League boss asks Gretna to withdraw

SCOTTISH Football League chief executive David Longmuir has urged Gretna's administrators to resign the crisis club from the SFL.

Earlier in the day, David Elliot, from administrators Wilson Field, claimed the demise of the Borders club was a "formality" after their Raydale Park ground was put up for sale.

Elliot opened the sale of the stadium and land to non-football purchasers after a rescue package fell through following the club's demotion to the Irn-Bru Third Division on Thursday.

Elliot also claimed he expected the SFL to expel the club after being told there were no guarantees Gretna will complete their fixtures next season.

However, Longmuir put the ball back into the court of the administrators.

He said: "Gretna need to formally resign. We can't go forward if they refuse to do so. I don't see how it is in their interests not to do it.

"The SFL don't want to expel them. We would prefer it if they resigned, that course of action has the most integrity."

Gretna's future looked doomed as soon as SFL members voted at their AGM last Thursday to relegate them a further two levels following their bottom-place finish in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.

Paul Davies, a football agent fronting the consortium that had made a late bid, then withdrew as their business plan was based on First Division football.

The SFL had given Gretna until the "very early part" of this week to sort out a takeover but that proved not possible.

A statement from Wilson Field this afternoon read: "In the circumstances, we anticipate losing Third Division status and our agents have been instructed to also consider offers for the ground from parties outside football."

While the club still exist in name alone, a benefactor would need to emerge out of the blue within days to maintain their league status.

The club's financial problems came to a head in February when owner Brooks Mileson withdrew his funding, which Elliot estimates totalled around £8million.

That cash had catapulted Gretna from the Third Division to the Scottish Premier League, via a Scottish Cup final, but the abrupt withdrawal after Mileson fell ill left them with debts approaching £4million.

The deficit includes substantial football debts and a £500,000 Inland Revenue bill, which cannot be paid off at a fraction to allow the club to move out of administration.