St Johnstone chief lifts lid on ambitions to turn Perth High Street building into club museum

Building a brand is a core part of the vision for St Johnstone under their American owners.

That will hopefully mean a new shop and museum, a new club crest and new opportunities.

CEO Fran Smith hopes Saints will be able to takeover the old Visit Scotland building on Perth’s High Street to become part of a city centre tourist trail.

And he believes that modernising the badge is another crucial part of expanding commercial horizons.

“We’ve submitted our note of interest on the shop,” Smith reported.

“We’ll soon find out if we are the council’s preferred people to use it.

“Saints in the Community would be taking on the building.

“There will be a museum through the back, a little area up the stairs for community use and a small retail outlet.

“Think about a culture trail – you go into Perth Museum and see the Stone of Destiny, up to the St Johnstone museum and learn about the only club in Perth in the senior leagues.

“Then move over to the Art Gallery.

“Adam (Webb) really wanted this town shop. There was nothing that told anyone that we have a football club here in Perth.

“You arrive at the train station, there’s no sign that says: ‘Perth – Home of St Johnstone Football Club’.

“I felt it would be a great thing for the Community to have a presence in the town as well.

“We asked Invest In Perth (a local business development organisation) if they had any properties and the most ideal one came up. You can’t ask for anything better than the High Street.

“This doesn’t change plans for the Hub. It’s a completely different project. I’m still working on that with Geoff (Brown).”

Digital refresh

Smith has big plans for opening up new income streams for St Johnstone, which start with a “digital refresh”.

“When I came into the Community (as CEO) it was just football, there was no brand,” he recalled.

“Now people know what Saints in the Community is.

“When they see a Saints in the Community coach, they are branded and know what it’s all about.

“When I came upstairs to the club, the first thing I noticed was everything is different.

“There’s no togetherness and no brand.

“The only way to drive the football club forward commercially is to have a brand that’s recognisable within the commercial sector.

“I showed fans the (proposed) badge at the fans forum. It’s a sink or swim moment – and the majority loved what they saw.

“It’s going to the SFA for approval.

“It’s a digital refresh of the brand that will look better. It gives us that identity that we can start building a commercial aspect.”

Multi-year deal

Smith is setting his sights high as far as the next Saints kit sponsor is concerned.

“I’m no longer going out and looking at front of shirt from the same three people we’ve had from the last 10 years,” he explained.

“No offence to them – they’ve been great supporters of the club and will continue to be.

“But I want a multi-year deal, something for three years with every commercial contract.

“It would allow us to budget for the next three seasons instead of going season to season not knowing how much commercial income you’re going to bring.

“If we can put that in place, we will know exactly what we’ve got to spend in the summer, next January and the next summer.

“In year two of those contracts, we start renegotiating.

“If we’ve got a brand for three or four years, the same sponsor, we don’t have to change the strips each season – home and away.

“These are things we want to look at – a sustainable model with steady growth.

“That all starts with this brand and not being scared to fail.

“That’s key from Adam. Don’t be scared to try something that fails. Because it means we’ve tried in the first place.”