St Johnstone Hall of Fame – Henry Hall

Henry Hall was one of the finest players ever to play for Saints. He was a natural goalscorer and not only had he the ability to be in the right place at the right time but he seemed to have time to pass the ball into the net. He helped transform Willie Ormond’s team from a mid table team into a top side feared by the Old Firm and ultimately European opponents.

In November 1968 Manager Willie Ormond signed Henry from Stirling Albion paying a then record transfer fee of £15,000 to bring him to Perth.

He made his debut on 9^th November 1968 at Muirton Park in a 3 – 2 defeat from St Mirren.

Saints team that day was : – Derek Robertson, George Miller, Willie Coburn, Alex Gordon, Benny Rooney, Ian McPhee, Kenny Aird, Buck McCarry, Alex MacDonald, Henry Hall, John Connolly. Sub: Gordon Whitlelaw.

Goalscorers were – Aird and McPhee from the penalty spot. Attendance 4,350.

Henry would go on to make a total of 256 ( 253 starts plus 3 sub ) appearances which places him in 18^th position in the all time Appearances list.

With 114 goals he is the 3rd highest goalscorer in the history of St Johnstone behind John Brogan ( 140 goals ) and Ian Rodger ( 116 goals ).

Between 24 February and 1 April 1969 he scored in 8 consecutive matches.

He scored 5 Hat tricks: –

 22 March 1969  v Raith Rovers 5 – 1.

16 August 1969 in the unforgettable 8 – 1 thrashing of Partick Thistle at Firhill.

3 October 1970 v Ayr United 4 – 1.

15 April 1972 v Kilmarnock 5 – 1.

24 March 1973  v Dundee 4 – 1.

He was of course a key player in the run that would take Saints to Hampden Park for the 1969 League Cup Final where the team were most unlucky to lose to Celtic 1 – 0.

During the 1971/72 UEFA Cup campaign he scored the opening goal in the 3 – 0 win over SV Hamburg at Muirton and played in 4 of the 6 European matches. Injury kept him out of the Vasas Budapest match at Muirton and the Zel Sarajevo match in Yugoslavia.

He was honoured in both 1969 and 1970 when he represented the Scottish League against the English League, firstly, at Hampden where he came on as a sub, and the following year, at Coventry where he started the match.

He was voted the Supporters Club Player of the Year in 1969 and again in 1971.

His last match for Saints was at Fir Park Motherwell where a crowd of 4646 saw the home team win 3 – 0.

Saints team was: – Derek Robertson, Gordon Smith, Sandy Smith, Alex Rennie, Ian MacDonald, Gordon Cramond, Henry Hall, Jim O’Rourke, John Muir, Billy Ritchie, Duncan Lambie. Subs: Fred Aitken, Gordon McGregor.

In 1975 Manager Jackie Stewart allowed him to leave Muirton on a free transfer. He would join Dundee United where his experience helped Jim McLean bring through a highly talented group of young players.

Henry Hall was inducted into the St Johnstone Hall of Fame in 2013, an award that he richly deserves. 

St Johnstone Hall of Fame – Joe Carr

Joe Carr was signed by Saints Manager Johnny Pattillo in 1953 from Dunipace Juniors. He had previously played for Kilsyth St Pats and Bonnybridge Rose.

Joe made his debut on the 17^th October of that year against Ayr United at Somerset Park in a match that Saints won 4 – 3. The goalscorers that day were Doug Newlands and Ian Rodger who hit a hat trick.

Saints team was: –  Roy MacLaren, Jimmy Woodcock, Jimmy Cairns, Davie Mackie, Bill Riddick, Archie Baird, Doug Newlands, Ernie Ewen, Ian Rodger, Jackie Landles and Joe Carr.

Joe went on to make a total of 229 appearances for Saints which places him as 30^th equal alongwith Ernie Ewen in the all time appearances list.

His 70 goals puts him 8^th equal in the all time goalscorers list with Harry Ferguson ( pre War ) and Gordon Whitelaw  (1965 – 1973 ).

One of the highlights of his career was scoring the first goal in a Second Division match at Shieldfield Park, Berwick on 26 April 1960, when Bobby Brown’s team won 2 – 0 to gain promotion to the First Division.

Saints team that day was: –  Billy Taylor, Charlie McFadyen, Billy Hawthorne, Jimmy Walker, Bobby Brown, John Docherty, Ian Gardiner, Norrie Innes, Johnny Liddell, Willie Haughey, Joe Carr.

The following week Saints were crowned Champions finishing the Season on 53 points 3 ahead of runners up Dundee United.

St Johnstone were Joe’s only senior club and during his time at Muirton Park he played with many fine players including, as well as those mentioned above, Billy Hodgson ( who went on to Sheffield United ) , George Whitelaw ( who moved to Sunderland ), and a latterly a young Alex Ferguson.

Joe also took penalties. One particular story that sticks in my mind was that in early 1961, during a midweek match at Easter Road, Saints were one goal down, and nearing half time. Doug Newlands was fouled in the box and the ref awarded a penalty. Hibs goalie Ronnie Simpson had a routine at penalties when he would stand a couple of steps to the side of the centre of his goal inviting the taker to aim for the “big” gap. He would then leap across goal to save. Joe stepped up and took the spot kick slamming the ball into the “small” space and at the same time watching Simpson dive the wrong way. This was the first time that Simpson had been beaten by a spot kick in seven penalties.

I don’t know if they had mind games in those days, but if they did, then Joe won that contest hands down.

As a thank you for his many years of loyal service Joe received a benefit match in 1962 when Falkirk provided the opposition.

A nice touch that evening was that Charlie McFadyen held back the rest of the team to allow Joe to take the ovation of the 4,000 crowd.

Saints team that night was : – Billy Taylor, Charlie McFadyen, Jim Lachlan, Jimmy Walker, Jim Ferguson, Ron McKinven, Jim Menzies, Ronnie Wright, Bob Gilfillan, John Bell, Joe Carr. Subs were Bobby Grant and Matt McVittie.  Bobby Grant is, of course, Roddy Grant’s father. Merely for the record Saints won 2 – 1.

After his retirement he joined the Club’s coaching staff.

Joe was inducted into the St Johnstone Hall of Fame on Saturday night, an award that he richly deserves. Now in his 80’s, unfortunately, he was unable to attend in person but his son ( also ) Joe accepted the award on his behalf.

Dave Mackay Scores St Johnstone’s 600th Premier League Goal

When Dave Mackay fired home St Johnstone’s second goal in the 4 – 0 win over Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the Scottish Premiership match at McDiarmid Park yesterday, it was the 600th goal Saints have recorded in Premier League matches dating back to 1975.

Saints first ever Premier League match at Muirton Park on 30 August 1975 against local rivals Dundee United ended 1 – 0 to Saints with John Muir having the distinction of scoring that historic goal.

It would be many years later before number 100 would come along. On 23 March 1991 East End Park Dunfermline was the venue for Don McVicar’s goal in a game Saints would eventually lose 3 – 2 to our hosts.

Ian Redford scored number 200 in a 1 – 1 draw with Airdrie at Broomfield on 27 March 1993.

Number 300 was a Kieran McAnespie goal at McDiarmid Park in a 2 – 1 success over Celtic on 14 November 1998.

The 25 August 2001 would see Jim Weir score number 400 at the Ormond Stand end as Saints fought back to secure a 1 – 1 over Aberdeen. A rare goal for Saints captain.

Pittodrie Stadium, 7 May 2011 was the venue for number 500 when Smith the Aberdeen defender had the misfortune to put through his own goal. Saints winning 2 – 0 that day.

And so to Inverness Caledonian Thistle at McDiarmid Park on 5th October 2013 when Dave Mackay went into the history books with that 600th Premier League goal.

Bring on number 700.

Interestingly, Dave also scored against Ross County earlier this Season and Saints went on to win 4 – 0 that day. He has made 172 appearances ( 170 starts + 2 subs ) for Saints scoring 10 goals. Saints have not lost when “Cup tie” scores. Seven games have been won and 3 drawn.

Could he be a lucky mascot!

100 Years Ago Today – Vale of Leven 0 St Johnstone 2

100 years ago today, Saints travelled to Millburn Park, Alexandria and defeated Vale of Leven 2 – 0 in a Scottish League Division 2 match.

The team that day was John Mulrooney, Willie Leishman, Archie Lindsay, John Muir, David Craig, Willie Williamson, Gordon Bannerman, Willie Gardiner, John McGuire, Tommy Cairns, Henry Brown.

Goalscorers were John Muir and John McGuire.

Saints would finish the 1913/14 Season in a respectable 5th place in the League with 23 points from 22 matches.

Michael Duberry at St Johnstone

Following on from yesterday’s news that Michael Duberry has retired from football here is a summary of his St Johnstone appearances.

Season   Premier Lge    Lge Cup       Scot Cup         Totals

2009/10    17 – 0 – 1         0 – 0 – 0        1 – 0 – 0        18 – 0 – 1

2010/11     32 – 1 – 0        3 – 0 – 0        3 – 0 – 0         38 – 1 – 0

Totals         49 – 1 – 1        3 – 0 – 0        4 – 0 – 0         56 – 1 – 1

2 October 1971 – Celtic 0 St Johnstone 1

On this day in 1971 St Johnstone travelled to Glasgow to meet Celtic who were the previous Season’s Champions.

Going into the match Saints were on a high after defeating SV Hamburg 3 days earlier in the UEFA Cup at Muirton Park.

However our record at Parkhead was not a good one. In 27 previous visits dating back to 1925 Saints had managed to register only 3 victories. 2 – 1 in the Scottish Cup in 1936, 1 – 0 in the League Cup in 1961 and 1 – 0 in the League in 1965..

Benny Rooney was still injured and Henry Hall had not recovered from the injury he received against Hamburg so Jim Pearson was the only change from midweek.

Manager Willie Ormond selected the following team : – Jimmy Donaldson, John Lambie, Willie Coburn, Alex Rennie, Alex Gordon, Ian McPhee, Kenny Aird, Gordon Whitelaw, Jim Pearson, John Connolly, Fred Aitken. Sub John Muir.

Jock Stein chose the following team for the hoops: – Williams, Craig, Brogan, Hay, McNeill, Connelly, Johnstone, Dalglish, Wallace, Callaghan, Macari. Sub Lennox.

40,000 fans turned up at Celtic Park to watch two in form teams and they would not be disappointed.

Both teams were known for their attacking football and the game set off at a fast pace with chances being created and spurned at both ends.

Aird and Pearson for Saints and Callaghan for Celts missed good opportunities and Jimmy Donaldson had to bravely dive at the feet of Wallace to keep his goal intact.

Play continued to go from end to end before John Connolly broke the deadlock in 32 minutes. Pearson got away from his marker and passed to Connolly. Despite McNeill and Craig being close-by he managed to create enough space to fire in a 20 yarder which beat Williams all ends up. Great goal. 1 – 0.

Minutes later Fred Aitken “scored” from a free kick but the referee disallowed it taking the view that the kick was indirect.

Just on half time Macari thought that he had equalised but his “goal” was disallowed for a foul on Lambie.

In the second half the fast tempo continued with Donaldson firstly turning a Dalglish effort onto the bar and then shortly after that he again saved at the feet of Wallace. From time to time the big keeper also liked to do something unusual and today was one such occasion. The ball had run towards the corner flag and Jimmy decided to leave his goal to retrieve it. However, instead of merely punting it upfield he chose to dribble past Macari before clearing his lines. Thankfully he got away with it or it could have been embarrassing for him.

Saints were still giving as good as they were getting and Gordon Whitelaw forced a fine save from Williams. Connolly “scored” again in 69 minutes after a nice one-two with Pearson but this one was chalked off for offside.

In the remaining minutes Celtic went all out for the equaliser but Saints defence held firm to record a rare win at Celtic Park.

1 October 1927 – Dunfermline Athletic 2 St Johnstone 3

OTD 1927 travelled to East End Park to play Dunfermline Athletic in a League Division 1 match.

This was Saints fourth Season in the higher division and Manager David Taylor had gradually put together a good squad with a mixture of promising young players coupled with more experienced men.

He selected the following team for the meeting with the Pars: – Sam Page, Willie Steele, John Jamieson, Willie Imrie ( making his debut ), Andrew Swallow, Jimmy Bolton, Peter Gavigan Andy Main, Jimmy Munro, John Stevenson, Harry Nicholson.

Heavy rain had made the pitch something of a duck pond but Saints had started well taking the game to the homesters. As often happens though, after doing all the pressing, Saints found themselves a goal behind in 11 minutes when in virtually their first attack the home team scored. 0 – 1.

Reports suggest that goalkeeper Sam Page did not look too clever for this one failing to properly punch clear a free kick into the penalty area. Undeterred, Saints resumed on the attack and after Dunfermline had withstood sustained pressure they broke away to double their lead. 0 – 2.

Things might have been worse still for Saints but the Pars missed an open goal. So when half time arrived the better team were 2 – 0 down.

However, Jimmy Munro pulled one back 10 minutes after the restart. Gavigan fired in a shot that the home keeper could only parry and the striker was on hand to slide the ball home.1 – 2 and game on.

Sam Page then showed his true abilities making some fine saves before Munro equalised with a beautiful header. This was the culmination of a lovely exchange of passes between Nicholson and Stevenson. Munro heading home the latter’s cross. 2 – 2 .

Both teams were now going all out for the winner and it was end to end stuff. Munro came so close to making it three but his shot hit the post and went out of play for a goal kick.

Just when it looked like the game would end in a draw, and with the home fans leaving, Munro popped up in the final seconds to complete his hat trick. Stevenson fired in a hard shot which the keeper saved but could not hold and in similar fashion to his first goal Munro was on hand to flick the ball into the net from a difficult angle. 3 – 2 and full time.

The result meant that Saints had taken 10 points from their first 9 games and was their best start to a First Division season.

At the end of the Season Saints were comfortable in 11th position in mid table with 36 points from their 38 matches. Dunfermline were, however, relegated.

It is interesting to highlight some of the Saints players in the team that day. All were David Taylor signings.

Jimmy Munro was in fact signed by the Manager on 3 separate occasions. The first time was in November 1925 when he paid Ardrossan Winton Rovers £10 for his signature.  In February 1928 after scoring 55 goals in 79 games he was transferred to Raith Rovers. He was only there until the end of the Season and he re-signed for Saints in the summer of 1928. In February 1929 after 7 goals in 13 appearances he was transferred to Cardiff City. He returned to Saints in 1930 from Millwall as part of the Andrew Swallow transfer ( see below ). In December of 1930 after 5 goals in 6 games he again left Saints this time to play for Cork in Southern Ireland. Total 98 appearances and 67 goals.

Willie Imrie’s signature was secured from Dunnikier Juniors in Fife in 1927. A tough tackling wing half, alongwith Sandy McLaren, he was capped by Scotland in 1929 when he appeared against Norway in Bergen ( 7 – 3 ) and Germany in Berlin ( 1 – 1 ). Indeed he is the only Saints player to have scored for Scotland at full International level when he netted an 87th minute equaliser against Germany. He made 75 appearances for Saints scoring 18 goals before being transferred to Blackburn Rovers for a then record £3,750 fee. He later joined Newcastle United and Swansea Town.

Andrew Swallow was signed in November 1924 from Shettleston United Juniors and went on to make 191 appearances scoring 7 goals. He played for Saints at both the Recreation Grounds and at Muirton Park including the first ever game there against Queen’s Park on Christmas day 1924. He was a central defender and captained Saints. He received a Testimonial in 1929 when Blackburn Rovers came to Muirton Park ( Rovers won 5 – 2 ). In August 1930 he was transferred to Millwall for what was described as a substantial fee. Part of the transfer included Jimmy Munro coming back to Saints.

Willie Steele had been signed in 1926 from Bridgeton Waverley and between 13 August 1927 and 25 April 1931 he played a record 162 consecutive matches all at full back. Unfortunately, Saints were relegated at the end of that Season and Steele signed for Liverpool. He later joined Birmingham City.