posted Jun 3, 2008

I'll vote 4.

Never again should a football club become a rich man's plaything.

Gretna had their critics but you must feel for the diehards who have been with them since their English non-league days. They deserved better.

Hopefully there'll be another Gretna club soon. Even if it were only at amateur level.

add comment | complain about this comment

posted Jun 3, 2008

I never understood what Brooks Mileson's long term plan was! Gretna would never be able to sustain itself without his personal investment so the day he pulled out meant the end for Gretna.

Chelsea has a sugar daddy, just like Gretna did and he's spent millions. Difference is they have a plan for life without Roman Abramovich's money ... being a big London club, getting involved in the profitable Asian market etc! Gretna is a small place with no catchment area! Only chance they had was to do a Wimbledon and move! It's a shame for Scotland and the Scottish league but IMO inevitable!

add comment | complain about this comment

posted Jun 3, 2008

For what it is worth, I would like to say goodbye to Gretna Football Club, one thing lads you will always have the memory of playing in the premier league and of your Scottish Cup final. Your fanbase small though it was, was vociferous just the same. All the best!

add comment | complain about this comment

posted Jun 3, 2008

Aldershot Town/Chelsea fan here, we all looked out for Gretna's results on the weekends, like a cult following really. Gutted for all the fans as i can't even imagine what you must be feeling. All the best

add comment | complain about this comment

posted Jun 3, 2008

It is always sad to see a football team disappear, however well supported (or otherwise) but it is a sign of how football is run by ..... not always the best people with the clubs best interest at heart. Too may clubs cant balance the books and I think more will do a Leeds or Gretna and spend money they have not got for a quick rise without the financial stability behind the spending. I just hope that my club is not one of them. For too many it is "there but for the grace of god...."

add comment | complain about this comment

posted Jun 3, 2008

It is sad but seriously this was always a bad idea. If you want someone to blame, and I know it sounds harsh, then blame Brooks.

What did he really think was going to happen when you take a club with no assets from a tiny town, which even if every single person from there showed up to match day, they wouldn't fill any SPL stadium?

Especially with his deteriorating health when his backing could have been pulled at any time, he did nothing to secure their future wellbeing. The sad thing is he just happened to fall seriously ill at the worst possible time for Gretna.

Rather than just keep piling money into them just to pay wages, maybe he should have tried to spend some on making them more financially secure.

To late for what if's though, but can't help but think that Brooks has single handedly destroyed Gretna.

R.I.P. Gretna

add comment | complain about this comment

posted Jun 4, 2008

It's the fans I feel sorry for, trouble with Gretna they did not have a Plan B for when something like the owner pulling out due to ill health.

add comment | complain about this comment

posted Jun 4, 2008

In all fairness, one of the problems is that they didn't really have any fans either. The only way they were going to even get close to pulling in over 2,500 a week would have been by winning the SPL!!

add comment | complain about this comment

posted Jun 6, 2008

what a pointless journey! the fall is all down to that brooks guy. yes, i know he's ill, but he has to take the blame for this farce. he was happy enough to take the plaudits on gretnas way up. his shambolic stint at the helm though has totally caused this embarrassing episode. clown!!!!!

add comment | complain about this comment

posted Aug 9, 2008

honestman its a shame you have no sense of pride in scottish teams and its a crying shame a club that has done as well as gretna did have been made extinct........i have lived away in kent for 28 years and its sad to see scottish clubs of any standard go this way.....honestman give up supporting football if you can let this go by without a sense of shame on the other clubs who could have helped business or not its a disgrace....Big Eck (come on the gers)

add comment | complain about this comment