22/42 - The Simple Digital Arena, Paisley

9th February 2019
Ground Number: 22
Ground: The Simple Digital Arena, Paisley
Home of: St. Mirren FC
Match: St. Mirren V Dundee United
Score: 1-2
Attendance: 3965

Ahhhh the magic of the Scottish Cup! It always throws up some intriguing ties and today Dundee United got the chance to test their new squad against a Premiership outfit in St Mirren. It's fair to say the Saints aren't having the best of seasons so far and are rooted to the bottom of the league however the cup always provides struggling teams a welcome distraction. Off we go then to tick off ground number 22 on the tour. Let's go to Love Street. Wrong era. It must be St Mirren Park. Nope again! It's The Simple Digital Arena. Ahh sponsorship eh?

We found the ground very easily and with parking spaces looking to be at a premium on streets around the ground we made the decision to park in the official stadium car park. Yes I know! But it was the sensible thing to do today. £5 paid we found a space no problem. First things first (as always) we do a perimeter walk of the stadium and try to find the club shop. It's clear The Simple Digital Arena is a pretty new (it opened in 2009) and it really does still has that new feel to it. 

Selfies taken we find the Club Shop and are impressed with the wide range of merchandise stocked for even the fussiest of Saints fan in your life. There was a great selection of pin badges available but I couldn't bring myself to buy the 50p "Championship Winning Pin Badge" that has been discounted since their league win last season. It's still too painful! So £3 it was for the club crest badge. David was looking for a cigarette lighter on the off chance they stocked them. The answer at the counter. "We don't have them. £3 for the badge." Charming indeed.

Off to find our seats then and today, in a change from normal policy, we're sitting with the travelling Dundee United fans. I'd contacted St Mirren in advance of the tie to see if anything could be done in terms of tickets / tour etc but a flat no was the response so to keep things simple we'd picked up tickets in Dundee prior to travelling. So the North Stand it was and my goodness things aren't half tight in there! There are two food kiosks (one at either end of the stand) and the corridor is fairly narrow when there is a queue for food. When I say narrow I mean there's NO room to get past. Be prepared to wait. We decided at this point to grab food on the way to the seats.

There was a wide selection of food and drinks available. For us it was, of course, a pie. Sadly it's one of the poorest of the tour so far. 4/10 is being very generous I think. Soggy, tasteless. All a bit "meh" to be honest. At least it was hot.

We emerge to find our seats pretty much behind the goal and our initial thoughts are that we're impressed with The Simple Digital Arena.

The stand directly opposite us looks a carbon copy of the North Stand that we're in. To our right is the East Stand which is a smart modern stand and to our left is the largest stand in the ground, the West Stand. It's here that the main stadium facilities are housed and it seems to be where the hospitality suites etc are too. Wherever you choose to sit in this ground you're going to get a decent view and today, with a large vociferous away support, there's a good atmosphere.

The game begins and United are a new team in recent weeks and it shows! They dominate the first 45 minutes and should go in at half time more than 2 ahead. An incredibly exciting passage of play on 15 minutes put United ahead as they finally get the ball into the net on the third attempt. Right on half time Nicky Clark doubles the lead with a quite sublime lob.

The second half is more even and after Calum Butcher's deserved red card on the hour it's backs to the wall for United for the rest of the match. With 13 minutes remaining St Mirren do eventually get back into the game to set up a nail biting finish but United manage to hold on with 10 men and progress to the next round of the cup.

The Simple Digital Area offered us a mixed experience. Stadium facilities, parking, the shop all brilliant. The food and staff we interacted with were both, frankly, miserable. A shame really as both could be improved very easily. We exit both the ground and the car park fairly quickly to get on the road to Dundee and reflect on our day. Overall we did enjoy our day helped i'm sure by a decent result for United however if you're a St Mirren fan it's probably going to be a stressful (and long) second half of the season i'm afraid.

For us next up is ground 23. Where will that be though? Stay tuned.