Obituary: Donnie McPhee

St Johnstone Football Club is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of lifelong supporter Donnie McPhee.

Donnie (93) was a season ticket holder for 72 consecutive years - stretching across Muirton Park and McDiarmid Park - from 1952 until 2024. Through highs, lows and everything in between, his love for the Saints was unwavering.

The club will forever be grateful for the loyalty he showed us and a memorial plaque will be placed on his seat in the Geoff Brown Main Stand.

Donnie was born in Perth on the 15th of July 1931 and attended St Johns RC School. A follower of Saints in his younger days too, he would leave school at the age of 14 before taking up his first job as a storeboy at McMurray and Archibald. In his early working life, Donnie also spent time at the Waverley Hotel as a pageboy and barman.

He was called up for National Service in 1949 with the Royal Army Service Corps and, after a stint in Aldershot, was deployed to Egypt.

It was on Donnie’s return – and around about the same time as he started working for the Ministry of Defence at the Royal Naval Aircraft Workshops in Almondbank – where his love for all things St Johnstone Football Club intensified.

His first full season watching from the terracing saw us finish in 14th position in the 16-team Division B. As the official club history notes: “If 1951-52 was bad, 1952-53 was to prove much worse.”

Yet that failed to dampen Donnie’s enthusiasm and he continued to show his support week in, week out. As the years progressed, performances on the pitch improved and the team he loved watching most was the Willie Ormond side of the early to mid-1970s. His most-loved team performance was the UEFA Cup win over German giants Hamburg.

Donnie, who also proudly attended the 1969 League Cup final against Celtic at Hampden Park, ranked John Connolly, Henry Hall and Kenny Aird among his footballing favourites and he greatly enjoyed meeting up with them whenever they returned in recent years. He was also very fond of Joe Carr and Ian Rodger.

In terms of individual performances, he always remembered a five-goal show from Rodger in 1955, as well as one from John Brogan in 1982. A six-goal haul from Willie McIntosh in 1946 was also a highlight.

It was at Muirton Park where Donnie introduced his son, David, to the wonderful world of Saints and they would attend with their ‘father and son’ season ticket. Football was important in the family, even though wife Mary was a little less interested!

She was, however, delighted to join Donnie, David and granddaughter Caitlin in the centre of Perth on May 18th 2014 – the day after our famous Scottish Cup win. That weekend was particularly special – and emotional – for Donnie. 

There will be few Saints fans who have not come across Donnie’s infectious smile and he was a regular in the Campbell Suite at McDiarmid Park.

When we initially moved to the all-seater stadium at McDiarmid, he started saving up specific funds in order to be able to watch the action from the ‘plush’ seats and, through the years, he made friends for life in both the stand and the lounge.

Fans reading this may recognise Donnie from our 2024/25 season ticket promotional video. He starred as one of the main characters and was an absolute joy to work with. He was pleased there were so many favourable reviews of the video and his performance!

Across the past few months and after his cancer diagnosis, Donnie – who always appreciated the work of Saints in the Community – was invited into the stadium to watch training, to meet the full squad and, on his 60th wedding anniversary in September, defender Kyle Cameron paid a surprise visit to join in the celebrations at his house.

Latterly, as his illness prevented him attending games, club archivist Paul Smith visited Donnie at home to talk through special Saints memories, photos and memorabilia.  

St Johnstone CEO, Francis Smith, said: “Everyone at the club is truly saddened to hear of Donnie’s passing. The support he has given us through the years has been nothing short of incredible.

“I personally enjoyed sitting with him at games and hearing all of his wonderful stories in the Campbell Suite. He will be missed greatly at McDiarmid Park but the love, loyalty and passion he showed for this football club will never be forgotten.

“We send our love and condolences to Donnie’s family and friends at this sad time. They are very much in our thoughts.”

Donnie’s funeral will be held on Wednesday, November 27th at 3pm at Perth Crematorium, where there will be a retiring collection for Saints in the Community. Afterwards, you are invited to join the family at McDiarmid Park.