Robert Matthew

(1964 – 2024)

The Club was deeply saddened to learn of the sudden passing of ex player and manager Robert Matthew. Rabbie, as he was affectionally known to all of us, joined the Shipyard in 1991 and went on to have a prolific career for the Club as he broke goalscoring records with such regularity it was a normal occurrence.

The all time record goal scorer for the club arrived at Recreation Park having previously played for Brechin City, Bangor City, Raith Rovers, Glenrothes Juniors and Glenvale Amateurs. In his first four seasons he never missed a match scoring 209 goals in 183 games. In total he scored 248 goals in 235 appearances missing only four of the Clubs 239 matches in that period. That gave him an overall scoring rate of 1.06 goals per game. He scored three or more goals on twenty occasions, including one seven goal haul against Glenwood. He went on to claim twelve winners’ medals during his time at the Shipyard. One of the most notable of his hat-tricks came in a 6-2 win against St Cuthbert Wanderers in the Scottish Cup with the BBC cameras there to record it and the celebrity presenter Hazel Irvine there to give him his man of the match award. His manager during that period Jim Thomson recalled “I wanted to sign him, and Damien Bray, but I never had a contact for Rabbie, however, Damien said leave it to me, and within a couple of minutes he had agreed to sign for the Shipyard. He was a model professional for me, never giving me any problems and as his stats show he was always there, rarely missing a game and continually finding the net.”

Rabbie had a great love for the Club and when he stopped playing it was no surprise that he continued his association with the Shippy at the “Bernabeu,” as he called the ground, as both a coach and a manager. He never sought reward for playing or coaching, he was happy just to be in that environment giving his all for Burntisland Shipyard FC.

Our thoughts and prayers are with all Rabbie’s friends and family at this sad time. RIP Rabbie.