Defender from Falkirk who helped St Mirren and Livingston out of the Championship and into the SPFL Premiership

Remember the name '˜Gregor Buchanan' for Trivial Pursuit and pub quizzes in the future.
Gregor Buchanan landed a unique double this season.  Picture Michael GillenGregor Buchanan landed a unique double this season.  Picture Michael Gillen
Gregor Buchanan landed a unique double this season. Picture Michael Gillen

When it’s asked which player achieved promotion from the same league with two different clubs in the same season, the 28-year-old from Camelon is the answer.

The defender started the season at St Mirren under Jack Ross having made a switch from Dumbarton in the summer.

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After a promising start to the campaign first-team opportunities in Paisley slowed towards Christmas and the centre-half switched to Livingston.

Buchanan played against his hometown team last term.Buchanan played against his hometown team last term.
Buchanan played against his hometown team last term.

The rest, as they say, is history and with enough appearances to land a league winners’ medal with the Buddies, he’s also proud owner of a promotion winners’ flag from last Sunday’s triumph over Partick Thistle. That’s all he got, though plus obviously the kudos of being a Premiership footballer, and the unique double promotion achievement.

“It’s a bit of a shame,” he told The Falkirk Herald. “It’s a difficult one because maybe the Premiership team wouldn’t want anything but for the team going up, having won the promotion there would be something in England. I have got some mementoes from the day to keep for the memories.”

Buchanan’s is a story of hard work and perseverance. Coming through local boys’ club ranks at Falkirk Colts and Camelon he moved to Armadale Juniors aged 19, then switched up a level to Bathgate after two years.

From then on it’s been steady progress through the ranks to now, the top of the Scottish game.

“I didn’t expect to be a Premiership player having started so late in the senior ranks. I was 22 when I joined Airdrie, but it’s always been a dream.

“It was the aim at the start of the season too, we were going for promotion with St Mirren. It didn’t pan out that way for me but I still played a part for them and it’s a special season helping Livingston up as well

“I wasn’t really thinking much about it until a couple of weeks before the play-offs when people started mentioning the ‘double promotion’ and I thought it could be something special here.”

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He felt that as soon as he signed for Livingston. It has been a remarkable, and unlikely, season in West Lothian and the Lions have enjoyed their own double promotion – David Hopkin leading them to successive steps up.

“When I went to Livingston in January there was a real positivity in the place.

“We only lost two or three games while I was there and when a team is on runs like that they are so hard to beat. There was a real togetherness and it was a special place to be.

“My aim now is to sort myself out for next season and hopefully with Livingston because I have loved it.”

As well becoming a pub quiz answer, Buchanan – as a Premiership player – could also find himself in computer games like FIFA and Pro Evolution Soccer next season.

“That would be surreal,” he added, “but it’s another of the benefits of being a Premiership player. It was the dream and I’ve made it, maybe not in the way I’d imagined at the start.

“I saw St Mirren celebrating at the end of the season and was proud to have played a little part in that, not that I would have celebrated their league win with them – but I was delighted it was my turn for last Sunday with Livingston.”