# 2022–23 St Johnstone F.C. season

The 2022–23 season was St Johnstone's tenth season in the Scottish Premiership and their fourteenth consecutively (following four in the former Scottish Premier League) in the top flight of Scottish football. Saints were eliminated from the League Cup at the group stage. They also competed in the Scottish Cup.

## Season summary

Still managed by Callum Davidson, Saints hoped to improve upon their performance in the 2021–22 season when, after finishing eleventh, they had to win the Premiership playoff to avoid relegation. The team had been in transition since winning the Scottish Cup in May 2021 and Saints were again very active in the summer transfer window which closed on 31 August. The scale of transition is illustrated by the team which played St Mirren three days later on 3 September. Of the 20-man squad who contested the 2021 Scottish Cup Final just 15 months earlier, only nine players remained at the club in some capacity and only Stevie May was in the starting line-up for the St Mirren match with four others on the bench. Among the summer 2022 intake were Drey Wright and Jamie Murphy who had both played for Hibernian in the 2021 final.

## Competitions

Win  Draw  Loss  Postponed

### Scottish League Cup

Saints entered the 2022–23 Scottish League Cup at the group stage and were drawn into Group F with Annan Athletic, Ayr United, Elgin City and Queen of the South. Despite being reduced to nine men, Saints held on to draw 0–0 in the opening match at home to Annan Athletic but lost the penalty shootout 5–4. They also lost on penalties to Queen of the South after a 2–2 draw. Victories over Elgin City and Ayr United were a case of too little, too late, and Saints were eliminated from the competition after finishing third in Group F. Annan were the surprise group winners and Queen of the South were runners-up ahead of Saints on goal difference. The top two both qualified for the second round (the last 16).

### Scottish Cup
## Squad statistics
### Appearances and goals

    As of 28 May 2023
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Premiership | Premiership | Scottish Cup | Scottish Cup | League Cup | League Cup |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1 | GK | ENG | Remi Matthews | 35 | 0 | 34 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | MLT | James Brown | 30 | 1 | 25+1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | SCO | Tony Gallacher | 5 | 0 | 2+3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | SCO | Andrew Considine | 37 | 1 | 32 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | ENG | Alex Mitchell | 29 | 1 | 25+4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | DF | SCO | Liam Gordon | 33 | 2 | 31+1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | FW | SCO | Stevie May | 42 | 10 | 34+3 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| 8 | MF | SCO | Murray Davidson | 8 | 0 | 2+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | SCO | Chris Kane | 2 | 1 | 0+2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | MF | CAN | David Wotherspoon | 23 | 0 | 7+15 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | GK | ENG | Elliot Parish | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 13 | DF | AUS | Ryan McGowan | 29 | 1 | 28 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | ENG | Drey Wright | 40 | 7 | 37+1 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 16 | FW | SCO | Zak Rudden | 12 | 1 | 2+10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | FW | CAN | Theo Bair | 31 | 2 | 8+19 | 2 | 0+1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 18 | MF | SCO | Cammy MacPherson | 25 | 0 | 18+4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 19 | DF | SCO | Adam Montgomery | 33 | 1 | 27+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| 20 | GK | SCO | Ross Sinclair | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | MF | SWE | Melker Hallberg | 35 | 3 | 28+2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| 23 | MF | IRL | Graham Carey | 35 | 4 | 24+6 | 3 | 0+1 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| 25 | MF | SCO | Cammy Ballantyne | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 26 | MF | SCO | Connor McLennan | 27 | 1 | 8+18 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | FW | SCO | Jamie Murphy | 29 | 5 | 15+9 | 3 | 0+1 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| 34 | MF | TRI | Daniel Phillips | 23 | 0 | 17+5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 | FW | SCO | Nicky Clark | 21 | 4 | 19+1 | 4 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Departures ||||||||||||
| 5 | DF | IRL | Dan Cleary | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 11 | FW | SCO | Michael O'Halloran | 8 | 0 | 2+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 15 | MF | SCO | Charlie Gilmour | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 16 | DF | IRL | John Mahon | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 17 | FW | FIN | Eetu Vertainen | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | MF | SCO | Ali Crawford | 19 | 2 | 5+12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 27 | MF | UKR | Max Kucheriavyi | 8 | 0 | 2+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 33 | FW | SCO | Taylor Steven | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |

## Team statistics
### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 7 | Motherwell | 38 | 14 | 8 | 16 | 53 | 51 | +2 | 50 | |
| 8 | Livingston | 38 | 13 | 7 | 18 | 36 | 60 | −24 | 46 | |
| 9 | St Johnstone | 38 | 12 | 7 | 19 | 41 | 59 | −18 | 43 | |
| 10 | Kilmarnock | 38 | 11 | 7 | 20 | 37 | 62 | −25 | 40 | |
| 11 | Ross County (O) | 38 | 9 | 7 | 22 | 37 | 60 | −23 | 34 | Qualification for the Premiership play-off final |
* ↑ Teams play each other three times (33 matches), before the league is split into two groups (the top six and the bottom six).

### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 |
| Ground | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | H | H | A | A | H |
| Result | L | W | L | L | L | W | D | W | L | L | L | W | W | W | D | D | W | L | L | L | L | L | L | W | L | W | D | L | D | L | L | L | D | W | L | W | D | W |
| Position | 10 | 6 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 |

### League Cup table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | PW | PL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | ANN | QOS | STJ | AYR | ELG |
| 1 | Annan Athletic | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 3 | +5 | 10 | Qualification for the second round | — | — | — | p1–1 | 4–0 |
| 2 | Queen of the South | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 5 | +4 | 8 | Qualification for the second round | 2–3 | — | p2–2 | — | — |
| 3 | St Johnstone | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 8 | | 0–0p | — | — | 1–0 | — |
| 4 | Ayr United | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 4 | | — | 0–3 | — | — | 3–0 |
| 5 | Elgin City | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 13 | −11 | 0 | | — | 0–2 | 2–4 | — | — |
* ↑ Ayr United were awarded a technical 3−0 win over Elgin City, who fielded an ineligible player. The match had originally finished 0–0, with Ayr United securing the bonus point following a 4–3 win on penalties.

## Transfers

In Scottish football, the summer 2022 transfer window officially opened on 10 June and closed on 31 August.

### In

| Date | Player | Transferred from | Fee |
| 16 June 2022 | Andrew Considine | Aberdeen | Free |
| 16 June 2022 | Drey Wright | Hibernian | Free |
| 28 June 2022 | Adam Montgomery | Celtic | Loan |
| 1 July 2022 | Graham Carey | CSKA Sofia | Free |
| 5 July 2022 | Jamie Murphy | Hibernian | Free |
| 22 July 2022 | Ryan McGowan | Kuwait SC | Free |
| 26 July 2022 | William Sandford | IFK Gothenburg | Free |
| 27 July 2022 | Remi Matthews | Crystal Palace | Loan |
| 27 July 2022 | Alex Mitchell | Millwall | Loan |
| 10 August 2022 | Daniel Phillips | Watford | Free |
| 31 August 2022 | Nicky Clark | Dundee United | Undisclosed |
| 1 September 2022 | Connor McLennan | Aberdeen | Loan |
| 31 January 2023 | Zak Rudden | Dundee | Loan |

### Out

| Date | Player | Transferred to | Fee |
| 25 May 2022 | Shaun Rooney | Fleetwood Town | Free |
| 27 May 2022 | Efe Ambrose | Greenock Morton | Free |
| 27 May 2022 | Nadir Ciftci | Free agent | Free |
| 27 May 2022 | Liam Craig | Retired | Free |
| 27 May 2022 | Jahmal Hector-Ingram | Free agent | Free |
| 3 June 2022 | Craig Bryson | Stenhousemuir | Free |
| 12 June 2022 | Jordan Northcott | Brechin City | Free |
| 16 June 2022 | Sam Denham | East Fife | Free |
| 17 June 2022 | Callum Hendry | Salford City | Free |
| 30 June 2022 | Eetu Vertainen | Linfield | Loan |
| 18 July 2022 | Jacob Butterfield | Scunthorpe United | Free |
| 28 July 2022 | Dan Cleary | Shamrock Rovers | Free |
| 28 July 2022 | Alex Ferguson | East Fife | Loan |
| 28 July 2022 | Ross Sinclair | Montrose | Loan |
| 16 August 2022 | Charlie Gilmour | Cove Rangers | Loan |
| 16 August 2022 | Taylor Steven | East Fife | Loan |
| 13 January 2023 | John Mahon | Sligo Rovers | Free |
| 16 February 2023 | Max Kucheriavyi | Falkirk | Loan |
| 24 February 2023 | Ali Crawford | Greenock Morton | Loan |
| 24 February 2023 | Michael O'Halloran | Cove Rangers | Loan |