The New Raith Rovers Thread

[CALDERON]

49 minutes ago, Raithie said:

Wouldn’t any ground maintenance/development (as per new plastic pitch) be separate monetary wise to things like the team on the pitch?

Probably would be, but it's not great from a PR point of view if you spend masses of money on things off the pitch and have a sub standard product that's been subject to cut in spending on it. 

Kind of like how we started the season.  

[Frank conner]

2 hours ago, Michael W said:

Ok, but how much will it cost? 

What financial benefit will we derive from this? How long will it take to recoup the investment? 

In the meantime, we are struggling to maintain full time football and get out this league...

I know it's not going to get done anytime soon but that doesn't mean it would be a bad thing if it happened. The last time it was looked into it was about 100k and yes it will take a long time to recoup but so will the 200k for new floodlights and as someone else said 1.5m for executive boxes and new changing facilities.  By the time we paid that off the pitch will have been renewed 3 or 4 times. 

Everything costs money but eventually all aspects of the stadium will have to be sorted including new seats in the north and south stand. We all want a winning team on the pitch but we also don't want a stadium that's run down and tired looking. 

[Scary Bear]

7 hours ago, ++Ammo - Airdrie++ said:

Just while you were on the subject of The Railway stand, if any of you Raith Fans remember "that Paul Harvey" Scottish cup game at Starks (March 1995) can anyone remember if we were in the Railway stand? I seem to remember being on my old mans shoulders and the view (I think) was from there. I was only 9 at the time so my memories a bit fuzzy.

My memory is you were all in the North Stand for that game. It holds 3300.

My memory is gubbed. I think it might have been summer ‘96 that we put the new stands in. 

Edited March 1, 2019 by Scary Bear

[Frank conner]

24 minutes ago, Michael W said:

The stadium is however more fit for purpose. 

Anything to do with the railway stand is a luxury of quewtionabk

The other issues will catch up eventually and they will still cost money! The stadium has already been neglected and is becoming an eye sore.

[Michael W]

32 minutes ago, Frank conner said:

The other issues will catch up eventually and they will still cost money! The stadium has already been neglected and is becoming an eye sore.

Damn you for quoting that mess before I deleted it! 

Honestly don't think the stadium is in that bad a state currently overall. Granted that the North/South stands are coming up for 15 years old soon and will inevitably need some work in the foreseeable future. 

The Railway stand has suffered badly from neglect though, that's undeniable. 

[CALDERON]

3 minutes ago, Michael W said:

Damn you for quoting that mess before I deleted it! 

Honestly don't think the stadium is in that bad a state currently overall. Granted that the North/South stands are coming up for 15 years old soon and will inevitably need some work in the foreseeable future. 

The Railway stand has suffered badly from neglect though, that's undeniable. 

25 years is it not? 

[Michael W]

1 minute ago, CALDERON said:

25 years is it not? 

Typo - it is nearly 25. 

All in all, I don't think we're in that bad a state (minus the Railway Stand). 

[pub car king]

f**k it's been 25 years I still refer to it as new, Still miss the old shed behind the goals.

The Harvey game was pre new stands it was the Scottish cup quarter final the season we won our unique double.

The ground got developed at the end of the 1st season back in the  premier league and the next season we were relegated. 

[Frank conner]

1 hour ago, Michael W said:

Damn you for quoting that mess before I deleted it! 

Honestly don't think the stadium is in that bad a state currently overall. Granted that the North/South stands are coming up for 15 years old soon and will inevitably need some work in the foreseeable future. 

The Railway stand has suffered badly from neglect though, that's undeniable. 

What was that word meant to be anyway? 

[Scary Bear]

3 hours ago, Michael W said:

Typo - it is nearly 25. 

All in all, I don't think we're in that bad a state (minus the Railway Stand). 

General lighting, floodlighting, PA system, turnstile counting system, toilets. All at or coming towards the end of their lifecycles.  How long do plastic seats last?

Those are minor compared to the absolute architectural nightmare which is our grounds layout. The ground has been a feng shui nightmare since it was redeveloped in 1996. Now it’s an aged feng shui nightmare with 25 years of underinvestment coming home to roost.

The Railwaystand offered the best view in Stark’s Park. It was close to the touchline as well so you felt involved in the action, and it was close to away fans so you could get come banter going. Generally in football grounds the halfway line is prime real estate. The terracing behind the dugouts was also a good spot to watch the game. Both areas no longer available. I don’t hate our ground but it’s far from ideal.

 

[Zen Archer (Raconteur)]

3 hours ago, Scary Bear said:

General lighting, floodlighting, PA system, turnstile counting system, toilets. All at or coming towards the end of their lifecycles.  How long do plastic seats last?

Those are minor compared to the absolute architectural nightmare which is our grounds layout. The ground has been a feng shui nightmare since it was redeveloped in 1996. Now it’s an aged feng shui nightmare with 25 years of underinvestment coming home to roost.

The Railwaystand offered the best view in Stark’s Park. It was close to the touchline as well so you felt involved in the action, and it was close to away fans so you could get come banter going. Generally in football grounds the halfway line is prime real estate. The terracing behind the dugouts was also a good spot to watch the game. Both areas no longer available. I don’t hate our ground but it’s far from ideal.

 

Which in our case we can't make a move without the say so of Network Rail or whichever title they reign.

[foreverarover]

I know it's not going to get done anytime soon but that doesn't mean it would be a bad thing if it happened. The last time it was looked into it was about 100k and yes it will take a long time to recoup but so will the 200k for new floodlights and as someone else said 1.5m for executive boxes and new changing facilities.  By the time we paid that off the pitch will have been renewed 3 or 4 times.  Everything costs money but eventually all aspects of the stadium will have to be sorted including new seats in the north and south stand. We all want a winning team on the pitch but we also don't want a stadium that's run down and tired looking. 

 

I'm sure Alex Penman can rattle up executive boxes and changing rooms for a fraction of £1.5m. [emoji848][emoji23] 

 

 

[Frank conner]

4 hours ago, foreverarover said:

I'm sure Alex Penman can rattle up executive boxes and changing rooms for a fraction of £1.5m.  

 

 

That figure came from one of the in the know type folk if that was the case we might as well go for it and build a new main stand. 

[1320Lichtie]

1 and a half million seems incredibly excessive surely

Also you're no managing to knock down that main stand and build a new one for that price either

[Raithie]

Leave the main stand as it is, a new one would still need to only run half the length of the pitch after residents on Pratt Street opposed it being extended as it would block out any sunlight.

Anyhoo, according to Sim the long term plan for the railway stand was to demolish it and turn it into some fancy hospitality/executive box/changing room facility/conference rooms type thing with any safe standing area being possibly below the main stand.

[CALDERON]

I like the main stand.

It's absolutely shit to watch the game from, but it's the only part of the ground with any charm or character at all. I love the fact its essentially the same as its been for close to 100 years. 

[Zen Archer (Raconteur)]

2 hours ago, Frank conner said:

That figure came from one of the in the know type folk if that was the case we might as well go for it and build a new main stand. 

FYI this figure was quoted by Bill Clark at the Q&A session which was held in the Raith Suite earlier in the season.

Nothing ITK about it.

[stevoraith]

Which in our case we can't make a move without the say so of Network Rail or whichever title they reign.

I wonder if the new pitch makes that less of an issue?
We were always told that heavy machinery would either have to be on the pitch or on the railway for any redevelopment, both of which were obvious no-no’s.

Can the new pitch take machinery on it without being totally destroyed like a grass pitch would?

If so that might remove that hurdle and just leave the fact that it’s an unnecessary use of a substantial amount of cash!

[bobbykdy]

23 years ago this summer those stands were completed. We were unfortunate victims of the 10,000 seater rule as we looked to establish ourselves in the Premier League and I have sympathy for the club on that one. What also hurt our finances though and was completely self inflicted was the signing policy of the club around that time, throwing around 100 and 120 k transfer fees and wages to match. That set us back years.

[pub car king]

We should have done a Falkirk and said f**k the league and built the team, it was just as Jimmy nic fucked off and players were leaving all over the show.