June 1882

On the 24^th June, Saints are knocked out the Arthurlie 4-aside competition in the second round, losing 1-0 to Thornliebank.

July 1882

It is announced on the 8^th July that Saints annual sports event will again be split over 2 weekends due to the number of entrants, with the 22^nd July added to the 29^th, and the 4 aside football competition will consist of the “main” clubs from Renfrewshire and Glasgow. Unfortunately, Saints are knocked out of their own competition in round 2 after a 1-0 loss to Dumbarton.

The English based Athletic Newspaper commented on the size of crowd once more for the event, with the gate exceeding £50 in revenue, meaning around 4,000 turned out, prompting their correspondent to state Paisley people had a “mania for the winter game” not seen anywhere else in Scotland.

The following Saturday, almost 5,000 attended the events, and the football won by Arthurlie whose 4 players each received a marble clock.

August 1882

On the 23^rd of the month Saints are drawn against Yoker in the 1^st round of the 1882/83 Scottish Cup. The “Bodies” as they were referred to by the press at the time (before Buddies became the norm) were one of 5 Paisley clubs in the draw, along with Woodside, Paisley Athletic, Abercorn and Woodland.

On the 30^th August the Renfrewshire Cup matches Saints with Busby side, Cartvale.

September 1882

Saints easily progress to the second round of the Scottish Cup by beating Yoker 8-0 and are drawn at Cappielow in the 2^nd round, for their first ever meeting with Morton. Only Abercorn remain from the other Paisley sides in the tournament, who drew Pollok at home.

The team however is struggling to cope with the step up in opposition in the fixture list, and prepare for the Scottish Cup match with 8-2 and 6-2 defeats to Clyde and Vale of Leven respectively. Morton continued this trend by thrashing Saints 5-1 in what was considered a shock due to the lowly status of the Greenock side compared to the Paisley club. Saints announce a charity match with Dumbarton to be played on the 7^th October, with all gate proceedings being gifted to Paisley causes.

October 1882

The terrible form of the first XI is tackled by the committee with a revamp of the squad and five new players introduced to the first team: goalkeeper JW Reid, full back J Fulton and forwards T Johnstone, J Brown and AB Aird. The charity match is lost to Dumbarton 4-1, but the man of the match was the Dumbarton keeper, and much praise was given to Saints new forwards.

The following week was another stern test for the new look first team XI against Cartvale in the Renfrewshire Cup, but Saints thumped the previous years finalists (and very much on form) Busby by a resounding score of 5-1.

November 1882

The improvement in Saints form continued into November, with 4 straight wins and 18 goals scored as the new forwards began to settle into the first ream and really help to improve the side.

On the 17^th, Saints are drawn away to Paisley Athletic in the 2^nd round of the Renfrewshire Cup, with the tie to be played early the following month.

December 1882

Saints great form continues as they beat Paisley Athletic at East Park 3-0 in front of 4,500 spectators on the second of the month. An almost month long freeze however halts Saints progress as matches are postponed for 3 weeks, until the big Paisley Derby on the 23^rd when Abercorn visited Thistle Park.

In a rough match in front of 6,000 highly motivated supporters, Abercorn’s physical style succeeds when they win 6-3, however the match did not conclude after a pitch invasion following the last goal, which the referee allowed to stand after a supporter bundled the ball out of Saints keeper Reid’s hands and it crossed the line with a few minutes remaining. For the safety of the players (and himself), the referee withdrew both sides but the result stood.

January 1883

Saints kick off the New Year in poor form after another 6-3 defeat, this time against Lugar Boswell on New Years’ Day. The Renfrewshire Cup draws the Buddies against Southern of Greenock in the third round, and the club announces a “tour” of England with matches against Bolton Wanderers and Blackburn Rovers, which is brought forward a week due to the FA cup being rescheduled.

Saints travel down on train to Manchester and then onto Bolton on the evening of the 12^th January in preparation for the first match of the English tour the following day. The long journey impacts on the players however as they eventually lose 8-2 to the Lancashire side in front of 2,000 spectators despite drawing 2-2 at half-time. 2 days later, Saints take on Blackburn and put in a much better performance but lose 3-2, missing several late chances to salvage a draw.

February 1883

Saints easily progress in the Renfrewshire Cup quarter final, annihilating Greenock side Southern 8-0 on the 10^th of the month with Watt scoring 4 times. A few days later, a trophy paid for by Mr AD Gibb of Norwell in England along with funds raised over the past few years by clubs in the town is unveiled as the Paisley Charity Cup. Saints were given a bye to the second round, but Abercorn refused to play in the inaugural season.

R Whyte is picked for the Renfrewshire select, who beat Lanarkshire 7-2 on the 17^th at Thistle Park. On the final day of the month, the Renfrewshire FA dismiss an appeal from Southern Greenock about the 8-0 defeat from Saints.

March 1883

A fine start to the month for Saints as Arthurlie are beaten at Thistle Park. The Barrhead club were back to back winners of the Renfrewshire Cup and hadn’t been beaten by a team from the county since 1880. The Dunterlie based club were considered the best in Renfrewshire and had already provided the first Scottish international player from the county, Robert McPherson, but Saints were rapidly closing the gap. This would be the last match played this season for one of the key players in the team, R Whyte, after he suffers a near fatal accident at work.

Saints annual soiree takes place on the 16^th of the month in the Drill Halls within the town, with parties from all major clubs in the West of Scotland and Paisley present, except for Abercorn. The following day, Saints reached their second Renfrewshire Cup final after dispatching Johnstone Rovers 5-0 at Thistle Park. They would meet Thornliebank at East Park in Paisley the following month.

On the last day of the month, Saints took on Bolton Wanderers once more in the return match in Paisley, and having led 3-2 late in the match, blew the advantage and fell to a 4-3 defeat, a similar story the previous week when Port Glasgow came back from 3-0 down in the second half to also win 4-3.

April 1883

A good month for the club as they beat Paisley Athletic in the “other” Burgh derby at East Park on the 7th, although the match is overshadowed by the physical play of the hosts, which drew hissing from the large crowd. The following week the players returned to East Park for the Renfrewshire Cup final, and for the first time in the clubs’ history they won the trophy after a 3-1 victory in front of 6,000 spectators. Three days later, Saints were drawn with Olympic from the East of the town in the Paisley Charity Cup semi-final.

On the 26^th April 1883, members of the club met and agreed to drop the scarlet and blue colours that the first team had been playing with since inception and voted to wear black and white stripes with navy blue knickers. It was also disclosed at this meeting that St Mirren (66 votes) Arthurlie (66) and Abercorn (49) had been voted by the Renfrewshire FA membership to represent the county as members on the SFA board after the national association afforded 3 places.

May 1883

The club play their first ever match in the Paisley Charity Cup but are surprisingly held to 4-4 draw with junior club Olympic on the 19^th of the month, with Robert McPherson of Arthurlie and Scotland guesting for the Buddies. The match is played at Blackstoun Park as Saints have now left Thistle Park and are building a new ground “not far” from that site. Three days later a Glasgow select XI consisting of Queens Park and Rangers players leave Paisley with a 1-0 win as Saints are unable to take multiple chances created.

June 1883

It was announced on the 6^th of the month that the clubs annual sport event, considered the best in the country, has been scheduled for the 28^th July. After Saints were awarded the semi final of the Paisley Charity Cup as Olympic were unable to fulfill the fixture, they finally met Paisley Athletic in the first ever final on the 23^rd June. However with the cricket season in full swing, a weak Saints side are beaten 6-0 and a very long season comes to an end after 36 matches.