The San Starko is one of the iconic Scottish grounds and should be visited by everybody at some time. Rovers are in tier 2 at the moment and that does’t look like changing any time soon so I haven’t seen a league match there since 2004 with ICT.
A ground that I only saw from the outside for many years. Growing up in the 60s my family spent a few foggy damp holidays in a caravan at Kinghorn, with the foghorn booming out, quite a trek for my old man’s car round by Kincardine, before the Forth Road Bridge was built in 1964. Kirkcaldy was only one stop up the line and you could see right into the ground as you approached the station. As I got older I had the same sort of experience at Arbroath and Montrose, trying to see into grounds during the close season aka the summer holidays.
Rovers are famous for the phrase ‘They’ll be dancing in the streets of Raith tonight’ which was blamed on that eejit David Coleman but apparently it was coined by Sam Leitch who was actually a Scot.
The most unusual feature at the San Starko is the 2500 seat L-shaped stand by Archie Leitch, dating from about 1925 when Alex James was sold to Preston. Of course in 1960 they sold a certain James Curran Baxter to Rangers for £17,500, a Scottish record at the time.
I first knew the ground when it had terracing at both ends and this was replaced by 2 new stands by Barr Construction in 1996. The following 4 images are from 1996 when I poked my nose in one Sunday morning and nobody seemed to be about:
Between 1999 and 2004 ICT were in Division 1 (now the Championship) and I had a few trips to the away end at Kirkcaldy. We had a few gubbings and didn’t get a win until my 5th visit in November 2001, when the dismal record was well and truly buried as Steve Paterson’s side won 5-1, with ICT legends such as Barry Robson, Charlie Christie, Bobby Mann and Dennis Wyness. After that it was plain sailing and I saw ICT undefeated a further 4 times before they gained promotion in 2004 under John Robertson.
Coming right up to date, a few recent shots:
Stark’s Park is very unusual from the outside as Pratt Street is very steep. At the North End you can walk straight in off the street but at the other end you have a large flight of steps to negotiate.
My most recent visit, I now realise, was actually as far back as 2008. Four of us got comps from Andrew Cook who was an ex pupil of my mate Jamie and we went in the home end for a Cup match v Alloa which ended 0-0 on a cold November afternoon. The highlight of the day was having several very cheap doubles of the Malt of the Month at Stark’s Bar at the bottom of Pratt Street, where we were served by two very buxom wenches. Sadly, Stark’s Bar is no more: it was very basic to say the least but it was great on matchdays.
Moving the Goalposts 
Some interesting photos there John. I’ve never seen the view towards the away end before. A few good memories from visits there…including a gubbing we got when I went on my own – I’ll need to look that up as it was 4 or 5.
I think it’s also the ground where I remember remarking “Here we go, another hump up the field from Bobby…whereupon 3 seconds later Denzil was toe-poking it home.”
Happy days.
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August 2000, 4-1…though I don’t remember us scoring. Old age.
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