LIKE the punch-drunk boxer who had taken too many blows, Gretna finally fell to the canvass yesterday in a bout they were never likely to win. The towel may not be quite in the ring yet, but the referee's count is fast approaching 10.
The announcement of the final 40 redundancies yesterday by administrators, Wilson Field, merely confirmed the inevitable after former benefactor Brooks Mileson withdrew his financial support due to his own poor health.
The few remaining players, c
oaches and staff gathered at a hotel in the Dumfriesshire town at 11am yesterday morning, fearing the worst but hoping against hope. Sadly, it was the former which held sway on a day when the bubble burst on the supposed fairytale club.
Gretna had sped their way through the Scottish Football League since their admission from the English UniBond League in place of Airdrieonians six years ago. The club, which had began life in the amateur Carlisle & Dristrict League in 1946, rode the tidal wave of generosity built from the wallet of multi-millionaire Mileson to reach the Scottish Cup final in 2006 and then, the ultimate goal, the Premier League 12 months ago. BBC Scotland even followed those triumphs with documentaries, recorded for posterity – yet now destined to act as a visual warning over following the example of Icarus too closely.
Those who had bought into the 'dream' were elated at the success of Gretna, while others looked on with a querying eye over the wisdom of one man – and one man alone – bankrolling the club to such an extent.
Yesterday the pessimistic outlook offered a shrug and an 'I told you so' as the Raydale Park club were left an empty husk. Gretna had already given notices to 22 members of staff when the administrator took over the running of the club in March.
The remaining staff trudged from the town hotel yesterday where the same fate had befallen them. Out again they walked – the inevitable had happened and there wasn't a thing they could do to prevent it.
The portents, however, had been there from the first day of this season when 'estranged' manager Rowan Alexander arrived on the Fir Park doorstep ahead of the SPL opener against Falkirk to continue his work with the team after taking a 'leave of absence' from the club earlier in the year.
Davie Irons had taken control of team affairs and the presence of Alexander – an opportunity to embarrass Gretna officials – had been an unwelcome one at best.
Just one point from their opening six matches underlined the mountain facing the club after Mileson had said there would be no major funding for the SPL campaign.
On 10 March this year, amid rumour and counter-rumour, Gretna filed for administration after Mileson had officially withdrawn his financial support after being hospitalised with a brain infection, and the relegation-haunted side were officially sent tumbling out of the SPL two weeks later on the back of the subsequent ten-point deduction.
Director of football Mick Wadsworth was one of the 40 final redundancies and his unshaven features belied the optimism he and coach Andy Smith, who was also one of the released staff members yesterday, had attempted to instil into the players during the closing stages of a season which had offered glory but yielded only disaster both on and off the pitch.
However, while Wadsworth and Gretna chairman Ron MacGregor cling to the lifeboat of a last-ditch salvage operation from potential buyer, Paul Davies, the reality is there will not be the same tears for the club as there were for previously financially stricken teams such as Airdrie, Clydebank and even Third Lanark.
The history of those clubs ensured there would be some form of underlying support, while the likes of Dundee and Motherwell had solid backing from fans to seal essential financial support from those steeped in their clubs' tradition.
Gretna's short lifespan had few roots, apart from the die-hards who regularly attended UniBond League matches prior to their move into the Scottish Football League.
Crowd figures during the team's successful First Division campaign last season hovered around the 1,700 mark even at the peak of their powers. Only the presence of larger clubs such as promotion rivals St Johnstone and neighbours Queen of the South pushed numbers above the 2,000 mark. All this in the immediate aftermath of the Scottish Cup final where just over 12,000 supporters followed the team to Hampden.
Entry to the SPL also offered a further obstacle for the high-fliers with the top-flight ruling on stadia criteria forcing Gretna to groundshare with Motherwell – a move which further drained support and finance from Raydale Park.
Gretna may still cling to the hope that Glasgow businessman Davies can buy the club and restore the Black and Whites above the waterline. The lifeboats, though, are now full.
The full article contains 830 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
