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

And allowed to transfer players too.  Seeing as we missed out on Deuchar (though I'd have gone to Salt Lake for 30 K a week too), how about Yantorno?  I know he's injured but he looked excellent prior to that.

Anyone else?

Chris

Chris Innes could give us a season or two.

Gretna have no realisable assets

Surely they could sell the copyright to "Living the Dream"  :016:

Wonder if Mr. Skelton fancies highland life, he's a decent player?

Skelton is rubbish.

Gretna have began the process to enter administration.

Skelton has always played quite well when I've seen him. Then again I've only seen him play 3 times in the flesh.

He's out of contract at the end of the season so Gretna are unlikely to get anything for him at all

Gretna's statement is garbage....

"Illness to owner Brooks Mileson has cut off his supply of cash..."

Maybe he doesn't want to, or maybe he's run out of cash but it's nothing to do with illness.

I agree, the statement seems a bit of a smokescreen.

Anyone else think theres something dodgy here? Wonder what the Gretna faithfulls opinion is of Mileson now? :024:

Some of the tabloids are saying he is in real financial trouble.........looks like the dream is over.

Some of the tabloids are saying he is in real financial trouble.........looks like the dream is over.

What have i said to you about reading tabloids...  :016:

The Gretna fairytale is a surreal existance, the fans probably had a deep feeling of  'When is the bubble going to burst?' well it has now.

I hope they enjoyed it will it lasted.

They'll just have to go back to supporting Rangers.

Does anyone know what will happen to Gretna when they are relegated?

The real question is will they survive long enough to be relegated ?

I've mentioned it on here before but Gretna owe one of their creditors/parent companies ?5 million! That is a staggering amount to have built up in little under 4 seasons since the money started getting pumped in. Their statement on their website is utter garbage:

In 2003, Brooks Mileson became the owner of Gretna Football Club.

His financing has enabled the club to achieve unprecedented success in Scottish football. However, due to ill heath, he is currently not in a position to facilitate further funding.

Following a board meeting on Friday 7th March, the directors passed a resolution to place the club into administration and a ?formal notice of intention? was filed in the Court of Session in Edinburgh this morning.

We anticipate that administrators will be appointed in the next few days.

Gretna off the pitch are a complete joke with what appears to be no contingency plan in place should Brooks fall ill. The fact that because he is ill means that the whole club falls into the hands of the administrators speaks volumes for how much of a sham they are. As many said during their rapid rise he was simply playing a game of Championship Manager with the team. They were falling apart about a year ago when main stay players started getting released as the full scale of their money problems started to become clear and now all the wheels have fallen off. Interestingly, few people have chosen to criticise Gretna for this as most still wrapped themselves up in the Living The Dream stuff that followed the club.

Gretna weren't sustainable in SFL3 let alone in the SPL. They had single players on more than the entire East Stirling team! They have lived well beyond their means and they are now getting their comeuppance due to being unable or unwilling to rein in their spending. I acknowledge ICT have had monetary difficulties in the past but their was always some action resulting from it. At Gretna we have seen nothing of the sort and Graham Muir and Mick Wadsworth have perfectly exemplified the amateurish status of this club with some hysterical comments in the media recently.

I am looking forward to the next BBC documentary on Gretna and their "Living The Dream" rot. It's going to be a good one.

In the last 10 years, 3 clubs made a rapid ascent up the leagues to the SPL.

2 of them spent ridiculous amounts on player wages before going into administration.

One of them makes a profit every season these days and is considered by many in the game to be a model well run club, living within its means.

And yet we still seem to criticise every decision!

Very surprised how little interest there is in this topic.

Anyway, Gretna have had 10 points deducted after administrators moved in and radio reports are stating they need to find ?30k to be able to fulfil Saturdays game with Aberdeen!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/t...tna/7291519.stm

Some of the tabloids are saying he is in real financial trouble.........looks like the dream is over.

What have i said to you about reading tabloids...   :016:

The Gretna fairytale is a surreal existance, the fans probably had a deep feeling of  'When is the bubble going to burst?' well it has now.

I hope they enjoyed it will it lasted.

Sometimes even they get it right, BBC Scotland are reporting betweeen 1.3 and 3 million quid in debt. Can't see them lasting till the end of the season if this is correct.

Very surprised how little interest there is in this topic.

I think its because everybody knew this would happen at some point. Its no surprise. Its also apparent that the majority of people feel they are gettting their just desert.

I've been moaning and naysaying about Gretna for months on my blog (http://nareystoepoker.blogspot.com - I'm not going to miss the chance to advertise myself!!) and so, to be honest, I'm absolutely fed up with the whole situation.  The sooner they get relegated/go bust the better as they can stop making a mockery out of Scottish football.

According to the BBC they need the money for Saturday for staying overnight, wages and transport.

Some of the tabloids are saying he is in real financial trouble.........looks like the dream is over.

Sometimes even they get it right, BBC Scotland are reporting betweeen 1.3 and 3 million quid in debt. Can't see them lasting till the end of the season if this is correct.

Looks like a big bit of speculation there  between 1.3 and 3 is a fair gap.    News tonight has the administrator requiring ?30k before lunch time tomorrow.

It would be a nice gesture if a player such as Ashley Cole transferred a few quid (?30,000) as his form of recompense or community service to Gretna if only for the players. Listening to the Administrator it does unfortunately seem like a massive loss making business and I cannot imagine anyone investing in a business without any customers or viable factory. Gretna cannot produce goods in their own 'factory' unless there is an ?100,000 upgrade. With all debts frozen, there can be no forward movement unless some benefactor can throw away ?30,000. Celtic or Rangers couls surely chip in a few quid to uphold the credibility of the SPL? In fact surely every club could donate ?3000 except Motherwell who have been amazing benefactors.

Hearts are currently in a potentially far more precarious position. If their benefactor took ill and pulled out their alleged ?40m of debt it would definitely not find a buyer.

It would be a nice gesture if a player such as Ashley Cole transferred a few quid (?30,000) as his form of recompense or community service to Gretna if only for the players. Listening to the Administrator it does unfortunately seem like a massive loss making business and I cannot imagine anyone investing in a business without any customers or viable factory. Gretna cannot produce goods in their own 'factory' unless there is an ?100,000 upgrade. With all debts frozen, there can be no forward movement unless some benefactor can throw away ?30,000. Celtic or Rangers couls surely chip in a few quid to uphold the credibility of the SPL? In fact surely every club could donate ?3000 except Motherwell who have been amazing benefactors.

Hearts are currently in a potentially far more precarious position. If their benefactor took ill and pulled out their alleged ?40m of debt it would definitely not find a buyer.

If only  :015:

Hearts, despite their huge exposure to Mr Romanov and his bank, are not Gretna. Hearts are a very substantial footballing entity with a very large fan base.

If their current "benefactor" pulled the plug Hearts would be in serious trouble and no doubt Tynecastle would be sold as a prime housing site.

However a sustainable club, albeit one that might temporarily be without a home, would emerge from administration and would soon re-establish themselves. Gretna are a different proposition altogether, they are likely to revert to eing a non league side playing  amateur football in front of crowds numbering dozens rather than hundreds and probably not at Raydale which will be sold to partially satisfy the debts which have been accrued while they were "living the dream".