William Hill Championship
Raith Rovers vs Stenhousemuir
Saturday, 1st August 2026
3pm
Stark’s Park, Kirkcaldy
With the group stages of the League Cup now complete, Raith Rovers kick of their Championship campaign this weekend, with Stenhousemuir the opening day visitors to Stark’s Park.
The Warriors are playing in the second tier for the first time since Scottish football moved away from a two division league system back in the 1974/75 season.
Their ascent up the SPFL in recent years is particularly impressive considering they’d never won a league title in their history until winning the League Two trophy in 2024, and they gained promotion from League One via the playoffs last season after running Inverness Caledonian Thistle close at the top of the table.
However, they go into this campaign without their inspirational manager Gary Naysmith, who left the club at the end of last season to join Ayr United.
On top of that, winger Ross Taylor, who was such a key figure in their recent success has joined Naysmith at Somerset Park, while ex-Raith player Scott McGill has left to join fellow Championship side Arbroath.
Marvin Bartley has been the man given the perhaps unenviable task of filling Naysmith’s shoes, with the former Queen of the South and Livingston boss taking up his first managerial position in part-time football.
He’s got off to an impressive start though, with Stenny topping a League Cup pool that featured Brechin, Forfar and two fancied Championship sides in Livingston and Partick Thistle.
Their reward for winning a tough Group E is a home tie against Motherwell in the knockout stages.
Rovers will be hoping they can buck their opening day trend and win three points, with their last victory on the opening day of the league campaign coming against Arbroath back in 2020, with Dan Armstrong, Reghan Tumilty and Regan Hendry the scorers in a 3-0 win.
The last time the two sides shared a division was the in the 2018/19 campaign, when Raith took 10 points out of 12 from the four fixtures, a season where Rovers finished third in League One while Stenhousemuir ended up relegated after losing to Annan Athletic in the playoffs.
Head-To-Head Record:
Raith Rovers wins: 39
Stenhousemuir: 19
Draws: 17