top of page
St Mirren Park
(St Mirren)
Address: Greenhill Road,
Paisley,
Renfrewshire,
Scotland,
PA3 1RU
Capacity: 8,023 (All-Seater)
Simple in design, practical in layout. A nice, modern football ground.
St Mirren Park is the stadium’s official name, but the ground also goes by two other names. It is known as The Simple Digital Arena for sponsorship reasons, but has also operated under the name The SMISA Stadium (St Mirren Independent Supporters Association Stadium). The name marked what was the last season before St Mirren became mostly fan-owned in 2021.
The stadium’s plans originate back to 2003, when St Mirren were looking to sell their current home, and fifth overall, Love Street to retail developers. The sale would eventually go through with Tesco in April 2007, and the money funded the construction of the new stadium.
Work began on 7th January 2008 and was completed on 31st January 2009, with St Mirren’s first game here being a 1-1 draw with Kilmarnock.
Since 2011, St Mirren Park has also been the regular home for games involving Scotland’s U21 National Team.
Location and Getting There
St Mirren Park is located in Ferguslie Park, less than half a mile north of Paisley Town Centre. Glasgow Airport is around one mile away to the northeast, White Cart Water is around 0.8 miles away to the east, and Black Cart Water is around 1.1 miles away to the west and northwest.
Coming to St Mirren Park by car is certainly possible.
The stadium has a large car park outside the West Stand which costs £5 per vehicle to park at. It is accessed via Ferguslie Park Avenue to the north.
Finding street parking within close distance of the stadium should not be too difficult, and I would recommend heading south and southwest to find it. Ensure that you are legally allowed to park where you find and do not block the drives of any residents.
Paisley St James Station, served by a ScotRail line from Glasgow, is located a short distance away from the stadium’s northeast corner. It is the perfect station for reaching the ground, though services to it from Glasgow Central only run every half hour.
Paisley Gilmour Street is further away from St Mirren Park, a roughly 15-20 minute to the east. Its services from Glasgow Central run much more regularly, however.
Outside the Stadium
Fans coming from Paisley St James Station will walk along Greenhill Road and first come to the stadium’s East Stand, which is considered the Main Stand at St Mirren Park.
Its exterior has a simple design, consisting of a brickwork base with light grey corrugated iron, dark grey corrugated iron and groups of glass windows higher up. The centre of the stand’s exterior protrudes outwards, and a glass façade in the centre houses the Main Entrance. St Mirren Club Badges are in place either side of the protruding part.
At one end of the stand, by the stadium’s northeast corner, is a Ticket Collection Point and the St Mirren Fans Council Entrance. The St Mirren FC Club Shop and Main Ticket Office are based closer to the Main Entrance. The walls either side of the Main Entrance hold promotional plaques that includes the names of fans and loved ones. At the end of the stand by the stadium’s southeast corner is the Hospitality Suite Entrance.
Turnstiles and Exit Gates are located at either end of the Main Stand’s exterior.
Out beyond the Main Stand, on the opposite side of Greenhill Road, is an industrial estate and the railway tracks.
Continuing round in a clockwise direction brings you to the South Stand.
Its exterior follows the design of the adjacent Main Stand, using a brickwork base with light grey corrugated iron higher up. The St Mirren Club Badge is in place atop this higher level of the exterior.
Turnstiles for the South Stand are based at either end of the exterior.
The space outside the stand is taken up by a row of car parking spaces, with a black perimeter fence segregating this from Drums Avenue that runs along outside of it.
The West Stand follows the same exterior design as the adjacent South Stand but is longer as it runs along the length of the pitch rather than the width.
The exterior consists of a brickwork base with light grey corrugated iron higher up. The St Mirren Club Badge is in place atop this higher level of the exterior. You can often find a small programme hub in front of the brickwork base.
Turnstiles for the West Stand are located at either end of the exterior.
The majority of St Mirren Park’s car parking spaces can be found in front of the West Stand.
The North Stand at St Mirren Park continues the exterior design of the rest of the stadium, using a brickwork base with light grey corrugated iron higher up. The St Mirren Club Badge is in place atop this higher level of the exterior.
Turnstiles for the North Stand are located at either end of the exterior.
The main feature on this side of the stadium however is right outside the stand. There is a large, covered building here that holds all-weather training pitches. A few rows of car parking spaces are also located close by.
Inside the Stadium
The Main Stand consists of a single tier of seating, with the blocks forming horizontal black and white stripes. Executive boxes and hospitality are located behind the back row, with a few rows of claret seating in front of them that are for executive use. The Stadium Control Box is housed at the back next to the southeast corner. The dugouts and tunnel are located down at the very front of the stand, with the changing rooms housed inside.
A perimeter fence around the pitch can make you feel like you are a good way back from the action, however.
Your view from anywhere inside the Main Stand is perfectly clear as there are no supporting pillars coming down from the roof above.
Large windshields at either end provide full protection to all but the very front rows, with walls providing cover to those right at the front.
The South Stand consists of a single tier of seating, with the blocks forming horizontal black and white stripes. The back wall has no executive boxes in place along it, though there is a small platform up towards the back row that a matchday camera is sometimes housed in.
A perimeter fence around the pitch can make you feel like you are a good way back from the action, however.
Your view from anywhere inside the South Stand is perfectly clear as there are no supporting pillars coming down from the roof above.
Large windshields at either end provide full protection to all but the very front rows, with walls providing cover to those right at the front.
The West Stand consists of a single tier of seating. The outer blocks form horizontal black and white stripes, and the three central blocks have the letters SMFC spelt out in white across them. A sliver of grey seating is also used to give each letter a 3D effect. Up behind the central block that contains the letters M and F is the area which holds the main matchday camera.
A perimeter fence around the pitch can make you feel like you are a good way back from the action, however.
Your view from anywhere inside the West Stand is perfectly clear as there are no supporting pillars coming down from the roof above.
Large windshields at either end provide full protection to all but the very front rows, with walls providing cover to those right at the front.
The North Stand consists of a single tier of seating, with the blocks forming horizontal black and white stripes. Unlike the South Stand opposite however, there is no platform up towards the back that a matchday camera can be housed in.
A perimeter fence around the pitch can make you feel like you are a good way back from the action, however.
Your view from anywhere inside the North Stand is perfectly clear as there are no supporting pillars coming down from the roof above.
Large windshields at either end provide full protection to all but the very front rows, with walls providing cover to those right at the front.
Away Fans
Away fans are housed behind the goal in the North Stand. This is a single tier of black and white striped seating that can hold around 1,600 supporters.
The view from this side of the stadium is perfectly clear and has a good level of protection from the sides. It is of good quality, though a perimeter fence around the pitch can make you feel like you are a long way back from the action taking place.
On occasions when the largest of away followings are expected, usually when the Old Firm teams are in attendance, then blocks in the adjacent Main Stand to the west can also be made available, with rows of stewards used to segregate this away section from any home supporters sat nearby.
The Main Stand offers the same clear view and good level of protection as the North Stand does.
The North Stand is also ideally placed for those coming by rail.
The nearest train station, Paisley St James, is a short distance away from the northeast corner. Head along Greenhill Road from the station and you will arrive at the northeast corner which leads back round to the North Stand and its turnstiles at either end.
The large, covered building in front of it holds all-weather training pitches.
Matchday Pubs
Pubs available to supporters on a matchday include*:
-The Cave (38 New Street, PA1 1YB) (Typically Home and Away Supporters)
-The Cottage Arms (7-9 Mossvale Lane, PA3 2LT) (Popular with Away Supporters)
-The Last Post (County Square, PA1 1BN) (A JD Wetherspoon Pub, Typically Home and Discreet Away Supporters) (Located near to Paisley Gilmour Street Station)
-The Tartan Rose (2 Broomlands Street, PA1 2LR) (Typically Home and Away Supporters) (Located near Central Paisley)
-The Tile Bar (14 Smithhills Street, PA1 1EB) (Typically Home and Away Supporters) (Located near to Paisley Gilmour Street Station)
-The Wee Howff (53 High Street, PA1 2AN) (Typically Home and Away Supporters) (Located southwest of Paisley Gilmour Street Station)
*The location of St Mirren Park means that there aren't really any pubs located within close distance of the stadium. The recommendation is to find a drink near Paisley Gilmour Street Station and head to the game from there.
Overview
St Mirren Park is a nice, modern, well-balanced football ground. Its consistent design both inside and out is simple yet very practical, with views perfectly clear from any seat, albeit they can feel a distance away from the pitch as there is a perimeter fence in place in front of it.
With a train station in a near enough perfect location and plenty of car parking spaces in its vicinity however, this is a very accessible stadium that really does not have any major faults.
Well worth checking out.
bottom of page