Saturday marks the tenth anniversary of Raith Rovers’ heroic Ramsdens Cup triumph over Rangers.
At the time, the dramatic extra-time victory at Easter Road was the club’s first cup success in 20 years.
It followed two decades on from their Coca-Cola Cup shock against Celtic in 1994.
In front of a crowd of nearly 20,000, John Baird’s 117th-minute strike clinched the Challenge Cup silverware for Grant Murray’s side.
The memorable win will be celebrated with a dinner hosted by Raith Rovers Former Players’ Association and Rovers Down South in Kirkcaldy on Friday night.
All the money raised from the evening will go towards supporting the Raith Rovers Community Foundation’s ‘Community Belong’ ticket scheme, which funds up to 40 kids attending every home game.
Ex-players, including captain Jason Thomson, Callum Booth, Paul Watson, Greig Spence, Reece Donaldson, Joe Cardle and David McGurn, are set to attend.
So, where are they now? Courier Sport looks at what the 2014 heroes are up to ten years later.
Grant Murray
Murray was boss at Stark’s Park for almost three years before leaving in April 2015.
The former Hearts and Kilmarnock defender took over as player-manager following the departure of John McGlynn for Hearts.
However, just 12 months after steering the club to their success against Rangers, and following two Scottish Cup quarter-finals, Murray was sacked with the side mid-table in the Championship.
The 48-year-old is currently assistant-manager to Marvin Bartley at League One side Queen of the South.
Lee Robinson
Robinson began his senior career at Rangers and had a notable spell with Queen of the South before joining Raith just before the cup success.
The Sunderland-born goalie signed in February on a deal for the remainder of the season and took over from Ross Laidlaw for the final 16 games of the campaign.
Robinson turned in a superb display in the final to lift the trophy for the second year in a row following his success with Queens after a penalty shoot-out.
He subsequently re-joined Rangers and had further stints with Queens and Dunfermline before returning south in 2019.
Now 37, Robinson has – along with brothers Mark and Shaun – over 650,000 followers on Instagram and nearly 100,000 subscribers on YouTube for his ‘The Modern-day Goalkeeper’ brand posting coaching videos.
Jason Thomson
A former Hearts youngster, Thomson joined Raith on a permanent deal following a successful loan from the Jambos.
The full-back went on to make well over 200 appearances for the Stark’s Park club before leaving in 2018.
He was skipper for the Ramsdens Cup triumph and the man to get his hands on a cup for Raith the first time in 20 years.
When he left Rovers, Thomson was a stalwart of Arbroath’s success under Dick Campbell for four years until he departed Gayfeld in 2022.
Thomson, 36, now plays regularly for Kelty Hearts in League One.
And, after achieving a degree in sports management, he is operations manager in Edinburgh and Lothians for Street League, an organisation that uses sport to tackle poverty and help young people.
Paul Watson
After a youth career with Ipswich Town and 125 appearances for Livingston over four seasons, Watson joined Raith in 2013.
The defender won the Third Division and Second Division with Livi and was a key part of Raith’s Ramsdens Cup success.
He spent a second season with Rovers before leaving for Falkirk and then joined Dundee United three years later.
Whilst at Tannadice, Watson won the Championship in 2020.
Spells with Dunfermline and Falkirk followed on and the 33-year-old joined The Spartans at the start of this season.
Dougie Hill
Hill battled a shoulder injury in the final to turn in a magnificent display at the back.
In his fifth of six seasons with Rovers, the central defender went on to rack up 160 appearances for the club.
With three spells at Alloa Athletic, and nearly 100 games for Cowdenbeath, Hill has also proved a dependable servant for Brechin City and Dumbarton.
Now a plumbing and heating engineer in Edinburgh, the 39-year-old currently plays for Berwick Rangers in the Lowland League.
Callum Booth
Booth was a loan signing from Hibernian for the 2013-14 campaign and played in all but one league game that season.
The left-back had won the youth league and cup double with the Easter Road side but could never make a regular top-team place his own.
After loans with Arbroath, Brechin City and Livingston, Booth found success at Raith.
The Ramsdens Cup triumph was his only silverware until landing a stunning cup double with St Johnstone in season 2020-21.
Now 32, he moved to Saints in 2019 after spells with Partick Thistle and Dundee United and the Scotland under-21 cap left McDiarmid Park on loan in January to join The Spartans.
Joe Cardle
Born in Blackpool, Cardle began his senior career at Port Vale but is best known north of the border.
After a loan at Clyde, the winger joined Airdrie United and won the Challenge Cup in 2009 before signing for Dunfermline.
He made his name with the Pars, where he played almost 250 times over two spells.
Cardle was one of the players made redundant in March 2013 during Dunfermline’s descent into administration and he was offered a job by rivals Raith.
A short-term deal was extended for another season that included the victory over Rangers.
Following a disappointing move to Ross County in the Premiership, he returned to Dunfermline in 2015 for three years before spells with AFC Fylde, Partick Thistle and Kelty Hearts.
Cardle, 37, now runs his own football academy in Fife.
Kevin Moon
Moon came through the ranks at hometown team St Johnstone before being handed a professional contract in 2004.
He made his professional debut for Saints against Raith in a Challenge Cup tie in a 5-1 win in 2005 and went on to play almost 100 times for the Perth outfit.
Regarded as a ‘local hero’ by fans, the midfielder helped the club win promotion back to the Premier in 2009 before leaving in January 2013.
After a short stint with Alloa, ‘Mooner’ joined Raith that summer and was named the club’s player of the year in his first season at Stark’s Park.
Following a subsequent move to Australia to join Joondalup, Moon hung up his boots and the 36-year-old is now a youth coach in the United States.
Liam Fox
Fox began his career as a youth at Hearts before spending two seasons with Inverness Caley Thistle prior to joining Livingston.
It was in West Lothian that he made his name, making over 200 appearances for the Lions.
He left Almondvale in 2013 and joined Rovers, where he was a stalwart in the cup-winning campaign.
After two years at Stark’s Park he was tempted back to Hearts to join his first club’s coaching ranks.
An ill-fated spell as head coach at Cowdenbeath then followed before he returned to the Tynecastle coaching team.
After becoming assistant-manager to David Martindale at Livi, Fox joined Dundee United as Thomas Courts’ number two and was appointed manager following the subsequent sacking of Jack Ross.
He himself was axed in February last year after just five months and 22 matches in charge with the team bottom of the Premiership.
After briefly joining the Aberdeen coaching staff at the end of last season, Fox, 40, is now B team manager at Hearts.
Grant Anderson
A fans’ favourite at Rovers, Anderson joined the club in 2012 following spells with Stenhousemuir and Hamilton Accies.
He spent four years at Stark’s Park, making 150 appearances and scoring 16 goals.
The winger helped Raith win promotion back to the Championship in 2013 and subsequently played the full 90 minutes against Rangers.
Now 37, Anderson has since turned out for Queen of the South, Peterhead, Stranraer, Raith again, Kelty Hearts, Forfar and St Cadoc’s.
He has played this season for Pollok in the West of Scotland Premier Division.
Calum Elliot
After eight years with Hearts, and loan spells with Motherwell, Livingston and Dundee, Elliot left Tynecastle in 2012.
Following subsequent stints with Žalgiris Vilnius in Lithuania and Alloa, the striker joined Raith despite a dispute over a pre-contract already agreed with Livingston.
The former Scotland under-21 internationalist played 39 times for Rovers in season 2013-14 and scored ten goals, including a double in the 3-0 win over Annan Athletic at the semi-final stage in the cup.
Elliot was forced to retire due to knee problems at the end of the following season and has since built a managerial career with the likes of Edinburgh United, Tynecastle, Tranent juniors and Penicuik Athletic.
The 37-year-old recently made the move from Cowdenbeath boss to take over at League Two side Bonnyrigg Rose.
John Baird
The match-winning hero was in his second of three spells with Raith when he scored the goal that won the cup.
The striker had scored 26 times in two seasons to win a move to Dundee in the Premier League in 2012 and swapped the Dark Blues for Partick Thistle a year later.
But he was back at Rovers in January 2014 having failed to score a single goal for the Jags.
He went on to score eight times for the Stark’s Park club before the end of the campaign, but none more famous than his strike at Easter Road.
It cemented his place in the hearts of Raith fans, who saw Baird return for a third time after further stints with Queen of the South, Falkirk, Inverness Caley Thistle and Forfar.
Now 38, he moved Down Under in 2020 to become head coach of Western Australia club Mandurah City.
Substitutes
Ross Laidlaw, 31, has spent the last five years with Ross County after leaving Raith for Hibs in 2016.
Reece Donaldson, 30, went on to play for Peterhead, East Stirling and Linlithgow Rose before dropping out of football.
Fraser Mullen, 30, had spells with East Fife and Cowdenbeath and now plays for Pollok.
Gordon Smith, 33, was another who moved Down Under at the end of a career that began at Livingston and Hearts.
Greig Spence, 31, played a crucial role in setting up Baird’s goal and returned to Rovers for a another season in 2017. After four spells with Alloa and stints at Cowdenbeath, Arbroath and Stenhousemuir, the striker now plays for Stirling Albion.
The losing Rangers team
Cammy Bell; Richard Foster, Lee McCulloch, Bilel Mohsni, Lee Wallace; Fraser Aird, Ian Black, Kyle Hutton, Nicky Law, Steven Smith; Jon Daly. Subs: Steve Simonsen, Sebastien Faure, Dean Shiels, Calum Gallagher, Nicky Clark.
Referee: Kevin Clancy.
Attendance: 19,983.
