St Johnstone have been top of the Scottish Championship since the first day of the season. It still took until Tuesday night for their supporters to fully believe it.
Ruari Paton's header against Dunfermline at East End Park triggered the celebrations that confirmed St Johnstone's return to the Scottish Premiership, sealing the title with two matches remaining. Manager Simo Valakari's side have been the division's dominant force all season, winning 20 of their 24 games, losing only three, scoring 64 goals, and conceding just 25.
Their closest challengers throughout were Partick Thistle, the same side St Johnstone beat 5-1 on the opening day. That result set the tone for a campaign that never really wavered. The Perthshire club finished 12 goals clear of Thistle in the scoring column and conceded 10 fewer.
For fans who lived through four difficult seasons that included relegation, the consistency was both thrilling and quietly nerve-wracking. "Being top throughout has brought a strange sort of comfort in a way, we've never been chasing or anything like that," said Danny Williams, a supporter and host of the Dogger Saints podcast, speaking to BBC Scotland. "It's probably quite a natural reaction for football fans to get a bit nervy, especially after having four difficult seasons like we have. I think we've been carrying a bit of scar tissue."
Williams pointed to an emphatic start, with St Johnstone collecting 28 points from the first 30 available, as the foundation of the title. That cushion absorbed a dip in form around the new year when draws began to accumulate and confidence among the fanbase started to wobble.
The moment Williams says he truly believed the title was secure came on April 4. St Johnstone were a goal down to Arbroath before fighting back to win 4-2. Thistle dropped points the same afternoon. "That was the one," Williams said.
The club's recent history makes the achievement sharper. Since winning a cup double in 2021, St Johnstone spent years skirting the relegation zone before eventually going down. The drop, while painful, appears to have reset the squad. Williams acknowledged the change bluntly: "The squad had gone a bit stale," he said, invoking the old Sir Alex Ferguson line about never letting a team grow old together.
Valakari's rebuilt group proved the point across 24 matches. They head back to the Premiership next season as champions.
