Up and running: New St Mirren chairman Gordon Scott on tugged heartstrings and his midlife crisis

But the new St Mirren chairman admits it has been a breath-taking start to the first few weeks of his tenure running one of Scotland’s most well-known clubs.

Former construction boss and overseas property developer helped lead a fans takeover that finally passed control of the Paisley institution to the fans and him last month.

With great power comes great responsibility, something that is not lost on Scott. Previously a director at Greenhill Road, not to mention a passionate supporter, the successful businessman/long-distance runner has spent months, if not years, striving to make his wee team the best it can be. It is being accustomed to this tireless working that initially made the transition to head of state a relatively seamless one.

Yet, he admits that it was only when touched by a moving tribute during a recent match to a late supporter – Tam McGarry, the father of former St Mirren player Stevie – that the weight of responsibility eventually hit home.

“It has all felt pretty natural,” said Scott. “The only time I felt it tugging on my heartstrings was at our last game when one of our well known fans, Tam McGarry, passed away.

“After 14 minutes there was a minute’s applause. That when I really understood what it means to people. I got a good realisation at that point what I had signed up for and what it was all about.

“Since I took over I always felt comfortable. Maybe what is on the pitch isn’t as good as we all like but I felt very relaxed. I was here before as a director and I’ve not been phased by it all. It’s been quite normal for me.

“It’s been time consuming. We have a board meeting tonight with 40 points on it, just off positive things! Over the two weeks really I’ve been control I can see a lot of things. A lot of the people inside the club have good ideas it’s just about encouraging them.

“I think for a while these ideas haven’t been taken forward, they’ve not been encouraged. A lot of it has just been encouraged people to step forward and put forward their ideas.”

There wasn’t much of a Championship honeymoon period for St Mirren as they came tumbling into the Scottish second tier a year ago. Ian Murray losing his job will testify to that. However, after a second six months of consolidation and stabilisation under Alex Rae, many fans will be hoping their team can now kick on and get back to where they believe they belong.

Scott is pragmatic about lofty aspirations or setting targets of a team that hasn't one either of its first two league games this campaign, but insists more community involvement, namely more bums on seats, is crucial to making success on a long-term scale a reality.

“Alex asked what I would consider success. I said obviously we want to win the league and get promoted,” said Scott. “But, if it comes to the end of the season and I have enjoyed my football then that is okay.

“The people who come here very week want to enjoy their football and see people giving 100 per cent.

“If you fail then as long as you do your best and there is something good to watch that will be enough initially. In the long term we need to give the manager funds to take the club forward.”

Scott was speaking ahead of this weekend’s Paisley 10k, an event that he hopes will bring St Mirren closer to the community. In a unique twist, the veteran marathon runner will give away a free ticket to next month’s home game with St Mirren for every Buddie who finishes in front of him, not to mention each St Mirren-supporting child in the fun run. It is an example of the outside-the-box thinking he hopes to implement.

“I actually did five marathons in a year back in 2009. I had a midlife crisis and decided to run five in a year,” he laughed. . I like to have a goal to get fit and I quite fancied doing the Vegas Marathon in November. I’ve run it a couple of times and I wondered how I could do it in such a way that would bring the club closer to the community.

“Given away tickets I thought at least 300 people will beat me, even if they’re not all wearing St Mirren tops. But it’s a way of getting the club and community back together again.”