Season 1940-41

After the single season of the Western League, a new league format was introduced for 1940-41, with a Southern League and a North-Eastern League. Saints participated in the Southern League. The war was in full flow and many players had enlisted in the armed forces, making it difficult for clubs to have any consistency with team selection.

A further setback for St. Mirren was the local chief constable declaring that they could not use Love Street, and they were forced to play their first three ‘home’ matches at Ibrox. This did not stop the Saints from having their best start to a season since 1907, with three wins and three draws from the first half dozen matches. Unfortunately, this was followed by 4 losses in five games.

The period up to the New Year saw a good spell with six wins in ten games, the highlight being a 2-0 victory over Rangers, with Brady and Linwood scoring. The first match of the New Year saw the legendary Bill Shankly make a ‘guest’ appearance for the Saints, but he could not prevent a 1-0 defeat against Hearts. Around this time manager Sam Blythe joined the forces and his place was taken by Donald Menzies.

The remainder of the season was disappointing and a final 7th place from 16 teams was achieved. Alex Linwood continued in scoring form with twenty goals. Two new competitions were played. In the War League Cup, St. Mirren won their league section with eleven points from six games but lost 4-1 to Rangers in the semi-final. The Summer Cup (a replacement for the Scottish Cup) saw Saints defeat Partick Thistle 6-2 on aggregate, before losing 8-3 to Hearts over two legs.