St Mirren chief executive Tony Fitzpatrick to retire in March, while new signing Alex Greive receives first international call-up

St Mirren chief executive Tony Fitzpatrick has announced he will retire from his position at the end of March.

Following a distinguished career at the Paisley club as a player, manager and Chief Executive, Fitzpatrick will call time on his job but will remain at the Buddies in an ambassador role.

Fitzpatrick took over the role at CEO in 2016 with Saints battling to avoid relegation from the Scottish Championship.

The 65-year-old helped to stabilise the club and in recent seasons have been regularly pushing for a top-six finish in the Premiership under manager Jim Goodwin.

Fitzpatrick told the club website: “It has been a real privilege to be involved at this wonderful club.

“When I returned to St Mirren in 2016 it was always my plan to stay here until retirement age and build upon the work done by my predecessor Brian Caldwell and the former board.

“It’s been a rollercoaster ride from narrowly avoiding relegation to the third tier of Scottish football to our current position in the cinch Premiership.

“The last two years in particular have been an incredibly difficult time for us all, but we have made great strides at the club.

“Last season we reached the semi-finals of both the League and Scottish Cups for the first time since 1981/82 as well as achieving our highest top-flight league position since 1989.

“Fan ownership was achieved five years ahead of schedule with SMiSA taking over the majority shareholding on the club in July.

“We have also seen a number of academy players make their debuts for St Mirren with some moving on to big opportunities across the world and managed to attain Elite level status for the academy over the last year.

“I would like to thank the players and staff at the club over the past number of years who have worked tirelessly to try and give you a club to be proud of.

“I would also like to pay a special tribute to the supporters who are the lifeblood of St Mirren. The journey we have been on over the last six years has been truly incredible and could not have been achieved without your support.”

Meanwhile, new St Mirren signing Alex Greive has earned a surprise call-up to the New Zealand national team.

The striker, who joined the club on a one-and-a-half-year deal from Birkenhead United earlier this month, has made three impressive substitute appearances for the Buddies to date.

His form has been noticed by Head Coach Danny Hay, who has handed the 22-year-old his first senior call-up, replacing Andrew de Jong in the squad for upcoming games against Jordan and Uzbekistan.

Greive was part of the New Zealand Olympic Provisional squad for the Tokyo 2021 Olympic games and will now have the opportunity to make his full debut.

Head coach Hay admitted: “Alex is someone we have been monitoring for a long time and is a real talent.

“He was arguably the best player in the Northern League last year, earned his chance to go to Europe and impressed enough there to secure a big move.

“While it is disappointing that Andrew can’t join us, Alex now has a chance to show what he can do at this level.”