2019–20 St Johnstone F.C. season


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The 2019–20 season was the club's seventh season in the Scottish Premiership and their tenth consecutive season in the top flight of Scottish football. St Johnstone also competed in the Scottish Cup and the League Cup.

St Johnstone F.C.
2019–20 season
ChairmanSteve Brown
ManagerTommy Wright
StadiumMcDiarmid Park
Perth, Scotland
(Capacity: 10,696)
Scottish Premiership6th
Scottish CupQuarter-finals
Scottish League CupGroup stage
Top goalscorerLeague:
Callum Hendry (7)
All:
Callum Hendry (9)
Highest home attendance8,743 vs Celtic
Lowest home attendance1,497 vs Brechin City
Average home league attendance4,091

On 13 March, the Scottish football season was suspended with immediate effect due to the COVID-19 Coronavirus outbreak.[1]
On 18 May, the SPFL declared the end of the season determining on an average points per game with the Saints finishing in sixth place, jumping Hibernian in the final standings.[2][3]

Tommy Wright remained as manager for the start of his seventh season in charge. St Johnstone were knocked out of League Cup at the Group Stage after losing three of the four matches played. The Saints were then thrashed 7–0 by Celtic on the opening day of the season. It didn't get much better for the Saints as they slumped to the bottom of the table before the September International break and remained there and were still win-less until mid-October.[4][5] They won both their matches against Hamilton and Hearts to end their win-less run and lift them off the bottom.[6] They went through December with four clean sheets, lifting the club up to ninth in the table.[7] In March, they were knocked out of the Scottish Cup by Celtic, narrowly losing at home. They were seven matches unbeaten and up to seventh in the League but the season was halted due to the Coronavirus pandemic. On 9 April, the Scottish football season was further suspended until at least 10 June.[8] On 2 May, manager Tommy Wright left the club.[9]

  Win   Draw   Loss   Postponed

Scottish Premiership

edit

As of 7 March 2020
No. Pos Player Premiership League Cup Scottish Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
1 GK   Zander Clark 29 0 2 0 3 0 34 0
2 DF   Wallace Duffy 11 0 3 0 0+1 0 15 0
3 DF   Scott Tanser 19+2 0 4 2 1+1 0 27 2
4 DF   Jamie McCart 7+1 0 0 0 2 0 10 0
7 MF   Drey Wright 16+6 0 0 0 3 0 25 0
8 MF   Murray Davidson 17 0 3 0 1 1 21 1
9 FW   Chris Kane 11+12 1 2 1 1+2 0 28 2
10 MF   David Wotherspoon 15+6 3 1 0 3 0 25 3
11 MF   Danny Swanson 3+4 0 4 0 0 0 11 0
12 GK   Elliot Parish 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 0
14 FW   Stevie May 20+4 6 0 0 3 1 27 7
15 DF   Jason Kerr (c) 29 1 4 0 3 0 36 1
16 MF   Matt Butcher 3+3 0 0 0 1 0 7 0
17 FW   Michael O'Halloran 14+10 2 3 0 0+1 0 28 2
18 MF   Ali McCann 26+3 4 2+1 0 3 0 35 4
19 MF   Jason Holt 15+2 0 0 0 0 0 17 0
20 MF   Isaiah Jones 0 0 0 0 0+1 0 1 0
21 DF   Anthony Ralston 21+1 0 0 0 2 0 24 0
22 FW   Callum Hendry 5+15 7 2+2 1 2+1 1 27 9
23 DF   Liam Gordon 16 0 0 0 2 0 18 0
24 DF   Callum Booth 12+1 0 0 0 2 1 15 1
26 MF   Liam Craig 9+6 0 2 0 1 0 18 0
50 FW   Jordan Northcott 0 0 0+2 0 0 0 2 0
Player who left the club during the season
4 MF   Ross Callachan 1+1 0 1+1 0 0 0 4 0
5 DF   Madis Vihmann 2+2 0 1 0 0 0 5 0
6 DF   Steven Anderson 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0
16 FW   David McMillan 0 0 0+3 0 0 0 3 0
19 DF   Ricky Foster 2 0 3 0 0 0 5 0
20 MF   Kyle McClean 0 0 2+1 0 0 0 3 0
33 MF   Matty Kennedy 16+2 3 2+1 2 0 0 21 5
38 MF   Cameron Ballantyne 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
40 DF   Samuel Denham 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
44 MF   Shaun Struthers 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 PPG Qualification or relegation[a]
4 Aberdeen 30 12 9 9 40 36 +4 45 1.50 Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round
5 Livingston 30 10 9 11 41 39 +2 39 1.30
6 St Johnstone 29 8 12 9 28 46 −18 36 1.24
7 Hibernian 30 9 10 11 42 49 −7 37 1.23
8 Kilmarnock 30 9 6 15 31 41 −10 33 1.10

Source: BBC SPFL
Rules for classification: 1) Points per game; 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).[17]
Notes:

  1. ^ All play-off matches were cancelled, as clubs voted to curtail the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[16]
Pos Team Pld W PW PL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification ROS FOR MON STJ BRE
1 Ross County 4 4 0 0 0 12 2 +10 12 Qualification for the Second Round — 2–0 4–1 — —
2 Forfar Athletic 4 3 0 0 1 9 4 +5 9 — — — 2–1 3–0
3 Montrose 4 1 1 0 2 4 9 −5 5 — 1–4 — 1–0 —
4 St Johnstone 4 1 0 0 3 6 5 +1 3 1–2 — — — 4–0
5 Brechin City 4 0 0 1 3 1 12 −11 1 0–4 — 1–1p — —

Source: [18]
Rules for classification: 1) goal difference, 2) goals scored, 3) away goals scored, 4) matches won, 5) away matches won, 6) drawing of lots.[19]

List of St Johnstone F.C. seasons

  1. ^ Match postponed due to Rangers involvement in League Cup. Was not re-scheduled
  2. ^ Match postponed due to Celtic involvement in League Cup. Re-scheduled for 29 Jan 2020
  3. ^ Re-scheduled match after initial postponement
  4. ^ a b c d Match cancelled due to Coronavirus outbreak
  1. ^ "Coronavirus – Joint Response Group Update". SPFL. 13 March 2020. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  2. ^ "Celtic champions & Hearts relegated after SPFL ends season". BBC Sport. 18 May 2020. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  3. ^ "How does the final Scottish Premiership table look?". BBC Sport.
  4. ^ "St Johnstone: Tommy Wright's achievements mean no panic at McDiarmid". BBC Sport. October 19, 2019.
  5. ^ "St Johnstone: Tommy Wright says he does not feel under pressure". BBC Sport. October 21, 2019.
  6. ^ "St Johnstone 1-0 Hearts: Own goal piles pressure on Craig Levein". BBC Sport. October 30, 2019.
  7. ^ "St Johnstone 0-0 St Mirren: Both clubs slump to just one point above play-off spot". BBC Sport. December 21, 2019.
  8. ^ "Scottish football season suspended until 10 June". BBC Sport. 9 April 2020.
  9. ^ "Wright quits as St Johnstone manager". BBC Sport. 2 May 2020. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  10. ^ "Second pre-season fixture confirmed". saints. 16 May 2019.
  11. ^ "Pre-Season friendly v Linfield confirmed". saints. 1 May 2019.
  12. ^ "Third friendly fixture confirmed". saints. 30 May 2019.
  13. ^ "Fourth pre-season friendly confirmed". saints. 17 June 2019.
  14. ^ GB, Sports Media. "St. Johnstone - News Item". www.perthstjohnstonefc.co.uk.
  15. ^ "Betfred Cup group stage fixtures | SPFL". spfl.co.uk.
  16. ^ "Dundee Utd, Raith & Cove win titles and reconstruction talks start after Dundee vote". BBC Sport. 15 April 2020. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  17. ^ "The Rules of the Scottish Professional Football League" (PDF). SPFL. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  18. ^ "Summary - League Cup Group B". Soccerway. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
  19. ^ "Format". SPFL. Archived from the original on 1 October 2017. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
  20. ^ a b "St Johnstone sign up goalkeeper Elliott Parish & defender Wallace Duffy". BBC Sport. 20 June 2019. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
  21. ^ "St Johnstone sign Estonia centre-half Madis Vihmann on loan from Flora". BBC Sport. 26 July 2019.
  22. ^ Masson, James (2 August 2019). "St Johnstone snap up former Man United goalkeeper Max Johnstone". Eveing Telegraph. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  23. ^ "Stevie May returns to St Johnstone after leaving Aberdeen". BBC Sport. 29 August 2019.
  24. ^ a b "Ralston joins Saints on loan from Celtic". BBC Sport. 2 September 2019.
  25. ^ "St Johnstone sign Booth until January". BBC Sport. 16 September 2019.
  26. ^ "Jamie McCart: St Johnstone complete signing of Inverness defender". BBC Sport. 28 January 2020. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  27. ^ a b "St Johnstone: Matt Butcher & Isaiah Jones sign as Callum Hendry extends contract". BBC Sport. 31 January 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  28. ^ "Comrie moves to Dunfermline | SPFL". spfl.co.uk.
  29. ^ "Tony Watt exits St Johnstone to join CSKA Sofia". BBC Sport. May 27, 2019.
  30. ^ "Hibs raid Scottish Premiership rivals as they strengthen development squad". www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com.
  31. ^ "Hamilton: Brian Easton rejoins from St Johnstone". BBC Sport. May 29, 2019.
  32. ^ "Blair Alston: Midfielder joins Hamilton after St Johnstone exit". BBC Sport. June 6, 2019.
  33. ^ GB, Sports Media. "St. Johnstone - News Item". www.perthstjohnstonefc.co.uk.
  34. ^ GB, Sports Media. "St. Johnstone - News Item". www.perthstjohnstonefc.co.uk.
  35. ^ GB, Sports Media. "St. Johnstone - News Item". www.perthstjohnstonefc.co.uk.
  36. ^ "Joe Shaughnessy: Southend United sign former St Johnstone captain after trial". BBC Sport. August 1, 2019.
  37. ^ Durent, Jamie. "Cove Rangers sign teenager John Robertson on loan deal from St Johnstone".
  38. ^ "Richard Foster: Ross County resign right-back after St Johnstone fallout". BBC Sport. 29 August 2019.
  39. ^ "McClean departs by mutual consent". St Johnstone F.C. 2 September 2019. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  40. ^ "Kyle McClean: Former St Johnstone midfielder to join Linfield in January". BBC Sport. 13 November 2019.
  41. ^ "MCMILLAN JOINS FALKIRK". Scottish Professional Football League. 5 September 2019. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  42. ^ "Steven Anderson". Raith Rovers F.C. 6 September 2019. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  43. ^ "Ross joins on loan". Dundee FC. 16 January 2020. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  44. ^ Smith, Tyrone (24 January 2020). "'He can make a difference for us' - St Johnstone's Kennedy joins Aberdeen early". BBC Sport. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  45. ^ "Former Ladbrokes Premiership player announces his retirement from football at just 24 for 'personal reasons'". www.scotsman.com. Retrieved 18 March 2020.