Читать книгу Football Extreme - Rob Crossan - Страница 16
ОглавлениеHow a Scottish village side went from part-time nobodies to Europe and back again within six years
‘Be careful what you wish for’ is an adage that seldom applies to football. Cup wins, promotion, 30-goals-a-season strikers… perhaps too many fans these days are happy to remain myopic about the long-term wellbeing of their team as long as the good times begin as soon as possible.
The monumental debt of the biggest clubs in Britain right now is a cause for concern to many of the football fans whose loyalty goes beyond their next Sky Sports subscription. And while it’s true that the day will probably never come when the likes of Chelsea or Manchester United wind up in the receivers’ court, the story of Scottish borders club Gretna FC is perhaps the ultimate modern footballing tale of what can happen when a club’s fans get everything they ever asked for overnight – but with no Plan B.
Situated right on the English/Scottish border, Gretna’s geographical extremity meant that they spent the majority of their existence in the depths of the English non-league pyramid. Seemingly rooted forever at the sort of level that you would expect a club situated in a town with a population of less than 3,000 to be, they could not have guessed that their whole world would end up being blown apart through the ownership of millionaire Brooks Mileson.
Making his millions in construction and insurance, it was under Mileson that the club were elected to replace Airdrieonians in the Scottish League in 2002 – their third attempt to enter a league which still maintains a ‘closed shop’ policy to teams outside of the pyramid except in the instance of another club going bankrupt.
Put quite simply, Gretna took Scottish football by storm. With Mileson’s wallet attracting the best players from outside the top flight, two successive promotions saw Gretna find themselves just one rung under the Scottish Premier League in 2006. Their tiny Raydale ground was heaving at every game and the fans knew that an appearance in the Scottish Cup final against Edinburgh giants Hearts could provide the means for the tiny border village to enter European football. They were in dreamland.
Tens of thousands of Gretna fans were at Hampden for the club’s greatest ever day and, despite losing the final in a penalty shootout, they sneaked into the UEFA Cup through the back door. Hearts had finished second in the Scottish Premier League that season and so had already done enough to enter the UEFA Champions League. As they obviously couldn’t enter both European competitions it was left to Gretna, as losing Scottish Cup finalists, to enter the UEFA Cup, where they drew Irish side Derry City as opponents for their first round qualifier.
Gretna may have swept away pretty much everything in their path over the previous four years but unfortunately in European football they finally met their match, with Derry racing to a 7-3 aggregate victory over two legs.
Promotion to the Premier League back in Scotland came the next year, but with the Raydale ground falling well short of the standards required for top-flight clubs, Gretna were forced to play all their home games at Fir Park, Motherwell – a ground situated over 75 miles from Gretna itself.
It was a dismal season. The gulf in quality between the SPL and the lower Scottish leagues was pronounced and after a 4-0 opening day defeat to Falkirk, poor Gretna remained rooted to the bottom of the division for the rest of the season.
Then the worst bombshell of all fell on this already most fragile of clubs. Brooks Mileson became seriously ill and his family immediately severed all ties with the club – including their financial support. The effect was instantaneous. The club imploded.
Wages stopped being paid and it took the SPL stepping in to guarantee the players their money and enable Gretna to limp to the end of the season. Crowds, already absurdly low for a club in the top division, dropped to an all-time Scottish Premier League record low of just 431 for a ‘home’ game against Inverness Caledonian Thistle in April 2008.
Administration and liquidation swiftly followed at the end of the season, with Gretna being replaced in the Scottish league by Annan Athletic.
Supporters rallied immediately, forming a brand new club called Gretna FC 2008 Ltd. Playing at the Everholm Athletics Complex in, ironically, nearby Annan, the new team began the 2008/09 season with a cup game against Craigroyston. Since then Gretna have returned to their Raydale home, whilst Brooks Mileson never recovered from his illness and died in November 2008.
From UEFA Cup football to the East of Scotland League in two years is a downfall that was unprecedented in British football. Gretna fans, perhaps more than any other football supporters, are painfully aware of just what can happen when your club’s only source of income comes from just one individual. Chelsea fans – take note.
