Lighs, list and frozen pitches.

Dear Father Christmas

Now this year I have been a very good girl a good percentage of the time. As a result I would like for Christmas a clean sheet for the Rovers. We have been a bit "leaky" as of late and am sure the lads would love all the help they can get, not had a clean sheet since OCTOBER!! 

Cheers

Carol

xx

PS

Hope you like Paella and Bovril, I know you are a big Raith fan but maybe some of your elves support other teams. I am sure they would like it too so pass it round!

This Paella and Bovril first published in the match day programme of December 10th  2011, Raith v Livingston. Raith 0 - 1 Livingston 

PLEASE SUPPORT YOUR MATCH DAY PROGRAMME

Paella and Bovril

Barcelona has been illuminated with over 65 Km of the streets covered in festive lights and the shops are blaring out the cheesiest Christmas mixes. This year they have built an ice rink in the middle of the city with a massive tree beside it. Unlike other years Barcelona is getting tore in to the Christmas spirit. However despite all this I am still not feeling very festive and I never thought I would say this but I miss the cold this time of year.  Now do not get me wrong I am not basking in the sunshine and drinking mojitos by the pool at the moment it is a wee bit chilly in Barcelona, but nothing like the cold of home. Could I cope with the cold at home now?

It is coming up to that time again when Jack Frost and his mates can ruin your match day antics.  Now we can all remember last year with it’s back log of fixtures, the destroyed playing surfaces, the long periods of not seeing you team play and no one wants to experience the same thing again this year. But I am sure for some of us have good memories of those winter day matches! How many of us have gone along to a match whilst wearing one or all of the following, thermal leggings, thermal socks, thick jeans, chucky walking winter boots, thermal vest, jumpers, huge jacket, gloves, team scarf over the nose and a bobble hat. I remember back in the day of the terraces being sent to the football looking like a minuture marshmallow man and waddling up to the turnstile with others not being able to see anything but an army of eyes!  Once inside joining in the cold feet dance as we all move from one foot to the other in a desperate attempt to keep warm and being thankful for the scalding hot tea that will keep the hands warm till at least half time! I am pretty sure we all huddle closer together in the terrace during winter to keep us that step ahead of frostbite! If the team wins then festive football is the best ever and should be saved, if the team lose then the idea of winter football is ludicrous and summer football is the way forward!

I am not sure either way, I loved the festive games but those are memories and the reality is backlog of fixtures and disgruntled badly treated fans, especially those taking a chance on the roads and traveling to a ground only to be told half way there that their game is off.  Last year when I went to see Raith play away to Partick we were only let in the ground 15 mins before because they could not de-ice the steps to sufficient health and safety standards!

Bbbbrrrrrrr even thinking about makes me shiver, maybe I am turning into local, nah the locals would not last 5 mins at a boxing day match in Dundee, they are sporting the marshmallow look in 17 degree heat! But to be fair Camp Nou has no cover for the majority of fans and if you are on the third tier on a mid Jan night it is blimmen chilly and when it rains you are soaked beyond belief, you see it ain’t just Scottish fans who get badly treated by the weather. But would they cancel the match due to weather? How would they do it?

Maybe comparing Scottish winter weather to Spanish winter weather is a little crazy but many of you may have seen matches where the rain is beyond torrential and the playing surface is more ”piscina” than pitch and wondered “how the hell are they playing in that, why was that not called off”.  They just don’t. Maybe cause it is a “one off” and the pitch will recover, as will the fans they can dry out after the game at home!   I cannot remember in the years that I have been in Barcelona hearing about a match being cancelled due to the cold, maybe water logged pitch but that would me clutching at straws to think of one.  How much notice would they give, as fans may have to travel up to 7 hours to get to a game, which is why not many fans travel. At the Barca v Madrid league matches not many away support will be found in the grounds.  It can be very strange to see Barca score a goal in Madrid and to hear nothing but silence!

Maybe summer football is the way forward for Scotland, maybe not. But one thing is for sure Scottish fans will follow their team wherever, through snow, wind and rain and sometimes come away smiling. But would they smile more if the sun was shining!

So from a slightly cold but very festive Barcelona I and my good friend Santa clause (see pic) wish you all a Bon Nadal and a Feliç Any Nou. Have a great time and I hope a few Raith wins to keep the festive spirits up!