The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Saints fans in rush for season tickets
St Johnstone have sold approaching 2,500 season tickets, with the Perth club’s new head of operations hailing fans for keeping the faith after last year’s brush with relegation.
The end total last year was around 2,700 – on the back of two cup wins and a campaign of closed-doors Covid football.
Still over a month away from the resumption of the Premiership, there have been nights when McDiarmid Park staff were needed to work late to deal with demand, Ian Flaherty has revealed.
And all the signs suggest that Saints supporters are optimistic the top-flight survival battle was a blip in a golden era for the Perth club.
Flaherty, appointed in the spring to a hands-on leadership role to allow chairman Steve Brown to back off from many of the day-to-day responsibilities, said: “The sale of season tickets so far has been absolutely fantastic.
“Every club needs its supporters but at St Johnstone, we absolutely rely on them.
“It’s great that after going through a tough spell last season, our support is still there.
“Like everybody at the club, I think they’re really looking forward to the season starting.
“There have been nights when the girls at the ticket office have had to stay on and work late because the demand has been there. That’s great news.
“There was a lot of pressure on everybody at the club towards the end of last season.
“It was great to get the job of staying in the Premiership done and now we’re all looking forward to the challenges ahead of us – Callum (Davidson), players and staff.
“You could see at the end of the play-offs how important it was to everybody involved with the club that we’re in the top league.
“We start afresh, ready to go.”
Flaherty, who has a background in both football and business, believes the ever-expanding Fair City Unity group of supporters is the envy of rival clubs.
And Saints won’t be taking them for granted.
“The next generation of supporters is so important,” he said.
“If we don’t look after them, we’ll have problems five, 10 or 15 years down the line.
“There were games last season when our support were our 12th man – behind the goal at Dens just after I started in the job they were incredible.
“I know how much the players appreciate it and so do the club. It’s something we’re embracing.
“We’ll meet with all members of our fanbase and try to work more closely with them.
“Clubs across the country are talking about our young supporters. It’s fantastic.”
Flaherty, Gary Bollan’s right-hand man at Forfar and Cowdenbeath and the former group sales manager with the Binn Group, isn’t yet three months into his new job.
“My role will develop as time goes on,” he said.
“There are things that will take priority at different stages until we get everything in place.”
● Linfield fans have reacted with delight to the news St Johnstone striker Eetu Vertainen has returned to the Northern Irish champions for a full season.
The Finnish international struggled to make an impact at McDiarmid Park but a second half of the season loan in Belfast made a good impression with Blues supporters as he helped clinch their team the title.
And David Healy must also have been pleased with what he saw of the man who scored four goals in one game.
This next loan is almost certain to end Vertainen’s Saints career, as his twoyear contract will be over by the end of it.
Saints wished Vertainen, who didn’t travel to Spain for the pre-season training camp, well in their official confirmation of the transfer.