'Most enjoyable season since Wright years' - how Saints stormed to title

ByAmy Canavan

BBC Sport Scotland

Top of the table since matchday one when they thrashed Partick Thistle - who turned out to be their only title challengers - 5-1, St Johnstone supporters were still not celebrating their Scottish Championship win until Ruari Paton's pinpoint header against Dunfermline on Tuesday sparked bedlam at East End Park.

Simo Valakari's Perthshire Saints have sealed their immediate return to the Premiership with two games to spare, even if for much of the season it's seemed a case of when, not if, they'd be popping the champagne for their pending top-flight return next term.

But for the punters who have become accustomed to a bit of pain in recent years, nothing was being taken for granted, despite a fairly flawless campaign.

"Being top throughout has brought a strange sort of comfort in a way, we've never been chasing or anything like that," Saints fan and Dogger Saints podcaster, Danny Williams told BBC Scotland.

"It's probably quite a natural reaction for football fans to get a bit nervy, especially after having four difficult seasons like we have - I think we've been carrying a bit of scar tissue.

"But, what a feeling enjoying going every week and being confident every week has been, this has just been a lovely way to top it all off."

As season's go, it's been a pretty straightforward one for St Johnstone.

And it was very welcomed by those who spend their Saturdays - and this season, Fridays - at McDiarmid Park.

They've won the most games (20 out of 24), lost the fewest (three), scored the most goals (64 - 12 more than Thistle) and conceded the lowest amount (25 - 10 fewer than the Jags).

Williams cites their emphatic start - where they gathered 28 points from an available 30 - as the crucial part of the title triumph as it "provided a nice cushion, even when the form dropped off a little bit with draws around the turn of the year.

"Because it was such a good start, anything less than that, you start to get jittery, a bit touchy after being on such a pedestal."

And he said it was only earlier this month - 4 April to be exact - when he felt "the pendulum totally swung in our favour".

"That was a day when you thought, it's totally in our hands," he explained.

"We were 1-0 down to Arbroath but we equalised just before half-time. Then, we went on to win 4-2, while Thistle dropped points away to Ayr.

"That was the one."

Since the peerless cup double in 2021, the Saintees have spent their recent campaigns circling around the dreaded play-off and relegation drain, before falling through the trapdoor.

Relegation is rarely - if ever - a good thing, but it can't be said they haven't made the most of a bad situation.

"The squad had gone a bit stale - not to have a pop at the guys before!" Williams said, "but it's that old Sir Alex Ferguson saying, 'you never let a team grow old together' and I think that's what happened a little bit under successive managers.

"What relegation did was it gave the squad a clean break.

"There was barely anyone who stayed last summer and the guys that have come in have all played their part and made a positive impact.

"It wasn't a positive thing, going down - and I think certainly when you speak to the owners of the club, they'll tell you from a financial perspective it wasn't positive - but I think the way the club's responded has been really good."

While owner Adam Webb - who emotionally spoke to BBC Scotland at East End Park on Tuesday - deserves credit for that, he and others in lofty positions at McDiarmid ought to be praised for sticking by Valakari.

It's easy to forget how long the Finn was in charge for last season - he was appointed on 1 October 2024 but had to wait 25 days because of work permit issues to finally take his place in the dugout.

But, from the early days of his tenure, he had a lot of credit in the bank, down to a combination of the understanding of the dire circumstances he inherited, the football he attempted to play and by his charismatic charm.

St Johnstone appear to love him just as much as he loves them.

"Even though we'd gone down and he'd been at the wheel for a lot of it, he almost deserved a chance still," Williams explained.

"He had a lot of goodwill because he's such a decent guy.

"He's so lovable, a real character and he's got such a good way with people.

"He's been a total breath of fresh air around the place, the impact he's had on the city can't go underestimated and now that he's taken us back up at the first time of asking - having gone wire to wire as leaders - he's repaid that faith."

When Don Robertson's whistle peeped - it could just about be heard through the celebratory chants of the 3,000+ strong travelling support - Valakari let it all out.

The energetic manager was emotional, ecstatic and a little bit exhausted as he immersed himself in the post-match scenes.

The supporters were chanting his name from the 80th minute onwards and a few of his players lifted him up like they will do with the Championship trophy on Friday night after playing Raith Rovers - live on BBC Scotland.

He has masterminded what Williams calls "the most enjoyable season going and watching Saints since Tommy Wright was there".

Wright, of course, oversaw the landmark 2014 Scottish Cup win during his impressive seven-year stint.

By no means does Williams' sentiment diminish the cup double achieved under Wright's successor Callum Davidson, but this has been a league campaign built on utter consistency - while the first 10 games were "totally brilliant".

"It's been nice to have that feeling back, but I think the novelty would wear off after one season," he added, not wanting to get too familiar with the second tier.

Thankfully for those of a Perthshire-Saints persuasion, they can put their notifications for the Premiership back on. In two games time, their full attention will be back on the top flight.

How do they reckon they'll fare once there, though?

"We're in a decent place, better than we were last time," Williams said.

"There'll be a lot of guys maybe looking for more opportunities elsewhere next season, but hopefully the core of the squad can stay as it'd be good to see them have a crack at the Premiership because they've done us really well this season."

That they have. Now they get to party just as hard too...