Gretna Green. Famous for its weddings for loved up couples, perhaps the most romantic destination in Britain. But for the village football club, the honeymoon is over and those wedding chimes can now be replaced with a funeral march. Gretna are on the brink of oblivion after being demoted all the way down to Division 3 on Thursday night.
The decision comes following a meeting between the Scottish Football League and the club’s administrators, still desperately seeking a buyer for the striken club. Gretna had been given a deadline in which to assure the SFL that they would be able to fulfil their fixtures for next season but they failed to do so, resulting in the league invoking a ruling which sends them down to the bottom division following their Premier League relegation.
The decision means that the losing play off finalists will each take a step up, so Airdrie United enter the First Division, and Stranraer move up to Division Two. However, Gretna look likely to go bust this week with still nobody showing a genuine interest in rescuing the club, which was placed in the hands of administrators in March.
The club’s major benefactor, the likeable and colourful Brooks Mileson, has had his share of health problems and was admitted to hospital in February, after which he withdrew his financial support for the club. They struggled to raise a team for an SPL match at Aberdeen and just after they entered administration, a record low crowd for a Scottish Premier League match of 501 turned up to watch them play Dundee United.
The fact they have had to play at Motherwell’s Fir Park as Raydale didn’t meet SPL requirements hasn’t helped as their already small fanbase began to dwindle. Now, with all staff having been paid off, it looks like the Gretna fairytale will end in tragedy with the closure of the club. One man’s dream has ended in one club’s total nightmare, despite the many highs they have had along the way.
From Division Three to the Premier League in successive seasons, via a Scottish Cup final and shortlived European adventure, it was too much, too quick for Gretna. They never had the fanbase to sustain Premier League football, never mind playing at a ground 75 miles away from their own. And when a club only has one way of generating income through a benefactor, the reality is always there that things can go belly up. Mileson is famed for his love of lucozade and fags. The club that he built up in a rags to riches tale would be lucky to afford one bottle of the energy drink to share around the club now.
Awaiting developments this week with interest will be Spartans, Annan Athletic, Cove Rangers and Preston Athletic. If Gretna go out of business, then a place will be open in the Third Division and these clubs are all ready to apply to join the SFL for next season. East of Scotland rivals Annan and Preston have applied for SFL membership before and been rejected, but have plans to upgrade or move grounds. But my smart money would be on Spartans, who have been a big name in recent years due to twice reaching the last 16 of the Scottish Cup.
The club are moving to a brand new stadium in Edinburgh for next season and my feeling is that the SFL may seek a change from inviting Highland clubs having invited Ross County, Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Peterhead and Elgin City in the last 10-15 years.
So by the end of the week, it looks set to be wedding bells sounding to witness the marriage between the SFL and a new member club. The church that does the weddings down at the border should start preparing itself for the expected funeral of a club who have been terminal for some time.
Living the Dream? They lived and chased it and it was mostly a happy union. Sadly, Gretna’s love affair with the Scottish game is ending in poverty stricken divorce.
hartypar