St Johnstone have been built the Brown way.
Others have dreamed bigger and bolder, only to find it has inevitably meant falling further and harder.
But at Muirton and then McDiarmid, pragmatism was never overtaken by idealism.
Three-and-half decades sticking to a brick by brick mentality, passed down from father to son, created the bedrock of the most successful long-term stewardship modern Scottish football has known.
And there can be no greater tribute to the Geoff and Steve Brown era that a Scottish Cup and League Cup double, for so long the preserve of only Rangers, Celtic and Aberdeen, isn’t the stuff of fluorescent fantasy.
It’s the next brick to be laid.
“To win the Scottish Cup was unthinkable when I first got involved with St Johnstone,” said Geoff, who bought Saints in 1986 when Muirton was crumbling and so too was the faith of the Perth fan base.
1986 | Graham Fulton sums up the 1985/86 season which saw Saints finish 6th in the bottom division. pic.twitter.com/OXVHNjOEfG
— Saints On This Day (@SaintsOTD) May 9, 2021
“So to reach two finals in one season is off the scale.
“The first job when I took on the club was to save it. It was that simple.
“As for ambitions, I certainly wasn’t thinking of winning trophies when we were struggling in the Second Division and paying players £30 a week.
“My attitude has always been – don’t look to buy a Rolls-Royce if all you can afford is a Ford.
“That was the same in football as well as business.
“When you set targets, they have to be achievable, pitched at a realistic level.
“Contemplating a cup would have been farcical back then.
“The past decade has been incredible for a club the size of St Johnstone.
“I have a son who has been the most successful chairman of this football club in its history.
“We have now won the League Cup for the first time and have a chance of winning the Scottish Cup again.”
From the day Geoff bought St Johnstone and put down immovable foundations, there has been a sense of duty to the local community in with them.
The fact that there were no Saints supporters at Hampden Park in February was always going to dilute the emotions of winning the Betfred Cup when you put that occasion up against the scenes in the east side of Glasgow and Perth’s city centre in 2014.
“The Betfred final was night and day compared to the Scottish Cup win simply because of Covid,” said Brown.
“The win over Dundee United seven years ago brought tears to the eyes.
“We had achieved something that had never been done before.
“Even the semi-final win over Aberdeen was special after all the semi-finals we had lost, falling and crashing out in every way imaginable.
“We were 1-0 down and the Aberdeen fans were singing ‘Who the **** is Stevie May?
“Then we got two goals to win it.
“And I’ll never forget Stewart Milne going onto the team bus to congratulate our players outside Ibrox.
“That was a true sporting gesture given the hurt he was feeling. I’m not sure it’s one I would have made!”
He added: “Like this year, Rangers and Celtic were both out. This time, of course, it was us that put out Rangers.
“We felt we had a realistic chance of winning, even though you look back on it and their team had quality players like Andy Robertson and Stuart Armstrong who you now see in the Champions League and the English Premier League.
“They were at another level but our guys showed more guts.
“It was a big weekend for us, with the celebrations carrying on in Perth on the Sunday.
Semi-final hero Shaun Rooney powers in a header and @StJohnstone lead in the Betfred Cup Final! 💥
And just look at how much it means to Callum Davidson and his players 🔵 pic.twitter.com/aBe8D90qOr
— Premier Sports 📺 (@PremierSportsTV) February 28, 2021
“The Betfred final was murder with no fans at Hampden.
“We were all socially distanced and even when we won, Steve went down to lift the cup and they wouldn’t left him into that area.
“Callum eventually managed to bring it up to us. But we couldn’t really celebrate.”
Callum Davidson has had to deal with a coronavirus crisis over the last couple of weeks.
Not until it becomes clear who is available and in peak condition for Saturday’s clash against Hibs will Brown contemplate how good Saints’ chances are of putting the Scottish Cup next to the Betfred Cup in the McDiarmid boardroom.
“Given what the club has been through with the virus I’ll wait and see what team the manager can put out against Hibs,” he said. “So much will hinge on who is available to Callum.
“Obviously clubs will be looking at some of our players given the success this season.
“As and when anyone goes, I’m sure the club will be looking to have hefty sell-on clauses built in.
“The manager had a system at the start of the year and we were playing good football without getting goals.
“But it has come good and our defensive unit, in particular, has been excellent.”
Brown was chairman when Blackburn Rovers made their move to take Davidson away from Perth as player and a similar career path could soon open up now that he is a rising star in management.
“If we win this cup, I suspect we might have trouble keeping hold of Callum,” he said.
“That would be a distinct possibility considering we have lost managers to England before.
“Callum has done an extraordinary job. How often does a club outside Rangers and Celtic get to two cup finals?
“What are his qualities? Callum brings knowledge to the job, for a starter. He is bright, a hell of a nice guy and a good communicator.
“He was at university when he first came to us as a player. He was never a dummy. He could have been a professional golfer or a tennis player.
“He has never had an agent. He handles that sort of thing himself. In today’s world that is unusual.”
