with the club over the next few seasons. As always, we will be with you every step of the way and we are so excited and proud to be part of this unique and great footballing institution.

Come on ye Saints!