Sinking Gretna lay off last 40 employees

ALTHOUGH hopes linger that a Lazarus act could yet transpire, to all intents and purposes Gretna Football Club ceased to exist yesterday.

Administrators addressed the remaining 40 staff members of the financially stricken club at a local hotel yesterday and imparted the grim news that Saturday's deadline had passed without a satisfactory takeover deal being put together and, as a result, they were all being made redundant with immediate effect.

However, as has consistently been the case since the club filed for administration on 10 March, there remains a reluctance to bring the matter to complete closure. With no move for formal liquidation yet while the administrators remain in talks with a consortium fronted by Glasgow businessman Paul Davies, hope persists that Gretna could still take their place in the Scottish Football League next season, if a quick sale can be achieved and the club can be revived.

A statement from David Elliot of Sheffield-based administrators Wilson Field confirmed: "A prospective purchaser has contacted us this morning and confirmed that he is still in negotiations with the SFL with a view to obtaining entry into the First Division."

However, a Catch 22 situation later emerged to add to Gretna's woes. SFL president Brown McMaster told The Scotsman: "I believe the administrator has withdrawn that comment about 'negotiations' because the fact is we can't do anything until the potential buyer has satisfied the administrator. We did take a phone call from a potential buyer seeking clarification on some matters but we told them that until a deal was done with the administrator there was not much we can do.

"There is also the complication that Gretna are at present still members of the SPL, not the SFL. But we are trying to be helpful and if there is any chance of helping to ensure a football club survives we would do all we can."

It is safe to assume that any potential buyer would want to seek assurances that if a deal was put together to buy the club they would have somewhere to play next season. Following Gretna's relegation from the SPL they would need to be re-elected to the SFL at the organisation's AGM later this month. Normally this is a formality but in Gretna's case, for obvious reasons, it is not.

No new deadline has been set by the administrator and the Wilson Field statement added: "The staff and players have today been made redundant. The joint administrators thank all concerned for their support and wish everyone well in the future."

The 40 redundancies include the six players who remained under contract at the club when the season ended, caretaker manager Mick Wadsworth, coach Andy Smith and all remaining backroom staff. One of the employees laid off yesterday, security officer Ken Davies, is the father of interested buyer Paul.

A perfect illustration of the limbo the club still finds itself in was clear to anyone who attempted to log on to the official website yesterday. The site was gone but a single page with the club's badge and the name Gretna Football Club remained stoically in place, almost willing someone to breathe life back into a club which has served its small border community since 1946.

Gretna – already in a parlous position during a difficult first season in the SPL which saw them groundshare with Motherwell at Fir Park – were docked ten points on entering administration and relegated soon after. Former benefactor Brooks Mileson left the club with debts of nearly £4m but administrator Elliot revealed earlier in the month after a meeting with creditors that all a potential buyer would need to come up with is £850,000 to buy the sole asset, Raydale Park, get it up to SFL standards, and start funding the club again from scratch.

However, Wadsworth, who was also Gretna's director of football, gave a gloomy view of events. He said: "We're told there is still one interested party, but because there are no funds at the moment to carry on then everybody has been made redundant. So the assumption from that, for most of us, is that it's the end of the line regarding employment at Gretna."

If Gretna fold, Airdrie United will be promoted to the First Division and Stranraer will climb into the Second Division, forcing the SFL to seek another club from outside its ranks to join the Third Division.

Wadsworth admitted the announcement was a huge blow to the community.

"It's a shock I'm sure to the local people for whom the club is very, very important," he said.

Gretna chairman Ron McGregor, however, was more upbeat: "The negotiation is still in progress," he said. "We know the bidder who we have been talking to us is very, very keen to complete the deal."

McGregor also suggested talk of Gretna's death has been "greatly exaggerated".

Not for the first time, the question is for how long?

gretna's fall, page 68