The club was delighted to welcome a family of St Johnstone fans from the city of Eskisehir in Turkey to the stadium on Monday.
Ugur yilmaz, Cansu yilmaz, Ayhan yilmaz and Necla yilmaz were all given a special guided tour of McDiarmid Park by supporters’ liaison officer Beverley Mayer.
Ugur explained that, ever since Saints played Eskisehirspor in European competition, it had been his father’s dream to visit us in person.
The clubs struck up a unique friendship after competing against each other in the second qualifying round of the Europa League in 2012.
“We are here to make my father’s dream come true,” explained Ugur, who may already be a familiar face to Saints fans. “He has wanted to come here for more than 10 years, ever since the friendship started.
“Unfortunately, there are no games at the moment but the club made us feel very welcome – like we are at home – and gave us a stadium tour. We really enjoyed that.
“It is actually my third time here. I was at McDiarmid Park in 2017 for a game against Rangers and also went to the Europa League game against Galatasaray.
“Actually, I feel like Perth is my second hometown. I have many friends from Perth now. It is like my family.”
The yilmaz family presented the club with an Eskisehirspor strip and the club made sure they left McDiarmid Park with a number of Saints-related goodies.
Thank you for the visit!
