Wednesday, June 2

St Johnstone ticket, travel, hotel and pub guide


St Johnstone
McDiarmid Park
Perth
Pre-season friendly
Saturday July 31, kick off 14:00

Preview
This match is a testimonial for veteran goalkeeper Alan Main.

Now aged 42, Main made his debut in the Scottish Highland League aged 15.

The Elgin-born stopper signed for Dundee United in 1986 and made 152 appearances in a nine-year spell.

He then joined St Johnstone and appeared 233 times in seven years before spending a year each at Livingston and Gretna.

Main returned for a second spell at St Johstone in 2007 and played 75 games, helping the Saints to promotion to the Scottish Premier Division in 2008/9.

Main, who has played for St Johnstone more than anyone else, broke his hand at the end of last season and so was unable to have a testimonial match.

He will strap up the hand and play some part in the fixture.

United last played at St Johnstone in October 1989, two months after their stadium opened. Brian McClair scored the only goal in a 1-0 win which also featured Mark Hughes and Bryan Robson.

Sir Alex Ferguson played for the Saints from 1960 to 1964, making 37 appearances and scoring 19 goals.

Tickets
Opened in 1989, McDiarmid Park was the UK's first purpose-built all-seater stadium.

The capacity is 10,673. There is the Main Stand to the west, the Ormond Stand to the south, the North Stand and the East Stand.

United fans will be in the north end of the Main Stand. Entry is £15 for adults and £5 for under 16s on the gate. There are no advanced ticket sales.

Travel

Car - £65
From Manchester, the journey will take about four hours and ten minutes each way. It is 263 miles in all.

The basic route is via the M6, the M8 and the M80.

For the stadium, put PH1 2SJ in your satnav. For Perth town centre, which is a five-minute drive away from the stadium, use the postcode PH1 5UB.

Parking – free
At the stadium, there is a large, car park which holds 1,000 cars and 100 coaches. It costs £3 per car. Coaches can park fore free.

There is also lots of free street parking opposite the ground on streets like Newhouse Road and Grange Terrace. However, motorists should look out for signs showing parking restrictions and be mindful that, if they don't abide by them, their vehicles could be ticketed or even towed.

Train - £30.50
If you book the train in advance, it will cost £30.50 to get to Perth (pictured right).

If you buy your tickets on the day, or the advance promotion tickets sell out, you're looking at £78.40 return.

Outward
Option 1 (5.04)
Leave Piccadilly: 06:33
Arrive Glasgow Central: 09:45
Leave Glasgow Queen Street: 10:41
Arrive Perth: 11:37
One-way fare £16

Option 2 (5.09)
Leave Victoria: 06:45
Arrive Wigan Wallgate: 07:21
Leave Wigan North Western: 07:37
Arrive Edinburgh: 10:22
Leave: 10:34
Arrive Perth: 11:54
One-way fare roughly £30 if booked as three single tickets in advance from National Rail.

Option 3 (4:51)
Leave Piccadilly: 07:45
Arrive Preston: 08:22
Leave; 08:37
Arrive Glasgow Central: 11:03
Leave Glasgow Queen Street: 11:41
Arrive Perth: 12:36
One-way fare roughly £30 if booked as three single tickets in advance from National Rail.

Homeward
Option 1 (5:01)
Leave Perth: 16:55
Arrive: Glasgow Queen Street: 18:09
Leave Glasgow Central: 18:40
Arrive Preston: 20:58
Leave: 21:10
Arrive Piccadilly: 21:56
One-way fare: £14:50

Option 2 (5:34)
Leave Perth (pictured right): 17:00
Arrive Edinburgh: 18:25
Leave: 18:52
Arrive Wigan North Western: 21:31
Leave Wigan Wallgate: 21:55
Arrive Victoria 22:34
One-way fare: £14.50

Walking between the two Wigan stations takes about one minute. Leave Wallgate, turn right and you will see North Western to your left after a few yards.

Walking between the two Glasgow stations takes less than ten minutes. Leave Central, turn left onto Union Street. Walk for a couple of minutes and turn right onto Kemp Street. Queen Street is right ahead of you.

Fans coach - £23
The Reds Away coach to this game has been cancelled due to a lack of interest.

We will let you know of any other coaches going to this game.

Apologies to those who enquired about bookings.

Bus - £15
Megabus runs between Manchester and Perth, but the journey time is over seven hours. The only way of getting there and back via Megabus is to set off the day on Friday and return on Sunday.

Friday from Manchester (all prices one way)
Leave Shudehill: 12:40 17:00 £10
Arrive Perth Broxden:18:45 00:05 £5

You will arrive at a park and ride stop on a roundabout to the west of Perth town centre.

From there you can get the 301 bus into town for free.

It runs every 15 minutes from 07:00 to 19:00 so if you're wanting to get to or from the town centre outside of the those hours, you will need to get a taxi. It's only a two-mile journey though, so won't cost more than £5.
Call Perth Radio Taxis on 01738 628 171 or Ace Taxis on 01738 444 000.

Sunday from Perth
Leave Perth Broxden: 06:45 09:35 £10
Arrive Shudehull: 13:00 15:45 £10

The good news is National Express does run a coach from Manchester to Perth which allows you to travel there and back on the day of the match...the bad news it costs an eye-watering £58.00 return.

On the way there, you leave Chorlton Street at 01:10 and arrive on Cross Street, Perth at 08:56 after a 75-minute wait in Glasgow.

On the way back, you leave Cross Street at 20:52 and arrive in Manchester at 03:35 after a 45-minute wait in Glasgow. You can also travel to Perth on Friday and back on Sunday, but it still costs £58 return

Plane and train combo (£41.15 single, £97.24 return)
The nearest airport is Dundee, but flights from Manchester to there are circa £200 return.

But Edinburgh Airport is only an hour away and you can fly from Manchester for relatively cheap on matchday, though you will have to wait until the following morning to fly back.

Saturday
Leave Manchester Airport: 07:45
Arrive Edinburgh: 08:50
Price: £30.65
Airline: flybe

From outside the airport, get the Airlink 100 bus to Edinburgh Train Station. It costs £3.50 single and £6 return, runs every 10 minutes and takes 25 minutes.

That should get you to the station at 09:30.

From there, reaching Perth takes 80 minutes and direct trains leave at 09:35, 10:34 and 11:35.

You can also change at Stirling. Single tickets cost £7 in advance or £12.90 on the day. Returns cost £14 in advance or £14.30 on the day.

So all being well, you should make it to Perth by 11:00 – three hours before kick off.

Sunday
Direct trains leave Perth at 09:35, 10:34, 11:57 and 15:25. Then you can catch the Airlink 100 bus from outside the station.

Leave Edinburgh Airport: 18:50
Arrive Manchester Airport: 19:55
Price: £46.59
Airline: flybe

Getting to the ground

On foot
It would take about 40 minutes from the town centre. From St Ninian's Cathedral, follow the A85, which starts as Barrack Street and turns into Dunkeld Road and Crieff Road. The stadium is on your right.

Taxi
It would take less than 10 minutes and cost about £8. Call
Perth Radio Taxis on 01738 628 171 or Ace Taxis on 01738 444 000.

Hotel and pub information coming soon.

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