St Johnstone Football Club is a professional football club based in Perth, Scotland. The name of the football club derives from St. John’s Toun – the old name of Perth. Although it is officially recorded as being formed in 1884, the club did not play its first game until February 1885. The club’s home since 1989 has been McDiarmid Park. The club’s first Scottish Cup appearance was in 1886–87 and they joined the Scottish Football League in 1911–12.
St Johnstone won the Scottish Football League First Division, the second tier of league football in Scotland, in 2008–09. This gained them promotion to the Scottish Premier League, bringing a return of SPL football to McDiarmid Park for the 2009–10 campaign, after a seven-year absence. The club have historically floated between the top two divisions of Scottish football, obtaining the reputation of being a “yo-yo club”. Their traditional rivals are the two Dundee clubs, Dundee and Dundee United, with matches between St Johnstone and either Dundee club being called Tayside derbies.
The club has had limited success in cup competitions. After losing at the semi-finals stage on numerous occasions, the club won their first Scottish Cup in 2014 with a 2–0 win against Dundee United. It has reached two Scottish League Cup Finals (in 1969 and 1998), losing them to each of the Old Firm clubs. They have also won the Scottish Second Tier seven times, the Scottish Challenge Cup in 2007, the B Division Supplementary Cup in 1949 and the Scottish Consolation Cup in 1911 and 1914. They have qualified for European competitions on six occasions (four seasons consecutively from 2013 to 2016). Their highest league position in the top division was third place on three occasions, 1971, 1999 and 2013.
