Raith Rovers fans give Hall of Fame cash to the club

A number of Rovers followers who had bought tickets for the subsequently cancelled 2020 Hall of Fame event have chosen to donate the money to the Stark’s Park club – which should gain an additional £4200 as a result.

This is on top of £3000 contributed by supporters earlier in the year.

Fife Cultural Trust announced in June that shows at all its theatre venues would be suspended because of the coronavirus pandemic until the spring of 2021 – including the Hall of Fame, which had been due on November 9.

Despite the disappointment, the Hall of Fame said it fully respected and understood the decision.

This year’s show was to take on a different form as a fundraiser for Raith Rovers , which was expected to have netted the club around £10,000.

Famous names such as Jimmy Nicholl, Gordon Dalziel, Tom Houston and Peter Hetherston were likely to be in attendance.

However, the Trust had asked fans who’d paid for tickets if they wanted a refund, or if they’d consider donating 50 per cent or 100 per cent to the club.

Alistair Cameron, Hall of Fame group founder member, said: “We were delighted with the response we got back – delighted and not surprised. We pretty much got a 50-50 split, which I thought was fantastic – so many people were happy enough to donate to a worthy cause.”

Various problems had arisen since Rovers were declared League 1 winners – legal wrangling and all the associated time, effort and costs, notwithstanding everything lockdown had brought with it as well, said Alistair.

“They are delighted to receive this money,” he added. “They thought they’d lost the money that would have come in November.

“Hall of Fame has a really good working relationship with the board at Raith but this is really the generosity of the fans – many of whom will have donated in the normal crowdfunding system anyway, or given them money in different ways.”

There were plans for an alternative online show in November but these were at a very early stage, added Alistair.