By David Lee Wheatley
From nowhere to the Premier League and back to oblivion
Founded in 1946, the club on the Scottish side of the border with England had long been a fixture in the non-league echelons of English football, reaching the first division of the Northern Premier League in 1992.
They unsuccessfully applied to join the Scottish Football League on two occasions in 1993 and 1999, but finally made it when admitted in 2002.
The Scottish border team took the place of the defunct Airdrieonians in the third division and this prompted significant investment from Sunderland-born businessman Brooks Mileson. His huge financial outlay (in Scottish Football League terms) led to a meteoric rise through the various tiers of Scottish football, prompting the beginning of a romantic story to rival those taking place in the town at the renowned Gretna Green, the home of eloping lovers from all over the UK.
Successive promotions from 2005 to 2007 led the little-known club to the promised land of the Scottish Premier League, presenting the opportunity to face the likes of Glasgow giants Celtic and Rangers on a level playing field. Not only did Gretna win promotion convincingly, they did it with spectacular attacking style, banging in 297 goals over the course of those three campaigns.
Some success in the Scottish FA Cup arrived in 2006 when Gretna reached the final at Hampden, losing in heroic circumstances on penalties to Hearts after a 1-1 draw. Despite the disappointment of ending up as runner-up in the Cup, Gretna became the first side outside of the Scottish top-flight to gain a place in European club competition by virtue of the fact that Hearts had already booked a spot in Europe via their league position.
Having reached the Premier League, their form dipped alarmingly and they were forced to play at Motherwell's Fir Park stadium due to their own Raydale Park failing to reach the required top-flight standard to stage matches.
Even worse news was to come when it became clear that the financial situation at the club had hit the buffers. The rapid rise of Gretna to the top league had gone hand-in-hand with rising costs and it became an increasingly impossible task to keep the club afloat for ill owner Mileson, who completely withdrew his support due to worsening health.
The season was wracked with problems on and off the field, resulting in players and staff not receiving their wages on time and eventually redundancies came into force. By the end of the campaign in May 2008, Gretna had amassed the meagre total of 13 points and ended rock-bottom of the Premier League. With relegation confirmed, a buyer was sought for the ailing club and by 29th May there were no takers. The club were demoted to the third division due their financial problems and still no takeover plan emerged.
On 3rd June, Gretna were forced to resign from the SFL and by 8th August their total liquidation as a going concern was rubber-stamped.
The crazy ride under the late Brooks Mileson's leadership had lasted six years and encompassed all four divisions of the Scottish League. It was a fairytale for the majority of that time, but ended in bitter acrimony.
Out of the ashes came Gretna 2008, a supporter-run phoenix club that got voted into the East of Scotland League. After a year sharing a stadium with Annan, the club returned to Raydale Park to play their home games. With a distinct lack of monetary investment, it appears highly unlikely that such a tiny team could repeat the famous feat of the original Gretna F.C. ever again.
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