My Team & I - Raith Rovers

Click here or read below for my article on why I support Raith Rovers and take you over the trials and tribulations of doing so. It was published on The Footy Blog.

Rovers

Why Raith?

I have my dad to “thank” for being a Raith fan. He was brought up in a village half way between Kirkcaldy and Dunfermline, but he chose to support the less successful team (*sigh*). I actually grew up in Jersey, but I was made aware of Raith Rovers when bought the away strip shortly after the club beat Celtic in the 1994 League Cup Final. Through the years my dad and I would often take in a pre season friendly on our summer holidays and when I moved to Edinburgh University in 2007 I was finally able to watch Raith every week. I'm not sure if it was the 2-1 defeat to Berwick Rangers in front of 570 fans or attending a Scottish Cup Third Round fixture against Threave Rovers and being so cold that my whole body became numb, but I was hooked very quickly.

Favourite Player?

The dependable, Laurie Ellis

Rovers haven't possessed a real quality player since I've watched them, but I would go for left sided defender, Laurie Ellis. He is now in his third spell at Starks Park and although he isn't the best defender the club has ever had, he reads the game better than most. Laurie comes across as someone who loves playing for the club and goes out of his way to interact with the fans. Also, featuring at left back, his light hearted berating of the nearby linesman, or “lino”, is generally quite amusing.

Favourite Game?

A 2-2 draw with local rivals Dunfermline last year at East End Park was probably the best game I have ever watched. It was a top of the table clash with Raith sitting in first place on 26 points and the Pars just one point behind. The tension rose to another level with kickoff being delayed by ten minutes due to an unexpectedly big crowd.

The Pars absolutely battered Raith in the first half and the 2-0 half time scoreline did not accurately convey the utter dominance they had. To add insult to injury, it also meant that as things stood, Dunfermline would go top of the league. However, the second half was a different story.

Just six minutes into the second period Dunfermline's Andy Kirk sliced a shot wide of an open goal. If Kirk's shot had found the back of the net, most agree that would have been no way back for Raith. However, Rovers took confidence from the miss and started to gain a foothold in the match, but were struggling to find a way through the Pars defence. This changed on the 73^rd minute when Dunfermline's Neil McGregor was shown a second yellow card and given his marching orders by referee Eddie Smith. The atmosphere was now becoming more volatile.

Three minutes after McGregor's dismissal, Kirk was taken onto the sidelines to receive treatment for an injury and while this was happening, manager Jim McIntyre made two substitutions, one replacing Kirk himself. However, after a rub of the magic sponge Kirk trotted back onto the pitch, apparently oblivious to the fact he had been subbed. Play raged on with Dunfermline back to eleven men but soon a Raith fan nearby chirped “they've got eleven men again”. His neighbour screamed “whit?!” followed by a loud “BOOOOO!”. As word spread, the chants of “cheats, cheats, cheats” boomed out of the travelling support. Referee Smith brought his finger out and started counting the number of Dunfermline players. After consulting his nearby linesman he swiftly booked Kirk and ordered him off the pitch.

The match restarted again and seven minutes from time Raith clawed a goal back. Dunfermline 'keeper Chris Smith inexplicably dropped a ball at the feet of Iain Williamson and the Raith winger duly passed it into the back of the net. Just minutes later Williamson unbelievably hit the bar from just yards out, but the away support continued to urge their side on. Then, two minutes into injury time Willie Dyer clipped a speculative cross into the box which Allan Walker nodded on and the ball looped – almost in slow motion - into the top corner of the goal. The noise was incredible and the hugs were intense. Walker's equalising goal had kept Raith top of the league and the fans were sure to let the quickly escaping home support know this.

Allan Walker celebrates after his equalising goal against the Pars

Favourite Strip?

The 125^th anniversary “Blackburn style” strip was the most aesthetically pleasing one, made all the better by the fact Raith won the Second Division wearing it.

Iain Davidson shows off the 125th anniversary strip with the Second Division trophy

Worst Thing About Being A Raith Fan?

When Raith beat Celtic in the 1994 League Cup Final a commentator apparently claimed that the fans would be “dancing in the streets of Raith tonight”. This was a glaring error as Rovers home town is Kirkcaldy, not Raith. However, the phrase is repeated far too often for my liking and has become a little tiresome now. 

Funniest Moment?

For the last two seasons Raith had a striker called Gregory Tade. In his first campaign he was well known for tripping over his own feet and blazing shots over the bar from two yards out, but the funniest moment came during a match against Airdrie United in October 2009. Tade – who was already on a yellow card - received a through ball, turned his marker and blasted the ball not only over the bar, but out of the ground. The referee ran up to Tade, threw up a yellow card, followed by a red. A large number of Raith fans began to start laughing hysterically, for it appeared Tade had been given a second yellow card and sent off for simply being rubbish. To this day the sending off is a mystery. There was no foul in the build up to the shot and with Raith winning 2-0 at the time, one can only assume the referee mistook Tade's wild shot as an act of time wasting. 

Walker protests, but Tade is ordered off

Favourite Moment?

The full time whistle after beating Dundee at Dens Park in the Scottish Cup Quarter Final last season is by far and away my favourite moment. The sheer euphoria of the fact that Raith were going to Hampden Park, not to play Queens Park, but to play in a Scottish Cup Semi Final was just incredible. It was also the first Scottish Cup Semi Final Raith had made in forty-seven years which made me feel like I was part of the club making history.

Laurie Ellis celebrates the winning goal over Dundee

written by Will Lyon

Dunfermline Athletic - Back In The SPL

Please read below for my article on Dunfermline Athletic who recently won promotion back to the Scottish Premier League. It was published in the latest Football Focus magazine which can be viewed here for absolutely free! Included in the current issue are Leyton Orient, Crawley Town and many more football clubs.

Back In The SPL 

East End Park, the home of Dunfermline Athletic

In May 2007, Dunfermline Athletic found themselves relegated from the Scottish Premier League, but finally, four years on, they were on the brink of returning to the promised land.

With relegation to the First Division comes severe budget cuts and because of this, the Pars stuttered to a fifth place finish in their first season back in the second tier. Dunfermline sacked Irish manager Stephen Kenny and decided to invest their faith in their experienced striker Jim McIntyre who would initially take a player-manager role. Progress was initially quite slow, but over the years McIntyre removed the ageing core of the squad, bringing exciting players to the club, such as Willie Gibson, Joe Cardle and Steven Bell. The Pars began to form an exciting brand of football, with much of their creativity emerging from new signings, Cardle and Gibson.

Dunfermline trailed First Division champions Inverness Caledonian Thistle by fifteen points last season which placed McIntyre under immense pressure from the fans to deliver the goods for this year's campaign. Thankfully, they made a solid start to the term, but were unable to grind out the narrow victories that nearby rivals, Raith Rovers performed. Indeed after a 2-1 defeat to Raith in the New Year derby, some Pars fans were resigned to another season in the First Division.

However, influential winger, Willie Gibson, was snapped up for a six figure fee by Crawley Town and McIntyre was allowed to reinvest the money in the squad. Seasoned pros Kevin Rutkiewicz and Martin Hardie were brought in to add a bit of steel and experience to the squad, while Liam Buchanan, released from his Partick Thistle contract, added some much needed pace to the Pars attack.

McIntyre stressed the importance of being able to grind out victories and if necessary, ditching their attractive style of play. It was a vital decision by McIntyre, setting Dunfermline up for a nine game unbeaten streak before facing Raith again for a top of the table clash. After their impressive run of form, Dunfermline found themselves one point clear before the match and therefore would extend that gap to four points with just two games to play, if they managed to beat their Fife rivals.

On match day, Dunfermline dominated the first period, but after a goalkeeping error, found themselves a goal down at the break. However, the experienced Hardie drove his side on and scored two second half goals to place Dunfermline in the driving seat for promotion.

Director Of Football, Jim Leishman, was delighted with the victory and now sets his sights on preparing for a return to the SPL. “The league is in our hands and we have played very well throughout the season. Next seasons plans will very much depend on if we get promoted, but if we do, we will do everything we can to stay in the division.” However, if the SPL get their way and reduce the number of teams in the division to ten, there is likely to be three relegation places instead of the usual one, making survival extremely tough for the Pars.

written by Will Lyon

Terrace Travels #9: Dunfermline Athletic 2 - 1 Raith Rovers

Click here or read below for my experience of one of the biggest Fife derbies in living memory between Dunfermline Athletic and Raith Rovers. It was published on The Terrace Scottish Football website.

Saturday 23rd April 2011 

 

Dunfermline Athletic 2 v 1 Raith Rovers

Raith started Saturday just one point behind their table-topping rivals Dunfermline Athletic with two games still remaining, making this Fife derby a crunch match of epic proportions. East End Park was packed to the rafters and The Terrace’s very own Will Lyon was there to see it.

The Norrie McCathie Stand

Nerves had been experienced by Raith fans in the build up to their Scottish Cup semi final against Dundee United last season, but this was different. Tickets sold faster than Usain Bolt on speed and it soon emerged that East End Park would be sold out for the first time in well over a decade. During the week leading up to the match, endless hours were spent scouring youtube for previous derby-day delights and my university revision brainstorms turned into doodles of Gregory Tade lashing home thirty-yard screamers.

Following a week of procrastination, derby day finally dawned. After the last fixture at East End Park was delayed by twenty minutes due to crowd congestion, Rovers fans this time made their way into the East Stand with plenty of time to spare. My dad and I found ourselves standing by our seats a full hour before kickoff and much to our amazement, so were another thousand Raith fans, already in full song.

Across to our right in the North East stand were some youngsters dressed in full tracksuits, some complemented by black and white scarves, who were only too happy to remind us that “we f*cking hate you, you're just a wee team.” The large choir of Raith fans hit back, informing the young team that we do not particularly like their team either.

The 'Cage' at East End Park

The atmosphere continued to simmer quite nicely for the next fifteen minutes. The teams emerged for their warm up and the songs continued to flow, with the visiting fans exchanging applause with their players who ventured near the stand from time to time. Meanwhile the young team in the North East stand decided to do the 'Poznan', turning their backs to the pitch and jumping in unison whilst singing “Ole, ole, ole, ole, the Pars, the Pars”. Raith fans once again retaliated, changing the lyrics rather intelligently to “Ole, ole, ole, ole, f*ck the Pars, f*ck the Pars”. Yes, we football fans are among the best thinkers of the world.

The players strode off the pitch with about ten minutes to kickoff and on came the rather strangely dressed 'Sammy the Tammy' – the Pars mascot. Sammy appeared to be wearing some sort of cardboard box, sporting – as one fan gleefully turned around and claimed - “a cardboard cock!” Sammy sat down at the halfway line, aiming his “cardboard cock” at the away end. It was only when he started swaying from side-to-side accompanied by the sound of machine gun fire over the tannoy, we realised that Sammy the Tammy had become 'Sammy, Tank Commander' and was pretending to shoot the Raith fans. One wonders what sort of uproar this would have instigated had the same activity unfolded at an Old Firm derby...

Raith fans in the away end

Scotland's “number one mascot” soon departed the pitch as the teams entered the arena from the dressing rooms, taking up their positions. Rain had pounded down onto the pitch before the match and it was no surprise that along with nerves, there were numerous miscontrolled passes and awful touches in the opening stages.

However, Dunfermline began to master the conditions far better than the visitors and should have taken the lead early on when player-of-the-year candidate Andy Kirk smashed a shot off the bar. Despite the Pars complete control of the game, they went in at the break a goal down. Goalkeeper Chris Smith failed to grasp a fairly innocuous looking shot and John Baird (another player-of-the-year candidate) pounced on the mistake and smashed the ball into the net.

The second half was actually a more tightly-contested affair, but Dunfermline equalised ten minutes after the restart with 'Big, Bad, Mental,' Martin Hardie heading in from close range following a corner.

The Pars scored the winning goal twelve minutes from time. Hibs loanee Kevin McBride needlessly conceded a freekick on the edge of the Raith box and Hardie took advantage, stepping up and curling the ball into the top corner of the Rovers goal.

The Main Stand at East End Park

Some of the away fans began to filter out of the stadium as the final minutes ticked by, simply unable to bear watching the Pars effectively clinching the title.

At the full time whistle there appeared to be some sort of altercation between Dunfermline's David Graham and Raith's Allan Walker, but they were separated before either player could land a blow.

The Pars fans sang their hearts out as their heroes proudly strutted off the park and before the remaining Raith fans fled the ground, they gave a standing ovation to their players, recognising just how far the club have come since sitting second bottom of the Second Division just over four years ago.

Looking back, the build up to the match was utterly fantastic and with the nerves and emotion during the game, it was possibly the quickest ninety minutes of my life. It is now ninety minutes that I hope to forget.

written by Will Lyon