Raith Rovers chief: We apologised to Ross County for tannoy song mocking Staggies' relegation
John Sim has admitted he was “upset” at the song ‘Get Get Down’ by Paul Johnson blaring out over the Stark’s Park tannoy immediately after full-time in Raith Rovers’ 3-2 home win over Ross County last month which sealed the Staggies’ relegation from the William Hill Championship.
Interim Raith chairman Sim, 74, told Raith TV that he was particularly mortified at the thought of upsetting the Dingwall side’s owner Roy MacGregor, whose side have now gone down to Scottish football’s third tier for the 2026-2027 campaign after crashing in the five-goal Kirkcaldy thriller in a season-ending fixture broadcast live to viewers on the BBC Scotland channel which saw players from both sides squaring up to each other amid heated exchanges after the final whistle and County’s Akil Wright being sent off.
"I could not believe that they played that song at the end of the game,” said Raith supremo Sim.
"I spoke to the manager (Raith gaffer Dougie Imrie) the next day. I said: ‘Dougie I’m very upset about that’.
"I said: ‘I think I’m going to have to apologise’. He said: ‘John I’ve already apologised, it was totally out of line’.
"I understand how it happened.
"And I understand why Dougie was upset and I know why I was upset, we both know Roy MacGregor.
"Roy MacGregor has done so many good things, not just for the fans of Ross County, but for the Dingwall area, for Invergordon, for the Highlands.
"And it’s just generational. Interestingly, we’re getting a hard time from the SPFL about it. Obviously, it was on television and people saw it.
"They came back to us and said: ‘No, no, you should not be doing this, this is not the way to conduct yourself as a football club’.”
Having recently disclosed that Rovers’ well publicised financial problems had almost led to the club being placed into administration in February, Sim was also asked what positives there are down Stark’s Park way just now about what could be achieved in the future.
He said: “Well Ruaridh (fellow Raith director Kilgour) is Mr Positivity and I’m Mr Realistic.
"We’re both going to the same place. It’s just that perhaps we have different routes of getting there.
"I’ve spent more time at the School of Hard Knocks perhaps than he has. But you need both parts of it.
"Again, for me Ruaridh is the future and that’s why I can walk away because do I enjoy coming to Stark’s Park the way I used to?
"No, because it’s changed.
"There is a place for Raith Rovers in the wider global community. We just need to get it out there.
"In the same way that nobody in the world had really heard about Wrexham until a couple of supposed film stars who I’d never heard of came in and threw money at it.
"What we’re going to do is ask people (the fans) for their specific questions. It’s a balance.
"Everyone’s entitled to their opinions but we shouldn’t let the facts get in the way. We should try and make sure that people have a chance to understand the situation before they pontificate on it.”