Full house for Raith Rovers Hall of Fame show packed with humour

The event was held at the Adam smith Theatre in front of a full house on Monday night.

It featured six inductions plus a special award to a young girl who has shown remarkable courage battling back after losing her leg to cancer.

Katie Pake, who plays with Raith Rovers’ ladies and girls’ team was given a standing ovation as she made her way to the stage, and the video of her cancer journey, narrated by her mum, Carol, packed a powerful emotional punch.

It was one of several highlights on a night rich in emotion, and laughter.

VIP guests Robbie Savage and Dean Saunders brought the house down with their anecdotes.

Grant Stott made his debut as host and, together with John Greer, welcomed a stage packed with legends to pay tribute to this year’s inductees.

Tony Rougier made a 4000-mile journey from Trinidad to accept his award, and asked the audience to stand as one and pray for the club which gave him his professional big break.

Paul Smith was revealed as this year’s Gourlay Inductee, named in memory of Ally Gourlay who helped to found the event in 2012.

Also inducted were Keith Wright, Chris Candlish, Coca-Cola Cup goalkeeper Scott Thomson, and the late Ian Porterfield whose daughter, Claire, accepted the award on behalf of his family.

They were also joined by a TV crew from Armenia who filmed the moment as part of their preparation for a documentary on his career in football.

The seventh-annual event was organised by Councillor Alistair Cameron, Willie MacGregor, John Greer of the Former Players’ Association, and Allan Crow, editor of the Press.

Alistair said: “It was a fabulous night – and the feedback has been incredible.

“We reduced the number of inductees to six this year in order to spend more time talking to them, and hearing their story, and that really worked.

“After seven years, to still be able to bring such high calibre inductees to the stage underlines the depth of talent that has emerged from Raith Rovers over the decades.”

Alistair said the special award to Katie was one of the most moving moments in the history of the show.

“She is an amazing young girl, and the standing ovation she got was the longest we have seen since we inducted Ally Gourlay.

“The video we showed was so emotional – there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.”