We are now in a position to provide a squad update following the conclusion of the 2025/26 season.
As is natural at all football clubs, members of the squad will be departing us at the end of their current contracts. It is important that we place on record our thanks to every single one of them.
There are players leaving us who have been with St Johnstone Football Club for a considerable length of time – joining McDiarmid Park at a young age and working hard to achieve first team recognition.
We wish every Saint departing the very best with their next steps in the game.
Fran Franczak joined the Saints youth academy at a young age having previously played his football for local boys’ club Letham.
He progressed through the academy before making his first team debut aged 16 years and 38 days against Hibs at Easter Road during the 2023/24 season. In doing so, he became our youngest ever player.
During his time at Saints, Fran also went on to represent Poland at youth level – an achievement he was rightly very proud of.
Fran made 28 appearances for the club in total. Thirteen of those were starts and 15 from the bench.
Local lad Scott Bright is another who joined the club at a young age having initially, like so many from Perth, attended the community coaching on a Saturday morning outside McDiarmid Park. He played youth football for Pitfour before signing up at Saints.
The left-sided defender went on to become captain of a very successful under-18s squad, winning both league and cup silverware.
Scott, who picked up loan experience at the likes of Berwick Rangers, Brechin City and Forfar Athletic, made four appearances in total for the Saints.
It was a special moment when he made his first league appearance for the club last season in a 1-0 win against Ross County in the Highlands.
Of course, all those leaving us depart as champions following our 2025/26 Scottish Championship title-winning campaign. We are forever grateful to them.
Central midfielder Jonathan Svedberg made the switch to the Saints in January 2025 having previously played his football with Halmstads BK in Sweden.
During his time at McDiarmid Park, Jonathan made 16 starts and seven appearances from the bench.
Josh McPake signed a pre-contract agreement with Hearts back in January but remained at McDiarmid Park to play a starring role in our trophy success, finishing the season as the league’s top scorer and picking up a plethora of awards.
Initially signed in the summer of 2024, Josh made 57 appearances for the club in total. He netted 20 important goals and regularly had fans on their feet singing a unique rendition of ‘Dancing Queen’.
Right-sided full-back Reghan Tumilty joined the club in the summer of 2025 after leaving Hamilton Accies and went on to make 14 appearances – eight from the start and six off the bench.
He found the back of the net for the Saints on one occasion, which came in our Premier Sports Cup group stage victory against Elgin City.
Stevie Mallan also joined us at McDiarmid Park in the summer of 2025 and quickly made his mark in our league opener against Partick Thistle.
His impressive free-kick from distance rounded off a special 5-1 result. That was one of two goals for the club, with the other coming from the penalty spot against Arbroath.
In total, Stevie made 19 appearances for Saints across all competitions.
Loan players Adam Forrester, Alfredo Agyeman, Ruari Paton and Toby Steward return to their parent clubs having all played a key part in our recent success.
Again, we wish all players departing the club the very best for the future and thank them for their service.
Discussions remain ongoing with members of the squad. We will provide further updates in due course.
Departing the club following end of current contract
Fran Franczak
Jonathan Svedberg
Josh McPake
Reghan Tumilty
Scott Bright
Stevie Mallan
Returning to parent club after loan
Adam Forrester
Alfredo Agyeman
Ruari Paton
Toby Steward
Under contract
Cheick Diabate
Craig Hepburn
Daniel Finlayson
Jack Baird
Jamie Gullan
Jason Holt
Josh Fowler
Kai Fotheringham
Kyle Thomson
Liam Smith
Louis Lloyd
Matty Foulds
Morgan Boyes
Reece McAlear
Sam Stanton
Sven Sprangler
Discussions ongoing
Bozo Mikulic
Ross Sinclair
Taylor Steven
