Meet the Raith Rovers player with an East Fife tattoo

Tiffani Easton from Leven has made two appearances for the club so far this season, despite being a passionate East Fife fan.

The 23-year-old, a former pupil of St Agatha’s PS and St Andrew’s HS, has been a regular at Bayview since the age of 11 and says: “It’s been a while now and I’ve seen too many relegations!

“It started because I used to do cheerleading. One time we were asked to go along and perform at a home game. That was it, I’ve been going ever since.”

As well as being a regular on the terraces Tiffani says she was also keen to get on the park from a young age.

“I played all the way through primary school with the boys at lunchtimes then at After School Club.

“I then played for East Fife U17s but then had to stop because of injury.”

Tiffani suffered tissue damage to her right knee, an injury so severe that she was told she may have to end her playing career before it had even properly started.

“It was a bad injury,” she says. “I had to have operations on it and the doctors didn’t think I’d be able to play again.

“It was heart-breaking. They said I’d be lucky to be able to kick a ball. I could still do other sports but I really just wanted to get back to playing football.”

Happily, and against the odds, Tiffani, who can play in midfield or attack, has made a full recovery and had one season at Kelty Hearts before making the move to Stark’s Park.

“It was good at Kelty for the training and getting involved with the squad but I wasn’t getting much game time.

“Then I did one week at pre-season for this year when they told me they wanted someone with more experience who had played at a higher level, so they weren’t going to sign me.

“When the chance came to join Rovers it was an easy choice for me. It’s closer to home, there’s less travelling.

“It’s been great so far and I’m really enjoying it.”

But after overcoming one major hurdle, Tiffany now has another to conquer as she battles issues with her mental health.

“I suffer from depression and I’ve been struggling a bit to get to training.

“It’s something that I’ve battled with for a while and recently it’s come back a bit.

“I’ve been finding it hard to get the motivation to come and get playing but football is one of the things that helps.

“Rovers have been very supportive. I spoke to the head coach Euan Robertson about and he said there was no pressure on me.

“He told me to come and go as I please and that when I was up to it I’d get game time.

“That’s what I’m wanting so that’s great.”

Tiffani now combines her time playing with Rovers with her job at Home Bargains in Glenrothes and says the inking on her arm has come in for a fair bit of comment.

“Yeah, I’ve been getting a wee bit of stick for it here!” she says.

“It’s been the same from my mates who are East Fife fans. I work in the club shop there too. They’ve been saying ‘you can’t go and play for them’!

“But joking aside they’re glad for me that I’m getting game time.”

Finally, how does Tiffani feel about lining up in blue for the Raith Rovers v East Fife derby?

“I’ll just have to put the rivalry aside and play for the shirt!”