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The New Raith Rovers Thread


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1 hour ago, Ro Sham Bo said:

Based on the Hibs display tonight Tait could walk into their team. 

I doubt Maloney will still be there by the end of this year. Totally clueless.

Cove look like a potential threat next year, they’ve got the financial backing and seem to be building it right. They won’t be a walkover in the Championship next year.

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9 hours ago, TxRover said:

Cove look like a potential threat next year, they’ve got the financial backing and seem to be building it right. They won’t be a walkover in the Championship next year.

I reckon top end of league 1/bottom half of the championship is as far as Cove/Kelty type clubs will reach.

Its easy to outspend teams like Alloa but once you're competing with full time clubs with established fan bases it gets a lot more difficult.

Hibs were very poor last night.

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18 minutes ago, Halbeath Raith Rover said:

I reckon top end of league 1/bottom half of the championship is as far as Cove/Kelty type clubs will reach.

Its easy to outspend teams like Alloa but once you're competing with full time clubs with established fan bases it gets a lot more difficult.

Hibs were very poor last night.

They may eventually settle into that area but if they do go on to win League One I think they’ll be top half in this league next season.

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1 hour ago, Halbeath Raith Rover said:

I reckon top end of league 1/bottom half of the championship is as far as Cove/Kelty type clubs will reach.

Its easy to outspend teams like Alloa but once you're competing with full time clubs with established fan bases it gets a lot more difficult.

Hibs were very poor last night.

Aye Arbroath are finding it hard against full time clubs right now

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8 minutes ago, steakngravy said:

Are Cove not a full-time club?

Not at the moment although they have ambitions to turn full time. At the moment the only full timers in the 3rd tier are as I understand Airdrie, Falkirk and Queens Park

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1 hour ago, Halbeath Raith Rover said:

I reckon top end of league 1/bottom half of the championship is as far as Cove/Kelty type clubs will reach.

Its easy to outspend teams like Alloa but once you're competing with full time clubs with established fan bases it gets a lot more difficult.

Hibs were very poor last night.

Yep, these clubs don't really have any fans, they'll all be Aberdeen fans (Cove) and Rangers fans (Kelty).  Bankrolled small clubs have glass ceilings.  Look at Gretna,  sub 1000 home crowds in the SPL.  You need some income from STs and merchandise.

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1 hour ago, Bandohope said:

Aye Arbroath are finding it hard against full time clubs right 

It's not so much the full time/part time aspect, its as The Scarf said, competing against teams that have a reasonable support, buying season tickets, hospitality, strips, lotto tickets ettc every year.

Cove don't really have much of a support. Which is understandable given the fact they moved to Inverurie for a while, and now play in an Industrial estate.

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I live in Aberdeen and don’t know one single person that would define themselves as a Cove supporter, they do exist obviously but they number in the low hundreds 3-400 tops I would say. I do know a few who go to Cove games regularly but they’re Aberdeen fans and go for either the novelty or to support another team from the city.

A question I have asked is - what happens when/if Cove start to directly compete with the Dons for players/sponsorships/local investment/fans etc?

When the sh!t hits the fan Aberdeen is very much a one (big) team city and will stay that way.

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Cove always had a poor support in the Highland League,  even at their old ground.  They are riding the crest of a wave at the moment, but the only people I know who go to games are Aberdeen fans who go when Aberdeen are away.  

At the end of the day it's a shit ground in a shit location, they may keep some momentum as long as they are successful but any period of mediocrity and they will fade away I reckon.

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Another issue that is a problem for Cove’s growth going forward is the Rangers name, blue kit, lion badge, mini *** type feeling about them. Obviously, that doesn’t sit right with the majority of fitba fans in the city.

I always though they would do better attracting support if they changed their name to simply “Cove”, played in black and gold (Aberdeen’s original colours) etc.

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43 minutes ago, Tattie36 said:

I live in Aberdeen and don’t know one single person that would define themselves as a Cove supporter, they do exist obviously but they number in the low hundreds 3-400 tops I would say. I do know a few who go to Cove games regularly but they’re Aberdeen fans and go for either the novelty or to support another team from the city.

A question I have asked is - what happens when/if Cove start to directly compete with the Dons for players/sponsorships/local investment/fans etc?

When the sh!t hits the fan Aberdeen is very much a one (big) team city and will stay that way.

Support can appear with success, funding covers a multitude of sins, etc…

There are any number of ways that Cove’s ascent can go off the rails, but for now they look the business as an up and comer.

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46 minutes ago, CALDERON said:

Cove always had a poor support in the Highland League,  even at their old ground.  They are riding the crest of a wave at the moment, but the only people I know who go to games are Aberdeen fans who go when Aberdeen are away.  

At the end of the day it's a shit ground in a shit location, they may keep some momentum as long as they are successful but any period of mediocrity and they will fade away I reckon.

Nice social club though.

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2 hours ago, TxRover said:

Support can appear with success, funding covers a multitude of sins, etc…

There are any number of ways that Cove’s ascent can go off the rails, but for now they look the business as an up and comer.

Agree with both of your points and what some have echoed in here about our fan base.

Currently it's lacking in numbers and it would be inferior to all in the Championship but when we were in L2 I believe we had the highest average crowds. People of Aberdeen in my opinion would welcome a second team in the city playing at a high level. A high level I'd classify as Championship and above. Some will always just be Aberdeen fans and never set foot at Balmoral, some might come to both us and the Dons and some who went to Pittodrie as there wasn't much alternatives might switch allegiances.  There's no hatred between the sides; not so far as we're not seen as a competitor. 

I always thought that the more we continued to establish ourselves and rise, the more fans would come and I'd stick by that although COVID stalled the attendances. Conversely if we have tough times the inverse is true. Really difficult to know with certainty where our ceiling is or where the future of the club lies. A sharp rise on the field but we need to ensure we promote our club, get people coming to the games, build our ground and image. Arbroath doing it admirably. We hope to achieve along the lines of what former HL sides Caley (who were part of a merger) and County have done and steer away from the disaster that Gretna ended up as.

3 years ago we were playing against Keith, Huntly, Locos, Wick etc in the Highland League. We had players who could clearly play at a higher level (a lot of them are still with us) and higher investment that all others in the league. No club at that level has a big fan base. Most, but by no means all, supporters of these clubs are very local to the area or families of players or people involved in the club. Some of these clubs have supporters who regularly watch other sides. Sure it's the case in the Lowland League as well.

For new SPFL clubs like us it unfortunately probably takes success, and will take time, to build a true and substantial fan base. It's definitely a predicament that will face clubs rising through the pyramid. 

Championship is full of established clubs so no doubting if we get there it will be a challenge and getting to the next step might never happen. Think today we could compete with most clubs there but doesn't take much decline or mismanagement to move back down a level..

 

 

Edited by CoveRangers1922
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2 hours ago, Tattie36 said:

I live in Aberdeen and don’t know one single person that would define themselves as a Cove supporter, they do exist obviously but they number in the low hundreds 3-400 tops I would say. I do know a few who go to Cove games regularly but they’re Aberdeen fans and go for either the novelty or to support another team from the city.

A question I have asked is - what happens when/if Cove start to directly compete with the Dons for players/sponsorships/local investment/fans etc?

When the sh!t hits the fan Aberdeen is very much a one (big) team city and will stay that way.

I have met a Cove Rangers supporter, so they do exist. 

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