The 2012 season was St. Patrick's Athletic F.C.'s 83rd year in existence and it was the Supersaint's 61st consecutive season in the top-flight of Irish football. The Saint's were under the new management of Liam Buckley after Pete Mahon was let go at the end of the 2011 season. Pat's finished 4th the previous season and doing so qualified for the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League First qualifying round. The Saints also competed in domestic competitions such as the FAI Cup, Setanta Cup, Leinster Senior Cup, and the EA Sports Cup.

After appointing Liam Buckley as the new manager, Buckley wasted no time in changing the squad by bringing in fourteen fresh faces and only keeping five players from the squad last season. New faces included Christy Fagan from Bohemians, James Chambers from Hamilton and old saint Brendan Clarke back to the club from Sligo Rovers. Despite the new signings, Pat's also lost crucial players such as top scorer from last season Danny North to Sligo Rovers, Gary Rogers to Sligo Rovers also, Stephen Bradley to Limerick F.C. and Daryl Kavanagh to arch-rivals Shamrock Rovers.