David Wotherspoon has a special bond with St Johnstone and its supporters.
And he doesn’t want that ended anytime soon.
Rightly talked about as the club’s greatest-ever player, Wotherspoon has three winners’ medals to his name from 10 years spent at McDiarmid Park.
A few weeks ago he further enhanced that claim by becoming the first Saint to get World Cup game-time.
The Perthshire pride in one of their own hasn’t gone unnoticed.
Wotherspoon’s latest contract only has a few months left on it.
But now that talks about extending it are underway, being wanted by the fans and manager Callum Davidson are big reasons for the 32-year-old wishing to stay at his hometown club and keep the good times coming.
“You want your manager to want you at the club, you want to feel loved at the club,” said Wotherspoon.
“It sounds a basic thing but it’s always the most important thing.
“I have throughout my career and I still do.”
Just another feather in the cap of David Wotherspoon.
The greatest ever Saint. @Spoony_10 pic.twitter.com/9pRH3s2tu1
— St Johnstone Fans (@StJohnstoneFans) December 1, 2022
The reaction to Wotherspoon’s selection for the Qatar finals and then his substitute appearance in Canada’s third group game summed up the player-fanbase connection.
“Absolutely,” he said. “I’ve had incredible support.
“Even now, I still see Canada flags across in the Main Stand and the East Stand.
“It was incredible and my family obviously have shown me what support there was while I was away at the World Cup.
“It’s just great that I’ve got this connection with the club, living here while I was growing up and being a boyhood fan. It’s just special to me.
“I’ve really enjoyed my time and I hope it continues.”
Testimonials
There isn’t a club in the country with a conveyor belt of testimonial seasons to compare to St Johnstone.
Loyalty has been a two-way street.
“I think I’ve been here for most of them,” said Wotherspoon.
“I’ve been here that long!
“It’s that sort of club that’s got a loyalty right through it.
“I’ve been through a few of the testimonials (Dave Mackay, Steven Anderson and Chris Millar). There’s one (Murray Davidson’s) that’s going on right now.
“It’s a loyalty club and if you put effort into this club then it will be rewarded.”
Can he see himself playing his club football anywhere else?
“At the moment I am obviously playing for St Johnstone,” said Wotherspoon.
“This is my 10th season and I’m loving every minute of it.
“We’ve had our highs and lows throughout but I am really enjoying it here.”
Mini low
Last season was, of course, the biggest and longest-running low for Wotherspoon. Both in terms of his injury lay-off and the relegation battle he wasn’t able to help his team-mates in.
With that perspective in mind, the current four-game losing streak can be described as a mini-low.
“I was feeling it the exact same as the boys last season,” he said.
“We’ve picked ourselves back up since then and we want to get back to the high places again.
“We know we’ve got a squad that can do that.
“Last season we struggled throughout to go on a run. This season we’ve done it already.
“Now we need to get back to winning ways against Livingston.
“We’ve maybe not started the games particularly well recently so we could do a bit better there.
“But I think we’ve got the belief and the confidence to get three points this weekend.
“It’s a very tight league but we want to push to go up the way instead of down the way.
“We are constantly looking up. But at the same time, we need to focus on ourselves and what we are doing rather than what’s round about us.”
Wotherspoon has only started one match since his return from Qatar.
“Everyone is in the same situation,” said the former Hibs man. “Everyone wants to play football.
“I want to start games, I’m competitive. There are a lot of places up for grabs and the boys are fighting for each one.”
