In total, Saints have had four excursions into Europe, all of them coming during the 1980s. These came during arguably the high point in the club's history as we managed to finish third in the premier division one season and regularly made the last four of the Scottish Cup - winning it in 1987.
The trip to Elfsborg saw Doug Somner score Saints first goal in European competition to level the scores before the legendary Billy Abercromby scored the winner. A goalless draw in the return leg at Love Street meant it was on to the next round, against St Etienne. The French side had Michel Platini on their books at the time, although he didn't play in Paisley. The home leg again finished goalless, but the away match saw Saints lose 2-0.
Saints had to wait another two years for their next trip into Europe and they were drawn against the mighty Feyenoord of Holland. At the time, they had the likes of Ruud Gullit - who complained of the racist abuse he received. The Dutch side won both legs.
1985 was Saints' last appearance in the UEFA Cup to date and the first round saw them paired with Slavia Prague. After losing 1-0 away from home, Saints recorded a superb 3-0 victory at Love Street to progress.
That set up a second round clash with Swedish side Hammarby and those of a nervous disposition should look away now as the second leg was just typical Saints. The first leg, away from home, saw the sides play out a 3-3 draw. That should have given Saints the advantage at Love Street and they were 1-0 up heading into the last few minutes. Hammarby equalised, but it was OK as the Buddies had an away goal. Hammarby scored again, but it was disallowed. The alarm bells should have been ringing, but obviously not loud enough as Hammarby got another goal to win the tie and devastate the home support.
Saints' last trip into Europe came in 1987 after we won the Scottish Cup. Younger readers may be surprised to know that, in times before UEFA started messing around with their competitions and money took over football, there was a tournament called the Cup Winners Cup. As the same suggests, this involved the winners of each country's major cup competition. The first round saw us face Norwegian side Tromso and the only goal of the tie came for Saints at Love Street. Belgians Mechelen were next but we lost away from home. However, there was no shame in that as they went on to beat Ajax in the final and then win the European Super Cup the following season.
Sadly, it's now 23 years and counting since Saints were last in European action. I was too young (or not even born in some cases) to witness any of it, so here's hping those magical European nights will come to Greenhill Road in the near future. We can but dream!