Scott Brown will miss Raith Rovers’ last-day push for a play-off place – and any celebrations should they be successful – because of a Scottish FA ban.
The Stark’s Park skipper was absent from Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Morton after picking up a yellow card in the recent 3-1 win over Falkirk.
Due to the SFA’s rules on the accumulation of cautions, it has emerged the 30-year-old has picked up a TWO-GAME ban.
He officially sat out one match earlier in the campaign – when he was injured anyway – after incurring a sixth booking of 2024/25 against Falkirk on December 7.
It appears his first of the season, against Falkirk in late September, was missed by some outlets and he has now crossed the 12-caution threshold.
The midfielder has fallen foul of referees six times in the second half of the campaign to land a suspension at the worst possible moment.
It means Brown will be absent when Rovers bid to get the victory over Queen’s Park they need at Hampden on Friday night to have any chance of landing fourth.
They also require Partick Thistle to slip up away to Livingston to overhaul the Jags’ current two-point advantage.
“We’re missing Scott Brown,” confirmed boss Barry Robson, “which is really important for us, to lose our captain for the two most important games of the season.”
SFA protocol
Should Raith be successful and and reach the play-offs for the second year in a row, the SFA’s judicial panel protocol stipulates Brown will be prevented from joining his team-mates to celebrate at full-time.
Players, managers and team staff are excluded from the ‘playing zone’ from 75 minutes before kick-off until 15 minutes after the final whistle.
That ‘playing zone’ includes the dressing rooms, tunnel and surrounding areas, the bench and technical area, and the pitch and track surrounding it.
The positive for Brown and Raith is that he will be available again for the play-off quarter-final against Ayr United should Rovers get the results they crave on Friday night.
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