They lingered long on Love Street. Those who could not coerce their feet to carry them to the exits for the final time were belatedly rewarded for their perseverance.
They lingered long on Love Street. Those who could not coerce their feet to carry them to the exits for the final time were belatedly rewarded for their perseverance. The cordon of stewards eventually parted to allow those unwilling or unable to accept the end had arrived to amble on to the piece of grass where their heroes bedecked in black and white had endured highs and lows for the previous 115 years.
It was the slowest, most benign pitch invasion of all time, as if undertaken by stoned slugs, as pockets of fans gathered on unfamiliar territory to trade memories. Here was where Jimmy Bone embarked on that lung-bursting solo run to score against Aberdeen. Wasn't it from around this spot that Ian Scanlon once netted from his own half against Celtic? And remember the freak goal against Partick Thistle when the ball took a wicked bounce to spin high into the net? Tony Fitzpatrick, the charismatic, two-time St Mirren manager, later said it was the ashes of a supporter scattered in the six-yard box that had diverted it in. It was an apposite recollection as the mood on a surreal day switched regularly from celebration to wake and back again.
A lone voice broke the hushed reverence. "All these folk on the pitch and no-one thought to bring a ball," he bellowed. Moments later and one duly appeared but there was little enthusiasm for recreating any special memories, the kick-about as lifeless and uninspired as the 90 minutes that had preceded it. The floodlights dimmed and a frost began to descend but still the hardcore refused to disperse, continuing to circle the field like planes above the neighbouring Glasgow Airport. Leaving voluntarily would be to acknowledge that this was the end for Love Street, a step few were willing to take.
The stewards recongregated and steadily ushered the supporters back into the North Bank stand, the throng traipsing off as slowly and as peacefully as they had entered.
Up past the seats to the corner where those looking to make an early exit used to gather, down the ramp and they were finally out of the stadium and on to Love Street itself for probably the final time.
There, those who had stayed behind encountered a makeshift shrine, the scarves knotted to the gates adding to the sombre atmosphere. This was the death of a stadium, a way of life and a second home to thousands of people; the laying of club colours was their way of paying their respects. New scarves will surely be bought ahead of the first match at a new stadium half a mile away at the end of the month, but few were thinking about fresh adventures as they marked the end of an era.
From there the walk took them down Love Street, past the car park to the corner shop, where some stopped for one final glance, in the hope the view could be forged in the memory for ever. Others hurried past, heads down and hands thrust deep into pockets, heading for the warmth of homes or pubs to continue sharing memories and anecdotes.
In years to come those stories will almost certainly not include this surprisingly tame, final contest against Motherwell. There may yet be another fixture at Love Street next week should St Mirren require a replay against Brechin City in the Homecoming Scottish Cup but, if not, then the last game to be played there was also one of the worst. Gus MacPherson, the pragmatic, level-headed St Mirren manager, was adamant both before and after the match that the sense of occasion would not and had not affected his players. They had, he insisted, simply endured an off-day.
Given his team's recent form heading into this game, however, it seemed too much of a coincidence. Playing in front of a home crowd of more than 10,000 for the first time since April 2007, St Mirren rarely looked like recording their fifth consecutive victory and were perhaps fortunate in the end to claim a draw that maintains both their undefeated sequence and their hold on eighth place in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.
The result means that Craig Dargo will likely enter the history books as the scorer of the last goal at Love Street. The St Mirren forward furthered the notion that statistics and nostalgia are toys exclusively for the media and supporters to play around with by admitting he had not realised his strike against Hamilton Academical the previous weekend would now be imbued with extra significance.
"I hadn't even thought about that until you mentioned it," he said. "I was just thinking about today and trying to take three points. It would have been nice to end it all today with somebody getting a goal for St Mirren and a win for the supporters. That would have been a good send-off for the stadium.
I guess, though, it's nice that I've made a bit of history."
Motherwell, freed from the sentimental chains that seemed to restrict their hosts, will perhaps feel aggrieved that their final visit to Love Street did not yield three points. They were the more determined of the sides and had two legitimate late penalty claims waved away by Alan Muir, the referee, who did his best to ruin the occasion with a blunder-filled display of officiating.
Thoughts of the match did not linger long, however, as fireworks and black and white balloons filled the sky to a chorus of Auld Lang Syne. It was a fitting farewell to one of Scottish football's most famous landmarks.
