Raith Rovers: 'We need to expand the Scottish Premiership' say chairman Steven MacDonald and manager Ian Murray

Raith Rovers chairman Steven MacDonald is calling on Scottish football’s top brass to increase the number of clubs in the Scottish Premiership to 18 or 20, paving the way for cash-strapped lower league clubs like Rovers to play at the elite level.
Raith Rovers chairman Steven MacDonald is pictured with club manager Ian Murray (Pic by Paul Devlin/SNS Group)Raith Rovers chairman Steven MacDonald is pictured with club manager Ian Murray (Pic by Paul Devlin/SNS Group)
Raith Rovers chairman Steven MacDonald is pictured with club manager Ian Murray (Pic by Paul Devlin/SNS Group)

Unlike the ultra-competitive 10-team Scottish Championship – which seemingly has different clubs jostling for the top spots every season – the 12-club Premiership can be highly predictable with either Celtic or Rangers having finished top of the pile in every season since 1985-1986.

In the current tough financial times, MacDonald’s club this week launched a drive calling on prospective investors to provide money and ideas to avoid a reduction in football operations at Stark’s Park.

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And the Kirkcaldy supremo reckons the monotony of the current product in Scottish club football – which sees teams playing each other a minimum of three or four times a season – isn’t helping and could be made much more attractive by Rangers and Celtic only playing their rivals twice each as part of an expanded top flight.

MacDonald told the Fife Free Press: “Our league is very competitive but I probably wouldn’t be too sad if we brought in some extra teams to the top flight.

"With the amount of clubs that we have it does become a little bit repetitive with the fixtures and a slightly bigger league would make it a bit more interesting. I think we could be in an expanded Premiership. That’s our aim, what we’re all here for.

"We’re trying to set-up and move forward into the premier league. That is our goal which certainly hasn’t changed.

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"Ian Murray was brought in to take us to the premier league and that is what we still want to do.

“But I most definitely think there needs to be a more even distribution of wealth in Scottish football.

"It would create a better environment throughout the clubs if we were getting a better share and hopefully make us all more competitive and more attractive to possible investments coming in from external sources.

"The premier league gets the bulk of the money. There are a number of clubs in the premier league – certainly in the bottom six – that wouldn’t vote for lower clubs to get a better distribution.

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"There are two massive clubs compared to the rest in the premier league and then maybe one or two others which are quite fortunate, but other clubs up there are desperate for money as well.”

Raith manager Murray, who moved to Kirkcaldy this summer after leaving League One Airdrieonians, would also support a shake-up of Scottish football’s leagues.

He told the Fife Free Press: “I think everybody wants bigger leagues at the moment because it is becoming stale.

"I understand why some teams don’t want bigger leagues because of the money Rangers and Celtic bring in.

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"The finance from Rangers and Celtic can be very huge. I think Livingston’s a great example, they clear 100 grand a game which is a huge amount of money for their budget.

"So I can see why they don’t want to lose that. By the end of this season I will have been involved with teams that have played against Queen’s Park 13 times out of 50 games!

"It’s a huge amount to play the same team and it becomes really boring for everybody. It’s boring for Queen’s Park and our team and it’s not good for supporters either.

"I don’t think it (league reconstruction) will happen unfortunately. It’s been talked about for a number of years now.

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"There is not really much we can do about it so we just need to get on with it.”

It has been announced that Rovers’ away tie against Queen’s Park in the SPFL Trust Trophy quarter-finals will be played at Ochilview on Wednesday, January 11, 2023 with kick-off at 7.45pm. The winners will play Dundee or Dunfermline Athletic in the semi-finals.