The New Raith Rovers Thread

[MC_Lachlan]

Murray 1:00

 

Cassa 1:35

 

No triple save though.

 

One of my favourite days supporting The Rovers

[Raithie]

Don't remember a triple save against us.

His best save was from Gary Mason, we won the game with a reasonably late David Graham goal, the Gary Mason save was ridiculous.

Not sure if it was a triple save but his save in the 2-0 win at East End Park from a corner which led to our 2nd goal was sublime.

[Raithie]

Not sure if it was a triple save but his save in the 2-0 win at East End Park from a corner which led to our 2nd goal was sublime.

Edit: others have beaten me to it.

[Ro Sham Bo]

Murray 1:00

Cassa 1:35

No triple save though.

I recall the Pars all blubbing about the effort just before our second goal being over the line. Not even close.

[Scary Bear]

Well, as Director and CEO of the current Raith Rovers blockbuster currently on location at San Starko dealing with dozens of ticket enquiries almost entirely from, shall we say, west of West Fife, can I ask you how you would wish to address my perceived negativity (even though you accept I have a point!)?

Would you prefer if I lied to the support and told them we will be able to comfortably maintain or improve our squad whether our fans turn up or not, and whether we can afford to do so or not?

There are lots of good news stories coming out of Stark's Park this season. We have done well to attract additional sponsorship to close the gap created by continuing low attendances. We have a strong management team and a very good squad of players getting good results, but are still not being supported in numbers by the local community (as you will see by the occupancy of the South Stand on Saturday).

I have written and posted the vast majority of the good news stories published on our various media channels and then I come on here and see you single me out for criticism because I tell it as it is. Gies a brek, and allow my fellow directors and me and, in particular, our hard working staff to continue to keep the club on the straight and narrow with the help of our loyal fanbase and sponsors.

And if you don't like being told the truth, don't read what I say on here or in the papers

At least someone's buying the tickets - not Yoss, even though he agrees with you. God bless those Sevconians. I look forward to making their acquaintance when the first goal goes in.

If only we didn't have such a principled support.

[Geordie_Munrover]

Well, as Director and CEO of the current Raith Rovers blockbuster currently on location at San Starko dealing with dozens of ticket enquiries almost entirely from, shall we say, west of West Fife, can I ask you how you would wish to address my perceived negativity (even though you accept I have a point!)?

Would you prefer if I lied to the support and told them we will be able to comfortably maintain or improve our squad whether our fans turn up or not, and whether we can afford to do so or not?

There are lots of good news stories coming out of Stark's Park this season. We have done well to attract additional sponsorship to close the gap created by continuing low attendances. We have a strong management team and a very good squad of players getting good results, but are still not being supported in numbers by the local community (as you will see by the occupancy of the South Stand on Saturday).

I have written and posted the vast majority of the good news stories published on our various media channels and then I come on here and see you single me out for criticism because I tell it as it is. Gies a brek, and allow my fellow directors and me and, in particular, our hard working staff to continue to keep the club on the straight and narrow with the help of our loyal fanbase and sponsors.

And if you don't like being told the truth, don't read what I say on here or in the papers

Hi Eric, firstly I would like to say that I totally agree with what you are saying and I fully understand how frustrating it must be to see the attendances drop despite your (and everyone else's efforts). However...... I feel all this was publicised perhaps unnecessarily and at the wrong time. Over the last say 2 months there has been a great buzz amongst the fans, team, and club..... The team are playing great and the dream of playoffs was week by week becoming a reality. In other words as a club we had created momentum...... And then I read the article in the courier/FFP going on about attendances and maybe having to cut the playing budget for next season. It's all fact yes but it created negative thoughts/energy. I can see why it was publicised as the club wants to maximise attendance to maximise income. I just felt at this time we should be patient and let the performances on the park speak for itself. As mentioned already, people won't start coming back to Starks overnight but if the club, fans, directors, basically everyone who has anything to do with the rovers maintain this momentum and positivity then people will come back..... Law of attraction

Rather than have an article in the paper basically asking folk outright to come back to watch the rovers.... Why not have published and article expanding on the current feel good factor at the club and the improved atmosphere at Starks.... Readers would then think "I fancy being part of that" and perhaps head down.........

Edited March 31, 2016 by Geordie_Munrover

[Raith Against The Machine]

Well, as Director and CEO of the current Raith Rovers blockbuster currently on location at San Starko dealing with dozens of ticket enquiries almost entirely from, shall we say, west of West Fife, can I ask you how you would wish to address my perceived negativity (even though you accept I have a point!)?

 

Would you prefer if I lied to the support and told them we will be able to comfortably maintain or improve our squad whether our fans turn up or not, and whether we can afford to do so or not?

 

There are lots of good news stories coming out of Stark's Park this season. We have done well to attract additional sponsorship to close the gap created by continuing low attendances. We have a strong management team and a very good squad of players getting good results, but are still not being supported in numbers by the local community (as you will see by the occupancy of the South Stand on Saturday).

 

I have written and posted the vast majority of the good news stories published on our various media channels and then I come on here and see you single me out for criticism because I tell it as it is. Gies a brek, and allow my fellow directors and me and, in particular, our hard working staff to continue to keep the club on the straight and narrow with the help of our loyal fanbase and sponsors.

 

And if you don't like being told the truth, don't read what I say on here or in the papers 

 

Hi Eric, thanks for replying first of all. I think you've possibly read a little more into my comments than I intended, but I'd rather a little misunderstood dialogue than none at all!

 

As you say, I don't disagree with you at all. Of course the team deserves a better support than it currently receives, I just don't think that complaining about it in the paper is going to turn people around. It's obviously incredibly frustrating to go to the efforts that you and many others do, without seeing the results you wanted, but I feel it's counter-productive when the understandable negativity reaches the press. For what it's worth, I thought the rallying cry earlier in the season (which culminated in Ray's message over the tannoy at the Hibs game) was excellent PR, and was disappointed to see it didn't have more of a lasting effect. 

I absolutely don't want anyone from the club to be lying in the press. It's that kind of behaviour that leads to a slippery slope - the transparency from the Rovers is excellent, and I truly commend the board for the way it carries out the vast majority of its business. That said, I don't think that you'll get more people to the game by saying the product will be worse if they continue not to come. Do the people who aren't going to games care if next season's games aren't any good?

 

You're right that there are lots of good news stories coming out of the club. I've noticed this year in particular that the website and the Twitter presence have both been greatly improved in comparison to what's gone before, and I've probably been very unfair on you by putting your name alone against the negative comments. If you're behind a lot of the changes that we've seen (and I've no reason to believe you aren't!) then I'd really like to congratulate you on that and ask that you keep up the good work. 

 

My core point was really about positive PR. If we're trying to get more people to come along, the club needs to be seen as something positive, something aspirational and something that people can come together to feel part of (sounds like the same reason they say troubled teens join gangs, which is odd... I wonder if anyone's ever looked into their recruitment tactics and tried to implement it in professional sport, but I digress) and some of the articles that have appeared in the press recently go against that ethos. It was a clumsy post, and I sincerely apologise if you thought I was personally attacking you or the work that you do. I'm a season ticket holder, and I'll be there again on Saturday, I appreciate the club and the way that it's run. I will, unfortunately, also continue to post my occasional thoughts on this website, but take comfort in knowing they're from a largely uninformed point of view, and they're read by an incredibly small audience that's largely only interested in Dave McGurn. As I am.

[Yoss]

At least someone's buying the tickets - not Yoss, even though he agrees with you. God bless those Sevconians. I look forward to making their acquaintance when the first goal goes in.

If only we didn't have such a principled support.

 

I already have a season ticket. Not only that, but because it's in the main stand and I've declined the option of an alternate seat in the South Stand, they can re-sell my ticket and make money out of it twice.

[Scary Bear]

I already have a season ticket. Not only that, but because it's in the main stand and I've declined the option of an alternate seat in the South Stand, they can re-sell my ticket and make money out of it twice.

Apologies, Yoss.

[HoBNob]

Not sure if it was a triple save but his save in the 2-0 win at East End Park from a corner which led to our 2nd goal was sublime.

I think half the hoo-ha with that save was the fact that it preceded a goal and there was some arguments that it was over the line, the one from Mason was incredible.

[Michael W]

I don't think RATM was having a go at all - just pointing out that going on about attendances in the press/social media etc will sadly not have people coming back to Starks. Granted, it must be incredibly frustrating when we're in very good form and are an almost stick-on to secure that last play-off place. To see that this has failed to attract more people than what was a fairly poor show last season is very disappointing. 

 

As I've said previously, it is unfortunately very easy to get out of the habit of going to the football. You find other things to do, and many of them are cheaper too. 

[Rovers_Lad]

There's no doubt home crowds have been poor this year but so has the away supports

If we finish 4 th maybe the £274,000 prize money ( £63,000 more than finishing 5 th)will put a wee smile on the boards faces

[Yoss]

Apologies, Yoss.

 

I didn't take it as being remotely serious criticism anyway, in case that wasn't clear.

[Ro Sham Bo]

There's no doubt home crowds have been poor this year but so has the away supports

If we finish 4 th maybe the £274,000 prize money ( £63,000 more than finishing 5 th)will put a wee smile on the boards faces

Agreed. That will surely make up for any shortfall in gate receipts.

[Eric D]

I do understand that some people can be turned off by reading a story pointing out that levels of support are disappointing, but I maintain that - in the interests of transparency / openness - it would be wrong only to give out good news stories.

As has been said, I have focused considerable efforts on improving social media communication (which is why I'm writing this) and it's good that people are noticing the improvement. And you're right, on Twitter we get far more views / retweets / likes for positive / informative football related stories than we do about things like ticket sales / financial info etc...but I maintain that I can't be selective AND transparent at the same time. Also, Ali More and his team are working hard to improve the match day experience and attract the next generation of supporters.

Bottom line is that many of these positive football developments...in particular the signings of Robertson,, Longridge, Connolly, Panayiotou and Hardie have only been possible as a result of external funding of these over budget commitments, and that's not a permanently sustainable financial model. So if we don't see fans returning, there are undesirable consequences looking forward. We do not have the luxury of time to await a trickle of returning supporters becoming a flowing stream as the assembly of next season's squad is already well under way.

Season tickets will go on sale during April - and there will be an increased range of tickets on offer together with an option to spread payments rather than have to fork out a lump sum. If the uptake is strong, that gives us the best chance to support the gaffer to maintain / build on this season's progress.

So, you'll appreciate that we just can't afford to wait and hope for supporters to drift back. We need to force the pace now, while our stock is on the rise, if we are to continue onwards and upwards.

Anyway, we are all on the same side and I hope that, together, we really can maintain this momentum. ⚽⚽

[Scary Bear]

I didn't take it as being remotely serious criticism anyway, in case that wasn't clear.

 

Glad to hear it.

[Rover94]

Hi Eric

I understand were u are coming from and I think some fans have turned there back on us to watch the flyers and can't afford to do both I however will never turn my back on the rovers I have been supporting the rovers for 35 year. I will be one of the first to buy a season ticket.

[McGuigan1978]

Aye, I do find myself getting frustrated at Rovers low attendances. It's especially galling when you see Dunfermline getting 3,500 each home match.

However, like we did with the Reclaim The Rovers campaign, Dunfermline fans probably feel they have something a bit more to get behind at the moment. Administration, points deduction, almost going out of business, the 'journey back' etc etc.

I suppose the other thing to take on board, is that Kirkcaldy is currently sustaining two sporting sides which have a combined attendance of approximately 4,000 a fortnight (roughly). That's something Dunfermline as a town, an obvious comparison, don't have.

How we get round this, goodness knows. Sustained success would bring fans back, but until we get fans back we probably won't get sustained success. Egg/chicken, chicken/egg etc.

What I would say is, as far as this season goes, finishing behind Rangers, Hibernian and Falkirk is probably as good as we could hope to achieve. Surely that should bring some lapsed fans back, shouldn't it?

I suppose all of this is a moot point anyway, as our crowds will rise exponentially after we win the playoffs.

[kbaldwin]

I do understand that some people can be turned off by reading a story pointing out that levels of support are disappointing, but I maintain that - in the interests of transparency / openness - it would be wrong only to give out good news stories.

As has been said, I have focused considerable efforts on improving social media communication (which is why I'm writing this) and it's good that people are noticing the improvement. And you're right, on Twitter we get far more views / retweets / likes for positive / informative football related stories than we do about things like ticket sales / financial info etc...but I maintain that I can't be selective AND transparent at the same time. Also, Ali More and his team are working hard to improve the match day experience and attract the next generation of supporters.

Bottom line is that many of these positive football developments...in particular the signings of Robertson,, Longridge, Connolly, Panayiotou and Hardie have only been possible as a result of external funding of these over budget commitments, and that's not a permanently sustainable financial model. So if we don't see fans returning, there are undesirable consequences looking forward. We do not have the luxury of time to await a trickle of returning supporters becoming a flowing stream as the assembly of next season's squad is already well under way.

Season tickets will go on sale during April - and there will be an increased range of tickets on offer together with an option to spread payments rather than have to fork out a lump sum. If the uptake is strong, that gives us the best chance to support the gaffer to maintain / build on this season's progress.

So, you'll appreciate that we just can't afford to wait and hope for supporters to drift back. We need to force the pace now, while our stock is on the rise, if we are to continue onwards and upwards.

Anyway, we are all on the same side and I hope that, together, we really can maintain this momentum. ⚽⚽

The idea of spreading the cost of the season ticket is a good one. I for one am a student and struggle to afford the season ticket lump sum but would make it much easier for me to afford a season ticket. The reason that put me off this season was the upfront cost and instead I pay on the gate every week but this would certainly change my mind.

[Poet of the Macabre]

I saw Eric's comments earlier and was totally baffled that he was speaking about next season in the Championship. Does he have so little faith in the squad that he doesn't believe there's even a chance the Rovers will be in the Premiership next year? Obviously it's more likely they won't go up but a very defeatist attitude to give up before a ball's been kicked in the play-offs.

 

Also, have the Flyers just started playing ice hockey in Kirkcaldy? I could have sworn they'd been there for decades and haven't hurt crowds at Starks as much as they are now.

Edited March 31, 2016 by Poet of the Macabre