St. Mirren U21

Three trophies mark what St Mirren's junior sides have actually won: the Scottish 2nd XI Cup, lifted in 1927 and again in 1959, then a Scottish Combined Reserve League Cup in 1977-78 and the reserve league title itself in 1995-96. The current U21s, entered in the SPFL Challenge Cup since 2018, have yet to add to that list — a fourth-round exit in the 2019-20 season is the best they have managed against senior opposition.

The shirt they wear goes back to 1877, when the club was formed in Paisley, and the black-and-white stripes have been standard since 1884. Around Renfrewshire the name that sticks is the Buddies, and it carries down from the first team to the age groups training at St Mirren Park, a 7,937-seat ground built in 2009 after the club left Love Street.

A derby against Greenock Morton still means something even at this level — Renfrewshire is a small enough patch of Scotland that the rivalry gets passed down with the shirt.

What the U21s are really for shows up later, on team sheets elsewhere. John McGinn came through these ranks before his career took him well past Paisley, and he remains the name most associated with the academy that produced him, alongside Kenny McLean, Lewis Morgan, Stephen Mallan and Paul McGinn.