Raith Rovers reveal outcome of probe into Stark's Park power failure at Dunfermline clash

Raith Rovers have revealed the outcome of a probe into the circumstances causing a power failure and subsequent abandonment of the club’s Scottish Championship meeting with Dunfermline Athletic.

Stark's Park in darkness after a power failure ahead of the cinch Championship match between Raith Rovers and Dunfermline

The much-anticipated Fife derby with the Pars lasted just 14 minutes before being called off after the club’s new lighting and WiFi system failed on Friday, August 20.

Power went out in Kirkcaldy shortly before kick-off and although the floodlights came back on ten minutes later, lighting in the stand concourses and the mechanism controlling turnstile entry could not be restored and with hundreds of supporters left queuing outside the stadium as play started, fourth official Lloyd Wilson advised referee Gavin Duncan that the match should be halted on safety grounds.

A club spokesperson said via a statement: “An independent electrical investigation has confirmed that the power failure which led to the abandonment of the game was caused by an external power surge from the mains which tripped our system at Stark’s Park and in the surrounding areas.

“We were able to get the floodlights back in operation almost immediately, but restoring power to all the stands was not possible in the timescale required and this is what resulted in the halting of the game on safety grounds.”

Raith had spent close to £200,000 on upgrading their facilities during the close-season, with director Bill Clark telling the media on Friday night that the new system had been rigorously tested in advance.

“It is the most modern system – it's the same system as Manchester United have. It's so unfortunate because this is the first night we've used these floodlights. They were installed during the summer and tested to destruction. There's been a power surge or something, or an overload of some kind,” he added.

The club statement stressed that there was no evidence to suggest that the power outage was the result of something going wrong within the ground.

“We can confirm that there is no evidence whatsoever of the outage being attributable to any systems in the football stadium and that had the floodlights not been renewed they would not have restarted so quickly,” the statement continued.

"A date for the rescheduled match will be discussed with the SPFL and announced as soon as we know it."

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