2022–23 St Johnstone F.C. season

The 2022–23 season was St Johnstone's tenth season in the Scottish Premiership and their fourteenth consecutively (following four in the former Scottish Premier League) in the top flight of Scottish football. Saints were eliminated from the League Cup at the group stage. They also competed in the Scottish Cup.

St Johnstone

2022–23 season
Chairman	Steve Brown
Manager	Callum Davidson (until 16 April) Steven MacLean (Interim from 16 April)
Stadium	McDiarmid Park
Premiership	Ninth Place
League Cup	Group stage
Scottish Cup	Fourth round
Top goalscorer	League: Stevie May (9) All: Stevie May (10)
Highest home attendance	7,855 vs. Rangers, Scottish Cup, 21 February 2023
Lowest home attendance	2,036 vs. Annan Athletic, League Cup, 12 July 2022
Average home league attendance	5,323
Home colours Away colours Third colours
← 2021–22 2023–24 →

Season summary

Still managed by Callum Davidson, Saints hoped to improve upon their performance in the 2021–22 season when, after finishing eleventh, they had to win the Premiership playoff to avoid relegation.^[1] The team had been in transition since winning the Scottish Cup in May 2021 and Saints were again very active in the summer transfer window which closed on 31 August. The scale of transition is illustrated by the team which played St Mirren three days later on 3 September. Of the 20-man squad who contested the 2021 Scottish Cup Final just 15 months earlier,^[2] only nine players remained at the club in some capacity and only Stevie May was in the starting line-up for the St Mirren match with four others on the bench.^[3] Among the summer 2022 intake were Drey Wright and Jamie Murphy who had both played for Hibernian in the 2021 final.^[4]

Competitions

  Win   Draw   Loss   Postponed

Scottish Premiership

Main article: 2022–23 Scottish Premiership

St Johnstone v Hibernian

30 July 2022 1	St Johnstone	0–1	Hibernian	Perth
15:00 BST		Report	MacPherson 90' (o.g.)	Stadium: McDiarmid Park Attendance: 5,739 Referee: Euan Anderson

Motherwell v St Johnstone

6 August 2022 2	Motherwell	1–2	St Johnstone	Motherwell
15:00 BST	Carey 91' (o.g.)	Report	Murphy 28' May 94'	Stadium: Fir Park Attendance: 4,711 Referee: William Collum

Rangers v St Johnstone

13 August 2022 3	Rangers	4–0	St Johnstone	Glasgow
15:00 BST	Tillman 32' Colak 62' Arfield 80' Lawrence 83'	Report		Stadium: Ibrox Stadium Attendance: 48,665 Referee: Nick Walsh

St Johnstone v Aberdeen

20 August 2022 4	St Johnstone	0–1	Aberdeen	Perth
15:00 BST		Report	Clarkson 56'	Stadium: McDiarmid Park Attendance: 5,871 Referee: Craig Napier

Hearts v St Johnstone

28 August 2022 5	Hearts	3–2	St Johnstone	Edinburgh
15:00 BST	Rowles 25' Boyce 31' Shankland 81' (pen.)	Report	Carey 6' Considine 54'	Stadium: Tynecastle Park Attendance: 18,353 Referee: John Beaton

St Johnstone v St Mirren

3 September 2022 6	St Johnstone	3–0	St Mirren	Perth
15:00 BST	Clark 26' Wright 66' Carey 86' (pen.)	Report		Stadium: McDiarmid Park Attendance: 3,640 Referee: Colin Steven

St Johnstone v Ross County

17 September 2022 8	St Johnstone	0–0	Ross County	Perth
15:00 BST		Report		Stadium: McDiarmid Park Attendance: 3,355 Referee: Matthew MacDermid

Dundee United v St Johnstone

1 October 2022 9	Dundee United	1–2	St Johnstone	Dundee
15:00 BST	Watt 82'	Report	May 15' Hallberg 39'	Stadium: Tannadice Park Attendance: 7,977 Referee: David Munro

Kilmarnock v St Johnstone

5 October 2022 7	Kilmarnock	2–1	St Johnstone	Kilmarnock
19:45 BST	Armstrong 11', 46'	Report	Bair 90+1'	Stadium: Rugby Park Attendance: 4,463 Referee: Alan Muir

St Johnstone v Celtic

8 October 2022 10	St Johnstone	1–2	Celtic	Perth
15:00 BST	Mitchell 90+3'	Report	Considine 42' (o.g.) Giakoumakis 90+5'	Stadium: McDiarmid Park Attendance: 7,093 Referee: Euan Anderson

Livingston v St Johnstone

15 October 2022 11	Livingston	1–0	St Johnstone	Livingston
15:00 BST	Bahamboula 35'	Report		Stadium: Almondvale Stadium Attendance: 1,554 Referee: Kevin Clancy

Hibernian v St Johnstone

22 October 2022 12	Hibernian	1–2	St Johnstone	Edinburgh
15:00 BST	Kukharevych 35' Magennis  70'	Report	Clark 73' May 82'	Stadium: Easter Road Attendance: 20,010 Referee: Kevin Clancy

St Johnstone v Kilmarnock

29 October 2022 13	St Johnstone	1–0	Kilmarnock	Perth
15:00 BST	Taylor 4 o.g.'	Report		Stadium: McDiarmid Park Attendance: 3,995 Referee: Craig Napier

St Johnstone v Rangers

6 November 2022 14	St Johnstone	2–1	Rangers	Perth
12:00 BST	Brown 41' Clark 62'	Report	Tavernier 74'	Stadium: McDiarmid Park Attendance: 7,487 Referee: Steven McLean

St Mirren v St Johnstone

9 November 2022 15	St Mirren	2–2	St Johnstone	Paisley
19:45 BST	Kiltie 42' O'Hara 81'	Report	Carey 33 pen.' Mitchell  63' Clark 90+6'	Stadium: St Mirren Park Attendance: 5,387 Referee: Euan Anderson

St Johnstone v Motherwell

12 November 2022 16	St Johnstone	1–1	Motherwell	Perth
15:00 BST	Wright 26'	Report	Spittal 45+1'	Stadium: McDiarmid Park Attendance: 4,055 Referee: Nick Walsh

Ross County v St Johnstone

17 December 2022 17	Ross County	1–2	St Johnstone	Dingwall
15:00 BST	White 22' Baldwin  61'	Report	Crawford 77', 79'	Stadium: Victoria Park Attendance: 4,393 Referee: Graham Grainger

Celtic v St Johnstone

24 December 2022 18	Celtic	4–1	St Johnstone	Glasgow
12:00 BST	Hatate 14', 52' Furuhashi 17', 40' Turnbull  90+6'	Report	Wright 67'	Stadium: Celtic Park Attendance: 58,635 Referee: Kevin Clancy

St Johnstone v Heart of Midlothian

28 December 2022 19	St Johnstone	2–3	Heart of Midlothian	Perth
15:00 BST	May 55 pen.' Murphy 79'	Report	Shankland 14 pen.' Forrest 33' McKay 64'	Stadium: McDiarmid Park Attendance: 7,058 Referee: William Collum

St Johnstone v Dundee United

2 January 2023 20	St Johnstone	0–1	Dundee United	Perth
15:00 BST		Report	Watt 81'	Stadium: McDiarmid Park Attendance: 7,116 Referee: Graham Grainger

Aberdeen v St Johnstone

7 January 2023 21	Aberdeen	2–0	St Johnstone	Aberdeen
15:00 BST	Duk 74', 84'	Report		Stadium: Pittodrie Stadium Attendance: 14,202 Referee: Euan Anderson

St Johnstone v Livingston

14 January 2023 22	St Johnstone	2–4	Livingston	Perth
15:00 BST	Murphy 65' McLennan 67'	Report	Kelly 8', 15' Penrice 39', 81'	Stadium: McDiarmid Park Attendance: 2,899 Referee: John Beaton

Rangers v St Johnstone

28 January 2023 23	Rangers	2–0	St Johnstone	Glasgow
15:00 BST	Tavernier 15 pen.' Kamara 57'	Report	Clark  36'	Stadium: Ibrox Stadium Attendance: 49,672 Referee: William Collum

Motherwell v St Johnstone

1 February 2023 24	Motherwell	0–2	St Johnstone	Motherwell
19:45 BST		Report	Wright 5' Hallberg 49'	Stadium: Fir Park Attendance: 4,131 Referee: Don Robertson

St Johnstone v Celtic

5 February 2023 25	St Johnstone	1–4	Celtic	Perth
12:30 BST	Wright 25' Considine  90+1'	Report	Considine 13 o.g.' Furuhashi 22' Mooy 38' Turnbull 90+3'	Stadium: McDiarmid Park Attendance: 7,758 Referee: David Dickinson

Dundee United v St Johnstone

18 February 2023 26	Dundee United	1–2	St Johnstone	Dundee
15:00 BST	Levitt 81'	Report	May 31', 82'	Stadium: Tannadice Park Attendance: 9,796 Referee: Kevin Clancy

St Johnstone v St Mirren

25 February 2023 27	St Johnstone	1–1	St Mirren	Perth
15:00 BST	Phillips  45' Rudden 75'	Report	Gogić 86'	Stadium: McDiarmid Park Attendance: 3,828 Referee: Craig Napier

Heart of Midlothian v St Johnstone

4 March 2023 28	Heart of Midlothian	3–0	St Johnstone	Edinburgh
15:00 BST	Ginnelly 21', 63' Grant 73'	Report		Stadium: Tynecastle Park Attendance: 18,596 Referee: Steven McLean

Kilmarnock v St Johnstone

18 March 2023 29	Kilmarnock	1–1	St Johnstone	Kilmarnock
15:00 BST	Wright 38'	Report	Wright 70'	Stadium: Rugby Park Attendance: 4,889 Referee: Chris Graham

St Johnstone v Aberdeen

1 April 2023 30	St Johnstone	0–1	Aberdeen	Perth
15:00 BST	Considine  6'	Report	Matthews 30 o.g.' Shinnie  90+1'	Stadium: McDiarmid Park Attendance: 6,001 Referee: Colin Steven

St Johnstone v Ross County

8 April 2023 31	St Johnstone	0–2	Ross County	Perth
15:00 BST		Report	Murray 45' Cancola 49'	Stadium: McDiarmid Park Attendance: 3,027 Referee: Alan Muir

Livingston v St Johnstone

15 April 2023 32	Livingston	2–0	St Johnstone	Livingston
15:00 BST	Nouble 23' Kelly 38'	Report		Stadium: Tony Macaroni Arena Attendance: 3,976 Referee: David Munro

St Johnstone v Hibernian

22 April 2023 33	St Johnstone	1–1	Hibernian	Perth
15:00 BST	May 25'	Report	Stevenson 32' Jeggo  48'	Stadium: McDiarmid Park Attendance: 6,787 Referee: Craig Napier

St Johnstone v Dundee United

6 May 2023 34	St Johnstone	1–0	Dundee United	Perth
15:00 BST	Gordon 43'	Report	Mulgrew  61'	Stadium: McDiarmid Park Attendance: 7,071 Referee: Alan Muir

St Johnstone v Motherwell

13 May 2023 35	St Johnstone	0–2	Motherwell	Perth
15:00 BST		Report	van Veen 52 pen.' Mandron 90+3'	Stadium: McDiarmid Park Referee: Grant Irvine

Kilmarnock v St Johnstone

20 May 2023 36	Kilmarnock	0–1	St Johnstone	Kilmarnock
15:00 BST	Watson  44'	Report	Gordon 11'	Stadium: Rugby Park Attendance: 6,004 Referee: John Beaton

Ross County v St Johnstone

24 May 2023 37	Ross County	3–3	St Johnstone	Dingwall
19:45 BST	Dhanda 54 pen.' White 69' Baldwin 90'	Report	May 22', 51 pen.' McGowan 90+5'	Stadium: Victoria Park Attendance: 4,700 Referee: Nick Walsh

St Johnstone v Livingston

28 May 2023 38	St Johnstone	2–0	Livingston	Perth
15:00 BST	Wright 17' Kane 68 pen.'	Report		Stadium: McDiarmid Park Attendance: 4,362 Referee: Graham Grainger

Scottish League Cup

Main article: 2022–23 Scottish League Cup

Saints entered the 2022–23 Scottish League Cup at the group stage and were drawn into Group F with Annan Athletic, Ayr United, Elgin City and Queen of the South.^[5] Despite being reduced to nine men, Saints held on to draw 0–0 in the opening match at home to Annan Athletic but lost the penalty shootout 5–4. They also lost on penalties to Queen of the South after a 2–2 draw. Victories over Elgin City and Ayr United were a case of too little, too late, and Saints were eliminated from the competition after finishing third in Group F. Annan were the surprise group winners and Queen of the South were runners-up ahead of Saints on goal difference. The top two both qualified for the second round (the last 16).^[6]

St Johnstone v Annan Athletic

12 July 2022 1	St Johnstone	0–0 (4–5 p)	Annan Athletic	Perth
19:45	Cleary  29' MacPherson  89'	BBC Sport		Stadium: McDiarmid Park Attendance: 2,036 Referee: Don Robertson
	Penalties
	Murphy May Davidson O'Halloran Carey Considine		Goss Hooper Smith Docherty Wallace Galloway

Queen of the South v St Johnstone

16 July 2022 2	Queen of the South	2–2 (4–2 p)	St Johnstone	Dumfries
15:00	Connelly 12' Paton 64'	BBC Sport	Murphy 49', 84'	Stadium: Palmerston Park Attendance: 1,027 Referee: Graham Grainger
	Penalties
	Wilson P.McKay Todd McGrory		Murphy Hallberg Davidson Kucheriavyi

Elgin City v St Johnstone

19 July 2022 3	Elgin City	2–4	St Johnstone	Elgin
19:45	Dingwall 74' Hester 85'	BBC Sport	Montgomery 11' Hallberg 49' May 62' Ballantyne 70'	Stadium: Borough Briggs Attendance: 886 Referee: Greg Aitken

St Johnstone v Ayr United

23 July 2022 4	St Johnstone	1–0	Ayr United	Perth
15:00	Carey 2'	BBC Sport		Stadium: McDiarmid Park Attendance: 2,036 Referee: Gavin Duncan

Scottish Cup

Main article: 2022–23 Scottish Cup

St Johnstone v Rangers

21 January 2023 Fourth Round	St Johnstone	0–1	Rangers	Perth
15:00 BST		BBC Report	Barišić 45'	Stadium: McDiarmid Park Attendance: 7,855 Referee: Alan Muir

Squad statistics

Appearances and goals

As of 28 May 2023^[7]

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Premiership		Scottish Cup		League Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	ENG	Remi Matthews	35	0	34	0	1	0	0	0
2	DF	MLT	James Brown	30	1	25+1	1	1	0	3	0
3	DF	SCO	Tony Gallacher	5	0	2+3	0	0	0	0	0
4	DF	SCO	Andrew Considine	37	1	32	1	1	0	4	0
5	DF	ENG	Alex Mitchell	29	1	25+4	1	0	0	0	0
6	DF	SCO	Liam Gordon	33	2	31+1	2	1	0	0	0
7	FW	SCO	Stevie May	42	10	34+3	9	1	0	4	1
8	MF	SCO	Murray Davidson	8	0	2+2	0	0	0	4	0
9	FW	SCO	Chris Kane	2	1	0+2	1	0	0	0	0
10	MF	CAN	David Wotherspoon	23	0	7+15	0	0+1	0	0	0
12	GK	ENG	Elliot Parish	6	0	2	0	0	0	4	0
13	DF	AUS	Ryan McGowan	29	1	28	1	0	0	1	0
14	MF	ENG	Drey Wright	40	7	37+1	7	1	0	1	0
16	FW	SCO	Zak Rudden	12	1	2+10	1	0	0	0	0
17	FW	CAN	Theo Bair	31	2	8+19	2	0+1	0	3	0
18	MF	SCO	Cammy MacPherson	25	0	18+4	0	1	0	2	0
19	DF	SCO	Adam Montgomery	33	1	27+1	0	1	0	4	1
20	GK	SCO	Ross Sinclair	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
22	MF	SWE	Melker Hallberg	35	3	28+2	2	1	0	4	1
23	MF	IRL	Graham Carey	35	4	24+6	3	0+1	0	4	1
25	MF	SCO	Cammy Ballantyne	4	1	3	0	0	0	1	1
26	MF	SCO	Connor McLennan	27	1	8+18	1	1	0	0	0
29	FW	SCO	Jamie Murphy	29	5	15+9	3	0+1	0	4	2
34	MF	TRI	Daniel Phillips	23	0	17+5	0	1	0	0	0
37	FW	SCO	Nicky Clark	21	4	19+1	4	0+1	0	0	0
Departures
5	DF	IRL	Dan Cleary	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
11	FW	SCO	Michael O'Halloran	8	0	2+2	0	0	0	4	0
15	MF	SCO	Charlie Gilmour	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
16	DF	IRL	John Mahon	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
17	FW	FIN	Eetu Vertainen	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
21	MF	SCO	Ali Crawford	19	2	5+12	2	0	0	2	0
27	MF	UKR	Max Kucheriavyi	8	0	2+2	0	0	0	4	0
33	FW	SCO	Taylor Steven	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0

Team statistics

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation[a]
7	Motherwell	38	14	8	16	53	51	+2	50
8	Livingston	38	13	7	18	36	60	−24	46
9	St Johnstone	38	12	7	19	41	59	−18	43
10	Kilmarnock	38	11	7	20	37	62	−25	40
11	Ross County (O)	38	9	7	22	37	60	−23	34	Qualification for the Premiership play-off final

Source: ^[8][9]
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-Head points; 5) Head-to-Head goal difference; 6) Play-off (only if deciding champion, UEFA competitions qualification, second stage group allocation or relegation).^[10]
(O) Play-off winners
Notes:

1. Teams play each other three times (33 matches), before the league is split into two groups (the top six and the bottom six).

League Cup table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	PW	PL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		ANN	QOS	STJ	AYR	ELG
1	Annan Athletic	4	2	2	0	0	8	3	+5	10	Qualification for the second round		—	—	—	p1–1	4–0
2	Queen of the South	4	2	1	0	1	9	5	+4	8			2–3	—	p2–2	—	—
3	St Johnstone	4	2	0	2	0	7	4	+3	8			0–0p	—	—	1–0	—
4	Ayr United	4	1	0	1	2	4	5	−1	4			—	0–3	—	—	3–0[a]
5	Elgin City	4	0	0	0	4	2	13	−11	0			—	0–2	2–4	—	—

Source: ^[12]
Rules for classification: 1) goal difference, 2) goals scored, 3) away goals scored, 4) matches won, 5) away matches won, 6) drawing of lots.^[13]
Notes:

1. Ayr United were awarded a technical 3−0 win over Elgin City, who fielded an ineligible player. The match had originally finished 0–0, with Ayr United securing the bonus point following a 4–3 win on penalties.^[11]

Transfers

Main articles: List of Scottish football transfers summer 2022 and List of Scottish football transfers winter 2022–23

In Scottish football, the summer 2022 transfer window officially opened on 10 June and closed on 31 August.

In

Date	Player	Transferred from	Fee	Source
16 June 2022	Andrew Considine	Aberdeen	Free	[14][15]
16 June 2022	Drey Wright	Hibernian	Free	[4][15]
28 June 2022	Adam Montgomery	Celtic	Loan	[16]
1 July 2022	Graham Carey	CSKA Sofia	Free	[17]
5 July 2022	Jamie Murphy	Hibernian	Free	[4]
22 July 2022	Ryan McGowan	Kuwait SC	Free	[18]
26 July 2022	William Sandford	IFK Gothenburg	Free	[19]
27 July 2022	Remi Matthews	Crystal Palace	Loan	[20]
27 July 2022	Alex Mitchell	Millwall	Loan	[20]
10 August 2022	Daniel Phillips	Watford	Free	[19]
31 August 2022	Nicky Clark	Dundee United	Undisclosed	[21][22]
1 September 2022	Connor McLennan	Aberdeen	Loan	[23]
31 January 2023	Zak Rudden	Dundee	Loan	[24]

Out

Date	Player	Transferred to	Fee	Source
25 May 2022	Shaun Rooney	Fleetwood Town	Free	[25]
27 May 2022	Efe Ambrose	Greenock Morton	Free	[26]
27 May 2022	Nadir Ciftci	Free agent	Free	[26]
27 May 2022	Liam Craig	Retired	Free	[26]
27 May 2022	Jahmal Hector-Ingram	Free agent	Free	[26]
3 June 2022	Craig Bryson	Stenhousemuir	Free	[26][27]
12 June 2022	Jordan Northcott	Brechin City	Free	[26][28]
16 June 2022	Sam Denham	East Fife	Free	[26][19]
17 June 2022	Callum Hendry	Salford City	Free	[29]
30 June 2022	Eetu Vertainen	Linfield	Loan	[30]
18 July 2022	Jacob Butterfield	Scunthorpe United	Free	[26][31]
28 July 2022	Dan Cleary	Shamrock Rovers	Free	[20][32]
28 July 2022	Alex Ferguson	East Fife	Loan	[19]
28 July 2022	Ross Sinclair	Montrose	Loan	[19]
16 August 2022	Charlie Gilmour	Cove Rangers	Loan	[19]
16 August 2022	Taylor Steven	East Fife	Loan	[19]
13 January 2023	John Mahon	Sligo Rovers	Free	[33]
16 February 2023	Max Kucheriavyi	Falkirk	Loan	[34][35]
24 February 2023	Ali Crawford	Greenock Morton	Loan	[36]
24 February 2023	Michael O'Halloran	Cove Rangers	Loan	[37]

See also

• List of St Johnstone F.C. seasons