stevoraith

In Fife? Yes of course there are other facilities. But not enough in Kirkcaldy and as I said in my previous post, playing at Starks Park gives the ‘scheme weans’ and the rich bairns, and the ladies teams and the old duffers that play walking football a connection to the club that wouldn’t be there if we moved all of them back to the Michael Woods centre in Glenrothes where most of it happened before we installed the artificial surface. It’s about building a sense of connection that makes folk want to be a Raith fan (whether that’s buying shirts or coming to games) for decades to come. Charging people to use the facility (as well as saving costs for renting external training facilities) is of course an important part of the whole thing. There’s no denying it is part of the business model for the club- it would be churlish to claim otherwise. The community connection aspect however is not simply a gimmick- you might be right that most clubs don’t give a shit about the community but that is genuinely not the case with Raith. For years the previous owner made it clear that he cares more about using Raith to benefit the community than be successful on the pitch- the new owners seem to be making community involvement mutually beneficial and if other clubs can’t see that then more fool them. The only way clubs our size can hope to make ends meet is by maximising the usage of the stadium and if you don’t have (e.g.) a graveyard next door so you can host funeral teas five days a week then using your facilities for community use every day is probably the best option. But of course if you are the old firm (or your stadium is as much of a shit-hole as cappielow) then you don’t understand that logic.

This argument is complete tosh in the context of banning them from the Premiership. There are a maximum of 12 pitches which could be artificial in the top league. There are probably more than that in every decently sized town in Scotland. For schools, community use and training facilities they are chosen because they are consistent, easier and cheaper to maintain, can withstand heavy usage and can be used in more inclement weather without damage. It’s not like these venues chose them because they want to have the same surface as the big clubs so banning them in the top flight will have negligible environmental benefit. There may be an environmental argument for the banning of artificial surfaces completely but that is a very different argument to this one.

The football argument is one thing and it’s been covered plenty. What worries me if Raith were to be made to revert to grass, far more than losing any perceived sporting advantage or improved call-off rate, is the loss of the community use facility. The pitch is in use every night of the week. There are literally hundreds of local youngsters playing with the Raith crest on their strips on the same pitch as their heroes. Of course the community teams would still exist but how well would they do if they had to find alternative locations elsewhere in the town or even outside? And the crucial point for me- the Raith community foundation teams then become just another team for kids to play with. They’re not playing for THE Raith Rovers, and the connection that could bind them to the club as supporters for the rest of their lives is gone. The old firm don’t get that type of connection or sense of community so they won’t give a shit. A vote on whether we should get the Old Firm to f**k would be more worthwhile I think.

Of course it’s nonsense. Even if the Boardroom didn’t want us to go up, the majority of our squad have never played in the top flight or won a league. Do you really think there’s anything the Board could say to them to get them to drop just enough points to finish second instead of first and give up the chance to play Premiership football? If we don’t win the league it’ll be because ultimately our quality in depth wasn’t there. Not because of some conspiracy theory.

We've conceded 2 goals against Dunfermline in 6 games this season. How are you boys doing?

A draw isn't terrible.... but it means that if United beat Caley next week we can't overtake them even with a win at Tannadice. A win today means it doesn't matter what they do next week, it's in our own hands to be top at 5pm on 30th March which would be big psychologically as we would have a game in hand as well.

I think we'll come back from 2-0 down with half an hour to go against Arbroath on the last day of the season, win 3-2 and win the league.

That’s no the same Dunfermline team we played is it!?

Thistle getting away with one there- never a foul and Stanton clean through.

Found the culprit then- creating work for yourself aye!? Cushty number if it’s six-figures to fix that as well

Did you do car stickers for Stark’s Bark? I have it in my head that we had one on the back of my dads Astra which we had from ‘92-‘95.

There’s clear video evidence on page 6 of pars fans belting out the sweary version in 2010…. You’re right the other version makes more sense but it’s quite amusing how many Pars fans are adamant it’s the pre-watershed version when I don’t think a single Rovers fan can recall hearing that Not really important though, it’s a good rivalry and I’m looking forward to a good atmosphere tomorrow whether you fucking hate us or don’t even hate us.

Original version from when? It’s been (quite clearly) “we fucking hate you” since I started going to derbies in ‘92….

Don’t get the upset about the prices either. £2 cheaper for me and my 14yr old to get into Starks than East End. It’s £3 more expensive for a single adult. Just don’t buy a pie if it bothers you that much.

At least the subs seem to have given us something, we looked rattled since Arbroath scored their first.

Fucking hell, we’ve been 2-0 up against this lot before and drew 2-2, this is fucking brutal!

No, it’s not that, I like Hamilton and I don’t think anyone will be criticising him as he’s been decent but he’s not been as prolific as I thought he might be and Rudden has been an absolute nuisance with his movement etc. which is what I thought Hamilton would be like.

Billy, has Lewis Vaughan had some injury problems in the past? Why haven’t you mentioned it more?

Rudden has been a fucking fantastic signing. He's the striker I thought we were getting when we signed Hamilton.

Is the picture on bbc Scotland absolutely awful for anyone else? Can barely see the ball when it’s in the Arbroath box.

If not I have no idea what that midfield is….

It probably will cost us money. It’s not all about money though, the board clearly think that the atmosphere generated by a bigger crowd and the support given to the team is more important than a couple of grand either way. I wholeheartedly agree. I still can’t make it due to work though, wonder if it’ll be available ppv on Raith TV?

Unbelievable the things people find to complain about.

Nah, not for me thanks. I prefer being in this league alongside a struggling Dunfermline who will bring the black and white pound a couple of times a year while we swat them aside.

Thats because Murray had a clear plan which was to keep it tight for the first hour or so and then bring on two or three of our better players to cause problems against the tired United defence. Most Rovers fans would agree that Easton and Hamilton would be in the team if you picked purely the best 11 players, and a good proportion of them would probably add Connolly and Brown too. Murrays tactic of leaving out some of the ‘best players’ from the starting line up in favour of players like Callum Smith who will do more work defensively and then unleashing to more technical players once the opposition had tired does seem worthy of praise. Although to be fair, it would have back fired if you guys had been a bit more clinical….