Sixteen long and glorious years came to an end when St Johnstone saw out their Premiership season with a 2-0 defeat by Dundee at McDiarmid Park yesterday.
That is how long the Perth club had been in the Premiership, winning trophies, playing in Europe and generally punching above their weight in a way previously thought impossible.
After winning promotion in 2009, their uninterrupted stint in the top flight brought two Scottish Cups, one League Cup, six European adventures and eight top-six finishes, one of them in third place.
Waving goodbye to all that has been painful for supporters, especially the young ones, who don’t remember what it was like to watch St Johnstone play in the lower divisions, never mind prop up the bottom tier and nearly go out of business, as they did in the 1980s.
Simo Valakari and his players knew long before the final day that there would be no great escape. Their relegation was confirmed last Wednesday night by Ross County’s controversial stoppage-time penalty at Dens Park.
While it was a brutal way to go down, the truth is that a drop into the Championship had been on the cards for months, make that years. St Johnstone’s halcyon days were over from the moment they won a cup double in 2021 and didn’t know how to handle it.
Simo Valakari watches his relegated team lose 2-0 to Dundee on the final day of the season
Valakari shakes hands with Dundee boss Tony Docherty after the game at McDiarmid Park
They were exposed, on and off the field, when that team broke up. The stability and continuity that had been their strength for so long under the Brown family was gone and there was no infrastructure to recreate it.
A few years back, when bigger clubs were punished for reckless spending, the frugality of chairman Steve Brown was rewarded, but it couldn’t go on forever, especially when those around them modernised.
Everything at St Johnstone needed investment, from their recruitment operation – there wasn’t one to speak of – and their player support network right down to stadium facilities, commercial activities and the club website.
That’s why Adam Webb identified unfulfilled potential when he became their new owner last summer. The American has already made cosmetic improvements, such as a new scoreboard and badge, but plenty more is in the pipeline, with a view to increasing revenues.
A new shop and museum is to be built in the city centre. The artificial pitch opposite the main stand is to be redeveloped, new shirt sponsors have been announced and there are to be fan zones before more home games.
Webb could have done without relegation at the end of his first season, not least because it will make a £2million dent in his business plan. But it doesn’t change his ambitions for the club, or indeed the overall strategy, a key part of which is the manager.
Outside Perth, there was some doubt as to whether Valakari would remain in his post. But the day after Saints were relegated, Webb nipped in the bud any uncertainty by rushing out a statement in which he stood by his man.
Valakari has been far from perfect since succeeding Craig Levein in October, but he inherited a poor set-up and deserves a chance to build his own team.
His personality is refreshing, as is his desire to play a positive passing game, especially at a club where grinding out results has become a way of life.
In fact, Valakari could be the perfect coach with whom to attack the Championship. Just as a more forgiving environment could be ideal for the club’s much-needed reset behind the scenes, so could it assist the manager in his efforts to bring about deep-rooted change.
The build-from-the-back playing style that was too often punished in the Premiership will have a little more room to grow in the division below. And there will be an opportunity for young homegrown players such as Fran Franczak and Taylor Steven to flourish.
But it would be unwise to view the Championship as a soft touch. If St Johnstone are to hold off the likes of Partick Thistle, Ayr United and Dunfermline Athletic, as well as the losers of this season’s playoff final, they will need to find a win-every-week mentality that has been alien to the club during 16 years as an expectation-defying underdog.
Despite the step down, they will also need to be better on the pitch than they have been these last few months.
Lyall Cameron’s penalty puts Dundee two up in a match that secured their Premiership status
That means reshaping an imbalanced squad and improving the standard.
It will be a huge job, given that some of Valakari’s best players, such as goalkeeper Andy Fisher and centre-half Zach Mitchell, are January loan signings who won’t be back.
That puts pressure on him to get it right. He is excused much of the blame for the club’s demotion, but there will be no hiding place if, with his own team, a summer transfer window and a full pre-season, he doesn’t hit the ground running a tier below.
After all this time in the top flight, Saints fans are looking forward to to the change of scenery, together with no Sunday games and a world without VAR. Winning more matches should also be an unexpected pleasure.
In fact, the Championship might not be a bad thing for the club… as long as it’s only for one season.
Any more than that, and the danger is they get caught in a downward cycle of decreasing wages, managerial changes and shrinking crowds.
A year ago, Livingston went down with a strong squad and David Martindale in charge, but they were beaten to the title by Falkirk and are now depending on the playoff final as a means of promotion.
Returning at the first attempt is easy to say. Doing it is another matter.
