Raith Chairman speaks to the media

Raith Rovers Chairman Bill Clark apologises for the abandonment of the Fife Derby

"The first problem we had was with the floodlights, as everybody saw, but we managed to fix that. We also, however, have got a problem with the wifi system, and that controls our electronic ticketing, so we had hundreds of fans outside queuing.

“They were very angry, obviously, as they should be. So we couldn`t let anybody in through the gates on the advice of police. The other problem was that we could not get the concourse lights on in the two main stands, so there`s a health and safety issue. As the night wears on, you can`t have hundreds and hundreds of fans going out in darkness.

“So it really was a health and safety issue at the end of the day. I don`t know if the referee consulted with the match commander - I assume there was some kind of communication - but it was was the referee who eventually decided to abandon the match

"It`s a massive disappointment. Huge apologies to everybody here - the supporters, all the people watching on TV and everyone else who assembled here for what should have been a cracking match.

“It`s embarrassing for the club, but until we get to the bottom of it, and find out exactly what went wrong, I can`t give any further explanation. We`ll are going to have to get electronics experts to have a look at the whole thing again. It`s so unfortunate because this is the first night we`ve used these floodlights.

"They were tested. They were installed during the summer and tested to destruction, I would`ve said, and then tonight - somehow - all the office lights went out as well as the concourse lights. There`s been a power surge or something, or an overload of some kind. We`ll need to investigate this in detail.

"It cost around £180,000 to install. It is the most modern system - it`s the same system as Manchester United have.

"I suspect there might be repercussions for the club, but until we get to the bottom of what is actually the problem, I really don`t know whether there will be repercussions or not, or it will just simply be that it will be replayed at a later date. That`s about all I can tell you."

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