Gretna FC
The story of Gretna Football Club is one of a lot more interest than a lot of people could ever wish to know.
Now technically their has been three different clubs called Gretna in history. The first was an amature team created in the late 19th century and dissolved in the mid 1920's without leave the amature leagues. The second which is the one that we will be looking more into was created in 1946 and ended in 2008. Finally there is Gretna 2008 the current team from the town.
Gretna is a small town right on the border between Scotland and England on the edge of the Solway Firth. It's more famous neighbouring village of Gretna Green is world reknown as the place runaway couples would go to get married.
It is a small town off no more than 4000 folk. It was in this small town just after the wars end that a number of local businessmen, schoolteachers and solders met putting in around £10 each to raise money to start the club rolling. Chief amoung them was a former football player turned Shopkeeper called James “Jock” Kerr.
Jock Kerr was from Annan (a small village around 8 miles from Gretna). He had during the First World War worked as a fitter in the Shipyards of Glasgow and had turned out for Queens Park during this period. Also he had played professionally for Blackburn Rovers and Brentford in the 20's. It was with his invaluable experiance that the club started taking its first steps into the footballing world.
The first season for Gretna they played in the Dumfriesshire Junior League. In that season they finished a respectable Third in the league and played their home games at Station Park just to the north of the village.
However, after that first season the club brought a patch of land from the ministry of war for £200 and planned to build a stadium on it which would be known as Raydale Park. It was after that first season the club transferred into the English football systems and joined the Carlisle and District League.
To prepare the ground for the new league the club managed to draft in German and Italian Prisoners of War to assist with the locals at getting the ground up to scratch.
Gretna stayed in this League for 34 years.Winning the title 20 times and winning some former of silverware in nearly every season they played . They did for one season in 1951-52 playing in the Cumberland County League finishing Second. However, after just the one season this league folded due to the financial pressures it placed on the clubs.
The club did well finacially and in 1958 they opened a social club next to the ground, then in 1963 they brought the rest of the ground around the club. Which in 1970 they opened another social club and in 1973 a Sunday Market was started to help raise more money.
In 1980 the Market became perminant and still continues to this day.
The next league change for Gretna would come in 1982 when the Northern Premier League created a second tier. It would be the tenth tier of English Football although it wouldn't be until 1991 that a full pyramid system as we would reckonise would come into excistance.
It was in 1983 though that Gretna became the first Scottish team in nearly a century to play in the FA Cup. Gretna won the match 3-1 against Consett.
Whilst this history was happening around the ground the club spent £100'000 on upgrading Raydale Park. Which included Floodlights, a new grandstand and changing rooms. As well as in 1984 creating a new constitution who main role was the growth of football in the Gretna area as well as helping raise money for Charity.
On the 21st December 1988 PM AM Flight 103 was blown up over the Scottish town of Lockerbie. The Lockerbie Bombing cost the lives of 281 people. 11 of which were people from the town. Lockerbie is around 20 miles north of Gretna. All the people of the area tried there best to raise money for those affected by this awful incident.
As such Queen of the South from Dumfries played Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United on the 1st March 1989. Whist Gretna played a Glasgow Rangers XI defeating the 2-1 in front of a sell-out 2'000 fans.
It was in November 1990 that Gretna became the first Scottish team since Rangers in 1887 to get through to the FA Cup First Round Proper in which they held Rochdale to a score draw at Raydale Park before being beaten 3-1 in the replay.
Whilst achieving these feats Gretna also won the Northern Premier League Division one in 1991 but it wasn't until the year after that, that the pyramid was introduced fortunately Gretna won it that year as well and got promoted. It was in 1993 that Gretna made there final appearance in the FA Cup First Round Proper losing a tight game 3-2 against Bolton Wanderers. It was around this time that the club made the decision that its future was in Scotland, simply the higher the club went the more money it was costing in travel.
It is worth explaining at this point that the Scottish Football League didn't have a pyramid system in place and the only way to get into the Scottish leagues was through elections which would only happen if a team in the league system went bust or resigned. It was never easy as it would be the chairman of the clubs in the league who voted and the requirements for a team to be elected were difficult and expensive. Since 2015 however, a pyramid system has come into place to make the system more fair and to force owners to spend money of see the club collapse into the none league.
It was 1993 that a chance came to join the league system in Scotland a reconstruction of the leagues meant a gap came for two teams to join. After then Gretna manager Mike McCartney spending many hour single handily labouring around the ground to get it up to standard he was devastated when the league elected Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Ross County. Instead of Gretna.
Normally this would be a once in a blue event however, in 1999 another chance arouses for two clubs to join the league this time round it was Peterhead and Elgin City who got the vote into the league but Gretna were given hope when it was pointed out to them that it had been a closely fought contest.
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By 1999 though the club’s finances had started to come into question and the then chairman Ron McGregor had to pay the players wages out of his own pocket to get them to the end of the season. By the turn of 2000 Mike McCartney was sacked and replaced by Paddy Lowery who in himself was replaced in November 2000 by a man who had grown up in Annan and played for Queen of the South for more than 8 years and would stay manager for of Gretna through till nearly the end. His name is Rowan Alexander.
It is in this small period of 8 years of a overall 62 years of history that possibly the most amazing and outright remarkable story of not just Scottish football but possibly British football.
In 2001 the annual wage bill was roughly £30'000 most of that money came from the Sunday Market which would roughly gain £8'000 a month whilst the social club was £1'000 a month. Which is much higher than the gate receipts as on average only 200 people would come out to watch Gretna.
It was around this time that the club pushed even harder to get into Scotland as the costs of travelling around England on league duty was getting even higher. Gretna's keenness attracted some criticism when Greenock Morton was given only one month to get itself sorted or face being expelled from the league the then Gretna Secretary Ian Armour quoted in the press as saying there did not need to be any further debate about who should take Morton's place if they couldn't proof they were saving themselves. He did quickly backtrack stating that Gretna didn't want to appear as vultures.
Morton would survive but Gretna didn't need to wait long for their chance to come back round. On the 1st May 2002 Airdrieonians were liquidated owning over £2.5 million to creditors. With this happening the SFL gave notice that a place has become open and clubs could apply to get into the league, but they only had until 18th June 2002 to get the packages ready and the games would start 6 weeks after that date. So instantly Gretna and several other clubs swung into action.
All in all, 7 clubs presented to 27 chairmen from clubs within the league. Three clubs were favourites Gretna, Gala Fairydean and Airdrie United a club who were run by the same chairman as the now liquidated Airdrieonians and hadn't ever kicked a ball. The others were Cove Rangers, Huntly, Edinburgh City and Preston Athletic.
Gretna were favourites beforehand however, with Airdrie United coming into the picture and their chairman who had been in the league before so therefore would know all the chairman in the room it soon became clear that he held a good hand. Airdrie United had never kicked a ball in anger and didn't have a ground to start with but this was soon fixed when North Lanarkshire council who were owed money from the original club were happy to waive this away to keep football in the town.
When the vote happened first time round it was a tie between Gretna and Airdrie but once the two Chairman went through again and Ron McGregor was able to confirm the figures Gretna were voted into the SFL and a new chapter would start. Not though without the club receiving some misplaced abuse at stopping a club (which even the chairman of Airdrie had stated was a new club) with history in the league staying in the league.
Airdrie United would get into the league as well though, through somewhat unorthodox means. After not being voted in Airdries backers circled around to find a club they could buy and move. After approaching Hamilton but suffering a backlash they set their sights on Clydebank who had no permanent home and were in the hand of the administrators Airdrie brought them out on the 1st July 2002. Soon afterwards Clydebank was changed to Airdrie and the kit and badge would look very similar to the old Airdrieonians kit and badge. One extra bit off controversy would be that Clydebank played in the in Division One and Airdrieonians played in Division Two but through the business transaction Airdrie United started as a new club in a league about the old Airdrieonians. After this the abuse was aimed rather more accurately at the Airdrie United board.
In the mean time though at Gretna the whole club and community went into overdrive to get Raydale Park ready and up to SFL standard. Thankfully and to much fanfare the club were ready for there first match as a Scottish League side in a pre season friendly against Falkirk in a game which Falkirk won thanks to a strike from Owen Coyle. Owen Coyle and Gretna had History this was the same Owen Coyle who scored against Gretna twice in 1993 when Bolton beat Gretna 3-2, the same Owen Coyle who had to leave Airdreonians because of Gretna getting there place in the League and in the near future Gretna would stop Owen Coyle enjoying a flying start to management, but that's a story for later on.
At the start of there time in the league system Gretna's wage budget was roughly £800 a week of which £100 was Rowan Alexander's wage. So with this youth would be the key to invest in. Gretna's first ever Scottish Football League game was against Greenock Morton and to everyone's surprise a crowd off over 1800 people turned out to watch that famous first game. Only 19 seconds into that game Gretna scored but couldn't hold on and drew 1-1 in.
Gretna instead of travelling many hours down south they would now have to go north. It was there first trip north they had the best away game any lower league team could face when they played against Queen's Park FC. Who up until 2020 played at the 52,000 seat National Stadium Hampden Park. Gretna though lost 2-1 in the challenge cup. Gretna though won there next three games before a losing run and quickly levelled out to sixth in the league a position that they would occupy at the end of the season.
In the cups Gretna did respectably for a Third Division side losing to Queen's Park in the first round of the Challenge Cup. Also going out of the First Round of the League Cup losing to East Fife at home 2-1. Whilst in there first ever appearance in the Scottish Cup they got to the Third Round beating Cove Rangers 3-0 in the Second Round before losing to First Division Clyde 2-1.
At the end of the season Gretna did very well finishing sixth 32 points ahead of the team at the bottom of the league and 12 points ahead of the team in seventh. Whilst the average attendance at Gretna teams had more than doubled in that season. It was though as so common with Gretna that off the field more important things were happening.
It was on the 13th November 1947 in Sunderland that a man called Brooks Mileson was born the Eldest of four children he grew up on the Pennywell Estate in a deeply Christian household. He was a fun child until he was 11 years old when as he was playing with friends in a local quarry when he had a horror accident and broke his back. He was told he would never walk again but in a show of character of the man he in 1967 came third representing England in the World Cross Country running championships which as soon as he came third he stopped running saying “I hated running, I just had a point to prove”.
He was also a classic rag to riches story. Making his money through Insurance and Construction companies. Throughout his life he had a love of the lower football leagues in 1992 he was the main sponsor of Whitby Town FC and in 1998 he was the sponsor of the Northern League (the league Gretna had been previously playing in). He would remain sponsor of that league until 2008 in which time he had put over half a million pounds into by the time the sponsorship had ended.
By 1998 he had moved to just outside Carlisle around 10 miles from Gretna. It was reported that when he sold his businesses in 2004 it was for over 45 million pounds. In 1999 he attempted to buy Carlisle United but couldn't come to a agreement on price. It wouldn't be until 2002 though that the chance to buy Carlisle United would finally come to an end. This though was only after he had gifted the supporter’s society over half a million pounds which allowed them to build a new grandstand and in a strange turn off events somehow ended up paying a few of Carlisle's better players out of his own pocket.
It was in August 2000 that Mileson first became a club owner when he stepped in at Scarborough FC who were facing a major financial crisis and he would pile in over three quarters of a million pounds into the club saving them from going bust. A little over 8 months later he sold the club on making no profit. The club was still in a tight financial situation, but he had at least kept the club alive, the club would finally be liquidated in 2007 and a phoenix club would be born owned by the fans.
On the 3rd August 2002 Gretna played Greenock Morton in there first ever SFL game. In attendance that day was a delegation from the Northern League which Gretna had just left a few weeks before. A part of that delegation was Brooks Mileson who lived less than 10 miles away from the ground but this was his first ever visit. Soon after that he would be attending very regularly and around December time he agreed to become the sponsor for the youth programme paying around £20'000.
Mileson wasn't ever in the best health. As a result of the fall he had when he was 11 his kidneys were extremely damaged, he would end up having one removed. He also suffered from ME and it is famously rumoured to have survived on a diet of 100 cigarettes a day and Lucozade. Mileson didn't take up smoking until he was 48 years old. He never really wore suits either he would often be seen in jeans, knee length leather coat covered in animal hair and had a ponytail often with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth he really wasn't the sight of a man who had sold his businesses for nearly 50 million pounds. As is often in life though appearances can be somewhat misleading.
By January 2003 the club committee had more and more often been asking Brooks Mileson for advice on the money side of the club and at a board meeting that month they agreed to work “in parallel” with him. Which included moving the company to being Limited, issuing of shares, the appointing of directors, a company secretary, a chief executive, the club budgets, youth academy, upgrading of the ground, income and sponsorship, financial reports and finally contracts. He was all but in name owner by this point but it wouldn't be until the spring of 2003 when a share issue was launched and he brought 54,600 shares in comparison to the 1200 brought by other people he was only at this point the majority shareholder officially.
As the first season ended Gretna had been in a tight financial situation but when that second season started there was a completely different feeling about the club. Rowan Alexander had become full time manager during the spring and when the summer came around everyone expected money to be spent. Gretna didn't let anyone down by soon signing players to full time contracts whilst still playing in the basement tier. Most of the players Gretna were signing where in the twilight of their careers but all were coming from a much higher level and could have easily stayed at a higher level but were swayed at high wages on long deals which is something that a player over 30 would struggle to get even today.
As that second season started Gretna were firm favourites for the title and everyone at Raydale Park believed that this was a special team. This did end prematurely though when they got smashed 5-0 at home to First Division Inverness in the Challenge Cup. Even though this happened people still believed in promotion and that it would happen. However, by October Gretna had 10 points from a potential 24 and were 12 behind the league leaders. By December they had pulled themselves up to third in the table and Mileson had become more brazen in the public domain about the wage budget Gretna had which he said was around half a million pounds. In the winter window Gretna had a big player turnover but it wasn't enough and the club ended the season in third just outside the promotion places.
The failure to get out the league had come at a heavy price in the first accounts submitted since Mileson had become majority shareholder reviled that the he had injected some £741,000 of his own cash. Plus with a wage bill that was clearly unsustainable at that level the club still made a loss of £345,000 for the year ending 31st May 2004.
The losses didn't seem to affect Mileson's dreams for Gretna though as he ploughed on with his plans to rebuild Raydale Park. The first plan was to build a 4000-seater stadium, but this was soon changed to a 6000 seater ground as for entry to the Scottish Premier League required all clubs to have a stadium capacity of that number. The village population was around half that number at that time. Which did receive some criticism when that was pointed out. However, he did point out that in the past clubs had built big stadiums to get to the SPL and regretted it almost straight away as the clubs had gone bust or nearly bust in both the Airdrie and Clydebank cases. However, he remained clear that it was his aim to keep pushing to the get to the topflight.
Meanwhile for the second consecutive season summer on the bounce Gretna spent a lot of money on bringing in another full team of seasoned pros on high wages in the twilight of their careers. Although in a change to the previous recruitment policy Gretna did bring in several younger players including 24-year-old striker Kenny Deuchar who was a fully qualified Doctor and spent one day a week working as a Doctor at Wishaw General Hospital. As well as nearly a full new squad the team in the bottom tier spent a week training in Verona, Italy before a week at an outward bounds centre in the Lake District the week after Manchester City had been there.
The money wasn't just spent on wages it was also spent on the ground with another £60,000 being spent on Raydale park that figure though was less than 10% of the wage budget which stood at a staggering £750,000 which was higher than about half the teams in the top flight at the time.
The season started well for Gretna but the Gate receipts from the average attendance of around 400 people would only raise around £70,000 less than a tenth of the current wage bill. To cover that wage bill, they would need an average attendance in excess of 4000 people turning up. This figure was impossible at Raydale Park but at the time people didn't seem overall interested in the figures as long as the team were doing well, and the owner was happy to dip into his pockets no one seemed to be bothered.
Gretna would drop out of the Challenge cup in a loss to Falkirk but in the league they had a run of 14 wins which meant Gretna were top at Christmas and when the Scottish Cup came round in the new year the club was in a buoyant mood.
The draw was very kind to them when they got SPL side Dundee United at home. For the visit of United, Gretna had a temporary stand built for the occasion. The game wasn't easy though as the game originally planned for the 8th January 2005 but thanks to classic Scottish weather the game was twice delayed and finally played on Monday 17th January 2005 instead. Before the game kicked off Brooks Mileson handed a cheque of £5000 over to the Arab Trust the supporters trust of Dundee United. In a grim night United would prevail 3-4 in a game that attracted the record crowd of 3000 to Raydale park that night.
Gretna's storm to the league title that season was finally over when in March 2005 they became the first club in the UK to gain promotion. Whilst the title itself would have to wait till 9th April 2005 when they beat Stenhousemuir 7-0. The season ended with Gretna having 98 points from a possible 108. Another record to fall that season was Kenny Deuchar's goal scoring record a tally of 38 league goal in 30 games including a record equalling 6 hat ricks in one season joint with Jimmy Greaves. Overall the club themselves had scored a total of 130 goals in the season. As is commonplace with the more games you win and more goals you score the more people attend games. As the crowd increased from an average of 418 to 895.
For the next season and Gretna's first in the third tier of Scottish football. The club started by giving both manger Rowan Alexander and assistant manager Davie Irons 5-year rolling contracts . However, the figures from the annual accounts weren't as cheerful. The clubs the losses had risen by £1.9 million to almost £2.7 million. As such the SFL told Gretna that they could no longer sign players over the age of 21. Mileson was very much infuriated by this rule and stated he would be consulting a lawyer about this rule. It was seemed as this was a rule forced upon Gretna by the Scottish footballing establishment in an attempt to curtail their attempts at buying their promotions. Although the SFL claimed it was for the club’s own safety.
Either way the club spend more money on none playing staff bringing in an Community and Education Officer, basically a coach to try and bring strength the community links with the club to bring more fans into games as it was soon realised that at some point in the future the current owner may leave and whilst on a high bring as many people through the gates as possible. Also, they brought in a Commercial Director, to assist in getting as much money as possible into the club. Whilst these were seen as direct of the park appointments the club with the new rules placed upon them brought in 4 coaches 3 ex-players to run the youth set up which had been moved to Rigg Collage, Penrith some 30 miles south of Gretna.
During the rise up the league Gretna had a lot of people who didn't take to the club or owner and on a regular basis would predict the club would face a terrible fate as soon as the money dried up. It was regularly pointed out by fans and media that the club was living far beyond its means. An accusation that Mileson would openly speak about saying that he was preparing the club for community ownership.
Mileson's money seemed never ending when in May 2005 Shamrock Rovers of the league of Ireland owed more than £2.36 million to creditors and Mileson sent a close friend to Dublin to try and close the deal but in the autumn the deal fell through when they couldn't come to an agreement with South Dublin County Council over the tenancy of Tallaght Stadium. He was subsequently linked with other Irish clubs Bray Wanderers, St Patrick's Athletic and Shelbourne also in February 2006 he was linked with buying Northern Irish outfit Glentoran.
At the same time though he continued to give money to supporter’s trust's throughout Scotland and England. It is thought that during his lifetime he gave money to nearly 70 different clubs.
In the summer of 2005 things at Gretna seemed all good, even a documentary crew followed the club around for the season. More good news came when Mileson's son joined the board and was told that the club would be run by him when Brooks Mileson was no longer around. The continued speculation about a new ground wouldn't go away as it was becoming clearer that Raydale Park simply couldn't be made big enough for the requirements of the SPL.
As for the season itself not much changed in the team for the first time more outgoings the incoming. On the pitch Gretna were knocked out of the Challenge Cup in the first round and got knocked out of the League Cup in the first round at the hands of SPL side Dunfermline 1-0. In the league things were very good Gretna had got to the top of the league and never really had much of a challenge. In the winter window again, Gretna revamped the team again. Spending over £150,000 in fees that window alone.
It was the Scottish Cup that season that would make Gretna famous and ensure that every football fan in Scotland would know who they were. Gretna would beat Preston Athletic (6-2) and Cove Rangers (6-1) before the third round where they played St Johnstone winning 1-0 then they faced a Clyde side who had just beating Celtic famously 2-1 in Roy Keane's Celtic debut. The first game against Clyde was a feisty bore draw and in the replay, Gretna put them to the sword with a 4-0 win. In the Quarter final against St Mirren 2850 people turned out to watch Gretna beat the visitors 1-0 with a single Kenny Deuchar goal and sent Gretna to a national cup Semi Final at Hampden Park.
The Semi Final was against First Division side Dundee who were in the mists of financial troubles themselves and as such Gretna were bookies favourites to win the tie and go through to the cup final. As much as it was a great achievement for Gretna to get this far in the cup a lot of the media were very keen to point out that Gretna hadn't played an SPL side. No matter what though Gretna and thousands of their fans travelled up to Glasgow to watch them put 3 past a poor Dundee team.
The following day Hearts beat rivals’ Hibs to face Gretna in the cup final. This meant that if Hearts who were second in the topflight could stay in the top three that Gretna would have UEFA Cup football the following season no matter what happened in the cup final.
As cup fever took over at Gretna the club needed to finish the league of first and did so with 4 wins and 2 defeats. It was the cup final though that everyone was interested in and Mileson was seen even helping out in the Club Shop selling tickets because of the demand placed by the club who in the end would bring nearly 12,000 people to Hampden Park an amazing feat in a village with a population of around a third of that number. As well as that Gretna managed to get The Hugh Trousers Band to re-record a song they had released called “Living the Dream”. It was a song that made it into the top 30 Indie Chart and is still available to listen to on YouTube.
The final itself took place on the 13th May 2006. Hearts were overwhelming favourites as they had just finished second in the top flight. In a tight affair Hearts took the lead on the 39th Minute. In the second half Gretna got a lifeline when in the 75th Minute they got a penalty and Ryan McGuffie's spot kick was saved by Craig Gordon but McGuffie slotted home the rebound. That is where the scoring ended and the game went through extra time and all the way back yto the lottery of penalties. On which Gretna were unfortunate to lose missing two pens and somewhat saving the blushes off the top flight side. What it did mean though as the ref blew up that in a couple of months times that Gretna would have both First Division football and UEFA Cup football to look forward to.
As is standard by now Gretna's accounts were looking even more worrying than before to the year ending 31st May 2006 the club was more than £4.95 million in debt to Mileson's company Heartshape Ltd (the company which technically was the major shareholder in the club but very much a one man show) and a further £400,000 to Mileson directly. To add further nervousness to the club it was stated in the notes that these “loans” would not be requested before the 31st March 2008. So the club still had nearly 2 years to rack up debts unless something changed. Mileson when challenged on these facts stated that he would continue to input money in the forms of trust funds and through his son if the worse was to happen to him.
One of the biggest issue for the club was the ground itself upgrading Raydale Park was proving more and more difficult as the planning permission was always coming into problems with locals not wanting thousands of football fans in the streets every other Saturday and arguing why does it need to be so big as the village had less people in it. As the season 05-06 came closer it became clear that the club would need to move ground as if as secretly hoped they got promoted to the topflight they would need to ground share with another club. Mileson always made it clear public knowledge of the challenges he was facing getting a new ground built or improving the current one to SPL standards.
The issues that summer were mostly settled around the ground and if they pushed for promotion would the ground be ready in time. Some fans were starting to get annoyed with Mileson giving money away most notably the £600,000 he gave to Carlisle fans when some Gretna fans were stating that this money could have been used on his own club and improving the ground at which he was always in the media moaning about not being good enough. It was also in this summer than Gretna brought in a Director of Club Development the man they brought in was Mick Wadsworth who had been assistant to Sir Bobby Robson at Newcastle and a manager in his own right both in England and abroad as well as sometime at the FA.
Mick Wadsworth was a man who famously had been very good at either intentionally or unintentionally annoying the fans at the clubs he worked for. He seemed to the fans as a strange appointment as the club had a manger so why was he there. He didn't really help himself when he organised his own press release and said in it “I'll be using my experience to help in all areas, from the youth team to the first team. I'll be help Rowan Alexander, Davie Irons and David Holdsworth to be the best they can be”. The club stuck by the line that the manager would oversee all footballing matters. However, many fans were very suspicious of this.
Meanwhile Gretna would soon be playing their first game as a First Division side and this summer though things were a bit different they didn't do a massive overall in the summer instead they brought in a couple of good young players in but for the most part the side looked the same as the one in the cup final a few months earlier.
On the 10th August 2006 Gretna's European dream started. They were required to play the game at Motherwell's Fir Park some 75 miles north as Raydale didn't meet UEFA's standards. Some 6,000 fans turned out to watch Gretna play Derry City from the League of Ireland including a large travelling support from across the water. Gretna had started well going up 1-0 in the 12th minute soon though it went down hill for Gretna who would go on to lose the game 1-5. In the return leg Gretna played much better to gain a creditable draw 2-2 in Northern Ireland.
After the European fun was over the club got itself back into the grove of league business and any ground that Gretna visited the club would be subjected to the same songs on the tannoy of “Irish eye, big spender and money, money, money,”. As clubs aim small digs at the club who many felt had brought there success. Either way it made no difference as Gretna were 12 points clear of nearest rivals St Johnstone by Christmas. They were though knocked out of both Cups by Hibs, the League Cup saw Gretna get turned over 6-0 and in the Scottish Cup it ended 3-1.
In the meantime it was the business in the winter window that worried most fans. A lot of the senior players including ones who were playing regularly that season were told they could leave the club if they could find a club to take them. Including Kenny Duechar who was Gretna's all-time top goal scorer. It was during January 2007 that the club ran into a bad patch and to top it off they soon found themselves having to play St Johnstone at the end of the knowing if they won they would be 14 points clear if they lost it was all to play for. Gretna lost 2-1 and more concerning for the Gretna faithful was a story in the local paper that goalkeeper Alan Main was ready to sign a pre contract with St Johnstone and whilst nothing was confirmed, Alan Main waved to the St Johnstone fans when they chanted his name which didn't go down well with Gretna fans or management.
At the same time as this the cost cutting continued both on and off the park with more players being shown the door whilst off the park 2 more members of staff were realised. A week after the St Johnstone defeat Gretna hosted their nearest rivals Queen of the South and got beat 3-0 in which Alan Main's performance was heavily criticise and at the end of the match the manager took an age to see the press and he was soaking wet. It was rumoured that there had been a bust up between manager, player and Mick Wadsworth.
On the 5th March 2005 Alan Main was confirmed as signing a pre contract with St Johnstone but was soon suspended by the club and would never play for them again. On the 6th March even more and surprising news came out of the club when it was announced that Rowan Alexander was on sick leave with an unknown illness and for a unspecified period of time. It would later be revealed that he was off with stress.
Whilst Gretna continued to stutter their way through the league the hunt for a ground if the club did go up would continue and with what now seemed like the inevitable truth the club announced that should they get promoted they would need to ground share for at least the first season. So, the club entered negotiations with Motherwell about sharing Fir Park 75 miles north of Gretna.
Before the travelling needed to worry the fans, the team needed to win the league and through April the team had the chance to win the title on no less than 4 occasions but couldn't get it over the line. It would go down to the final game of the season. An away tie to Ross County in the highlands. County needed to win the match to avoid the drop whilst St Johnstone travelled to Hamilton knowing all they had to do was win and hope Gretna dropped points in a game that was far from a dead cert.
Over 600 Gretna fans made the nearly 300-mile trip to the highlands at the end of April. In a game that was slightly delayed the teams kicked off in a nervy affair. The league title was sitting in a helicopter halfway between Dingwall and Hamilton to be whisked to the winners at the end of the day. Soon into the first half St Johnstone were 2-0 whilst Gretna went 1-0 down but just before the break Gretna got back into it and then took control so half times sat at Hamilton 1 St Johnstone 3 and Ross County 1 Gretna 2 as the second halves got underway news came through that in Hamilton the score was 2-4 and that's how it ended. But in Dingwall Ross County drew level and right up until the end of the game it seemed destined to now be there year but then in the dying seconds James Grady slotted home from close range take the lead and the title by winning 3-2 although County did have a chance after that it was too late.
As the final whistle was blew and the trophy was flown to County among the fans that day was Brooks Mileson who had ignored doctors advice on travelling to watch the team win possibly the most dramatic title win in history. He had, had a terrible year in the summer he had, had emergency surgery on a bust intestine and was never really fully recovered but has he held the trophy aloft am sure that's not what he was thinking about.
As soon as the parties had ended from the league title win the club had to start preparing for the following season, noting that any chance of playing the SPL football in Gretna wouldn't happen the club announced that they had come to an agreement with Motherwell to play there. The SPL gave the club the okay to play games for 1 year at Motherwell and next season if they stayed up it would be considered.
In June no one really knew what the management situation was until it was finally announced that Davie Irons would become head coach and Mick Wadsworth would become Director of Football . It was after this that a agreement with Rowan Alexander was come to and he ended his time with the club.
On the park as the season started claims and counter claims were fired between the now ex manager and the club’s owners. Whilst in the window the hopes of the club signing big name players never really happened and they started the season with no experienced goalkeeper. It took till the 22nd September 2007 for them to get their first win against Dundee United winning 2-1. As the club entered 2008, they had managed to gain just 10 points.
As January came back around the fans hoped that as with past season the cheque book would come out and Mileson would buy their safety. However, to many fans horror 14 players could leave the club and the replacements were all young youth players from middle of the road English clubs. The only one to go on and make a name for himself was Kyle Naughton.
As February starting Gretna were just 9 points adrift in the league. However, on the 13th February 2008 things took a sad turn. Brooks Mileson was taken into hospital. A few days later after the defeat to Motherwell the staff found that they hadn't been paid. Strangely for a senior club all 60 or so staff were paid weekly and not monthly. The club were very quick to come out and state that it was an oversight. It turned out that the wages weren't paid direct from a club account but from one off Mileson's personal accounts that only he could approve the transaction. It was only now that people started to realise just how strong his grip was on the club.
Just after this on the 19th February to then vacant Greenock Morton job was taken by a former Gretna manager. Many believed that Rowan Alexander who had been a Morton hero would soon to be announced as manager. However, much to the surprise to nearly everyone it was Davie Irons who was announced as manager. This left Mick Wadsworth in charge of first team affairs. With the club refusing to rule out the club going into administration, Davie Irons asked the fans for a bit of understanding as to why he left the club.
It wasn't until the 21st February that Mileson was finally realised from hospital and promises were made by the family that wages and back pay would be made over the next few weeks. Soon though the money problem was back, and Mick Wadsworth told the BBC that “Brooks is still ill and the financial lines have been cut at the moment”. Soon after Gretna played Dundee United on a Thursday night after it was twice cancelled due to poor weather and the attendance was a terrible 501 a then record low crowd for a topflight game.
The very next day staff from Gretna met with an administration company. Despite the staff finally being paid wages it was clear that this list of people owed money was huge. First among them was HMRC who were owed £350,000. After just over a week it was decided to put the club into administration to buy time and stop the winding-up orders. This choice nearly instantly confirmed Gretna's relegation as a club going into administration meant that the club would have 10 points deducted straight away this left Gretna with just 6 points in the middle of March and no chance of staying up.
The relegation battle was not the battle the fans were bothered about never mind no SPL football the chances of no football at all was very real. Many clubs had gone into administration before and some with bigger debts, but the difference this time round was Gretna were a lot smaller than those clubs and couldn't drag in the numbers to help raise the vital funds.
The most important thing was to stop losing money at such a high rate. With such small numbers coming through the gate things needed to change and quickly. Soon it became clear that Mileson had been bridging the gap personally between the income and outgoing money at the club. The administrators made a statement no long after saying that Mileson would not be putting money into the club in the coming weeks. Theories soon started going around saying that this money had dried up or that his family had hidden the cheque book to try and save some money for the family.
Soon it was clear that money till the end of the season was going to become even more difficult to find and in the end it took the assistance from the SPL to pay the players wages through to the end of the season just for Gretna to guarantee that all outstanding fixtures would be played by the club.
Although the SPL were helping by paying the wages it still didn't help with the logistics of the club who needed a gift of £30,000 to cover the costs of an away game to Aberdeen. As the clubs struggled several interested parties came forward interested in buying Gretna. However, the club at the time were nearly £8 million in debt to Mileson's companies. The club did start receiving donations from fans and fellow clubs including £500 from Third Lanark who were the last Scottish League side to be liquidated in 1967 (to find out more about Third Lanark please read about it on our website).
As March came to an end FIFA allowed Gretna players a freedom off movement to those under contract to find a new club if they wished if it was done before the 31st March 2008. On the 26th March 29 members of staff including 13 youth players and 9 senior players were given redundancy notices. Included in these sackings was Brooks Mileson's son Craig.
A few days later in the society next to Raydale Park the supporters gathered in numbers to discuss the club’s predicament and set up an action group. Once relegation was confirmed after a defeat to St Mirren former manager Davie Irons was asked in a BBC interview if his Morton side avoided the drop would they face Gretna next season in the First Division to which he said “I don't think they (Gretna) will survive” and when pushed about Mileson's unwillingness to put further money into the club he said “I still don't think that Brooks would walk away from Gretna. His illness must be so bad that he can't do anything about the situation, otherwise it is bizarre”.
The action group with support from Supporters Direct Scotland and local MPs and MSPs a plan was put together to start raising money and in the worst-case start making preparation to create a phoenix club if required. The first issue was that around £35,000 would need to be raised just to play at Raydale Park and get it back up to standard for the SFL.
On the 5th April Gretna vs Inverness Caledonian Thistle set a record low attendance for a topflight game in Scotland when just 431 lonely souls turned out to watch Gretna lose 1-2.
The coming weeks would show that the debts were soon revealed to show the extent of debt owed and to who which included the non-payment of TV licences. The most important debt for the over half a million pounds owed to HMRC and even without the Mileson debt the club still owed £1.9 million to other people and the club assists which mainly consisted of the football ground was valued at £824,000.
It was the 13th May 2008 2 years to the day that Gretna played against Hearts and the atmosphere could not have been better. It was Hearts again that Gretna would play but this time in a subdued and almost funeral like feeling around the ground 1090 folk turned out to watch Gretna amazing win 1-0. The team that day that turned out that day and left a mark on history was Greg Fleming, Rostyn Griffiths, Craig Barr, Gavin Skelton, Abdul Osman, Danny Hall, Steven Hogg, Kyle Naughton, Nicky Deverdics, Rhys Meynell and Brendan McGill. The goal that day was scored by Gavin Skelton.
During this period the action group had swung into action and had begun taking the steps required to create a new club. The final hopes for Gretna to be saved were all but ended when the SFL announced that Gretna would be relegated to the bottom tier of Scottish football. On the 29th of May the club travelled to Hampden to try and keep there status as a SFL side let alone what Division. At the meeting the SFL stated that it would require a bond of £200,000 to be paid up front plus another £100,000 on a new main stand at Raydale Park. At the meeting and the final nail in the coffin was hammered home when the SFL asked the administrator if he felt confident that the club could forfil all the games the following season and with his complete professionalism on the line he said he felt unable to say yes.
With this information the action group went into full efforts of creating a new club in the town. They soon created the new club calling it Gretna 2008 FC and began the hard process of applying to the East of Scotland League.
Thankfully they were accepted into that league and made it very clear this was a new club with no ties to Brooks Mileson or his family. The first season they had to play in Annan but after a year they were able to move back to their old home at Raydale Park where they remain to this day.
That wasn't the only pre Mileson thing to happen to Gretna 2008 as Davie Irons has been manager for Gretna 2008 and in December 2019 Gretna 2008 appointed Rowan Alexander as manager. Gretna 2008 are now currently play in the Lowland League one tier below the SPFL.
As for Mileson's Gretna the company and administrators would carry on until the 8th August 2008 when finally, the 62 years of history was ended in liquidation. When the club was liquidated the club owed about £2 million to different people not including to Mileson himself.
As for Brooks Mileson himself, no one had heard anything from Mileson in months outside a short phone call to the previous chairman at Gretna in August nothing was heard until the 20th August when Carlisle United took him to court to sue for £88,000 in unpaid sponsorship. Mileson didn't attend court that day instead he sent a letter to the court stating he was too ill to attend. A judge ruled he would have 10 weeks to proof he was too ill to attend, and a retrial was set up for the 5th November 2008.
Brooks Mileson would never have his day in court. On the 3rd November 2008 he was found unconscious on his own land and would subsequently die from a heart attack in hospital a few hours later. He was 60 years old.
After his death many questioned remained and still do remain unanswered. However, as condolences flooded in most pointed out the amount of money and kindness he had shown to clubs throughout the UK. The tributes paid to him were mostly kind but the authors off almost of them felt somewhat awkward when they felt it was there duty to the fans of clubs to have to add in the disappointment of Gretna's collapse and that he had gone almost into hiding when Gretna needed him most.
For nearly a year no answers where found up until October 2009 when it was revealed his fortune had completely gone. His debts were over £8 million, and his assets only came to £2.5 million so it transpired that in February 2010 Brooks Mileson was finally declared bankrupt. It has since been rumoured that his family hid a lot of his money before he had died but this is nothing more than a rumour that every so often pops up in a newspaper.
As for his legacy. Well to say it is mixed is an understatement. Firstly, I think no matter what hindsight tells us about the man that he was a philanthropist. He gave money to over 70 clubs and supporters societies through the country. He took in thousands off animals on his land and cared for them. His character showed great determination in both his personal life and business dealings. This, however, cannot ignore the fact that he took control of a club which no matter the size of the supporter base had achieved great things before he had taken over and was surviving even if it was tight. He took the club and put it on life support. For all the great times he gave Gretna fans and there were many. He also killed the club and disappeared from the club when the club needed him most, in the situation that he had put them in.
From the viewpoint of today, it can be claimed that money simply ran out. Maybe that is the case, it can also be argued that Gretna's rise the leagues happened far too quickly even for a multi-millionaire it was possibly a step too far too fast. It took until the season in the First Division to bring in someone who these days are commonplace a Director of Football. It is easy to sit back now and put up plain faced arguments for what could have been done or not done to help save the club.
The reality is though that a fan base lost its club and with great dignity the new still refuses to be drawn into the blame game. For which I believe they deserve a huge amount of credit for as it would be very easy to be dragged into a blame game. Thankfully the fans as so often in these cases came together and ensured they would have a team to watch on a Saturday afternoon.
So, if you are ever around Gretna at about 3pm on a Saturday dip into your pocket and go around to Raydale Park and watch Gretna 2008. You won't be disappointed and you will be supporting other members of the football family.
By Jeff Webb