Saturday 16th January 2010

Scottish League Division One

'Dancing on the streets' of Raith is attributed to that BBC icon David Coleman but its a long time since its been heard on the airwaves. Of course there is no such place as Raith itself, with Rovers being located and playing games in the Fife town of Kirkcaldy. Raith itself is said to be a historical settlement where in the 1st century AD a famous battle took place and was originally in the area where modern Kirkcaldy is located.

Kirkcaldy itself is a nice enough place and possibly the largest settlement between the larger Scottish cities of Dundee and Edinburgh. As trains whistle in from the south towards Kirkcaldy station it is actually possible to look fully inside Starks Park and see the game unfold if only offering a short glimpse of the goings on inside. Still for the first time visitor those coming from the south of the train cannot miss the ground unless you are on a toilet break. A twenty minute walk back south from the train station past Beveridge Park takes supporters to the stadium. As you walk past the park through a winding street past attractive looking older and expensive looking houses the site of the old main stand and floodlights appear.

The ground itself, part traditional and mostly modern, has been home to Raith Rovers since 1891. The Football Club originally played matches at Robbie's Park near the modern day Beveridge Park. When laid was bequeathed to create a public park space the club moved and Starks Park was created.

The Main Stand is actually a relic from 1923 and dotted around, if you look hard enough are a number of reminders of older times. Former turnstiles are now bricked up and old entry points are still in existence. The current Railway Stand, behind which the east coast rail line runs north to Aberdeen and south to London, was built in the 1980s. Unusually, whilst once the stand had seats it now sits empty of seating populated on match day by ball-boys, photographers and a camera crew. The older terracing feel of the ground was largely destroyed in the 1990's when a succession of major redevelopments took place. The North and South Stands where home and away supporters congratulate were erected and the Railway Stand was extended to create an unusual all seated stadium.

The present capacity of Stark's Park is 10,104, which exceeds the SPL criteria of 10,000 covered, individually numbered seats. The club also have a pitch protection system encompassing under-soil heating and sprinkler systems. On this particular day though the pitch sat covered in sand due to the ravages of recent icy weather. Still the game went ahead.

The skies are blue as the teams emerge from the Starks Park players tunnel. Compared to recent below – 0 temperatures its cool and spring like. Very few of the players are wearing gloves and short sleeves are the norm. In the first half around 4 trains sprint past the ground with the match in progress and surely there are very few places in the UK where you can see inside a ground whilst a match is in progress. Whilst Partick Thistle fans sit silent in the north away stand almost all noise comes from a small pocket of home fans who mock and rejoice at the recent expulsion of local rivals Dunfermline Athletic from the Scottish Cup due to playing an illegal player:

Lets all laugh at Athletic, lets all laugh at Athletic..

ha, ha, ha, ha...

Partick Thistle are though the better team, offering a more attractive brand of passing football but being unable to find a way past goalkeeper McGurn whom ends the half with a magnificent flying save from the experienced Simon Donnelly. At half time the tombola is wheeled out onto the pitch and lottery ticket number 18132 is drawn. Just as the on field stadium announcer is about to give up a Raith Rovers fan jumps onto the pitch to claim his prize and a fat man announces he has won £741. As the man is of a sizeable nature he can expect to next hit the catering facilities at Starks Park which are homely to say the least. With Burgers at £1.60 and pies at £1.20 the quality is good and the price is far from Wembley prices where you barley get change from a £10 even for a burger.

Burgers in the Raith Rovers fan outlet are basic to say the least but no less mouthwatering than anywhere else. The service is also friendly and polite unlike Wembley where the catering staff look as if they were on death row in a previous life.

The second half starts with Raith Rovers a different team. Thistles Northern Ireland interational keeper goalkeeper Jonny Tuffey firstly denied Mark Ferry and Craig Wilson before Rovers made the crucial breakthrough. Centre forward Kevin Smith headed into the net with 17 minutes remaining to move Raith 11 points clear of eighth-placed Morton and consolidation after the previous seasons promotion looks safe.

On the walk back to the town centre its into a local pub to watch a different brand of football via the Everton v Manchester City match. In terms of quality, player skill and atmosphere it's a world away from Raith Rovers but there is no way you can get a burger for £1.60 at Goodison Park.