Brown leaves great legacy at Saints
Geoff Brown's contribution to St Johnstone is enormous.
, the man who made his money building houses, can take enormous pride in having rebuilt a very fine football club with rock solid foundations.
Geoff took over as chairman in 1986 when Saints were in dire financial straits and languishing in the lower reaches of the game. He oversaw their relocation from the crumbling but highly atmospheric Muirton Park, to the state of the art McDiarmid Park in 1989, and set Saints on the path to being one of the best run and finanancially sound clubs in Scotland.
Geoff Brown is stepping down after 25 years as St Johnstone chairman (Pic: SNS)
In his time Geoff has had nine managers, some of whom he sacked, some of whom have gone on to bigger things with his blessing.
He has witnessed promotion to the top flight, relegation from the top flight and brought European football to Perth.
He has always insisted that the club live within its means, and resisted the temptation to put Saints in any financial danger.
Every now and then I would make the short hop from Dundee to his business HQ in the Carse of Gowrie to interview him.
The coffee would come out and for around half-an-hour before the actual interview started, we would have a crack about all things football, off the record.
What he didn't know about what was going on in the Scottish game at every level wasn't worth knowing.
Now his son Steve takes over the mantle of chairman with a .
Saints sit fourth in the Scottish Premier League, punching well above their weight by comparison to much bigger clubs.
One of the first tasks of both men is to tap into a latent St Johnstone support which has drifted away from watching the team.
One of the myths surrounding the club is that they are poorly supported, but there is decent potential at Saints not just from the town of Perth but from the surrounding villages and small towns where the natural affinity is for the blue of St Johnstone.
I covered their games for ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Scotland in the early days of McDiarmid park as the team were gunning for promotion under Alex Totten.
Then, they were playing terrific football with Allan Moore and Steve Maskrey raiding down the flanks and big Roddy Grant leading the line with his bustling style.
McDiarmid Park at that time was raucous with a red hot atmosphere.
Geoff Brown oversaw that wonderful period, now he has handed the reigns on to a new chairman and new manager, with a team who some might argue, are as good as any that Saints have had since the days of John Connolly, Jim Pearson and Henry Hall.
Geoff is stepping down from the board, but no doubt his business and footballing acumen will be still be available to those who now take charge.
For the future health of St Johnstome that is a very comforting thought.
They pay me to watch football and talk football. That’s some people's idea of Christmas every day. I can't deny it's mine too. I view the football world through a different lens from some journalists, because I live and work in Dundee. The Old Firm are interesting, but so was my breakfast this morning. There is a whole lot more on the Scottish football menu than the big two. From the SPL to the juniors, the game offers lots of dishes, and they all get my taste buds going.
Comment number 1.
At 3rd Nov 2011, Martin Hawkins wrote:Well said Jim
It's not often a Chairman stands down and there is a thread of appreciation and support on the clubs fans forum
I was a season ticket holder in 1986, Playing the likes of Forfar or Montrose was a step up for us as they were in a higher division, Muirton Park was falling apart and there was little hope.
Its been a great journey, promotions, relegation's, countless cup semi finals and one league cup final. Not to forget 3rd in the SPL and a European trip. As one of the lucky fans who went to Monaco the club gave us days we could never forget.
I know Geoff would have loved to have been the Chairman of a Saints team at a Scottish cup final and this seasons loss must have been hard for him if he thought he was going to step down soon. Hopefully he will get the chance to be the father of the Chairman who finally see's us in a Scottish cup final.
When you see the mess some Scottish teams have got into over the last 10 years as a Saints fan I am so glad we had Geoff Brown in charge over the last 25 years.
Enjoy your retirement Geoff and I am sure Steve Brown and his team will keep the club going in the same direction.
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Comment number 2.
At 3rd Nov 2011, Uriah Heep wrote:Couldn't agree more. Geoff Brown not only has shown real loyalty to his club but always comes across as a real supporter. He has also shown a willingness to give talent a chance and then back people long enough to find their feet and finally flourish - its not by accident his young managers are much sought after.
Now he can enjoy his fitba without the pressure of being the man with whom the buck stops - a well earned retirement.
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Comment number 3.
At 3rd Nov 2011, Shaun Harvey wrote:Well done Geoff on 25 excellent years as Saints chairman. If all Scottish clubs had had chairmen like yourself then the game here wouldn't be in such a mess!
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Comment number 4.
At 3rd Nov 2011, arabarber wrote:Having said in the last blog earlier today,congrats to a chairman who made sure naebody was bigger than the club.St Johnstone have lost supporters, because of promising managers & players going to early, for their liking.Well fitba,s aboot up,s n doon,s,but most importantly its aboot survival.Those fans who chose to give up on saints,have to take their bunnets aff to Geoff Broon when you see the nail-biting goin on ah roond the boardrooms o many.
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Comment number 5.
At 3rd Nov 2011, carhartt_saintee wrote:Excellent piece Jim.
It really is as simple as if it weren't for Geoff Brown there wouldn't be a St Johnstone, we needed him far more than he needed us, and we should be very grateful for his hard work & endeavours over the past 25 years.
Through the many peaks & troughs of his time, no matter how poor the results sometimes were, we always had the security of his stewardship and the knowledge that when others were gambling monies they could never hope to recover we were at least safe- the debacles at Livi, Dundee, Motherwell, etc show the merits of this ideaology.
In short, thank you Geoff- the most important saintee never to pull on a shirt
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Comment number 6.
At 4th Nov 2011, darthmack wrote:Relegation brought a tear to my eye, hampden losses brought a tear to my eye, That day at Hamilton brought a tear to mi eye and the day Geoff Brown stepped down brought a tear to my eye.
My 1st Saints game was 1990 as a 12 year old after Geoff had done most of his hard work saving St Johnstone Football Club and cementing the club as the best run club in Scotland. id like yo thank geoff for the great memories . from 7-2 to being in Monaco to 4-1.
Never mind Ronaldo v Messi, Ronaldo+Messi does not come close to Geoff Brown!
Im happy that our new chairman is going to be Mr Brown and i'm sure dad will be there to give a helping hand when needed and he'sleft us in a great shape sitting 4th with a promising young manager
A stand has to be named after the great man and a statue
thanks Geoff i look forward to seeing you at McDiarmid Park COYS!
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Comment number 7.
At 4th Nov 2011, The_Arab wrote:Agree about the latent support to a certain extent Jim but its more the older generation that applies to... I stay in Perth so will occassionally take the young lad to a saints game, he struggles to find any of his mates willing to go along. I find it very sad. Towns and cities need their own football clubs, that's what makes them partisan and proud of their town (or city as Perthites would prefer). St Johnston has been largerly abandoned by the youth in Perth in favour of Rangers FC.
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Comment number 8.
At 4th Nov 2011, Geoff Douglas wrote:This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.
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Comment number 9.
At 4th Nov 2011, arabarber wrote:Well Jim,
It seems the tenth beetle agrees we this blog!!!!!
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Comment number 10.
At 5th Nov 2011, saintkev wrote:We all know the word legend is banded about very easily by football fans... but Geoff really is a legend to the hard-core support that love St Johnstone and as stated by others, is a real example to other football directors and chairmen.
I would suggest that he and Robert Campbell (his equivalent in the early days of the club back in 1884) are the two most influential and important men in the club's 126 years.
As for our support, like every other, it is affected by prices, boredum with Scottish football and how difficult is is to get kids to see anything except the Old Firm and the Premiership's big four/five/six (delete as appropriate). We have also had a few PR disasters along the way - though Stevie Brown and the current board are aware of this and I'm sure they'll do what they can to address the balance.
A sad time, Geoff handing over the keys, but an exciting time to be a Saintee... Last time it felt like a new era was Geoff and Alex Totten's revolution and I've got that feeling again, so over to you Steve Brown and Steve Lomas...
BLOOOOOOOOOO ARMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!
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Comment number 11.
At 5th Nov 2011, The Tenth Beetle wrote:All this user's posts have been removed.Why?
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Comment number 12.
At 5th Nov 2011, The Tenth Beetle wrote:All this user's posts have been removed.Why?
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Comment number 13.
At 5th Nov 2011, madjockmcferson wrote:Good to see a chairman who knows how to run a solvent club....but i disagree about the fan potential. St j games are always poorly attended and that isnt going to change anytime soon.
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Comment number 14.
At 5th Nov 2011, saintkev wrote:Tenth Beetle - No I don't think... that's why I said it!! He has taken a small club going nowhere but backwards and has given them amongst the best years in their lifetime! We have a team that will be there or thereabout for years to come... winning isn't everything, I'd rather win nothing and see my club for the rest of my life, than spend to win a trophy which means nothing when my club goes to the wall.
Madjock - we do have poor crowds and I expect we always will, but living in the town, I know a few wee things will bring the figures up easily, though sadly Saints cannot do too much about football's pricing!
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