Callum Davidson reflects on St Johnstone achievement and makes Betfred Cup celebration promise
The Dunblane-raised Davidson is one of several locals at the club. He admitted he was in an unusually emotional state at the end of a tense 1-0 win over Livingston at Hampden Park. Shaun Rooney’s header after 31 minutes proved to be the winner.
“I’m not an emotional person,” said Davidson. “I’m pretty level. I think it’s just the achievement and seeing the joy on the players’ faces and the backroom staff and the people upstairs and the board, everyone involved in the club. That’s when it hits home that it means so much to them as well.
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Hide Ad"I’m out on the forefront working hard as the face of it but I have six or seven backroom staff working unbelievably hard and I know how much it meant to them.”
He acknowledged there would be little chance for the players to celebrate other than with their families at home, as is the case with supporters.
“The players will just have to realise that it is the way it is just now,” he said. “Hopefully we can get something in June when Covid starts to clear and they allow gatherings and we can celebrate with people back in Perth.
"It is really important we do it because you do not win trophies very often – it’s taken 137 years for St Johnstone to win this one so we need to make sure we celebrate properly.”
Davidson rushed to see chairman Steve Brown at the end of the match. He was only appointed manager in the summer after Tommy Wright’s surprise resignation and he clearly appreciates being handed a first chance in management.
Geoff Brown Steve’s father, was also in the St Johnstone party at Hampden – he led the club from the doldrums of the old Second Division to the top-flight in the 1980s before stepping down in 2011.
“I gave his dad a bit of stick: ‘your son has won two major trophies in his time as chairman’," said Davidson. "He didn’t take that too well!
“But it’s a great achievement for him. He (Steve) works so hard. It’s one of those clubs that is well run.
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Hide Ad"We can’t spend money because we basically don’t have it. You saw today the benefits of that. Hopefully we can now hold onto the players we have and build on it for the rest of the season – which is just as important as today’s game.
"We have some huge games coming up and we can’t take our eye off the ball.”
St Johnstone travel to face Hamilton Accies on Wednesday as they re-engage with their bid to reach the top six. Davidson hopes this latest success can be the start of something at the club. Centre-backs Liam Gordon, Jamie McCart and skipper Jason Kerr are in their early 20s and influential midfielder Ali McCann is still just 21.
“It’s one of those – can we keep it together?” said Davidson. “Hopefully we can. But days like these there will be other clubs looking, especially at our back three and Ali McCann, and how well they’ve done at such a young age.”