Raith

Beginnings and name

The modern Raith Rovers were founded in 1883 in the Scottish town of Kirkcaldy, playing first at Sands Brae, now part of the Esplanade, then 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. There had been a much earlier (and unrelated) Raith Rovers which merged with what is now Cowdenbeath in 1882.

Although it lends its name to many entities in the region, Raith is not itself a settlement. A Raith Rovers victory in the 1960s led to a BBC commentator's blunder that the fans would be "dancing in the streets of Raith tonight". Although commonly attributed to David Coleman, it was actually said by Sam Leitch. Raith (Scottish Gaelic: rath, "fort" or "fortified residence") as an area once stretched from south of Loch Gelly as far as Kirkcaldy and the Battle of Raith was once theorised to have been fought here in 596 AD. Raith House and Raith Tower sit on Cormie Hill to the west of Kirkcaldy and several parts of the town are built on land formerly of the Raith Estate, although the modern housing estate bearing the Raith name dates from long after the origins of the team.

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, named after Provost Michael Beveridge. 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 in 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.

Setting records

In 1921 an innovation in training, previously unknown to the Scottish game, was introduced by directors following a visit to England: the use of a ball in training. As noted in the Fife Free Press, "Hitherto, ball practice has been an absentee from the training curriculum on the grounds that being away from the ball for a week imparted eagerness on the Saturday." This heralded an era of success.

The club had its highest ever league finish in the Scottish top division, when they came third to the Old Firm in 1921–22 under manager James Logan^[] (a former Raith player who had fought in World War I having enlisted in McCrae's Battalion, along with several teammates who died in the conflict). This was followed by the unusual incident where the players were shipwrecked in 1923. Along with a cargo of chilled meat bound for Buenos Aires, the team had been en route to play friendly matches on the Canary Islands when the SS Highland Loch ran aground off the coast of Galicia, near Vilagarcía. The players were able to safely disembark, being rescued by local fishermen. They continued on their way a few days later, winning all four of their games on the islands, including one against Third Lanark, returning from a tour of South America. In July 2023, the club marked the 100th anniversary of the shipwreck with its new away strip in the yellow and blue colours of UD Las Palmas, a team based in Gran Canaria, and including a map of the archipelago and the date of the shipwreck.

The team battled on during tough times between the 1920s and 1930s but things improved by the season of 1937–38, which 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), Norrie 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 until Hibs matched the feat in 2016.

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 also went on to win the 2nd Division title. 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.

Promotions, relegations and Footballer of the Year

A disastrous season came in 1962–63, when the club finished bottom of the First 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 formula 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 SFWA Footballer of the Year. He scored 27 goals in 34 matches. However 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 four 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 League Cup winning era

Raith reverted to being a full-time side again for the season of 1991–92 which was soon followed by winning the First 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 Premiership).

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 Division 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 (Gøtu Ítróttarfelag and Íþróttabandalag Akraness 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. 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 sixth 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 securing a narrow 1–0 win.

The end of the fairytale

After the club were relegated from the Premier Division, they also struggled to succeed in the First Division. For the 2001–02 season they were relegated to the Second Division for the first time since 1987. The club returned to the First Division (with the lowest winning total, to date, for champions of 59 points), under the leadership of Antonio Calderón 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 Calderón 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, and Raith were relegated to the Second Division after finishing bottom of the First Division with just 16 points in the season.

Local 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 were 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, 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 later became Prime Minister, a fan and shareholder of the club). Previous chairman David Sinton also completed work on the takeover.

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.

On 6 April 2014, Raith won the 2014 Scottish Challenge Cup Final 1–0 against Rangers after extra time.

In early 2022 the club signed David Goodwillie. Days later, after an outcry regarding the rape ruling against him, chairman John Sim announced Goodwillie will not play for Raith Rovers and the club would review his contract. Raith's women's teams had moved to sever ties with the club. Goodwillie was released from his contract in September, no details being given by the club.