Power surge to blame for Raith Rovers derby call off

Raith supporters after the lights went out at Stark's Park on Friday night during the derby with Dunfermline (Pic: Fife Photo Agency)

It says that a preliminary investigation has been carried out and that the problem was external.

the derby match against Dunfermline which was being broadcast live on BBC Scotland was abandoned after just 10 minutes due to the lights going out in the stands populated by supporters.

The statement reads: “Following on from the statement released on Friday evening, Raith Rovers Football Club has carried out a preliminary investigation into the circumstances leading up to the abandonment of the game against Dunfermline Athletic on Friday 20th August.

“An independent electrical investigation has confirmed that the power failure which led to the abandonment of the game was caused by an external power surge from the mains which tripped our system at Stark’s Park and in the surrounding areas.

“We were able to get the floodlights back in operation almost immediately, but restoring power to all the stands was not possible in the timescale required and this is what resulted in the halting of the game on safety grounds.

“We can confirm that there is no evidence whatsoever of the outage being attributable to any systems in the football stadium and that had the floodlights not been renewed they would not have restarted so quickly.

“A date for the rescheduled match will be discussed with the SPFL and announced as soon as we know it.

“Fans who wish to go to the rescheduled game will be able to swap their tickets, and we will refund all those who do not wish to go to the rearranged game once the rescheduled date has been announced.”