Newly promoted St Johnstone find themselves in a strong position coming back from the international break after a positive start to the league campaign. How does their start compare to newly promoted sides from previous seasons?
Simo Valakari’s St Johnstone side will head to Pittodrie this weekend full of belief, with both sides level on 8 points. The Saints are currently in 6th place with 2 wins, 2 draws and 3 losses in their first 7 matches. With only 1 defeat in their last 4 games and Josh Fowler finding his scoring touch, Saints fans will be hoping that their side can start to build some real momentum.
But how does their start compare to newly promoted teams from previous seasons? Can patterns from previous years give some insight into how the Saints will fare this year? We have taken a look back at the league standings at the first international break of the past four seasons to analyse how well those promoted teams started the season compared to where they finished.
Falkirk 25/26 season – 1W 3D 3L | 10th | Final position – 6th
What ended up being a remarkable season for Falkirk did not start as brightly as the Bairns struggled to find their feet in the top flight. A battling draw with Rangers just before the international break set the team up well for the rest of the season.
Dundee United 24/25 season – 3W 3D 1L | 5th | Final position – 4th
Jim Goodwin’s men started as they meant to go on in the 2024/25 season as a strong start and solid campaign resulted in them securing European football in their first season back in the top flight. United were virtually ever-present in the top six for the entire season, but were not able to replicate the same form last year.
Dundee FC 23/24 season – 1W 2D 1L | 7th | Final position – 6th
Dundee started brightly in what ended up being a very successful season for Tony Docherty’s side. Docherty’s brand of exciting attacking football, spearheaded by players like Lyall Cameron and Luke McCowan, secured a top six finish for the Dees for the first time since the 2014/15 season.
Kilmarnock 22/23 season – 1W 1D 5L | 11th | Final position – 10th
The worst-performing side in the list, Derek Mcinnes’ Kilmarnock side started poorly but ultimately secured safety in their first season back in the top flight. Kilmarnock did well to take points off of the teams in and around the bottom six to finish 9 points above bottom.
While there is still plenty of football to be played, St Johnstone fans can take encouragement from the fact that not one of the previous four newly promoted sides finished the season lower than their league position at the time of the first international break. Only time will tell how high or low the Saints will finish come the end of the season.
