Stark Park chairman hails fans’ fundraising efforts

Chairman Bill Clark has hailed the fundraising efforts of Raith Rovers supporters after they created “war chest” of close to £100,000.

Clark reckons the Fife outfit are “way ahead” of every other club in Scotland in terms of the generosity of their fans amid the Covid-19 outbreak.

A Crowdfunding page set up in March has topped the £55,000 mark while the Donate a Ticket scheme has seen Rovers bank close to £16,000.

One-off donations direct to the football club’s bank account and Paypal now total £23,000 and new pledgers to the Raith Supporters’ Fund have contributed £2,290.

Clark believes the additional funds give the Stark’s Park side a solid foundation for the remainder of 2020 – but expects the cash to dwindle when staff return from furlough in August ahead of an October start to the Championship.

“In the circumstances, that is an absolutely fantastic sum and it will continue to go up,” lauded Clark.”

He added: “With the crowdfunding, the supporters’ fund and the Donate A Ticket scheme, we are way ahead of any other club in Scotland due to the commitment of our supporters. That is fantastic news.

“I see it as a war chest ahead of an incredibly difficult few months between August and December.

“We will be paying out full wages and if we don’t have full gates then we are going to lose quite a bit of money over that period.

“That war chest will go down very quickly.

“We need to manage that very carefully and that’s what we are doing. We are monitoring that all day, every day.

“We are in a good position at the moment but we mustn’t let that slip.”