Raith face stark reality that time is running out

RAITH ROVERS football club is to be advertised for sale in Scottish newspapers in the next few days in what is being seen as a last-ditch attempt to save the Kirkcaldy outfit.

Club owner Colin McGowan will place the advertisements in a final effort to find an outright buyer. He will state the non-negotiable asking prices as 580,000 for the club and 920,000 for Stark's Park.

Unless a buyer is forthcoming, within the next few weeks McGowan's company City West Developments will submit a planning application to demolish the stadium and build houses on the site. As the land is zoned for housing under local planning rules, Fife Council would be almost duty bound to grant planning permission. Raith Rovers would be homeless and almost inevitably would close.

McGowan's hand may be forced by the collapse in season ticket sales at Stark's Park, which are running at a third of last year's level. City West Developments have formally indicated to the board that they will not support any breach of the tight budget at the club, where the former full-time squad has been virtually cleaned out.

Manager Gordon Dalziel has brought in a number of players from elsewhere in the lower divisions of Scottish football. Perhaps significantly, almost every Raith player's contract expires next summer.

"We are coming to decision time," said McGowan yesterday. "We put our money in over the years and made sacrifices to keep the club going, but now my first obligation is to protect my family's interests."

McGowan accepts that he has also a secondary obligation to the community in Kirkcaldy, and he is angry that the buyout being led by the Reclaim the Rovers campaign has not received more support from businesses in Fife and would be unlikely to qualify for Lottery, local council or Government support, even though Kirkcaldy MP, Chancellor Gordon Brown, is a lifelong Rovers fan.

Scotland on Sunday revealed a fortnight ago that Brown had broken off preparations for the G8 summit to hold meetings with representatives of Reclaim the Rovers, and he is understood to be continuing to talk to them in private.

"We have an outstanding youth programme at Raith under John Drysdale, and you have to ask what price do you put on keeping the young people of Fife off the streets," said McGowan.

"If 44 homosexual violinists wanted a grant they would get 5m but a community football club can't get a penny.

"But what it really needs is a businessman to come in who knows how to run a club and makes sure that it spends less than it earns."

Ironically, the news comes as the Reclaim the Rovers campaign has begun to make progress in its declared aim of buying the club. The groups involved are the Raith Rovers Supporters Club - Honorary President, Gordon Brown - the Raith Supporters Trust, the Jim McMillan Club and the 200 Club, with support from the community exemplified by the local newspaper the Fife Free Press.

"The bottom line is this - can a whole community with the backing of the local newspaper and the Chancellor come up with the goods?" said McGowan.

Reclaim the Rovers is based on similar supporters' efforts across the UK, most notably the extraordinary success of the Dundee FC fans in raising money through the Dee 4 Life organisation, who were credited with helping the Dens Park club to survive administration.

Privately, sources within Reclaim the Rovers say there is no chance of the community raising even half the 580,000 to buy the club, though a five-figure sum has already been banked thanks largely to the 'Raith Against Time' sponsored match in Kirkcaldy last weekend.

"We have good support from the banks but not sufficient support from local businesses," said one source. "We have heard what McGowan has said, and the fear is that the club is now on a downward spiral, with goodness knows what end in sight."

Allan Crow, editor of the Fife Free Press, has committed his newspaper to backing the campaign, which he says is a vital institution in Kirkcaldy.

"Raith is the only senior sporting organisation in the town as Fife Flyers ice hockey club is currently a team without a league," said Crow. "It is really important for all sorts of reasons for Kirkcaldy that we make sure that the club gets through this season and is stabilised for the future."

Raith's company secretary Eric Drysdale and club director Mario Caira are working with Reclaim the Rovers. Drysdale said last night: "The response from the community as shown last weekend has been very encouraging but the crisis point is fast approaching."

As Colin McGowan indicates today, that crisis point, that decision time, may be just weeks or even days away.