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Isle of Man
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St Mirren first travelled to the Isle of Man in 1982, accepting an invitation from the Manx
Government, to spend a week on the Island during pre-season training.
English side, Sunderland then contacted Saints
to request a friendly match. Saints suggested that the teams should meet on the Island and contacted the powers on the Island
to see if this could be arranged. |
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The
Islanders saw an opportunity to promote the Island and set up the match between the sides.
Whilst there Saints also played
two matches against the Isle of Man National X1 and an Isle of Man League select side.
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30/07/1982
St Mirren 5 Isle of Man X1 0
McDougall 2
Stark
McAvennie
02/08/1982
St Mirren 1 Isle of Man select 1
McAvennie
05/08/1982
St Mirren 2 Sunderland 1
Richardson
McAvennie
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Following the succes and interest from 1982, the Isle of Man tourist board decided to hold a football
festival in 1983 and again Saints and Sunderland were invited to compete. This time Burnley were also invited and along with
the Island team, they competed in a round robin tournament sponsored by Gore Advertising.
The winner of the competition
was to be presented with a Gold Cup.
An opening loss to Burnley follwed by a 3-0 win over the Island X1 saw Saints in
a head to head with Sunderland for the trophy. Unfortunately Sunderland gained revenge for the defeat in 82, with a 1-0 win
to take the trophy back to Tyneside.
05/08/1983
St Mirren 1 Burnley 2
McDougall
07/08/1983
St Mirren 3 Isle of Man 0
McDougall 2
Scanlon
09/08/1983
St Mirren 0 Sunderland
1
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1984 saw the festival grow to a six team tournament played as two leagues of three and a final.
Saints and Sunderland were again invited, along with Blackburn Rovers, Carlisle United and Athlone Town.
The group
stage saw Saints lose to Blackburn and they only managed a draw against the Island team, to crash out.
They then
lost to Carlisle United in the 5th/6th place play off, ending up with the wooden spoon!
Sunderland beat Blackburn Rovers
in the final to retain their trophy.
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30/07/1984
St Mirren 1 Blackburn Rovers 3
Scanlon
02/08/1984
St Mirren 0 Isle of Man 0
5th/6th play-off
03/08/1984
St Mirren 0 Carlisle United 1
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Saints were due to participate again in 1985 alongside Blackburn Rovers, Carlisle United and Manchester
City amongst others, however following the Heysel Stadium tragedy in May 1985, the tournament was restricted to English clubs
only due to restrictions placed on the English FA by UEFA.
It was 1989 before Saints were again invited to
the Island.
By this time the tournament was in it's sixth year and was sponsored by the Isle of Man Brewery. A new
trophy was up for grabs in the form of the Okells Barrell trophy.
Again it was a six team event with a group stage and
a final.
Saints progressed through the group defeating Swansea City and the Isle of Man and faced Premier Division rivals
Motherwell in the final.
Unfortunately Motherwell were to win 2-1.
23/07/1989
St Mirren 1 Swansea City 0
Davies
25/07/1989
St Mirren 6 Isle of Man 0
Lambert 4
Walker
Shaw
Final
29/07/1989
St Mirren 1 Motherwell 2
Martin
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