JIMMY NICHOLL tells a story of when he put forth to an understandably nervous board of directors his sincere belief that Raith Rovers should go full-time.

This was in the early 1990s, Nicholl was manager and could see the club, then in the old First Division, was being held back by the players only training twice a week. Raith always finished below full-time opposition and always would unless things changed.

After a lot of talking, fretting and much bean counting, a decision was made. Raith Rovers would go full-time and within a few years the club would win the 1994-95 Coca Cola Cup, gain promotion to the Premier League and, incredible, at half-time away to Bayern Munich, this tiny team from Fife would be 1-0 up.

“They made the right decision but at the time I was told in no uncertain terms that I might have just killed the football club,” recalled Nicholl.
All of this must have felt a lifetime ago at the end of last season when Kirkcaldy’s finest were relegated to Scottish football’s third tier. And once again a big (even bigger) decision had to be taken. No matter the outcome, it was going to be a risk.

Just like 25 years ago.

Raith would be £200,000 down in League One. Ergo, going part-time was in some ways the best thing to do. But if they did this, then how long would they be in that league for?

And, worst of all, what if they went full-time and couldn’t win promotion. Where would that leave them?

Probably in as bad a way as a victim in one of Val McDermid’s murder mystery books; the great woman, of course, is a lifelong Raith fan and benefactor, and who one of the stands is named after.

“It was a huge blow getting relegated last season,” director Bill Clark tells me before Saturday’s top of the table game with Ayr United, who also moved to full-time football in the summer.

“We should be a Championship club at the least. We made a loss of £200,000 from last season, which puts things in perspective for a club our size.

“It was a big decision to stay full-time. But we wanted to go straight back up. It was as simple as that. To go part-time would have been a bigger risk because that might have meant us being in League One for years and years.”

It had been a good while since I’d watched a match at Stark’s Park, a grand old ground which serves as a reminder of some of the individuals who used to run Scottish football. When Roger Mitchell’s SPL declared that every top-tier club had to have a 10,000-seater stadium, it hurt the likes of Raith Rovers.

“We sold Stephen McAnespie to Bolton for close to £1million which had to pay for our two big stands,” says club medial officer Niall Russell with a sigh. “Our core support is 2000. The ground has been filled just once, when Rangers were going for nine in a row, so they sit there empty.”

They weren’t empty at the weekend. More than 500 Ayr fans made the journey including Malcolm and his mates who I met on the train through.

“If Ayr had gone full-time 20 years ago, which is what the fans wanted, we could be bigger than Kilmarnock,” boasted big Malc. “This is the start of something good for our club. There is a big fan-base that can be tapped into.

“A full-time Ayr United in the Premiership, and ask any of us and we now think that could happen, would be a marvellous thing. We’d be guaranteed 12 points a season anyway from beating Killie four times.”
Both clubs are, now, well run and live within their means. For Raith, however, promotion is a must.

Niall walks me through hospitality which is packed. I look on with envy as fizz and wine is poured. This doesn’t happen all the time. Not every game is an easy sell in League One, which is why this club needs Championship football.

Saturday’s1-1 draw was about the right result, even if Ayr manager Ian McCall, a man who knows what he’s doing, believed his side deserved to win.

Lawrence Shankland gave Ayr a half-time lead. Raith’s Greg Spence scored just after the break and while both teams created a ridiculous amount of chances, it ended in a stalemate. It was a decent game as well.

Raith remain top by a point and have two games in hand. Ayr aren’t going anywhere, mind you. This is going to be an interesting title race.

“When I think back to the Coca Cola Cup and then more recently the Ramsden’s Cup, they were great years,” recalled Raith director Clark, who only joined the board in October.

“We should have maintained that, I think. But things have just slipped and slipped and slipped.

“Money is tight but if have a priority, which is to go back up straight away, then you have to put all your resources into it you can.”
I hope it happens for them.