Life and Times of the Man Behind Raith Rovers’ Finest Hour

The behind-the-scenes story of how a son of a coal miner from Cardenden helped make Scottish football history. Self-made housebuilding entrepreneur Alex Penman bought his local football team, Raith Rovers. Filled with anecdotes and recollections from the best years in Raith Rovers’ history, this is a must for any fan.

The behind-the-scenes story of how a son of a coal miner from Cardenden helped make Scottish football history. Self-made housebuilding entrepreneur Alex Penman made his name building perhaps 4% of the houses in his home town of Kirkcaldy, Scotland. Then he bought his local football team, Raith Rovers, which had struggled in the lower reaches of the Scottish Football League for most of its 111-year history. Under his ownership, Rovers won the Scottish League Cup with a famous victory over Celtic by penalties. That took Raith into European competition for the first time and Jimmy Nicholl’s team made global sporting headlines by securing a famous half-time lead against the mighty Bayern Munich. Filled with anecdotes and recollections from the best years in Raith Rovers’ history, this is a must for any fan.