Raith Rovers face tricky opening day test as Scottish Championship fixtures are revealed

Despite the fact that Rhys McCabe’s North Lanarkshire outfit were newly promoted to the Championship, Raith failed failed to beat Airdrieonians in four league fixtures during 2023-24.

Rovers lost 1-0 at the Excelsior Stadium on September 23, before there was a 1-1 draw at Stark’s Park on November 4.

Rovers’ second trip to the Excelsior on January 6 resulted in another 1-0 defeat, before Murray’s men’s hopes of catching league leaders Dundee United suffered a major blow when Airdrie triumphed 3-1 in Kirkcaldy on April 9.

To compound those disappointing league results for Raith against Airdrie, the Diamonds also prevailed 1-0 at Stark’s Park in last season’s SPFL Trust Trophy semi-final encounter on February 2.

Rovers boss Murray – who previously managed Airdrieonians from 2018 to 2022 – can at least now call upon former Airdrie/assistant manager Callum Fordyce, signed this summer on a two-year deal having played four times against Raith last season, with the only game he missed against Murray’s men being the 1-1 draw.

Raith’s full league fixture list (3pm kick-offs unless stated) is: August: 3 – Airdrieonians (a), 10 – Partick Thistle (h), 24 – Ayr United (a), 31 – Livingston (h); September: 14 – Dunfermline Athletic (a), 21 – Hamilton Accies (h), 28 – Falkirk (h); October: 5 – Greenock Morton (a), 19 – Queen’s Park (h), 26 – Livingston (a); 29 – Airdrieonians (h) (7.45pm); November: 2 – Ayr (h), 9 – Partick (a), 16 – Morton (h), 23 – Hamilton (a); December: 7 – Falkirk (a), 14 – Dunfermline (h), 21 – Queen’s Park (a), 28 – Livingston (h); January: 4 – Ayr (a), 11 – Morton (a), 25 – Falkirk (h); February: 1 – Dunfermline (a), 15 – Partick (h), 22 – Hamilton (h), 25 – Airdrieonians (a) (7.45pm); March: 1 – Queen’s Park (h), 8 – Livingston (a), 15 – Dunfermline (h), 22 – Partick (a), 29 – Hamilton (a); April: 5 – Ayr (h), 12 – Airdrieonians (h), 19 – Falkirk (a), 26 – Morton (h); May: 2 – Queen’s Park (a) (7.45pm).