Gretna F.C.

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Gretna F.C.

Full name

Gretna Football Club

Nickname(s)

The Weddingmakers
The Black and Whites,
The Celebrant
The Monochrome
The Anvils

Founded

1946

Ground

Raydale Park, Gretna
(Capacity 3,000^[1])

2007-08

Scottish Premier League , 12th (relegated)





Home colours





Away colours

Gretna Football Club is a Scottish football club from Gretna, near Annan, Dumfries and Galloway that was founded in 1946.

Despite being based in Scotland, the club participated in English football between 1947 and 2002. The club was elected to the Scottish Football League at the third attempt in 2002. Under the ownership of businessman Brooks Mileson, who invested millions of pounds in what was a village team, the club went from the Third Division side to the Scottish Premier League (SPL) in less than five years.

While in the SPL, however, the club were placed in administration after Mileson withdrew his financial support.^[2] The club finished in the relegation position in the SPL. At the end of the season, all of the club's staff were made redundant and the club was initially relegated to the Third Division due to their inability to guarantee fulfilment of their 2008-09 fixtures.

After this demotion, the one remaining potential buyer withdrew their offer to buy the club.^[3] In the belief that Gretna has ceased to exist, they resigned their place in the Scottish Football League on June 3.^[4]

1 History
- 1.1 Period in English football
- 1.2 Period in Scottish football
2 Honours
- 2.1 English football
- 2.2 Scottish football
3 Records
4 Former Managers
5 References
6 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Period in English football

An amateur team called Gretna Green FC had existed in the town in the 19th century, but were bankrupt by the 1920s. This left the area without a team until the club was founded in 1946 by servicemen returning from the Second World War.^[5] The club initially played in the Dumfries and District Junior League.

The following year, the club moved to the Carlisle and District League, which is run by the English Football Association. This was despite the club being based in Scotland, although Gretna is very close to the Anglo–Scottish border. They remained in this league for all but one season until 1982, when the club moved to the newly-created Second Division of the Northern League. The club won this league and were promoted immediately, before back-to-back championship wins in the First Division, in 1990–91 and 1991–92, resulted in their promotion to the first division of the Northern Premier League.

During this period, the club featured in the FA Cup, becoming the first club based in Scotland to appear in the competition proper since Rangers had done so in 1887. They managed to take Rochdale to a replay in 1991 and gave Bolton Wanderers a scare in 1993 before being beaten.^[6]

The club saw its future in Scottish football and applied twice to join the Scottish League in 1993 and 1999. To help boost their later application, they played a Rangers XI in a game to raise money for victims of the Lockerbie air disaster. Gretna won 2–1 against a strong team.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Period in Scottish football

[edit] Rapid rise through the leagues

In 2002, Gretna were elected to the Scottish Football League at the third attempt, taking the place of Airdrieonians. The club was soon taken over by Brooks Mileson and with his financial input Gretna's on-field fortunes rapidly improved. Gretna won the Division Three, Division Two and Division One titles in successive seasons from 2005 to 2007. During their seasons of successive promotions they scored 297 goals, 130 in the 2004–05 season alone. This was one short of the British league record of goals scored in a season.

Gretna were also runners-up in the 2006 Scottish Cup. Gretna's 3–0 win in the semi-final against Dundee^[7] made them the first team from the third tier of Scottish league football to reach the final.^[7] Gretna lost to Hearts in the final on penalties after a 1–1 draw.^[8] As Hearts had finished second in the Scottish Premier League and had therefore qualified for the UEFA Champions League, Gretna became the first team from the third tier of their domestic league to qualify for the UEFA Cup. Gretna faced League of Ireland side Derry City in the second qualifying round, but lost 7-3 on aggregate.^[9]

Gretna had also been promoted to the First Division in 2006, and for much of the 2006–07 season, they led the division, with a margin of 12 points at one stage.^[10] However, manager Rowan Alexander was forced to step down in March 2007 due to health problems, and coach Davie Irons stepped up to the manager's position. Gretna's form dipped afterwards and second-placed St. Johnstone went on a good run, leaving Gretna with only a one point lead going into the final day of the season. Despite St. Johnstone taking an early lead in their match, Gretna beat Ross County 3-2 with a last-minute goal by James Grady, ensuring promotion to the Scottish Premier League.^[10]

[edit] Gretna in the SPL

During the 2007–08 season, Gretna played their home games at Motherwell's home ground of Fir Park because Raydale Park did not meet SPL standards. Their first game in the SPL was against Falkirk which ended in a 4–0 defeat for Gretna. They struggled for form, only gaining four points in their first 12 games and having to wait until 22 September 2007 for their first win in the SPL, defeating Dundee United 3–2 at Fir Park.^[11]

However during this time the club's financial situation became dire. The club had accumulated debts of nearly £4m,^[12] and owner Brooks Mileson fell ill and withdrew his financial support for the club.^[13] A confused management situation did not help. Whilst Rowan Alexander was officially still manager, Davie Irons was in control of the team^{[citation needed]}. On November 6, 2007, Gretna officially sacked Rowan Alexander as manager and formally installed Irons in his position.^{[citation needed]}

On February 18, 2008 it was revealed that Gretna staff, including players, had not received their wages on time.^[14] Irons and assistant manager Derek Collins both resigned^[15] from their posts the following day. Gretna director of football Mick Wadsworth, assisted by Iain Scott and Andy Smith, took charge of first-team affairs. The club went into administration on March 12, 2008 after Mileson's withdrawal of support. This resulted in a ten point deduction, meaning they had a total of only six points from 28 games on the date of entering administration^[16]. The SPL agreed to pay the players' salaries until the end of the 2007-08 season, ensuring that the club were able to complete its fixtures in the SPL.^[17]

Administration led to cost-cutting and redundancies; club captain Chris Innes was made redundant on March 25, 2008, with the club explaining that he had "attracted interest from other clubs"^[18]. The following day, 22 players, including eight members of the senior squad, along with coaching staff and the former owner's son were also made redundant.^[19] Gretna were formally relegated from the SPL on March 29, 2008 after being defeated 2-0 by St Mirren at Love Street, and broke the SPL's low attendance record on April 5, 2008 in their game against Inverness, when just 431 turned up for the game.^[20] They won their final SPL game, a home match against Hearts 1-0 with a goal from Gavin Skelton, which meant they finished the season with 13 points, narrowly avoiding setting a record low points total for the SPL.

[edit] Resignation from the SFL

It was revealed by the administrator, Wilson Field of Sheffield, that Gretna have creditors of nearly £4m and assets (Raydale Park) of less than £1m. HM Revenue and Customs is owed nearly £600,000 in total, and it was their threat to wind up the company that precipitated Gretna's move into administration. On May 8, the administrators set a deadline of May 17 for a buyer, otherwise the club would be liquidated.^[21]^[22]

After that deadline passed without a buyer making a firm offer, the remaining forty members of staff at the club were made redundant. It was also reported that the club were still negotiating with an interested buyer.^[23] On May 29, Gretna were relegated to the Third Division due to their financial struggles, with the Scottish Football League threatening expulsion should a takeover not be completed within a week. After a takeover bid fell through on June 1,^[24] the administrators confirmed the following day that they would look to sell Raydale Park to someone who will use the site for something other than football.^[3]

Gretna resigned from the Scottish Football League on June 3.^[25] The club is expected to be liquidated.^[26]