St Mirren Park, also known as The SMISA Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Paisley, Scotland. It is the home of St Mirren. The stadium is the sixth home of the club and replaced Love Street.

History

Talks over a new stadium began on 15 January 2003, when the club met representatives from

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and

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. The club were looking to sell their ground at Love Street for retail development. Selling Love Street would secure the necessary funding to build the new stadium. Planning applications for a retail development at Love Street were passed on 24 May 2005 and the club subsequently sold the ground to

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British Multinational corporation, multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues an ...

on 25 April 2007 for £15 million. The new stadium site broke ground on 7 January 2008 and was officially opened on 31 January 2009 at a cost of £8 million. Before the first game at the new stadium there was a parade from Love Street to Greenhill Road to celebrate the opening of the stadium. Club chairman Stewart Gilmour and

First Minister A first minister is any of a variety of leaders of government cabinets. The term literally has the same meaning as "prime minister" but is typically chosen to distinguish the office-holder from a superior prime minister. Currently the title of '' ...

Alex Salmond Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond (; born 31 December 1954) is a Scottish politician and economist who served as First Minister of Scotland from 2007 to 2014. A prominent figure on the Scottish nationalist movement, he has served as leader ...

were also present at the first match at the new ground. Alex Salmond unveiled a plaque before the game to commemorate the opening. The game between St Mirren and

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

finished in a 1–1 draw, with the first goal at the new stadium being scored by Kilmarnock striker

Kevin Kyle Kevin Alastair Kyle (born 7 June 1981) is a Scottish retired footballer and media personality who played as a centre forward. He played for eleven senior clubs in his career. Kyle gained ten full Scotland international caps and scored one goal. ...

Dennis Wyness Dennis Wyness (born 22 March 1977) is a retired Scottish footballer. He played either as an attacking midfielder or as a striker. He has previously played for Aberdeen, Inverness CT, Hearts, St Mirren, Queen of the South, Dumbarton, Peterh ...

scored St Mirren's first goal at the new ground, in the same match. The opening match set the record attendance of 7,542, and was only surpassed in the

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottis ...

play-off match against Dundee United, when 7,732 fans attended on 26 May 2019. St Mirren Park has also become the regular home of the

Scotland national under-21 football team The Scotland national under-21 football team, controlled by the Scottish Football Association, is Scotland's national under 21 football team and is considered to be a feeder team for the Scotland national football team. As a European under-21 t ...

. In November 2015, St Mirren agreed a two-year sponsorship deal with

Renfrewshire Council Renfrewshire () ( sco, Renfrewshire; gd, Siorrachd Rinn Friù) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Ren ...

to rename the stadium as the Paisley 2021 Stadium. This was to promote Paisley's bid to become a

UK City of Culture UK City of Culture is a designation given to a city (or a local area from 2025) in the United Kingdom for a period of one calendar year, during which the successful bidder hosts cultural festivities through culture-led regeneration for the ye ...

in 2021. In June 2018, the stadium was renamed as The Simple Digital Arena as part of a four-year deal with

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...

-based IT firm Simple Digital Solutions. In November 2020, the stadium was renamed The SMISA Stadium in reference to the St. Mirren Independent Supporters Association. The gesture is designed to mark what will be the last season before the club becomes majority fan owned in 2021.

Construction

St Mirren Park is built on a 12.5-acre site on Greenhill Road in the Ferguslie Park area of the town. The previously unused site is less than a mile from the club's former ground.

Barr Construction Barr Construction was a major Scottish contracting organisation operating throughout the United Kingdom. History The company started in the late 19th century as a joinery firm known as W & J Barr & Sons and gradually expanded into civil engin ...

were responsible for the design and construction of the stadium. Their design consisted of four grandstands with a total capacity of . The East Stand is the Main Stand. The North Stand is used by away fans. Larger away supports can also be seated in a section of the West Stand. The West Stand has the largest capacity of all the stands. Whilst the South Stand is the Family Stand. *East Stand (Greenhill Road) – capacity 2,220. (Main Stand) *West Stand (Craigielea Drive) – capacity 2,516. (2 sections for Away Stand Overspill or small away support) *North Stand (Ferguslie Park Avenue) – capacity 1,633. (Away Stand) *South Stand (Drums Avenue) – capacity 1,654. (Family Stand)

Facilities

On the outside of the stadium, promotional plaques have been constructed on the wall including fans names and loved ones. In the undercroft areas under each of the home support sections, large plaques dedicated to the members of the club's 'Hall of fame' have been erected by members of the supporters association and the website team, detailing player profiles and stats. Also, a 7-a-side pitch behind the North Stand is covered by the Airdome and can be hired by the public.

Transport

Paisley St James Railway Station Paisley St James railway station is on the Inverclyde Line, serving one of the residential districts of the town, just west of the town centre. For passengers travelling to the commercial district, is the main railway station of Paisley and is ...

, which is served by trains on the

Inverclyde Line The Inverclyde Line is a railway line running from Glasgow Central station through Paisley (Gilmour Street) and a series of stations to the south of the River Clyde and the Firth of Clyde, terminating at Gourock and Wemyss Bay, where it connec ...

from Glasgow Central, is adjacent to St Mirren Park. Since the stadium opened, some supporters campaigned for the local transport authorities to rename the station to ''Paisley St Mirren''. Following station improvements, the signage of the station was updated to read as "Paisley St James, alight here for St Mirren Park", as a compromise between supporter groups and the local transport regulators SPT. Paisley Gilmour Street is a 15-minute walk from St Mirren Park, but has a much more frequent service from Glasgow Central. The ground is very near to the M8 Motorway and is accessed via junction 29. Fans travelling from

North Ayrshire North Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Àir a Tuath, ) is one of 32 council areas in Scotland. The council area borders Inverclyde to the north, Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire to the northeast, and East Ayrshire and South Ayrshire to the east a ...

can also access the ground via the A737 road. There is a car park at the stadium for permit holders, and street parking is also available.

References

External links