Raith Rovers Football Club Pratt Street, Kirkcaldy Fife Scotland

Early Days

There was a much earlier (and unrelated) Raith Rovers which merged with what is now Cowdenbeath in 1882. The modern Raith Rovers were founded in 1883 (taking the same name) in the Scottish town of Kirkcaldy, playing at Robbie's Park. Though there were other teams who incorporated the town name, such as Kirkcaldy Wanderers and Kirkcaldy United, Raith became the most successful of the local teams, winning five trophies in the 1890s. A mixture of local success and ambition took the club into the senior leagues where they established themselves and thereby became the pre-eminent team in the town. The club became a senior team in 1889 around the same time they were forced to leave Robbie's Park which was incorporated into a new public park called the Beveridge Park. The team subsequently moved to their current home of Stark's Park named after and run by councillor Robert Stark in 1891. The club turned professional by 1892 and were the first football team in Fife to be elected to the Scottish League in season 1902/03. The club were incorporated into a limited company: the Raith Rovers Football and Athletic Company, Ltd by 1907. After two consecutive successful seasons in 2nd Division, the club elected to join the 1st Division in 1909/10. Three years later, the club made their first (and only) appearance in the Scottish Cup Final losing 2–0 to Falkirk.

Establishment

The Club had its highest ever league finish in the Scottish top division, when they came third to the Old Firm in 1921/22. This was followed by the unusual incident where the players were shipwrecked in 1923. The team had been en route to play friendly matches on the Canary Islands when the boat ran aground. Fortunately, the players were able to safely disembark and continue on their way a few days later.

The team battled on during tough times between 1920s and 1930s but things improved by the season of 1937/38 saw Raith setting a British League Record with 142 goals in just 34 league matches while winning the 2nd Division championship. The record still stands today. The forward line of Glen (5 goals), Gilmour (35), Haywood (47), Whitelaw (26) and Joyner (21) scored 134 of the record 142 goals.

Around this time, a then record crowd of 25,500 filled Stark’s Park on a Wednesday afternoon for a Scottish Cup quarter-final replay against East Fife (The first game had attracted 19,000 to the old Bayview ground). East Fife won 3–2 and went on to become the only 2nd Division club to win the Scottish Cup.

Record appearance holder Willie McNaught first appeared for Raith during the war before signing on a contract basis when normal football resumed after the end of global hostilities. McNaught went on to make 657 senior football appearances (many as captain) for Rovers. Raith reached the League Cup final for the first time in 1948/49 but lost 2–0 to Rangers. In an echo of what would happen four decades later, the club go on to win the 2nd Division title also. In the period of the club's greatest high level consistency, Rovers stayed in the top division until the season after McNaught's 1962 departure. In 1951, Raith had their largest ever gate for a Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden Park watched by a crowd of 84,640. Raith lost 3–2 to Celtic.

Relegations and Promotions

A disastrous season came in 1962/63, when the club finished bottom of the 1st Division conceding 118 goals in 34 games. After leaving Queen of the South, George Farm became Raith manager in 1964. Farm took Raith to promotion in 1966/67 before leaving for Fife rivals Dunfermline Athletic and was never able to repeat the forumale when he returned in the season of 1971/72. Raith managed to avoid relegation in 1967/68, thanks to striker Gordon Wallace, who became the first player outwith the Old Firm to be voted Player of the Year. He scored 27 goals in 34 matches. Although, the club did find themselves being relegated again at the end of the 1969/70 season. Nonetheless, the Rovers during this time managed to get through to the quarter finals of the Scottish cup for the second year running between 1970–71 and 1971–72 – although the latter saw them beaten 3–1 by Kilmarnock with a crowd of 10,815.

In 1975/76, the league set-up changed from Divisions 1 & 2 to a 3 tier system (Premier Division, Division 1 & Division 2). In the inaugural year of this system, Raith were promoted to the 1st Division, but were promptly relegated the next season, before bouncing back up the season after. Raith then performed reasonably well in the 1st Division, hovering around the top 4 until the early 1980s.

A new manager, Frank Connor took charge in early 1986, bringing many new faces onto the team which resulted in promotion on goal difference after a 4–1 win against Stranraer (while Ayr United lost to Stirling Albion) on the last day of the season.

The Fairytale

Raith reverted to being a full time side again for the season of 1991/92 which was soon followed by winning the 1st division title in the season of 1992–93. This was to start the most successful period in the club’s history – which saw the team's first foray into the Scottish Premier Division (now the Premier League) but was only short-lived.^[5]

On 27 November 1994, Raith, managed by Jimmy Nicholl, surprisingly beat Celtic 6–5 on penalties to win the Coca Cola Cup, after a 2–2 draw. Future Raith manager, Gordon Dalziel, scored the equalising goal for Raith in the dying minutes of regulation time. The same season, Raith were again promoted to the Premier League after winning the First Division title.

As a result of the Cup win, Raith qualified for Europe (UEFA Cup) for the first time in their history. After eliminating both the Faroese and Icelandic champions (Gotu Itrottarfelag and ÍA Akranes respectively) in the first two rounds, the club finally succumbed to eventual UEFA Cup winners Bayern Munich. They were beaten 2–0 by the German side in the 1st leg, which was not played at their home ground but at Easter Road, home of Hibernian FC. In the 2nd leg, at the Olympiastadion they led 1–0 at half time against all odds, eventually losing 2–1. This was the first time a Scottish team had qualified for a major European competition while playing outside the top league. The same season, Raith finished 6th in the Premier League.

Winning the Coca Cola Cup, selling Steve McAnespie and playing in the UEFA Cup generated the money needed to redevelop Stark's Park as an all-seater ground with North and South Stands. It was completed in time for the 1995–96 season, and Bayern Munich were invited to play a friendly in the first match in the redeveloped ground, with Raith Rovers securing a narrow 1–0 win.

Recent Times

After the club were relegated from the Premier Division, they also struggled to succeed in the 1st Division. For the 2001/02 season they were relegated to the 2nd Division for the first time since 1987. The club returned to the 1st Division (with the lowest winning total, to date, for champions of 59 points), under the leadership of Antonio Calderon in 2002/03 season.

At the start of the 2004–05 season, Claude Anelka (brother of French Striker Nicolas) offered £300,000 to any team who would offer him a manager's job and was subsequently appointed the manager of Raith Rovers, with Antonio Calderon refusing the offer of a coaching role and leaving the club. Anelka signed a team of (mostly) continental players from the lower leagues in France. A disastrous season followed, despite Anelka resigning halfway through the season (replaced by Gordon Dalziel) and his signings either leaving, or having their contracts terminated, Raith were relegated to the Scottish 2nd Division after finishing bottom of the 1st Division with just 16 points in the season. They only managed to win three games all season, though a draw on the ten year anniversary of their Coca Cola Cup victory over Celtic was a highlight, the mascot for that day was a boy who was born during the penalties of that famous win – Daniel Croft.

On 2 May 2009, Raith secured the Second Division title with a 1–0 win at the home of Scottish football, Hampden Park, with a travelling support of over 1500. They lifted the trophy in front of almost 5000 the following week following a 0–0 draw with Arbroath.

The 2009/2010 season was a success with Raith finishing 8^th in the Scottish First Division and also reaching the Scottish Cup Semi Finals where they were beaten 2-0 by Dundee Utd at Hampden Park.

The Takeover

During 2005–06, The future of the club looked doubtful after the club and its traditional home of Stark's Park were both placed under threat by previous owners Colin McGowan and Alex Short. The Glasgow based property developers had repeatedly threatened to sell Stark's Park for housing in a bid to find a buyer for their 50% stake in the club and after months of legal and financial wrangling a deal was struck with their company, West City Development.

Former chairman Turnbull Hutton and director Mario Caira, who were part of West City retained their investment and have been joined by major investor John Sim, a Thailand-based senior financial figure with liquidator KPMG.

The Reclaim the Rovers fans' campaign, which was launched in a bid to secure a local future for the club, has also secured a place for a Supporters' Representative, on the new-look board after raising £100,000 towards the final figure.

On 30 December 2005, Raith Rovers' future was secured after a £1.2 million community buy-out (The New Raith Rovers Limited consortium) assisted by the then Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown who became Prime Minister, and is a fan and shareholder of the club. Previous chairman David Sinton also completed work on the takeover.