Raith Rovers reveal new pitch proposals as they lay down detailed strategy for Premiership return

The Courier

08-05-2025

Raith Rovers have unveiled a 'Phase Two Strategy' they hope will take the club back into the Premiership for the first time in almost three decades.
The Kirkcaldy outfit have confessed their disappointment over this season's exploits, which climaxed in the team missing out on the promotion play-offs on the final day.
However, with Barry Robson arriving in December as the club's third manager in a turbulent six months, they are determined to get things right next term.
Now two years into the reign of the new ownership group that took over in May 2023, significant progress has been made off the pitch with major redevelopment work at Stark's Park.
They have declared phase one 'complete'.
The board of directors are now turning their attentions to efforts aimed at helping bring improvements on the pitch with the ultimate goal of promotion to the top-flight for the first time since relegation in 1997.
The new strategy has identified three core objectives: Continuing to strengthen fan engagement and local support; developing new revenue streams to reinvest in the football department; and advancing the football department through analysis and data to gain an edge over clubs with higher budgets.
The directors state: 'Our mission remains unchanged: To return Raith Rovers to the Premiership in a sustainable way – ensuring we stay there for the long term while preserving our role at the heart of the local community.'
Some of the areas touched on in the detailed 26-page document range from encouraging more female fans, introducing a female mascot and exploring reopening the Railway Stand to employing the club's first-ever recruitment analyst and strengthening data analysis.
Raith are predicting that Robson will be given somewhere between the fourth and sixth-biggest budget in the Championship next season after having the 'seventh or eighth' in the league by the end of this term.
'The data shows that, in this division, the team with the highest budget usually wins promotion,' continue the directors.
'Raith Rovers have spent 20 of the last 28 seasons in the second-tier, and it's fair to say we've likely never had the highest – or even second-highest – budget during that time.
'In that context, our inability to return to the top-flight is perhaps not surprising.
'That said, promotion without the biggest budget isn't impossible.
'To achieve it, we must work harder and smarter than our rivals, finding an edge over clubs with deeper pockets that may not be using their resources as effectively.'
Meanwhile, Raith have revealed they could relay their plastic pitch as early as this summer.
They are currently seeking 'grant support' to help fund a new surface.
Despite the SPFL's moves to ban artificial grass in the Premiership, the Kirkcaldy outfit insist that plastic 'remains essential'.
The statement reads: 'One of our biggest upcoming expenses is relaying the surface at Stark's Park, as the current pitch nears the end of its lifespan.
'Returning to grass isn't feasible at this stage, particularly while we await clarity on Premiership pitch rules.
'A plastic surface remains essential – both for our community work and for generating income through pitch hire.
'We hope to confirm grant support soon, and work could begin as early as this summer.
'A new surface will allow us to generate more non-match-day income from pitch hire. We're also exploring new partnerships and creative ways to increase revenue from the pitch.'