Ground 21: Stark's Park

Stark's Park Main Stand

Game: Raith Rovers 2 v 2 Cowdenbeath

Date: Saturday 29^th December

Competition: Scottish Football League Division 1

Attendance: 1,877

Admission: £17

Programme: £2

It wasn’t supposed to be Stark’s Park today. I was hoping to keep it (relatively) local by attending Livingston’s home fixture with Hamilton. The West Lothian club had reduced prices for this game to £5, which was an offer too good to resist. I picked up my friend Gordon, and we headed to pick up my Dad who was also going to attend the game with us. By the time we arrived at my family home we received bad news – the game was off.

A quick scan of the fixtures saw that the only game we could make from the west of Edinburgh at 2.10pm was the Fife derby between Raith Rovers and Cowdenbeath. So it was off we went!

We arrived in Kirkcaldy at around 2.45 and got parked in the very pleasant looking Beveridge Park. We then made our way southwards under the railway bridge down Pratt Street where we found Stark’s Park. It’s an unusual stadium, being squashed into a small area with two large single tiered stands behind each goal. There’s also a fantastic looking L-shaped main stand from the 1920s, which hosts the tunnel and dressing rooms. The stand stops midway up the pitch where there is unused terracing. The far side stand has been built but currently does not have any seats due to Raith’s financial difficulties and lack of need for the ground to be completed.

This was the second time this season I was taking in this fixture having watched the dramatic 4-4 effort at Central Park back in October. We took our seats high in the South Stand which offered a great view of the pitch as well as of the town of Kirkcaldy.

Great views over the Lang Toun

The most extraordinary scene of the first half was watching a Raith fan two rows in front return from the catering stand with a burger and a pie. Nothing unusual there, until he inserted the pie between the two buns alongside the burger. Unbelievable.

Cowdenbeath took an early lead when Lewis Milne curled a cutback past Ross Laidlaw, but much of the first half was a drab affair being played on a heavy pitch. There were occasional glimpses of quality but they were fleeting. The Blue Brazil extended their lead just before half-time with a penalty converted by James Stevenson who had clearly been fouled inside the box. It made the visitors sitting in the McDermid Stand (sponsored by Scottish crime writer, Val McDermid) happy, although I was disappointed by the numbers of travelling Blue Brazil fans. There was only a smattering of them that had made the 10 mile trip to Stark’s Park.

Rovers’ manager Grant Murray must have given his troops a relocking at half time as Raith returned in the second half rejuvenated. They pulled a goal back within five minutes of the second half with a Dougie Hill header. Three minutes later they got their equaliser when Brian Graham was slipped in to put the ball in the net.

The rest of the game was Raith dominated but they couldn’t find a breakthrough to take all three points.

Once again, another entertaining if sometimes dour encounter between two sides hampered by a heavy pitch. Raith will be disappointed not to take all three points whilst Cowdenbeath must be wondering how many times they have to lead in these matches before they can get a win?