Contract extensions for Raith Rovers players are reward for title win

Raith Rovers have announced they will be able to pay their furloughed first team players until the end of July.
Rovers players soon to be out of contract will be paid until the end of July. (Pics by Fife Photo Agency)Rovers players soon to be out of contract will be paid until the end of July. (Pics by Fife Photo Agency)
Rovers players soon to be out of contract will be paid until the end of July. (Pics by Fife Photo Agency)

Members of the first team squad whose contracts expire between the end of May and middle of June will have their contracts extended to July 31.

The news comes at the end of a busy week for Rovers off the park, with chairman Bill Clark calling it “a sensible decision.”

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He said: “These guys won the league for us and every one of them played in at least one game or another.

Raith chairman Bill Clark.Raith chairman Bill Clark.
Raith chairman Bill Clark.

”We think it’s only fair that the whole squad should be on furlough until such time as we make a decision on who we are going to retain and who we are going to release.

“We can’t get to that stage yet, because the manager and assistant manager are furloughed at the moment, so they can’t enter into discussions with players.

“There will come a time, probably at the end of July, start of August, when we will have to release some players, but this is not that time.”

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He added: “At least this guarantees them some security for the next two months.”

The week began with Mr Clark taking part in an online meeting on Monday with officials from the other Championship sides, looking at the possibility of playing behind closed doors or in ‘hub’ stadiums when the season resumes.

“It was a brainstorming meeting where we came up with lots of ideas, but didn’t come up with any concrete conclusions,” Mr Clark said.

“We reached a kind of consensus on a number of things which we will now put in writing to the SPFL board for them to consider.

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“There were a lot of different views expressed among the 10 clubs.

“Some are more ready to play behind closed doors than others and a lot depends on what financial support we might get from the government, the SPFL or the SFA.”

Such financial support would definitely be required when it comes to testing players and officials for the coronavirus.

Mr Clark said: “Our understanding is you have to get a machine that costs £35,000 and then it’s £50 per test.

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“So if you’re testing a squad of 20 players twice a week, that’s £2000 just to start with.

“I believe the SPFL are considering this so if they can come up with some way of partly funding that, it might be possible.

“But there is no way any Championship club could fund the whole of that themselves.”

The possibility of league reconstruction – something Rovers have come out in favour of – is once again up for discussion after Hearts owner Ann Budge put a new proposal to the SPFL.

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Budge has suggested a 14-14-14 set-up for two seasons with Hearts remaining in the Premiership – joined by Dundee United and Inverness Caledonian Thistle from the Championship – and the SPFL board will now ask each of the four leagues to meet and discuss it.

Mr Clark said the proposal was “interesting”.

He added: “A lot of things in the paper were discussed previously by the reconstruction group, but I thought that had all been knocked on the head weeks ago by the Premiership clubs.

“What I am asking now is why after three weeks are perhaps going to change their minds and vote for it?

“But until it becomes a resolution to vote upon the clubs don’t have any say in what happens, so we’ll just have to wait and see.

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