'I rejected them at first': Raith Rovers legend Gordon Dalziel on 'life changing' move

The then 25-year-old striker, who had previously served Rangers, Manchester City and Partick Thistle, was without a club and weighing up his options.

Dalziel, now 62 and well known for his football punditry work on Radio Clyde, recounted this vital point in his life over 37 years ago when telling the Fife Free Press: "I wouldn't be doing all that I do now - radio, podcasts and dinners - if it wasn't for Frank Connor and Raith Rovers.

"Frank - who used to be the reserve coach at Celtic for 20 years - chapped my door on that fateful Sunday, wanting me to join Raith Rovers, but I initially knocked him back. I was out the game at the time.

"Frank knew me, because I used to play against him when I was a young boy at Rangers reserves. And he said to me: 'No, I'm coming into your house, I need to sit'.

"He came in and said: 'I'm not leaving here until you give me one month of your time, if you don't enjoy it then you can leave and I'll shake your hand'.

"I said: 'Frank I don't even know where Raith Rovers play'. I had never been to Stark's Park. But I went.

"I've got the worst memory in the world but I remember my first game for Raith Rovers. I was slightly overweight, we played Clydebank at home and I scored (in a 2-1 Raith win in the League Cup second round) and the journey went from there.

"We won the second division that year and I ended up Raith's all-time leading league goalscorer (with 170 goals in 360 league appearances) by the time I left eight years later.”

When asked why he loved it so much at Raith, Dalziel – who also won the 1994 League Cup and 1994-95 first division during his Stark’s Park tenure – added: "There's something about Raith which brings you together. There's a great bond. I think it's the people.

"The biggest compliment I can give them is when I went up to the Partick game in the play-offs this year and I was staying overnight.

"I got out my car and there were dozens upon dozens of Raith Rovers supporters sitting in beer gardens and every one stood up to applaud me.

"I thought that was a very special moment and I was very chuffed with that.

"And I thought: 'Do you know something, that's why it probably meant so much to me'.

"Because of the respect from these guys in appreciating what you achieved.

"They're a good club. They're good people up there, they look after you.

"Everything about the club I liked, it was a fit for me.”

Dalziel – who also later managed Raith between 2004 and 2006 – was then asked if he had any regrets about missing the club’s fantastic UEFA Cup run of 1995-’96, which included a memorable tie against German giants Bayern Munich, the eventual winners.

After losing the first leg 2-0 at Easter Road, the Kirkcaldy side incredibly led 1-0 at half-time in the second leg in Munich before going down 2-1 and exiting 4-1 on aggregate.

Dalziel said: “I was in Germany recently working for Radio Clyde and I abseiled over the Munich Stadium.

"I can remember looking down and thinking: ‘Raith Rovers played here’.

"Am I sorry I missed playing against Bayern, in a football sense yes I am.

"But the night that Raith were playing Bayern in the Olympic Stadium and it got to half-time with Raith leading 1-0 I was signing a contract to become the Ayr United manager. I remember it coming on the telly and the chairman went: ‘Do you not miss being over there?’

"I looked and I went: ‘Yes I do but my next step in football is going into management and coaching’.

"And I became the Ayr United manager that night.

"I had won the first division with Raith that season and I knew my time was up, I knew I was leaving.

"We clinched the title against Hamilton Accies at Firhill – where Accies were playing at the time – and that was my final farewell at Raith. I remember throwing my strip into the crowd after the game and thinking: ‘That’s the end of that journey for me’.

"I knew it was time to go so I had already organised a contract with Ayr as a player/coach.

"So that’s what I was doing the night Raith played Bayern. But then the Ayr manager Simon Stainrod was sacked and I was offered the job.”