They play each other and then we have them for our last two games. Personally, because of the social aspect, I would prefer the Pars, the Elizaethan and the delectable Buffy. BUT my head says that Midden cos I can see us beating the Pars and losing in Junkieland.

My sincere, humble and profuse apologies to any viewing Fifers or Paisleyites for any distress caused by my adult terminology. :001:

I don't have a problem with Gretna other than when they try and claim they haven't spent any money on their amazing rise to the top oft he SFL leagues.

I see now another high profile signing is about to be allowed to leave with MacFarlane rumoured to be told that he is surplus to requirements. Of course these players came to Gretna to work with Rowan and not the massive pay cheques. Tosh and MacFarlane between them took home nearly £3,000 per week  :010:

While it is entirely up to Brooks what he does with his money to try and claim that the team has been put together without any massive investment is taking the piss. That's what gets people annoyed about Gretna.

Dunfermline Athletic have played competitive European matches in the following countries:

Belgium: Anderlecht

Croatia: Dinamo Zagreb

Cyprus: APOEL Nicosia

Czech Republic: Spartak Brno

Denmark: Boldklub 1903 Copenhagen

England: Everton, West Bromwich Albion

France: Girondins de Bordeaux

Germany: VfB Stuttgart

Greece: Olympiacos

Hungary: Újpesti Dozsa

Iceland: FH Hafnarfjordur

Ireland: St Patricks Athletic

FYR Macedonia: Vardar Skopje

Norway: Frigg Oslo

Poland: Gwardia Warsaw

Slovakia: Slovan Bratislava

Spain: Valencia, Athletic Bilbao, Real Zaragoza

Sweden: Örgryte

piff, childs play :003:

Gretna will (eventually) stand or fall on their own merits just like Livingston. They currently have a small fanbase and a chairman with deep pockets who can do whatever he likes with his cash. He will realise his dream of seeing them in the SPL but its a very good question to ask what will happen next if he succumbs to illness or if he loses interest once they are actually in the SPL. Both scenarios are possible and Gretna may well tumble to division 1 or 2 ... in the end, they will find their level and compete at that.

The same applies to Livingston, with a small fanbase, who spent wads of their chairman's cash to get where they were. It will be some time, if ever before they get back, but if they do it, this time it might just be on merit.

Dundee Utd might be accused of a similar thing with Eddie Thompson throwing cash around to secure McCall, then Brewster as well as players, the difference is that they are a big club with a decent fanbase and he is trying to get them back to where they were. His best signing in the debacle of the last few years is undoubtedly Craig Levein who is an excellent manager.

Caley Thistle are also seen as similar by a few - a chairman with loadsa money who built two stands to get us back to our ground to play SPL football. They might be right in some ways but we are fortunate that David Sutherland didnt just throw pots of money at us, he educated the staff / management of the club to work within a fiscal plan so that we could try and live within our means while still progressing and only came forward with cash where absolutely necessary. Hopefully Alan Savage - who is also not short of a bob or two - will take us forward in a sensible manner so we are in the SPL for years to come.

anyway ... to answer the question

I would prefer St Mirren to go down. I know more Pars fans and used to spend a bit of time in Dunfermline on courses a few years ago so prefer that team and town as opposed to Paisley.

As for Gretna being allowed to live the dream......what is the dream?

You answered that yourself with....

Brookes Mileson, when he baled Gretna out of debt then bought over the team made no secret of his ambition to 'take a team from nothing into the SPL within five years'.

The questions are: when his dream has been fulfilled will he still be interested?

A concern for Gretna and their fans, nobody else

If his poor health takes him away will his son continue the investment?

Again, something for Gretna and the fans to worry about, not us

Is it right that a club with such a poor fanbase be allowed to compete in this league?

The most ludicrous of all the questions, since when did the size of the fanbase determine who should and shouldn't be allowed to play at the top level?  It's results on the park that (should) decide that.  Again, a very short memory in regard to some of the crap that was thrown at us when we were fighting for our place in the SPL.

All very well saying that Gretna can be sustained by Milesons money but to say that nobody other than Gretna will suffer financially is wrong. Every other team in the league will lose out on vital revenue when Gretna take little or no fans to away games?

The exact same complaint that exists about us (ICT) to this day - should we just turn around and tell the SPL that we shouldn't be there and slink off back to the first division?

Dont be fooled by the 7000 at hampden. A very large number of them were fans of other clubs, including ours, out for the day in the hope of seeing history being made. Example recently Gretna v St Johnston...vital league championship clash......St J fans outnumber the home support by approx 2-1.

I'm not being fooled by anything, I was one of the fans from another team that turned out for that match in order to support Gretna for the day and a great day it was too.

It's really quite sad that some of our fans seem to have so quickly adopted the mindset which we battled so hard against in order for us to get where we are today!!!