Club 24/09/2026
Raith Rovers v Livingston: Friday’s Guests
John and Steven Hislop
The guests for Raith Rovers’ Championship match against Livingston on Friday 25th of September 2026 will be former Raith Rovers’ players, father and son, John and Steven Hislop.
John Hislop joined Raith Rovers on the 3rd of April 1974 from Tranent Juniors.
John continued to play for the successful Tranent side until the end of the 1973/74 season as they were still competing in several Cups.
He also played for Scotland Junior International side in a 4-1 win over England in a game played at Warout Stadium, Glenrothes. John played at centre forward and scored one of Scotland’s goals.
He made his debut for Raith Rovers against Stenhousemuir in a 3-0 win, playing up front alongside Joe Baker and Malcolm Robertson. It was reported that John impressed the Rovers’ supporters with his strong running and clever distribution and that he would be a real asset at Raith Rovers.
The following season, John Hislop was joint top scorer with Malcolm Robertson and Gordon Wallace (mark II), they all scored nine goals.
In season 1975/76, Raith Rovers won promotion from Scottish League Division Two. The Rovers lost out to Clydebank on goal difference to win the title.
They lost only one league game all season. The BBC Grandstand cameras turned up to see the Rovers v Queen’s Park to see the only unbeaten team in Britain, only to see the Rovers lose 2-0.
John Hislop scored the only goal of the game in a crucial 1-0 home win over Clydebank.
The following season, in true Rovers’ fashion, Raith Rovers were relegated back to the Scottish Division. John loved his time at Stark’s Park. He is full of praise for his team mates of the that time, Guys like Murray McDermott, Gordon Wallace, Malcolm Robertson and Donald Urquhart.
John left Raith Rovers in April 1978; he left the club at the same time as Billy Brown. Billy took over as manager of Newtongrange Star and he immediately signed John Hislop.
John Hislop 144 appearances 35 goals
John’s son Steven started playing for Easthouses Under21, before signing at the age of 22 for East Stirlingshire. After 36 games and 15 goals, the following season Steven turned full-time with Ross County.
Another successful period saw him get a move to Inverness Caledonian Thistle, where he won the Scottish First Division title and the Scottish Challenge Cup, where they beat Airdrie in the final 2-0 at McDiarmid Park. Steven then played in the Scottish Premiership with Inverness Caley Thistle. He suffered a ruptured knee and feared his footballing career was over.
After over fifty appearances and 11 goals, Steven was given the opportunity to reunite with his previous manager Neale Cooper. Neale had given Steven his first chance of full-time football at Dingwall. Gillingham paid Inverness £50,000 for the transfer.
After Neale was removed from his position, Steven also moved back to Scotland where he signed for Friday evening’s opponents Livingston. Paul Lambert, Livi’s manager took Steven to Almondvale on a two and a half year contract.
It was a move back into the Scottish Premiership. Steven made 23 appearances for Livingston. Steven had suffered an ankle ligaments injury at Gillingham and he had a double hernia operation while at Livingston. Steven admitted at that point he was a wee bit disillusioned with football.
On the 31st of January 2007, Steven Hislop was signed by John McGlynn. Although injuries once again hampered his career, he was delighted to end season, 2008-09 winning the Second Division title with Raith Rovers.
He memorably scored a vital winning goal against Stirling Albion at Forthbank and he made a beeline to celebrate with his father in the Rovers’ crowd and was promptly booked by the referee Stuart Dougall.
Steven left Raith Rovers for Arbroath the following summer before playing for East Fife, Bo’ness United and Bonnyrigg Rose.
While back playing in Junior football, he once again followed in his father’s footsteps by playing the Scotland Junior International team, scoring a hattrick in an International Quadrangular Tournament against the Isle of Man.
He then spent a time coaching and he teamed up with ex-Rovers’ team mate Todd Lumsden, as assistant manager at Arbroath.
Steven Hislop 68 appearances 16 goals
John Greer
