Hi all,
My name is Lewis and I'm 22-years-old from Dublin, Ireland. I have been keeping an eye on the Saints since 2018 from Ireland, even though I only managed to get over to my first game in late 2021, that is where my real interest began, but overall, I've always had a liken for the Saints over the last six years.
And what a last six years it's been, with a few bumps along the way, but as a club we certainly have made very good progression on and off the pitch, and that's a credit to the Supporters, Volunteers, Boards, Players, Managers and the Staff at the Football Club.
Why St. Mirren?
The last promotion to the topflight under Jack Ross was what attracted me to the club originally, I remember watching my first stream of Dunfermline Athletic V St. Mirren. Cammy Smith and Jack Baird with our goals that night in January.
Over the years I've bought a couple of Jerseys, Training tops and Accessories for my car of St. Mirren. Wearing the merchandise out regularly across Ireland, which is great as I'd often get the odd person saying, "oh look there's a St. Mirren top", or the infamous question, "Why St. Mirren?"
The reason why I became a Buddie was because I liked what I saw from following the club abroad. I always enjoyed following the club on social media, checking for results on Score live, reading and listening to Player and Manager interviews via articles and the club's YouTube Channel. I liked the fact the club had ambitions in terms of looking to become majority-owned by the fans, and the club had strong ambitions to build again in the Scottish Premiership from being promoted in 2018.
When I attended my first game against Hibernian FC in December 2021, I felt a real connection between the players and the supporters. And since then, I felt that this culture has continued, which is fantastic to see, you really must credit everyone associated with the club for maintaining these levels of connection.
I've followed the Saints from Kilmarnock to Dingwall, and it's been good visiting so many places in Scotland along the way. My journey on a Saturday morning normally consists of waking up at about 3.30am to catch the usual 6.15am flight from Dublin Airport bound for the Airport in Paisley!
Most times coming home I probably wouldn't get home until about 1.30am on Sunday morning, but it's all worth supporting the Saints home and away. Regardless of if it's a Win, Draw or Loss I'll always be back, because that's what Supporters do. We support the team and get behind our club.
I do enjoy doing the Saturday morning ritual walk from the Airport down into Inchinnan Road and of course walking down the iconic Love Street, and then onto Town for a bit to kill time before the game.
I'm also a big fan of Shamrock Rovers (Member and Season Ticket holder) and the League of Ireland. Seeing the likes of Sean McLoughlin, Conor McCarthy, Jamie McGrath and Dylan Connolly at the club, who all started their careers in the League of Ireland coming to Paisley and contributing while they were here respectively was quite pleasing to see.
I've had the privilege of being at 14 Scottish Grounds to date, and some weekends I'd normally stay overnight to catch another game either in the Premiership or the Championship as I absolutely love Scottish football!
In 2022 and 2023 I was absolutely buzzing when the team were coming over to Northern Ireland for pre-season, but unfortunately two years in a row I wasn't able to go up to watch them in their matches due to work. However, it was great to see a big following from the fans over the two years in Belfast.
Member of SMiSA
I have now been a member of SMiSA since 2023, this was something I was hoping to do for a while time, and I finally became part of the SMiSA family last year. As I'm not based in the UK, I am using the international subscription paying €15 per month. This option is available to anyone interested in getting involved with SMiSA that is based outside of the UK.
One of the main reasons as to why I signed up was because I could still contribute to the long-term development of the club even if I went to games or not.
The fact that all SMiSA subscription revenue is split to provide funding to different parts of the Club whilst also building a SMiSA Cash Reserve is certainly something to shout about. This really inspired me to sign up. So, I'm happy to be part of the 1,300+ that are now part of SMiSA.
The stronger SMiSA is, the better the fans can safeguard the future and invest into St. Mirren Football Club for the short and long term.
Sign up to SMiSA today by following this link: SMiSA - The St.Mirren Independent Supporters Association
Why start a Fan Account?
Taking inspiration from other people that travel over from England and Scotland to highlight their trips of the League of Ireland, I decided to start the 'Irish Buddies' account on X. The account was started in September of 2023 just to highlight trips over for home and away games. Genuinely I wasn't sure what to expect but the following and the support on social media has been great. From St. Mirren Volunteers, Fans, Staff, Board Members and even a player has been in touch with the account which is incredible really.
And just on from making the account, it really allowed me to connect with St. Mirren fans, and I would personally like to thank Willie, Alan and many others for welcoming myself and the group into the Court Bar and allowing us to travel on their Supporters Bus whenever we need to. Absolutely greatly appreciated, and to all the gang at the Court Bar, you know who you are so thank you for your welcoming. You've made it much better for us supporting St. Mirren.
We even got custom 'Irish Buddies' Coasters from Alan earlier this year which was an incredible gesture, but I think that sums up the club, it shows that we really are a community club that not only do we care for the club, but we also care about each other as supporters and those connected to the club.
Along with my two other mates (Cathal & Daire) who travel regularly, we have made friends for life in Scotland since coming over, and like I said it's been an absolute pleasure.
I've even got a couple of friends that support Shamrock Rovers, Drogheda United and Treaty United keeping an eye on the club now, and they're also interested in coming over next season to see what all the 'fuss' is about.
I'll hopefully get to meet a few more Buddies during the 2024/25 season. Thanks for reading this post. Hopefully I didn't bore you too much.
Come On You Saints!