Muirton Park

The former home of St Johnstone however still holds many memories for those old enough to remember the days of the old 18-team top division.

St Johnstone were one of the first clubs to have moved stadiums in Scotland; a topic that is very much still current for Aberdeen FC and their supporters.

Muirton Park in the Dunkeld area of Perth was actually the second home to St Johnstone and was opened on Christmas Day in 1924 when a crowd of 12,000 welcomed the visit of Queens Park.

Ground improvements were slow but significant. During the war the ground was used as a training area and storage for the Home Guard, not unlike Pittodrie which was utilised as a munitions dump during those troubled times.

In 1961 the construction of the covered enclosure on the east side of the ground was completed before floodlights were installed three years later, the visit of West Ham Utd with the FA Cup in December 1964 attracting a large enthusiastic crowd.

The official record attendance at the ground is recorded as 29,972 for the visit of Dundee in a Scottish Cup tie in February 1951. That record was pushed to the limit in March 1970 when Aberdeen played Kilmarnock in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup at neutral Muirton Park. On the flip side the lowest ever attendance was a paltry 466 for the visit of Albion Rovers in 1986. It was a far cry from the heady days of the early seventies when the old ground was packed full for the visit of the likes of old Aberdeen foes SV Hamburg in European football.

In 1985 and following on from the tragic events at Bradford the Perth club were mindful that their 61-year-old main stand was timber in construction and would certainly fail any new health and safety legislation. That prompted some new thinking and eventually after protracted negotiations with food chain Asda, the club sold their ground with the deal funding the £4m costs to build a new ground on the outskirts of Perth.

Before St Johnstone moved, they did come up against Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup at Muirton on 30th January 1988. With the old ground struggling to meet safety standards and with the Perth club understandably reluctant to invest in a ground that was being demolished in a year or so, it was Aberdeen that weighed in with financial assistance to make and emergency upgrade to the terracing to allow the large travelling Aberdeen support to attend. The crowd in excess of 10,000 had to wait until the 83rd minute before Bobby Connor scored the only goal of the game to put Aberdeen through.

One of this writers’ earliest memories of Muirton Park was the Dons visit in September 1969.

The Perth side were one of the best around at that time and were a tough opponent on their own ground.

Aberdeen certainly found them a handful as the Dons went down 3-1. The irony was that Aberdeen fielded Scotland international keeper Bobby Clark at centre half, with his replacement Ernie McGarr in goal. McGarr had taken over from Clark after a loss of form the previous season and Clark had played several games for the Aberdeen reserves as an outfield player; much to the eventual dismay of manager Eddie Turnbull who promptly dropped Clark from any outfield action.

Later that season Clark was again in action at Muirton Park but on this occasion, he was back in his customary goalkeeper position as Aberdeen faced Kilmarnock in the Scottish Cup. The semi-final clash was for once a proper neutral venue with the Perth ground being equally distant between Aberdeen and Kilmarnock.

It was not very often that Aberdeen had enjoyed what was a fair neutral venue and the pulling power of the Dons was typified back then when they filled most of the ground.

In an era when most areas were not all ticket it was almost impossible to quantify the exact attendance, but the Dons were backed in huge numbers as all buses in the area were hired with special trains laid on to meet demand.

The official attendance of 25,812 was close to the limit at Muirton.

Reports that many fans gained entry by ‘other means suggested that the real attendance was close to the record crowd at Muirton.

For Aberdeen it was a day of joy as a Derek McKay goal in the 22nd minute was enough to take the Dons through to Hampden.

Kilmarnock at that time were a top side and actually favourites to reach the Final; they bombarded the Aberdeen defence in the second half in what was a nervy time for the Dons support but with Bobby Clark back to his best and a young Martin Buchan emerging as a defender of real ability it was Aberdeen that progressed to the Hampden final.

While Aberdeen have played St Johnstone at Muirton in all domestic competitions over the years they also clashed in an Anglo Scottish Cup tie in 1975 as Aberdeen won 2-0. That season was the first ever of the new Premier League; the ten-team elite of Scottish football.

With two sides being relegated in that inaugural season it was St Johnstone that were cut adrift at the bottom of the league all season.

With each team playing the other four times in the season at least, the Dons penultimate game of the season was at Muirton where the Perth side had long been confirmed as relegated. That left one other side from Aberdeen, Dundee or Dundee Utd to join them.

The Dons 2-0 defeat did not help their cause but a final day win over Hibernian saved Aberdeen from what would have been a first ever relegation in club history.

For the record the 1988 Scottish Cup tie was the last occasion Aberdeen played at Muirton Park while their first visit was back on the 27th December 1924.

McDiarmid Park

The first meeting of the sides at McDiarmid Park on 29th September 1990 saw Saints register their best ever result against Aberdeen, a 5-0 success which enthralled the home element of a crowd of 8,711. The goals came from a Grant on 12 mins, 55, Treanor 34, 42 (pen) and Maskrey 80. Aberdeen would go on and lose the league on the very final day of the season at Ibrox, so that defeat proved much more costly than was even realised at the time. The teams that afternoon were:

St. Johnstone Teamsheet: Hamilton, Treanor, Baltacha, Cherry, Inglis, McGinnis, Moore, Turner (Lee), Maskrey, Grant, Curran (Deas)

Aberdeen Teamsheet: Snelders, McKimmie, Robertson, Grant, Watson, Irvine, van de Ven, (Robertson) Bett, Mason, Connor, Gillhaus (Jess)

Sine that day the teams have met at Saints’ third home on 43 occasions, twice in friendlies, twice in the Scottish Cup and 39 times in the Premier Division, the SPL and the SPFL Premiership. St Johnstone played previously at the Recreation Grounds and at Muirton Park.

The overall record in those games – St Johnstone 9 wins, Aberdeen 20 wins and 14 draws. The goal tally reads 53 to 39 in favour of the Dons.

Since then, St Johnstone have scored more than three goals in a game against the Dons at McDiarmid Park once, on 2nd January 1999 when they romped to a 4-1 win.
Aberdeen have kept clean sheets in 21 of the 43 meetings at McDiarmid Park.

Jonny Hayes scored the first of his thirty-four Aberdeen goals in a 2-1 win at McDiarmid Park on 18th August 2012. Isaac Osbourne’s 16th minute goal that day was his only AFC strike.

Aberdeen have avoided defeat in Perth on each of the last nine occasions the sides have met. Saints’ last home success against Aberdeen came on 22nd April 2016 when they won 3-0 as Michael Rose (now of Coventry City) and Connor McLennan made Dons’ debuts.

The last game between the sides in Perth in April 2021 saw ex Saints and Dons midfielder Paul Sheerin lead the Aberdeen to a 1-0 win thanks to a goal from Jonny Hayes. The Irishman has netted on five occasions against St Johnstone. Of the current squad Niall McGinn has scored ten goals against the Saints, Marley Watkins and Ryan Hedges have scored two and Scott Brown once.