2020 Summer Update
Despite the prolonged absence of Scottish football action there has been plenty to keep our attention – and we need to recognise and be thankful that Raith Rovers are weathering this storm in better shape than many clubs. That is no small part due to the efforts of the players and backroom team up until March 13th, keeping their noses in front of Falkirk, Airdrieonians, Montrose and East Fife. This secured promotion after three seasons in League One, and we wish those four teams the very best of fortune in next season’s campaign, whenever it begins. It was a genuine five horse race in 2019/20, with fantastic matches against each of those teams (and some really stern tests from those who finished further behind the top five). It does not feel right that these teams were not given the chance to fight for the second promotion place that would otherwise have been up for grabs.
Raith Rovers Football Club have also benefited from strong and decisive leadership within the boardroom – we were one of the first clubs in the country to launch a crowdfunding campaign, which brought in a massive amount of money. Rovers fan Ruaridh Kilgour’s company, Fanwave Digital, were the brains behind the innovative donateaticket.com fundraising platform which has raised over £150,000 for clubs across the country – including more than £15,000 donated by Rovers supporters. The Raith Rovers family have put their money where their mouth is and dug deep to help the club, and we are immensely proud of the way in which we have come together to ensure that our club survives and is in the best shape it can be by the time the Championship campaign begins.
As a Supporters Trust we have not wanted to distract from the clubs fundraising efforts so we helped to promote these through all of our social media channels. But we have still been busy and have been using this time to prepare for the future and are delighted to now have an online membership platform ready to launch, automating many of the more time-consuming tasks involved in running the Trust, and will be able to communicate directly with members more easily in the future. When the new season is finally upon us we will be encouraging every Rovers supporter to use this platform to sign up as a Trust member, with our focus shifting from share ownership to supporter engagement.
We will also be catching up with governance activities after lockdown, having postponed our AGM until face-to-face meetings are once again permitted. In the event that restrictions remain in place long-term we will move this process to an online platform, but our preference is to meet with you in person. We’ve missed you all!
