Buddies invited to put forward road names
Saints fans can be streets ahead of their rivals by having an avenue or cul- de- sac named after their favourite player.
A fun campaign called #SaintsStreets has been launched to see club heroes being immortalised with a street named in their honour at the club’s former stadium.
The old Love Street site is being transformed into 132 affordable homes and a competition is now up and running to name the streets at the new development.
Renfrewshire Council has teamed up with the site’s housing provider, Sanctuary Scotland, and St Mirren FC to launch #SaintsStreets.
Two streets have already been named North Bank and Cairter’s Corner, after well-known sections of the old ground, and now Buddies have two weeks to submit their suggestions for the five remaining roads.
With more than 140 years of playing history and plenty of league and cup-winning teams to choose from, the options are huge.
Councillor Marie McGurk, convener of Renfrewshire Council’s communities, housing and planning policy board, said: “It’s a fantastic opportunity for St Mirren supporters and members of the local community to have some fun coming up with their suggestions and at the same time ensure the rich history of the site is celebrated.”
Express readers can submit names online via the #SaintsStreets link on www. surveymonkey. com/r/SaintsStreets before 4.45pm on Saturday, February 17.
A judging panel, including St Mirren chairman Gordon Scott and well-known fan Chick Young, will select a final shortlist that will go to an online public vote, with the five most popular names declared the winners.
Gordon said: “It would be difficult to put into words how much Love Street means to my fellow supporters — many of us will have watched our first game of football there, and will have a lifetime of memories revolving around the place.
“So we are delighted the club’s history will be reflected in the new development taking place on the site and that St Mirren fans will be able to choose the names that mean the most to them.”
The panel’s job is to ensure the shortlisted names are suitable, comply with Royal Mail requirements and don’t clash with any street names already taken — so any players whose surname is already shared with an existing street in the town won’t be able to have a street named after them.
Councillor McGurk added: “This exciting development at Love Street is transforming a vacant site and supports our commitment to build more than 200 high quality affordable homes every year as we invest to create a thriving Renfrewshire.
“It isn’t just about building more houses — it is about creating homes that people want to live in, in places where they want to live.
“We’re expanding the supply of homes that are the right type, the right size and in the right place to meet the needs of people in Renfrewshire.”
The £ 17million Love Street project is being delivered by Sanctuary Scotland in partnership with the council and the Scottish Government.
The development will provide 103 houses for social rent. A further 29 houses are available for affordable sale through the New Supply Shared Equity scheme.
Pat Cahill, director of Sanctuary Scotland, added: “We look forward to welcoming Sanctuary tenants to homes in streets named after Love Street legends.”