St Johnstone are back in the Premier League after a seven year absence

St Johnstone chairman Geoff Brown believes full-time football outside the Scottish Premier League is not viable.

However, he has no regrets about the club making a loss on their successful quest to return to the top flight.

The Perth outfit's accounts for the year to the end of May 2009 show a pre-tax deficit of £225,152.

"When we won the First Division in 1990, we did so as a part-time club and that's the way the game has to go," Brown told the club website.

The Saints, who made a profit of £296,000 the year before, are back in the Scottish Premier League after an absence of seven years and Brown has provided funds to strengthen the squad.

Manager Derek McInnes has brought in six new players and may add one or two more before the close of the transfer window.

Commenting on the accounts, Brown added: "We pushed the boat out to try and win promotion. We had the largest squad in the division and we believed we had the manager and players to achieve our goal.

These results posted by a club that would be seen as enjoying a successful season again underlines that First Division clubs should not be full-time Geoff Brown

"Having been successful, there is little point being in the SPL if we are not going to compete.

"We were out of the SPL for seven years but there were mitigating circumstances.

"We were relegated with the lowest wage bill in the division and we took flak from fans for not spending money like some others. But, as I warned at the time would happen, some of these clubs have since suffered going into administration.

"The season we were relegated we got a £1.58m distribution from the SPL. The following season in the First Division we got £50,000 from the SFL. In the space of three years we'd gone from playing in Europe to playing in the First Division. Relegation was financially disastrous and really challenging for us.

"These results posted by a club that would be seen as enjoying a successful season again underlines that First Division clubs should not be full-time. It simply isn't economically viable.

"Full-time football is a nonsense outwith the SPL."

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