Gretna future grows dim as staff made redundant

Scottish Gretna looks on the verge of ceasing operations and going out of existence.

The club went into administration in March following a brain illness that hit owner Brooks Mileson. He no longer will invest in the club, which made a miraculous climb through the Scottish football ranks only to suffer administration and relegation in its first year of Premier League play.

The club just made all 40 of the remaining staff redundant.

Administrator Wilson Field has been negotiating with a consortium led by Glasgow businessman Paul Davis, but there was no arrangement by the Saturday 17 May deadline.

The problems that face a new owner include a pitch that is not up to SFL standards. The club does not have a driving popularity despite its quick rise to glory, and relocation could be a possibility.

A new owner would need to assume Gretna's debts, and find a way to re-assemble a squad, management staff and front-office administration. They must do this without parachute payments, as the club was kept afloat with an advancement on the payments during the course of the season.

Source: euFootball.BIZ © Copyright 2006 - All rights reserved.