Apprently a decision has been made to kick Gretna out of the SPL regardless whether or not they avoid being relegated. It is apparently because they have made no effort to start work on their stadium.

Can see them having one mighty fall from grace!

Discuss

Gretna shouldn't be slagged of, they have made a massive contribution to the SPL since joining for instance                ...

..........  I'll have to get back to you on this one. (there must be something ?) 

Well they've beaten Dundee Utd twice 

well atleast when caley got in to the spl me started work straight away on building 2 new stands!!

That was very clever of you :023:

To be accurate, we didn't start work on two new stands straight away. We only startted work on these stands once we received sannction from the SPL to return to Inverness after the second complete round of fixtures if we had 6,000 covered seats in place.

The vulture in me wonders if the good Dr might be a good signing.

:023: :023: :023:

:021:

Seems to be up for it after his loan.

Dr Who :017:

Does Dr. Duecher not have a surgery to run.

Think he'd be good with the Jags!

With Hamilton so far out in front does anyone know if they have submitted a groundshare application for next season. That is unless they are planning to put down grass as opposed to the artificial surface?

As well as the grass they'll need another 700 seats.

Provided the Artificial Surface complies to the FIFA Recommended 2 Star Standard and the SPL are satisfied that Hamilton can maintain it at such a standard then they will be allowed to use it in the SPL.

39 points still to play for , it's not over yet

but it's getting difficult

Only 7 behind Dee but you got to start picking up the three pointers.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtm...4/sfngre104.xml

Relegated twice?

Seems a bit harsh if Raydale was deemed by the SFL to be fit for First Division football last season.

Seems a bit harsh if Raydale was deemed by the SFL to be fit for First Division football last season.

That's the point ... last year it wasnt fit for the SFL and they only got out of making the improvements they had previously agreed to because they got promoted and were then able to "abandon" Raydale altogether.

from the article ....

"It is understood that Gretna promised the SFL, after winning the Second Division title in 2006, that they would make improvements to Raydale. However, they reneged on that agreement and would have had serious questions to answer last year if James Grady's last-minute winner against Ross County at Dingwall had not stopped St Johnstone gaining promotion on the final day of the campaign."

The more I hear about Gretna's rise (and fall), the more each thing they do (or don't do) seems to stink.

Nevertheless, they managed to play all their first division fixtures there last season without any incident.

I appreciate that Gretna have a track record of renaging on promises which is far from satisfactory but from the point of view of sporting merit, I'd rather see them suffer some financial penalty for that rather than a technical relegation.

It looks like they will be back in he third division soon enough as it stands.

It's what you do ON the park that counts in my opinion. So long as your ground meets the minimum health and safety requirements there should be no problem. You shouldn't need to have X thousand seats, it's nothing but a cynical barrier to legitimate competition erected by self preservationists.

If Gretna manage to pull themselves off the bottom it will be a remarkable achievement and it'd be a shame if their players and fans were robbed because of off the field politics.

What surprises me from that article is the statement that Rowan Alexander's compensation claim is for ?750,000, which being 5 years notice suggests they were paying him ?150,000 a year.

I have no sympathy for Gretna, like Livingston they bought titles, knowing full well that it would lead to financial difficulties. Then when things go all wrong they look for help.

All other clubs like us have sacrificed spending money on players to provide facilities. Why should they get away with it. It is not a level playing field. 

It's what you do ON the park that counts in my opinion. So long as your ground meets the minimum health and safety requirements there should be no problem. You shouldn't need to have X thousand seats, it's nothing but a cynical barrier to legitimate competition erected by self preservationists.

While I agree with your sentiments I don't think that Raydale has a valid safety certificate.

Raydale is being used for reserve and youth fixtures so it must have a valid safety certificate.

Gretna were allowed to go up to Div 1 with the promise that they would bring Raydale up to Health and Safety standards. They do not have proper toilet facilities to cope with full house of 3000. Haven't been there but I believe their terracing is wooden which is also against H&S fire regulations.

They have done nothing in the two years since making all the promises other than sit back and expect the local authority to come up with cash for a so called eco stadium.

CD it can be used providing the terracing is closed of I believe.

Then let them use the ground with the terracing closed....it's them that will lose income.

It's like the minimum seats criteria....clubs should be allowed to use what they have and base that decision on their own needs and abilities to finance it, not the jumped up aspirations of others.

If the SPL want a minimum seat criteria then they should be willing to offer funding to clubs to provide it.  If the SPL want minimum stadium criteria beyond what is required by law, then they too should be offering funding to provide it.

Forcing clubs to spend money which they may not necessarily be able to afford is a ludicrous idea.  All clubs should be able to rise and fall by their own means, not by the means of others.

Football grew very healthily for the 100 years prior to the introduction of all these "minimum criteria" rules....and you just have to look at the declining fan numbers and the fact that clubs are going to the wall on an almost annual basis due to debt to see the damage it is doing to the game.  Time for a reality check, football is not about sitting in sparkley, modern, hi-tech, all-seated stadia, it's about two teams going out to do battle whilst being watched by their fans.  Provided that is done in a safe environment, then nothing else matters.