PARTY IN PERTH!
Davidson plotting a summer celebration
CALLUM DAVIDSON last night promised to throw a party for the people of Perth this summer after coronavirus forced st Johnstone to place their Betfred Cup celebrations on ice.
A soaring header from shaun Rooney saw the club lift the League Cup for the first time in their 137-year history — as well as securing the club’s second major trophy in seven years.
However, with a 1-0 win over Livingston played out at an
empty Hampden, fans were locked out of the national stadium due to Covid restrictions. Promising a knees-up for Saints fans in June when lockdown is hopefully eased, manager Davidson warned his players to hold fire on the champagne as they have a league clash at Hamilton on Wednesday night. ‘It is just one of those things,’ said the ex-Scotland defender. ‘The players will just have to realise that is the way it is just now. Hopefully we can get something in June when Covid starts to clear and they allow gatherings and we can celebrate with people back in Perth. ‘It is really important we do it because you do not win trophies very often — 137 years for St Johnstone to win this one, so we need to make sure we celebrate properly.’
Scottish Cup winners in 2014, Rooney’s 32nd-minute header made St Johnstone the second-most successful team in Scotland after a dominant Celtic over the last ten years. Davidson, who bounded up the steps of Hampden’s South Stand for a word with chairman Steve Brown at the end, admitted: ‘I gave his dad (former chairman Geoff) a bit of stick: “Your son has won two major trophies in his time as chairman”. He didn’t take that too well! ‘But it’s a great achievement for him. He works so hard. It’s one of those clubs that is well run. ‘We can’t spend money because we basically don’t have it. Hopefully we can now hold on to the players we have and build on it for the rest of the season — which is just as important as today’s game, make no mistake about it. We have some huge games coming up and we can’t take our eye off the ball.’ St Johnstone trio David
Wotherspoon, Liam Gordon and Stevie May are Perth born-and-bred, which former Saints player and assistant Davidson admitted gave him added satisfaction. ‘It’s all credit to Alistair Stevenson (academy manager) when you look at the number of players that actually come through the academy. It pleases me just as much. ‘Obviously I was here at the start of their development, (plus) Liam Gordon, Zander Clark, Stevie May — there’s loads of them. I was here five years ago and it’s great to see them all get their rewards. ‘It’s something we targeted with Tommy Wright (former manager) when we first came in — let’s try and get more young players in. It is important for the club. ‘Obviously it has been difficult to do it this year but, as you saw today, it has massive benefits for the club if you can.’