HEAVEN AND PERTH: The inside story of how ‘folk hero’ Simo Valakari led St Johnstone back to Premiership at the first time of asking

High in the stand behind the goal at East End Park on Tuesday night, there was a lot to take in as St Johnstone clinched the Championship title and celebrated it with around 3,000 travelling supporters.

First there was striker Ruari Paton sealing the deal with a majestic header that prompted from him an outburst of emotion so visceral and frenzied that the advertising hoarding may never recover.

Then there was the final whistle, an explosion that Paton described as ‘pandemonium’ and a party in which young Taylor Steven seized a megaphone from the visiting ultras and set about conducting them from the touchline.

And then there was Simo Valakari, the club’s much-loved manager, getting so carried away with the decisive 2-0 win over Dunfermline that he all but dived into the crowd, only to be tackled by an ill-advised steward.

At times like these, you welcome someone who can capture the magnitude of it all, someone like the quirky, effervescent Paton who was signed on loan from Port Vale in January and has been through some challenging times of late.

‘Gratitude is just the biggest thing,’ said Paton. ‘At the end there, I looked at everyone, stopped celebrating for a minute and just thought “try and let it marinate”. You don’t get promoted every year. You don’t win a league every year. I’m just so grateful. What a night.’

He might as well have been speaking on behalf of the club and its supporters. For this was not just about returning to the Premiership, a place from which St Johnstone were relegated only 12 months earlier after a 16-year stint that brought three national trophies and six European campaigns.

It was about reawakening the club that had thrived under Tommy Wright and won a cup double under Callum Davidson. It was about emerging from a spell in which they had lost their way, frayed their relationship with supporters and come to the conclusion that a reboot was needed, on and off the pitch.

The Championship afforded them an opportunity. It gave Valakari the breathing space to bed in the high-risk possession game that had been punished in the Premiership. It kick-started a new era that increased the sale of season tickets. And it created a winning habit that further boosted attendances.

For some, like this seasoned follower, it was also a nostalgia trip, a chance to rediscover the club’s identity and introduce our grown-up kids to the towns, grounds and watering holes that we frequented a generation back. Step forward Gayfield with your seawall and your amusements. Take a bow Cappielow and that windswept open terrace.

Everything about it has been a joy. There has been no VAR to spoil the experience, no Old Firm to take over your stadium. Gone, too, was the grind for a point at Rugby Park, replaced by a desire to actually win games. It’ll never catch on.

And so, for St Johnstone fans, there was a curious paradox about the campaign that is now drawing to a close. They were determined to escape the division, but they also enjoyed and appreciated its authenticity, its charm and the opportunity it presented for rebirth. ‘Would it be possible to win the title and stay in the Championship?’ many of us asked.

Of course, we didn’t really mean it. Many of us would not be averse to further campaigns in these parts, but we know that the novelty might wear off and that the club’s ability to succeed in the long term hinges on the Premiership and its TV resources.

The hope is that a single season in the second tier will have been enough, under the careful, yet ambitious, ownership of American Adam Webb, to make St Johnstone stronger and better equipped for the top flight.

The signs are promising. They will return with the manager who brought them down, but the Finn who was branded naive by sections of the media last season has defied their expectation by keeping his job and strengthening his bond with supporters.

Yes, he has made mistakes — Cheick Diabate at left-back anyone? — but he has owned most of them. And he has not been too proud to tweak his approach, within certain parameters, when opponents appear to have found him out.

In the process, Valakari has become something of a folk hero, a charismatic leader who recognises that his job at a club of St Johnstone’s size is not just to coach the team, but to engage with the community and build a friendship with the fans.

His enthusiasm for the game and his way with people also rubs off on players. ‘He has so much positivity, so much enthusiasm and the biggest compliment I can give him is that we go on the pitch feeling free,’ said Jason Holt, the captain. ‘That’s all you can ask as a player. If you make mistakes, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it. That’s given us the platform to be successful this year.’

St Johnstone have won the title with something to spare. They are the first club in the 36-game era to lead the Championship table from start to finish. They have scored more goals than any of their rivals, conceded fewer and claimed more clean sheets.

That it was done after a complete rebuild of the squad is also to Valakari’s credit. Not all of last summer’s 13 signings have been successful, but head of football operations Gus MacPherson deserves credit for recommending players who were proven at that level, from Jamie Gullan and Jack Baird to Liam Smith and Sam Stanton.

There have been some gripes elsewhere about the acquisition in January of strikers Paton and Josh Fowler but money guarantees nothing, as Ross County, favourites when the season started, have proven. Nor should it be forgotten that Adama Sidibeh and Makenzie Kirk have been sold along the way.

In Josh McPake, Saints have had the division’s outstanding individual. ‘Watch him play on a Saturday,’ has been the chant every weekend, but next season we won’t be able to. The winger will be at Hearts and Saints will have to find another game-changer.

How they replace McPake, which of the current players are good enough and whether Valakari’s principles will work in the Premiership are among the many questions Webb will be asking as he sets about taking the next step of his plan for a successful, sustainable future at McDiarmid Park.

‘We’re just trying to to grow it 5-10 per cent each year,’ said Webb. ‘If we can just build slowly and consistently, we will get there.

‘Obviously there are no guarantees. We know what can happen in the Premiership. But we’ve got the right coach, the right head of football and we’ve got the right community behind us.’

All of which is a conversation for another day. Before then, there is a title to celebrate and a trophy to lift at McDiarmid Park on Friday night, when the visit of Raith Rovers will be what Valakari describes as a ‘carnival’. In more ways than one, Saints are back.