Raith

Ground: Stark´s Park

Visits: 1

Date: 2nd January 2014

Match: Raith Rovers - Dundee 0-2 (Scottish Championship)

Attendance: 4 039

2 January is a public holiday in Scotland (but not in England) and I decided to finish off my week in the UK with two matches in Scotland. At 07.45 my train left Manchester Piccadilly and by 11.05 I was in Edinburgh. Edinburgh city has a Hogmanay festival every year from 30 December to 2 January, meaning every hotel is full, and for this reason my room was not ready as I checked-in quite early. The weather was really nice and instead of resting at my room I strolled around in the city centre of Edinburgh for two hours. At 13.15 I then boarded the train taking me to Kirkcaldy where I would attend Raith Rovers vs Dundee in the Scottish Championship. At Dalmeny I was joined by fellow Footballgroundguide board member Jonathan. Being a Celtic fans he had the day off and decided to join me for both my matches. We arrived at Stark´s Park, the home of Raith Rovers, some 40 minutes prior to kick-off. I tried to buy a ticket but was told it was pay on the gate only. "If you want a paper ticket you can come to the ticket office after the match and I will get you one". This was the reply from the nice lady in the ticket office when I said I was visiting from Sweden and wanted a ticket for my collection.

Stark´s Park is quite a strange ground. The two end stands are similar and both have a capacity of around 2 500. One of these stands (North/McDermid Stand) is given to away fans. The Main Stand only runs for less then half the length of the pitch, but extends around one corner of the ground. For this match 4 039 turned up at Stark´s Park That is 2 300 more than Raith´s previous attendance record this season. 1 500 Dundee fans in the McDermid Stand really made a difference and made this fixture so much more interesting. Before today´s match Dundee were top of the league and Raith were third. The match was no classic though. Dundee had most of the possession and looked the better team. Still 0-0 at half-time. In the second half Raith had a player sent off but it was actually Raith who created most chances despite being only 10 men. In the lat minute Dundee took the lead, wild celebrations in the away end. Raith then threw everything forward and very nearly equalized in stoppage time. From a counter-attack Dundue scored again though and the match finished 0-2. After the match I got my ticket and Jonathan and I could head back to Kirkcaldy station knowing we had a big derby waiting for us, Hibernian vs Hearts at Easter Road.

going to stark´s park