Sports Nostalgia: 1978 - Raith Rovers look for eighth manager in 10 years

In our series of sports stories from our archives, we look back on another managerial change at Raith Rovers.
Fife Free Press - Raith Rovers manager Andy Matthew resigns, 1978Fife Free Press - Raith Rovers manager Andy Matthew resigns, 1978
Fife Free Press - Raith Rovers manager Andy Matthew resigns, 1978

January 1978 saw Raith Rovers manager Andy Matthew resign – sparking the club’s search for an eighth manager in just ten years.

He had faced mounting criticism from fans as the team’s promotion push faltered, and decided it was time to step aside.

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The board put Bobby Reid in temporary charge and, with no successor in mind, planned to advertise immediately for a replacement.

Andy MatthewAndy Matthew
Andy Matthew

The new man – be he full-time, part-time or player/manager – will be Raith’s eighth boss in 10 years which is indicative of the club’s general lack of success.

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Mr Matthew has faced mounting criticism from supporters in recent weeks as Rovers’ bid for promotion faltered.

The team has collected only two points from the last four home outings, and, on Saturday, were thrashed 6-0 in the Scottish Cup at Berwick.

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Mr Matthew commented that although the directors had not put any pressure on him, he felt it was in the best interests of the club if he resigned.

He said: “With my coal merchants business, I am on the go all day and all night. I was getting no time to myself and my family.

“Also, things have not gone right in the last two or three weeks, and a new face might just give the team that extra incentive for the rest of the season.

“Overall, I am reasonably satisfied with my spell at Stark’s Park. We won promotion and we were then relegated in rather unfortunate circumstances.

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“Since last season, we have lost half our team – Jim Brown, Billy Brown, Brian Cooper and Gordon Wallace – but we are still near the top of the Second Division.

“The directors were keen for me to buy new players, but where can you get the right type at a price a club like Raith can afford?

“Raith really have to rear their own players, and I feel I have signed a number of promising youngsters who will stand the club in good stead in the future.”

Mr Matthew, who is in his middle 40s, was a winger with Rangers, and is the only footballer to have played for all four Fife teams,

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He was manager at Cowdenbeath for a number of years – taking them into the old style First Division in 1970 – before moving to Raith, in his home town, in April 1975.

He is the seventh manager to have left Rovers in 10 years - the others being George Farm (twice), Tommy Walker, Jimmy Millar, Bill Baxter and Bert Paton

Raith chairman, John Urquhart said : “He said the pressures had been on him recently because of results and he felt it was in his own and the club’s best interests.

“Mr Matthews is an exceptionally nice person to deal with, and it is unfortunate when these things happen, but it is part of football.”

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Director Bobby Reid, himself a long-serving goalkeeper with the club, will be in temporary charge of the team, assisted by Alex Kinninmouth.

For other clubs who were just as out of the limelight as Raith are right now have shown that, with the right man in charge, they can go places.

It is worth remembering what Alex Stuart did for Montrose; what Ally MacLeod did for Ayr United, what Alex Ferguson did for St Mirren, and what Bill Munro achieved in two years at Clydebank.

And amongst the latest breed of player/managers there are two classic examples in Dave Smith at Berwick, and Archie Knox at Forfar.

Will the Raith board this time pick the right man?