2020–21 St Johnstone F.C. season


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The 2020–21 St Johnstone F.C. season was the club's eighth season in the Scottish Premiership and their eleventh consecutive season in the top flight of Scottish football. St Johnstone also competed in the Scottish Cup and the League Cup, winning both competitions. St Johnstone became only the fourth Scottish team, and only the second outwith the Old Firm, to win a Scottish cup double.

St Johnstone
2020–21 season
ChairmanSteve Brown
ManagerCallum Davidson
StadiumMcDiarmid Park
Scottish Premiership5th
Scottish CupWinners
League CupWinners
Top goalscorerLeague: Guy Melamed (5)
All: Stevie May (9)

Cup finals colours

After the resignation of Tommy Wright, Alec Cleland took over as interim manager.[1] After sixteen years at the club Steven Anderson left before the season began along with Danny Swanson, Ross Callachan and David McMillan.[2] Former player and assistant manager Callum Davidson was appointed manager.[3] Former striker Steven MacLean retired to become a coach alongside Cleland who returns to his former role.[4] The Saints dropped to the bottom of the table after four games without a goal,[5] but after a 5–3 away win at Hamilton they moved off it.[6]

The Saints reached the final of the League Cup with a 3–0 win against Hibernian.[7] On 28 February 2021, St Johnstone defeated Livingston in the final thanks to a single goal from Shaun Rooney.[8] In doing so, the club won their first League Cup title, their second ever major honour, and ended Celtic's dominating run of having won the last 12 major honours at stake in Scotland.[8]

On 22 May 2021, St Johnstone won the Scottish Cup, defeating Hibs by a score of 1–0 in the final, with Shaun Rooney again netting the winning goal. With the victory, St Johnstone became just the fourth club in Scottish history to win the cup double after Aberdeen, Celtic, and Rangers.[9][10][11]

  Win   Draw   Loss   Postponed

Scottish Premiership

edit

As of 22 May 2021
No. Pos Player Premiership League Cup Scottish Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
1 GK   Zander Clark 27 0 7 0 4 0 38 0
2 DF   James Brown 4+1 0 0 0 1+1 0 7 0
3 DF   Scott Tanser 21+6 1 4 0 2 0 33 1
4 DF   Jamie McCart 36 0 6+1 0 5 0 48 0
5 DF   Jason Kerr (c) 30 1 6 1 5 0 41 2
6 DF   Liam Gordon 35+1 1 7 0 5 0 48 1
7 MF   Craig Conway 19+8 3 5+2 0 0 0 34 3
8 MF   Murray Davidson 14+7 1 4+2 1 0+1 0 28 2
9 FW   Chris Kane 17+10 4 5+3 2 2+2 2 39 8
10 MF   David Wotherspoon 28+9 3 7+1 3 5 0 50 6
11 FW   Michael O'Halloran 13+12 1 2+1 0 1+3 1 32 2
12 GK   Elliot Parish 9 0 1 0 1 0 11 0
13 MF   Craig Bryson 12+8 0 2+2 0 2+2 0 28 0
14 FW   Stevie May 17+16 4 3+5 5 3 0 44 9
15 MF   Charlie Gilmour 1+1 0 0 0 0+1 0 3 0
16 MF   Glenn Middleton 3+6 2 0 0 1+3 1 13 3
17 FW   Guy Melamed 11+7 5 1 0 4 2 23 7
18 MF   Ali McCann 31+2 2 4 0 4+1 0 42 2
19 DF   Shaun Rooney 20+8 2 8 2 4 1 40 5
20 FW   John Robertson 0+5 0 0 0 0 0 5 0
24 DF   Callum Booth 15+3 0 7 0 3+1 0 29 0
25 GK   Zdeněk Zlámal 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
26 MF   Liam Craig 17+5 2 7 0 3 0 32 2
40 DF   Samuel Denham 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
46 FW   Alexander Ferguson 0+1 0 0+1 0 0 0 2 0
Player who left the club during the season
2 DF   Wallace Duffy 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
15 DF   Danny McNamara 22 1 0 0 0 0 22 1
16 FW   Isaac Olaofe 0+2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
22 FW   Callum Hendry 8+8 0 3+3 2 0 0 22 2
23 MF   Cammy Ballantyne 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
45 GK   Ross Sinclair 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation[a]
3 Hibernian 38 18 9 11 48 35 +13 63 Qualification for the Europa Conference League second qualifying round
4 Aberdeen 38 15 11 12 36 38 −2 56
5 St Johnstone 38 11 12 15 36 46 −10 45 Qualification for the Europa League third qualifying round[b]
6 Livingston 38 12 9 17 42 54 −12 45
7 St Mirren 38 11 12 15 37 45 −8 45

Source: [15]
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-Head goal difference; 6) Play-off (only if deciding champion, UEFA competitions qualification, second stage group allocation or relegation).[16]
Notes:

  1. ^ Teams play each other three times (33 matches), before the league is split into two groups (the top six and the bottom six).
  2. ^ St Johnstone qualified as the 2020–21 Scottish Cup winners.
Pos Team Pld W PW PL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification STJ DUN PET KEL BRE
1 St Johnstone 4 3 0 1 0 12 2 +10 10 Qualification for the Second round — 0–0p — — 7–0
2 Dundee United 4 2 1 0 1 7 3 +4 8 — — 0–1 1–0 —
3 Peterhead 4 2 1 0 1 6 5 +1 8 1–3 — — — 3–1
4 Kelty Hearts 4 1 0 1 2 4 4 0 4 1–2 — 1–1p — —
5 Brechin City 4 0 0 0 4 3 18 −15 0 — 2–6 — 0–2 —

Source: [17]
Rules for classification: 1) points, 2) goal difference, 3) goals scored, 4) away goals scored, 5) matches won, 6) away matches won, 7) drawing of lots.[18]

Date Player From Fee
1 June 2020   Shaun Rooney   Inverness Caledonian Thistle Free[19]
14 July 2020   Danny McNamara   Millwall Loan[20]
14 July 2020   Isaac Olaofe   Millwall Loan[20]
31 July 2020   Craig Conway   Salford City Free[21]
18 September 2020   Craig Bryson   Aberdeen Free[22]
5 October 2020   Guy Melamed   Maccabi Netanya Free[23]
4 January 2021   James Brown   Millwall Loan[24]
25 January 2021   Glenn Middleton   Rangers Loan[25]
1 February 2021   Charlie Gilmour   Norwich City Free[26]
7 May 2021   Zdeněk Zlámal   Heart of Midlothian Loan[27]
Date Player To Fee
16 May 2020   Danny Swanson   East Fife Free[28][29]
29 June 2020   Ross Callachan   Hamilton Academical Free[2][30]
10 July 2020   Drey Wright   Hibernian Free[31][32]
11 July 2020   Euan O'Riley   Airdrieonians Free[2]
14 July 2020   Steven Anderson   Forfar Athletic Free[2]
27 May 2020   David McMillan   Dundalk Free[2]
30 July 2020   Danny Swanson   East Fife Free[33][34]
27 May 2020   Max Johnstone   AFC Fylde Free[2]
14 September 2020   Cammy Ballantyne   Montrose Loan
22 September 2020   Olly Hamilton   Cowdenbeath Loan
25 September 2020   Ross Sinclair   Cowdenbeath Loan
5 October 2020   Wallace Duffy   Inverness Caledonian Thistle Free[35]
5 October 2020   John Robertson   Forfar Athletic Loan
27 May 2020   Shaun Struthers   Jeanfield Swifts Free[2][36]
1 February 2021   Callum Hendry   Aberdeen Loan[37]

List of St Johnstone F.C. seasons

  1. ^ McFarlane, Jonathan. "Alec Cleland appointed St Johnstone caretaker boss after Tommy Wright exit". Daily Record. 2 May 2020. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Jane (27 May 2020). "St Johnstone's Steven Anderson eyes 'next chapter' after 16 years". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  3. ^ McLauchlin, Brian (18 June 2020). "Callum Davidson: St Johnstone appoint former player as boss". BBC Sport.
  4. ^ "St Johnstone: former player Steven MacLean appointed coach". BBC Sport. BBC. 23 June 2020. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  5. ^ "Celtic earn late win at St Johnstone". BBC Sport.
  6. ^ "St Johnstone edge Hamilton in thriller". BBC Sport.
  7. ^ Duncan, Thomas (23 January 2021). "St Johnstone 3-0 Hibernian: Perth side stun favourites to reach Scottish League Cup final". BBC Sport.
  8. ^ a b Lindsay, Clive (28 February 2021). "Livingston 0–1 St Johnstone". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
  9. ^ "St Johnstone complete dream double after beating Hibs to win Scottish Cup". The Guardian. 22 May 2021. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
  10. ^ "St Johnstone edged Hibernian to lift the Scottish Cup for a second time and seal a domestic trophy double in the greatest season in the club's history". BBC. 22 May 2021. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
  11. ^ "St Johnstone complete dream double after beating Hibs to win Scottish Cup". Guardian. 22 May 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  12. ^ "PRE-SEASON | Aberdeen 1-2 Saints".
  13. ^ "St Johnstone's friendly against St Mirren on Saturday cancelled after Buddies confirm several members of coaching staff have tested positive for Covid-19".
  14. ^ "2020/21 Fixtures Announced". perthstjohnstone.co.uk. 6 July 2020.
  15. ^ "Summary - Premiership". Soccerway. Archived from the original on 25 March 2021. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
  16. ^ "The Rules of the Scottish Professional Football League" (PDF). SPFL. Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 November 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  17. ^ "Summary - League Cup Group C". Soccerway. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  18. ^ "Format". SPFL. Archived from the original on 1 October 2017. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
  19. ^ "Caley Thistle full back will not join St Johnstone until contract runs out". Inverness Courier. 2020-01-31. Retrieved 2020-05-25.
  20. ^ a b "St Johnstone: Millwall's Isaac Olaofe and Danny McNamara sign on loan". BBC Sport. BBC. 14 July 2020.
  21. ^ "Conway: "I'm buzzing to get started"".
  22. ^ "Craig Bryson: St Johnstone sign former Aberdeen midfielder until end of season". BBC Sport. 18 September 2020.
  23. ^ "SAINTS SIGN STRIKER GUY MELAMED FROM MACCABI NETANYA". St Johnstone FC. 5 October 2020.
  24. ^ "James Brown: Millwall full-back joins St Johnstone on loan". BBC Sport. 4 January 2020.
  25. ^ "Glenn Middleton: St Johnstone sign Rangers winger on loan". BBC Sport. BBC. 25 January 2021.
  26. ^ "Former Arsenal youngster Charlie Gilmour signs for Saints". perthstjohnstonefc. St Johnstone FC. 1 February 2021.
  27. ^ "St Johnstone sign Hearts goalkeeper Zdenek Zlamal on seven-day emergency loan". glasgowtimes. Glasgow Times. 7 May 2021.
  28. ^ "St Johnstone release Danny Swanson as playmaker's third spell at McDiarmid Park comes to an end". www.thecourier.co.uk. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
  29. ^ "Danny Swanson Agrees Terms to Join East Fife". East Fife FC. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  30. ^ McGilvray, Andy (2020-06-29). "Hamilton Accies confirm double signing swoop, with more to come". Daily Record. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
  31. ^ "Drey Wright: Winger to leave St Johnstone after rejecting new deal". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  32. ^ "Hibernian sign Kevin Nisbet, Drey Wright & Alex Gogic". BBC Sport. 10 July 2020.
  33. ^ "St Johnstone release Danny Swanson as playmaker's third spell at McDiarmid Park comes to an end". www.thecourier.co.uk. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
  34. ^ "Danny Swanson Agrees Terms to Join East Fife".
  35. ^ "Wallace Duffy signs for ICTFC". ictfc.com. 5 October 2020.
  36. ^ "Jeanfield Swifts sign former St Johnstone youngster Shaun Struthers". 28 November 2020.
  37. ^ "Dons sign Kamberi, Hornby and Hendry". BBC Sport. 1 February 2021.