FAN VIEW: Credit due for Raith Rovers owner but wounds self-inflicted as supporters talk potential club sale

By Craig Cairns

December 19 2022, 4:20pm

Courier Sport got the view some Raith supporters. Image: SNS.

Raith Rovers are appealing for new investors – and new ownership could be on the cards should the right candidate emerge.

Courier Sport broke the news on Friday night of potential upheaval at Stark’s Park.

The story has sparked debate among Raith supporters.

Rovers are seeking new investment. Image: SNS.

Ahead of Saturday’s Championship clash with Arbroath, we spoke to them to gauge opinion.

Andy Harrow

I’m not ready to panic about the state of the club, but the picture Rovers owner John Sim painted is certainly concerning.

He threatened to walk away following the David Goodwillie situation, so I’m not entirely surprised that he’s looking to scale down his involvement a few months later.

Given the challenging financial picture he outlined, it’s hard to imagine any sensible outside investors stepping in to take over.

Instead, it seems like it’ll be budget cuts and maybe a move away from a full-time playing squad going forwards.

That would be preferable to going bust, of course, but it does put a ceiling on what we can achieve going forwards.

Owner John Sim (left) with chairman Steven MacDonald (right).

Sim has to take some credit for the financial support he’s provided the club to date and he’s clearly tried to bring in more investment through the development of Stark’s Park, but the club still feels disorganised and some of his decision-making has been downright damaging.

Robbie Weir

Given the circumstances, it wasn’t much of a surprise to see John Sim’s statement about the intention to bring about a changing of the guard.

It’s little over a year ago that Rovers sat second in the Championship, beating title favourites Kilmarnock at home to make it 15 games unbeaten.

At that point, you’d struggle to find anyone with a bad word to say about either the management or the board – it felt like everyone at the club, whether staff or supporter, were all on the same page.

January 31, 2022 saw that unity fracture: the signing and defence of David Goodwillie caused a schism and Sim’s later comments about an initial feeling of wanting to close the club did nothing to repair this.

For all the criticism myself and others have put to him over bringing in Goodwillie, it’s indisputable that without his contribution over the last 17 years there would be no Raith Rovers Football Club.

He helped as part of the bid to remove those who wanted to level Stark’s for property development in 2005.

Not so long ago there was more harmony at the club.

He picked up the pieces in 2017 when we were relegated to League One. He brought back McGlynn and invested to bring in facilities for community use.

Friday’s opponents Morton have shown that a change of the guard can be a success.

They’ve secured fan ownership and made a deal to sell their stadium rights while retaining the name Cappielow.

Ideally we can avoid the lack of transparency and politicking seen at Partick Thistle. Only time will tell.

Graeme Kilgour

The biggest worry in all of this is that it once again proves a point that has been extremely prominent within Raith Rovers and Scottish Football for the last 12 months: the club seems to just completely forget about the most important people in the game – the supporters.

It’s fair to say that the situation that the football club finds itself in is completely self-inflicted.

The main source of damage is the blindingly obvious disaster signing of David Goodwillie.

This was just the tip of the iceberg which stemmed from a much larger root issue from within the club.

Football learnt a valuable lesson between 2020 and 2022: the game – especially the game in Scotland – will not survive without the fans.

Raith Rovers supporters rallied during the pandemic. Image: SNS.

The stands were empty, and yet football gave us all something to look forward to when we were locked in the house.

At Raith Rovers, money was raised and people got behind the club more than ever.

And the club did what they could to put some smiles on our faces through social media engagement and putting a winning team on the park.

But when we were finally allowed back to Stark’s Park, the mood had changed. We had played our part, but now things were back to the way they were before.

The one underlying theme in all of this is a complete lack of recognising and listening to the most important people within the club – the fans.