John Needham insists Sunday’s result against Celtic on and off the pitch proved the club made the right call to restrict Celtic supporters to just one stand.
The St Mirren chairman was among thousands of Buddies celebrating a memorable victory against the Hoops, which coincided with the first meeting with an Old Firm side in Paisley since the club decided to keep the Tony Fitzpatrick Family Stand strictly for home supporters.
While stopping short of saying it was the decisive factor in the impressive 2-0 win, Needham is adamant the early signs are all positive that the move both helped Stephen Robinson’s side on the pitch while not significantly hitting the Paisley side in the pocket.
There were hundreds more Saints fans in the ground at the weekend than at the same fixture in December last year, with Sunday’s attendance of 6,331 only down slightly from 6,596 - despite halving the allocation given to the Hoops.
Speaking exclusively to Renfrewshire Live Sport, Needham believes the move will continue to persuade even more Buddies to pack out the SMISA Stadium in future clashes with the Old Firm.
Needham said: “Results like that give everyone at the club a huge lift. I personally felt that it felt much more like a home game for us on Sunday. I heard lots of others around me at the ground say that too.
“None of our supporters had to move from the Tony Fitzpatrick stand. The noise certainly wasn’t as loud from the away support as it has been previously.
“In the past if we’d gone ahead against Celtic or Rangers, their fans would have roused their team and cheered them on from both ends. They didn’t have that advantage this time around. I like to think it helped our team, only having one stand of away supporters to face.
“It’s also about rewarding our own fans for their loyalty. We always welcome away fans, they help create the overall atmosphere. But the balance has to be right and at our home ground it has to be as positive in our favour as possible.
“Home advantage counts for a lot in sport, everyone knows that. There certainly were more home fans there than last time we played Celtic.
“We’re still working out the final financial impact, but the attendance comparisons were very encouraging. With the cost of tickets going up slightly as well this year, financially we’re hoping to break even.
“But this is just the start. Things don’t change overnight and we’re hoping the better atmosphere, and ultimately better results, will see our fans return in even greater numbers.
“Overall it felt like we didn’t give away our home advantage. Now it’s about trying to build from here.”
As well as season ticket holders who didn’t have to relocate from the Tony Fitzpatrick Stand, there were also supporters attending on Sunday as part of the Help a Buddie scheme as a result of reducing the away support to one end.
The new initiative allows Saints supporters to buy tickets for those who wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford to attend, a project that Needham is particularly proud of.
Needham added: “The fans supported us so well.
“When we were under pressure, they kept us going and every single player to a man was superb.
“Hopefully the performance and result will help encourage more walk ups. There’s a sense of belief and confidence building now.
“The Help a Buddie scheme also allows folks who wouldn’t have been able to come to support us as well. That’s a great thing.
“Our hope now is that people bring a pal along to the next home game against Livingston. Getting more fans in regularly is our key objective and momentum is with us at the moment.”
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