St Johnstone, founded in 1884, remain one of Scottish football’s more durable provincial clubs, based at McDiarmid Park and carrying a pedigree sharpened by recent silverware. The 2020/21 season brought both the Scottish Cup and League Cup, taking them to two Scottish Cups and one League Cup overall.
The current squad is valued at around £4m by Transfermarkt, with 29 players and an average age of 24. That points to a group with room to develop, though the immediate picture is a practical one: seventh in the Premiership after 12 rounds, with 14 points on the board.
Their recent league run has been stubborn rather than fluent: draws with Kilmarnock, Motherwell, Dundee United and Falkirk sit alongside a 1-0 win at Aberdeen and a 4-0 defeat away to Rangers. At home they have averaged 1.7 goals scored and 1.5 conceded, while away from home the balance drops to 0.8 scored and 1.7 conceded, a clear defensive weakness on the road.
Josh Fowler has carried the main scoring burden with six goals, ahead of Kai Fotheringham, Jamie Gullan and Ruari Paton on two each. St Johnstone have also struck first inside 20 minutes in five of their 16 league matches, so they are not a side to let games settle gently.
For Celtic supporters, St Johnstone are a familiar Premiership opponent with credible recent cup history, a mid-table league position, and enough home threat to merit proper attention.
📈 Key stats and insights
⚔️ How they compare to Celtic
Against Celtic, St Johnstone are clearly the underdog: Celtic lead the division in scoring and defensive solidity while St Johnstone are mid to lower mid-table in both metrics. Celtic hold the edge in attack, defence and consistency, and St Johnstone's best chance is to exploit home familiarity and set-piece moments rather than outgun Celtic over ninety minutes.
