Labour of love to put Raith Rovers classic clips online

Daniel Elder (30), who works at Caledonia Signs in Kirkcaldy, was placed on furlough at the start of lockdown and decided it was the ideal opportunity to digitise a collection of old VHS tapes full of Rovers highlights.

“It was always in the back of my mind to do this,” he said.

“The tapes were just lying in the cupboard.

“I had made all the recordings when I was little and my brother Matthew and my dad had done it before me, so I knew they were there.

“I used to watch them a lot when I was younger and I had always thought I’d like to preserve them somehow because tape doesn’t last forever.

“So when it came about that I was going to be put on furlough for a few weeks I thought it was something I could keep myself busy with.”

The result was 200 clips scanning the period between 1993-2005 which are all available to view on Daniel’s own YouTube page.

He says he was “taken by surprise” at how many games he actually had.

“I was born in 1989 and didn’t start going to games until around 2000, so watching some of the earlier games was all new to me too.

“I sent the tapes away to get converted and when it came back every game had been put on a memory stick as one long clip, so I had to edit it and cut them all up.

“I realised after about 20 games I still had a long way to go!

“There were 200 different clips in the end which is way more than I thought there were.”

Daniel says he particularly enjoyed watching the Rovers team from the mid-90s.

“It was interesting watching the teams from around 93/94 and watching the type of football that they played.

“People kept on telling me how good they were and watching it back I can understand why. They played some brilliant stuff.

“Then, once I got to the games I had actually been at it was enjoyable to go through them, like the Antonio Calderon team. Everyone thinks fondly of that era.”

Whilst trawling through the clips Daniel says they threw up the occasional surprise.

“There’s a 2-2 draw at Ibrox with Rangers which I had no idea had even happened!

“It was the first of me seeing it and we could have won it. We played them off the park in the second half but, as they do, Rangers got a penalty!”

The clips have proved to be a huge hit with over 60,000 views since Daniel started the project three months ago.

He says he has been “amazed” by the feedback.

“There’s been some ex-players commenting on them on Twitter, like Ally Graham, Davie Sinclair, Calderon, Craig Dargo, Kevin Twaddle and Jock McStay,” he said.

“I also got a really nice comment from Peter Hetherston’s daughter saying she was really enjoying watching her dad’s time at the club.

“She also said that it had made her dad’s year to see his brother Brian playing as he sadly passed away in 2006.

“The reaction from the fans has also been incredible too.

“ There’s been loads of good comments across Facebook and Twitter, as well as the Pie and Bovril fans’ forum.”

“I’m just amazed at the response.”

• To view the clips go to Daniel Elder’s page on YouTube.