John Cunningham Memorial Festival 2025

The sun shone on Starks Park, Kirkcaldy as 41 walking footballers took to the pitches to celebrate walking football on Sunday. This was the third annual celebration of walking football and a teammate who truly loved the game.

2025 JC Festival Players — Festival players with Fiona and Hannah Cunningham

Six randomly chosen teams played five games with no scores being kept with no league table or trophy to win. Just playing football, making friends, having fun and topping up the suntan. And, when the commemorative medals had been handed out, an epic two halved eight on eight game where both keepers excelled (the ones in goals not the two pretend outfield players). The game was “won” by a single goal but no one really cared except Dave in the “defeated” team’s goals. 😂

Raith Rovers Walking Football would like to thank everyone for turning up and contributing to a great, fun day out. From the players to the refs and the ball boy (George) and Fiona and Hannah thank you all. As a result of all your efforts we will be donating £300 to CHAS (https://www.chas.org.uk/) and £300 to Epilepsy Scotland(https://www.epilepsyscotland.org.uk/).

David Milne
Well done Charles & Willie for organising everything as a mark of respect for John.
Brilliant day of walking football & great to see old & new faces. ⚽️🥅 ❤️

Gordon Farquharson
Well done to Charles Doherty and Willie Carroll for putting in a very enjoyable day of Walking Football. These festivals are always really enjoyable and played in a great spirit. Everyone gets on and has a laugh and joke. Then plenty banter between games.
This could and maybe SHOULD be the future of WF.

Harry Gilfillan
First class organising again lads you did John and his Family proud 😊

Neil Galloway
A great way to spend the afternoon. Thanks to everyone who gave up their afternoon to make sure it was a great event. And thanks to whoever booked the weather 🙂

Raymond Henderson
Great day again,in the memory of John Cunningham.
Well done the guys who put it together ,the refs on the day and all participants from near and far,great bunch of lads👍

David Fawcett
Great day out played in great spirit and despite the 5th game being a bit of a step too far for my old knackered knees.

John Beveridge
A great afternoon of WF in memory of a very nice bloke. Really good games played in great spirit. Organisation first class. Well done to everyone who played in the heat.

Graham Robertson
great banter, good fitba thnx guys👍😁⚽️Allan HarrisonI enjoyed the day and great camaraderie 👍

Some pics from the day courtesy of Mike Burnett of Arbroath Walking Football.

Raith Rovers Christmas Cup 2024 – The Photos

Raith Rovers: Second Place in East Region League Standings

Raith Rovers went into the third round of fixtures in the East region league on Sunday 11th August sitting second in the league. One point behind Hearts in first place, two ahead of Dundee East in second and four ahead of Luncarty in third. The day’s matches would see them play all three sides at the top, as well as Tayport – Reds.

Back row: Colin ‘Titch’ Hardie, Willie Carroll (Mgr.), Davey Ramsay, Harry Gilfillan, Ally Grant, Ritchie Malcolm
Front row: Ian ‘Chillo’ McMillan, John Wylie, Neil Galloway, Scott McIntosh

First up was a change to the fixture order. Hearts were delayed so the second round of fixtures would be played first and then they would catch up.

So, in a change to our advertised programme, first up was Tayport -Reds.

Raith started well when, in the second minute, a pass from Ritchie found Titch, who despatched the ball past the Tayport keeper. The lead was short-lived, however, as Tayport hit back within 90 seconds with a shot from nothing on the right, which beat Harry in the goals. In eight minutes, the ref penalised Raith with a penalty for Ritchie being in the box. Considering he was forced into the box by a Tayport shoulder, this was a bit harsh. Tayport scored for the penalty to take a 2-1 lead. In twelve minutes, the game is effectively over as Harry, unsighted, fumbles a shot from the right, and Tayport increase their lead to 3-1. Despite a few more attempts at goal from both sides, the score remains the same.
Tayport – Reds 3-1 Raith Rovers
St James 1-2 Linlithgow Rose
Dundee East 2-1 Luncarty
Arbroath – Maroon 1-2 Oriam

The second game in the session was against Dundee East. The game looked to have gotten off to a poor start when Neil tackled a Dundee East player from behind in the penalty area and the ref awarded a penalty. However, up stepped Harry to save the penalty from a low shot down the middle of the goals. Within a minute Raith were one up when a pass from Titch to Scott was deflected up in the air by a Dundee defender. Standing just outside the box Scott rifled an unbeatable volley into the roof of the net for 1-0. In the 6th minute a Dundee player wandered into the box and and the ref blew for a penalty. Ally stepped up to take the penalty and beat the keeper low to his left. As the team turned to restart the ref ordered a retake as he hadn’t blown his whistle. Ally stepped up to retake and hit the ball in exactly the same place. However this time the keeper guessed right and saved. In the 9th minute a 50-50 tackle by Ally in the penalty area is penalised and Dundee are awarded their second penalty of the game. But it was Harry ‘s turn to save the day again with a superb save to keep Raith 1-0 up. Raith managed to take the lead in the 12th minute when Titch beat the keeper from in front of the goals. And that ended the scoring for a Raith win.
Arbroath 1-3 St James
Dundee East 0-2 Raith
Hearts 2-1 Oriam
Linlithgow Rose 1-3 Luncarty

Raith sat out round three:
St James 3-4 Oriam
Tayport Reds 0-1 Luncarty
Arbroath – Maroon 1-1 Linlithgow Rose
Dundee East 2-0 Hearts

The penultimate round of fixtures had Raith playing against Perthshire side, Luncarty. A tight start to the game saw the teams level until the 7th minute when Scott turned at the edge of the Luncarty box and shot past the keeper. Within a minute though Titch racked up a third team running foul so it was a penalty to Luncarty. Unfortunately, for Raith, Harry was unable to pull off his previous heroics again and Luncarty scored to tie the match. In eleven minutes the referee, harshly, adjudged contact in the area to be instigated by Ritchie who, at the time, had control of the ball and awarded another penalty to Luncarty which they scored from. The remainder of the game saw Luncarty play out by keeping possession and running the clock down.
Tayport – Reds 3-1 Hearts
Raith Rovers 1-2 Luncarty
Oriam 2-1 Linlithgow Rose
St James 1-3 Dundee East

The final game of the session saw Raith take on a Hearts team that they had beaten in a 4-3 goal fest in the Glasgow Cup four weeks ago. This game, however, turned out to be a lower scoring game. Indeed, the only goal and, to be honest, the only thing of note in the game was a third minute move that saw John find Titch free with only the keeper to beat, which he did. And that’s how the game ended.
Raith 1-0 Hearts
Tayport – Reds 2-2 Arbroath – Maroon

And so the day finished with Raith remaining in second, Dundee East jumping from third to first, Hearts falling from first to fourth and Luncarty jumping one place up to third. With only 3 points separating the top four and Raith being only one ahead of the other three in goal difference it’s going to be an exciting end to the season, and the fight for Champions League placings, in October.

John Cunningham Memorial Festival

On the 23rd of September walking footballers from all over Scotland and beyond gathered at Starks Park to remember our great friend and fellow walking footballer John Cunningham. It was a day to remember John and to enjoy one of the many things John enjoyed in his life, playing football with like minded people and above all having fun.

The day started with an introduction from Willie Carroll, a friend of John’s for many years and the reason John started playing walking football.

“Firstly a huge thank you all for coming along today to attend this festival in memory of a much loved friend, John Cunningham.
I, for one, know that John would have been the first person to put his name down as a player in this if it was for anyone else.
So, on to John.
John was a long time acquaintance of mine and it was on a Saturday afternoon when me and Michelle were out for a drink that we bumped into John and his wife Fiona and got chatting. I asked him if he would be interested in playing walking football. And like many others (including me) he laughed and said “No thanks. That’s for auld dudes.” Anyway, one thing led to another and he agreed to come along. The first night he came along he loved it, met up with guys he already knew and made many new friends. He enjoyed it so much he even moonlighted with another team in the over 60s league, playing for the wee team along the road AKA Fife Wanderers.
John was a friendly, lovable guy who enjoyed not just football but also golf and squash. His only downside was he was a Hibbee! No one’s perfect I suppose.
So today is all about remembering John and his happy go lucky attitude. So let’s have some fun all playing together and having a bit fun. I know John would approve of this.
So once again thanks for coming. Let’s play the game the way it should be played.
Oh and remember. The ref’s always right.“

There are no match reports as no scores were kept, officially that is but I’m sure there were many keeping score when playing against teammates, so below you’ll find reflections on the day from some of those who took part.

5 attended from Dunbar including myself , Alan Turner , Craig Morrison , Davy Somerville and Tony Reekie on behalf of us , thanks to all who put on a very fitting day for John , the organisation and hospitality was first class .
It was a pleasure meeting and playing with people from all over the East of Scotland 󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿
Today was Johns day ⚽️ the Raith Rovers Community and all who attended did John proud.
Richard Gdulewicz

I was there in my capacity as Eastern Region rep and can definitely agree that the day was run brilliantly and RRWF should be commended. Well done to all who organised and took part. No disciplinary issues that I saw and all games were played in a great spirit.
We need more of these festivals as it definitely encourages camaraderie amongst players from all clubs in the Eastern Region.
Mike J Burnett

Brilliant day thanks to all ⚽️󠁧󠁢
Bruce Simpson

Great and well organised festival.👏👏👏
Pleasure meeting new people and playing with different guys 👍
Jimmy Mcintosh

Fabulous day out well done boys 👋
Keith Jenkin

Excellent day, huge thanks to the organisers and for celebrating John in this way. Big shout to my fellow Yellow team
Michael Cranston
Michael Cranston brilliant day and great bunch to play with , hope to see yous all soon ⚽️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿👍
Bruce Simpson
Michael Cranston really enjoyed playing with you guys. Games were all played in a great spirit, how it should be. A lovely tribute to John..
Jack Gorman

Very enjoyable day and great fun, thanks for the hospitality too 👍
Allan Harrison

Great day well deserved memorial
Harry Gilfillan

Great day and well organised thanks for having us ⚽️👍
Alan Durno

Great day playing football
Can hardly walk now, however was well worth it. Cheers. To all attended and played.
David Somerville

Very well organised event, well done, I was a great day
Martin Kennedy

Great day , well done to the organisers and everyone who took part.
David Meek

Aye great day of football ! Fitting tribute and smart wee park, made new friends and well organised by RRWFC !
Alan Turner

Below is a gallery of many pics taken on the day. Some players may appear to be running but that is just a trick of the camera. 😉

WFS East League Championship 2023 Round 4

And so we reach the final round of fixtures in this year’s league. We come into this round in third place in the league. Four goals ahead of Carnoustie Panmure in fourth and one point behind Luncarty FC in second. Dundee Utd CT sit in first place seven points ahead of us in third place and catching them is going to be a big ask. But we play them first today so have a chance to take something out of their lead but we really need other results to go our way as well. However we receive news that Saints in the Community are unable to field a team today so the four teams they will be playing will be awarded a 3-0 win. This will help us in our points gathering but unfortunately Saints are also due to play Dundee Utd and Luncarty so it’s a double edged sword.

Back Row: Haig Hutchison, Stephen MacCrimmon, Ritchie Malcolm, Charles Doherty
Front Row: Mikey Curtis, John Wylie, Ian (Chillo) McMillan, Keith Jenkin

And so to the games. First up Dundee Utd CT and we really need to take the points here. The game starts well for us with pressure bringing a shot from Ritchie in the second minute that goes close. In five minutes a tackle from behind in the penalty area sees Chillo go down and the ref awards us a penalty. Dundee Utd protest vociferously (must be something in the Dundee water!) which ends up with their team captain, John, receiving a yellow card. After all the kerfuffle John Wylie steps up (just one step) and fires the ball behind the keeper and we have a one nil lead. From the restart United play the ball up the pitch and bring out a great save from Keith. In the eleventh minute Chillo blocks a cross from the corner and the United player seems to stumble. The ref awards a penalty and, despite our reservations, we accept the ref’s decision. A minute later a shot from the United left goes wide and the ref adjudges Keith has touched it before it crossed the line and awards a corner. From the corner Mikey clears the ball but his foot is adjudged to be hanging in the box so it’s another penalty to United which they score again. With three minutes to go it’s backs to the wall time for United as Raith press hard to try and equalise but to no avail and the game finishes two penalties to one for United.
Dundee Utd CT 2-1 Raith Rovers.

Dundee Utd CT 2-1 Raith Rovers
Dundee FC 3-0 Saints in the Community
Carnoustie 1-1 Tayport Yellow
Highland Utd 1-1 Montrose

So after the first round of matches Dundee Utd increase their lead at the top and Carnoustie move into second place on goals scored.

And so to our second game against now second place Carnoustie Panmure. It’s a tight game as expected with neither team giving much away and there is little to note in the first ten minutes except a lot of effort and no reward for either team. In the last five minutes Raith up the pace with first a shot from Stephen MacCrimmon and then a shot from Ritchie going close. In the fourteenth minute Mikey Curtis steps up with a shot followed by a John Wylie shot that goes for a corner. With time running out Raith are awarded a free kick just outside the penalty area. Carnoustie switch off and Mikey takes it quickly passing back to John Wylie who lets rip and smashes the ball past the keeper for a one nil lead with seconds to go.
Carnoustie Panmure 0-1 Raith Rovers

Dundee Utd CT 2-1 Luncarty
Dundee FC 1-2 Montrose
Carnoustie Panmure 0-1 Raith Rovers
Tayport Yellow 4-0 Highland Utd

And the table changes again. Dundee Utd stay at the top and are now un-catchable but we move into second, relegating Carnoustie and Luncarty to third and fourth respectively.

We sit the next game out as we are due to play Saints in the Community and are awarded a 3-0 win.
Dundee FC 0-1 Highland Utd
Carnoustie Panmure 2-1 Luncarty
Tayport Yellow 2-2 Montrose
Saints in the Community 0-3 Raith Rovers

With Saints due to play two fixtures in the last two rounds and that leaving Dundee Utd and Carnoustie free during the fourth round their game now replaces the United Saints game.
Remaining walkover matches:
Saints in the Community 0-3 Dundee Utd CT
Saints in the Community 0-3 Luncarty

So we go into the last match against Highland Utd knowing that only a win will secure second place in the league. A draw and a big result for Luncarty and/or Carnoustie Panmure could mix up second, third and fourth places.
The game starts brightly for Raith with a Ritchie Malcolm shot bringing off a good save from the keeper for a corner. A few more great saves from the keeper until the third minute when John Wylie collects a pass from Ritchie and finally beats the keeper for 1-0. Three minutes later it’s 2-0 when Chillo is set free by Stevie and finds the net. 2-0. In eight minutes we are awarded a penalty for three running offences and Chillo steps up to take it. And smashes it off the post!!! With five minutes to go we put the game beyond Highland’s reach when after a mix up in defence the ball lands at Stevie’s feet and he puts it between the keeper’s legs for 3-0. With two minutes to go Haig gets the ball in midfield and instead of passing it to Charles who is free at the corner of the box smashes it from 15 yards past the keeper for 4-0. With time running out Mikey Curtis takes the ball down the right wing and crosses. John Wylie steps over the ball and it lands at Charles’ feet. He controls the ball and places it low to the keeper’s right to round off the game 5-0.

Tayport Yellow 2-1 Dundee FC
Raith Rovers 5-0 Highland Utd
Montrose 2-4 Luncarty FC
Carnoustie Panmure 2-0 Dundee Utd CT

And so we end the league in second place and secure promotion to the Premiership. Back where we belong?

Congratulations to Dundee Utd CT for winning the league almost unbeaten and a huge thank you to all of the other teams in the league for what was, for the most part, a good season played in the right way. A huge thank you as well to all of the Raith squad for their commitment and for digging deep at times in all games and competitions this season.

One more competition to go this year, which we’ll have details of soon, the Raith Rovers Christmas Cup. Hope to see as many of our friends from the East League as possible.

Meet the Players – Martin Page

Martin (Pagey) Page
Age group: Over 50s

What is your footballing history?
Mercenary. Had gloves would travel.
Under 17: Raith youth house, Kinghorn St Leonards, Burntisland Shipyard, Victoria Rovers.
Sunday league: Kinghorn, Mr Thistle, Profab , Kinghorn Auld House.
RRCF Walking football.

What was your introduction to walking football?
A phone call and tears of laughter. Thanks Steve Fleming.
Watched initially at Beacon leisure centre in Burntisland.

What were your first impressions of walking football?
More skilful than I first expected. Majority of guys are seasoned veterans of full speed, so technically better than I initially thought.

What do you get (if anything) from walking football?
A second chance at playing along with a great bunch of like-minded guys. Fantastic support.

Funniest thing you’ve seen (or experienced) in walking football?
Too many to list but some of the shooting, (miles off target) can add a smile to my face.

Outside of walking football, do you have interests in any other sports?
Until my hand went I played in local tennis club. But other than Walking football I only coach and assist with my son’s football team. Bayside Bronco’s 2010.

Who are your football/sporting heroes?
Iker Casillas, Oliver Khan, Neville Southall and my father. He taught me well. Sergio Ramos. Quiet, calm and gifted.

Meet the Players – James Robertson

James (Jimmy) Robertson
Age group: Over 50s

What is your footballing history?
School team, Saturday and Sunday amateur, 5 asides and currently Raith Rovers walking football.

What was your introduction to walking football?
I was approaching my 50s with a dodgy knee and wondered if it was for me. I found out Stephen MacCrimmon was involved at Raith Rovers Walking Football and have now been playing for 4 years.

What were your first impressions of walking football?
They were a friendly bunch and a lot of the players were younger than I expected. Games, though friendly, were more competitive than I expected too. I really like the banter and the competitive side. Takes me back to my younger days only at a much slower pace.

What do you get (if anything) from walking football?
New friends, exercise and enjoyment from playing football again. I also like competitive games against other teams, which are, in the most part, good-humoured.

Funniest thing you’ve seen (or experienced) in walking football?
Too many to mention as there is something funny most weeks. From wayward shooting to us tripping over our own feet.

RRCF Walking Football

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