It was a wonderful occasion on Saturday evening as six more club stalwarts were officially inducted into the St Johnstone Hall of Fame.
The spotlight was deservedly turned in the direction of Steve Brown, Jim Donaldson, Alistair Stevenson, Sandy McLaren, Steven Anderson and Tommy Wright at a packed-out Perth Concert Hall.
The event, sponsored by Sidey, started with an introduction from CEO Francis Smith before host of the night Liam Doris got proceedings underway. A game of heads and tails – led by current captain Jason Holt – made for an entertaining start.
It was straight into the inductions of former chairman Steve Brown and former goalkeeper Jim Donaldson before the starter and main course was served. The food was superbly presented and served by Mark Bulle’s catering team.
The evening continued with the induction of former head of youth academy Alistair Stevenson and then former goalkeeper Sandy McLaren, whose son Garrow was in attendance to accept the award.
After dessert, our special recognition award was presented to first team bus driver Colin Docherty. Colin has been behind the wheel since the late 1980s – safely navigating the team across the country and beyond.
Colin was thanked for everything he has – and continues – to do for the club.
The crowd then celebrated as highlights of the 2014 Scottish Cup final were played on the large screen before, fittingly, former defender Steven Anderson was inducted into the Hall of Fame. Of course, he was swiftly asked about that back post header.
The final inductee of the night was none other than Tommy Wright, who got the audience on their feet with a passionate, celebratory entrance to the stage – a scene we had witnessed on more than one occasion at the full-time whistle when he was in charge.
Providing excellent video descriptions of all six inductees was club historian Alastair Blair, who we thank for his time and professionalism.
As the night reached its latter stages, head coach Simo Valakari was up on stage for an interview before a raffle and hugely successful auction was held.
Owner Adam Webb provided the vote of thanks to round off a wonderful evening.
The club again places on record its thanks to every single person who made the night such a success, including sponsor Sidey, Perth Concert Hall, Mark Bulle and his catering team, Perth Gin, Alliance Print Group and host Liam Doris.
