St Mirren supporters have the chance to see their playing heroes immortalised with a street named in their honour at the club’s former stadium.

The old Love Street site is being transformed into 132 affordable homes and a public competition is now under way to name the streets at the new development.

Renfrewshire Council has teamed up with the site’s housing provider Sanctuary Scotland and St Mirren FC to launch #SaintsStreets.

Two streets have already been named North Bank and Cairter’s Corner after well-known sections of the old ground and now buddies have two weeks to submit their suggestions for the five remaining roads.

With more than 140 years of playing history and plenty league and cup winning teams to choose from, the options are huge.

“It’s a fantastic opportunity for St Mirren supporters and members of the local community to have some fun coming up with their suggestions and at the same time ensure the rich history of the site is celebrated,” says Councillor Marie McGurk, Convener of Renfrewshire Council’s Communities, Housing and Planning Policy Board.

Names can be submitted online via the #SaintsStreets link www.surveymonkey.com/r/SaintsStreets before 4.45pm on Saturday 17 February.

A judging panel including St Mirren chairman Gordon Scott and celebrity supporter Chick Young will then convene to select a final shortlist which will go to an online public vote, with the five most popular names declared the winners.

The panel are there to ensure the shortlisted names are suitable and comply with Royal Mail requirements. Names cannot clash with any street names already taken, so any players whose surname is already shared with an existing street in the town will be ruled out.

Councillor McGurk added: “This exciting development at Love Street is transforming a vacant site and supports our commitment to build more than 200 high quality affordable homes every year as we invest to create a thriving Renfrewshire.

“It isn’t just about building more houses – it is about creating homes that people want to live in, in places where they want to live. We’re expanding the supply of homes that are the right type, the right size and in the right place to meet the needs of people in Renfrewshire.”

The £17million Love Street project is being delivered by Sanctuary Scotland in partnership with Renfrewshire Council and the Scottish Government.

The development will provide 103 houses for social rent. A further 29 houses are available for affordable sale through the New Supply Shared Equity scheme.

Sanctuary is also building homes for social rent in Station Road, Renfrew and at the former Co-Op site in Wellmeadow Street, Paisley.

Pat Cahill, Director, Sanctuary Scotland, added: “We look forward to welcoming Sanctuary tenants to homes in streets named after Love Street legends.”

St Mirren FC chairman Gordon Scott added: “It would be difficult to put into words how much Love Street means to my fellow supporters – many of us will have watched our first game of football there, and will have a lifetime of memories revolving around the place.

“So we are delighted the club’s history will be reflected in the new development taking place on the site and that St Mirren fans will be able to choose the names that mean the most to them.”

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