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St Johnstone loan success stories – where have best destinations been for Perth club?

Taylor Steven and Sam McClelland are following a well-trodden path to the Saints first team.

The loan system has served Taylor Steven, Jason Kerr and Sam McClelland well.
The loan system has served Taylor Steven, Jason Kerr and Sam McClelland well. Images: SNS.

St Johnstone’s golden era has been built on a few sturdy pillars.

Shrewd signings, excellent management and an enduring dressing room environment are among them.

Another important factor over the last decade and a bit has been the club’s use of the loan market.

All three trophy wins featured at least one player who spent time away from McDiarmid to get them ready for the Perth first team.

With Taylor Steven starring for Alloa in League One and Sam McClelland helping Dundee United clinch the Championship title, this season might prove to be another significant one in terms of developing talent.

Courier Sport picks out some of the most important loan destinations for St Johnstone.


Alloa Athletic

Time will tell if Steven becomes a Premiership regular at McDiarmid Park.

But he’s putting himself in a very good place to do just that.

The 19-year-old forward is making exactly the sort of impact he and Saints would want – playing every week, scoring lots of goals, setting-up just as many and improving his all-round game.

His superb pass for Bobby Wales to clinch a winning goal over Cove at the weekend, securing Alloa’s play-off place, made it nine goals and nine assists in 29 games.

Alloa are rightly proud of the job they do, year in and year out, with loan players.

St Johnstone’s modern history may have been extremely different had Stevie May not scored 19 goals in 22 appearances for the then League Three club between December, 2011 and May, 2012.

Stevie May was prolific with Alloa.
Stevie May was prolific with Alloa. Image: SNS.

Coincidentally, May was the same age as Steven, 19.

It should also be noted that Barry Ferguson did a superb job with Charlie Gilmour, prompting Callum Davidson to recall him early and give him a chance after the mid-season break in the 2021/22 relegation battle.

Liam Caddis also had a half-season loan spell at Alloa, as did Kevin Moon.

Queen of the South

No location has been a better finishing school for promising young St Johnstone players than Palmerston.

With Saints an established top-flight outfit and Queen of the South promotion challengers in the second tier, Tommy Wright regularly used Dumfries as a ‘last loan’ destination.

Zander Clark spent a season-and-a-half there before he was deemed ready to share first team duties at Saints with Alan Mannus and then replace the Northern Ireland international.

Zander Clark in action for Queen of the South.
Zander Clark in action for Queen of the South. Image: SNS.

Jason Kerr built on two loans with East Fife by starring for Queens for a few months, slipping seamlessly into Wright’s side midway through the 2017/18 campaign.

Chris Kane wasn’t as good for them as Kerr but he was also ready to hit the ground running on his Perth return, scoring a hat-trick at Albion Rovers in the Scottish Cup in his first game back.

Young midfielder, Alex Ferguson, is currently sitting on 32 appearances for Queens in League One, hopefully putting him in a similar position to Steven for a summer bid to catch Craig Levein’s eye.

Angus United

Picking the top Angus club isn’t easy.

Brechin City, Forfar Athletic, Arbroath and Montrose have all taken Saints players in at various stages over the last couple of decades.

Andy Jackson’s spell at Station Park in 2006 jumps out as a loan of note, Max Kucheriavyi dropping down to the Highland League with Brechin is a more recent success story, while present day club captain and double winner, Liam Gordon, got his first taste of senior football at Gayfield.

In recent times, though, Montrose probably come out on top.

Cammy Ballantyne in action at Rugby Park.
Cammy Ballantyne in action at Rugby Park. Image: SNS.

Cammy Ballantyne’s Rugby Park display helped keep Saints in the Premiership last season – he’d made close to 100 appearances for Stewart Petrie’s side.

And, even though this season has been an injury wipe-out, Petrie also did superb work in readying Scotland under-21 goalkeeper, Ross Sinclair, for his Perth return.

Stranraer

Other clubs may rank higher for quantity but when it comes to quality of a loan and, most importantly, career impact, none pack the punch of Stranraer and the role they performed in the development of Ali McCann.

McCann spent three months at Stair Park towards the end of the 2018/19 season and played 13 times.

He wasn’t being talked about as a player on the fringes of the Saints first team when he left but that League One loan transformed his career spectacularly and ensured there was no requirement to farm him out to a Championship side.

The Perth senior pros have often spoken about the difference they saw in McCann the next pre-season.

Ali McCann took his chance at Celtic Park and never looked back.
Ali McCann took his chance at Celtic Park and never looked back. Image: SNS.

And, after starring as a substitute in a Premiership day one thrashing by Celtic, he instantly jumped over the likes of Ross Callachan and Kyle McClean in the central midfield pecking order.

He would never look back.

McCann was a star of Saints’ cup double season and is now an established English Championship performer and Northern Ireland regular.

Stranraer can take a slice of the credit.

Aberdeen and Kilmarnock

One player above all the rest kept St Johnstone in the Premiership the year after they won two trophies – Callum Hendry.

Who would have thought Pittodrie and Rugby Park would be grounds where a striker who was on the fringes in Perth would get his confidence back?

Callum Hendry was a St Johnstone survival hero.
Callum Hendry was a St Johnstone survival hero. Image: SNS.

Hendry scored four goals in his first loan with Aberdeen and then five with Kilmarnock, while getting the regular game-time Callum Davidson couldn’t offer.

He came back to McDiarmid ready to hit the ground running and found the back of the net nine times as Saints stayed up after a nerve-shredding play-off.

Recalling Hendry was one of the most important managerial decisions Davidson ever made.

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