Gretna boss Rowan Alexander and assistant Davie Irons have signed new long-term deals at the Division Two champions and Scottish Cup runners-up.

Their side has won promotion in successive seasons and now the man who bankrolls the club has granted the pair five-year rolling contracts.

Owner Brooks Mileson believes they will lead Gretna into the SPL.

"I want them both to have them and see that they are well secured if anything happens to me," he told BBC Sport.

Alexander recently said that he would like to remain at Gretna for the rest of his career.

No doubt they will be in the SPL before that 5 years so great news for Alexander and his team.

Agreed mate! He has done so well for Gretna, Brookes is loyal and has rewarded him with a long-term deal!

One of the reasons there going so well is as u said, that loyalty that Brookes shows. Also i have massive respect for the Chairman because he could be sitting high away in the posh press box but he chooses to stand in the terrarces having a ciggie. Great chairman

He is a breath of fresh air in Scottish football, i will take more of an interest in the 1st division next season should be a cracker!

Clyde, Partick Thistle, Dundee, St.Johnstone, Livingstone, Ross County, Hamilton and Gretna!!!!!

Will be very competitive can't wait too see some of the games!

Is it true Gretna have more money than some of the teams in the SPL?

Yes definately mate, Brookes is worth like £30 million and invests!!!!


They would one of the wealthiest clubs if the got into the SPL. They only thing is they don't have many assets e.g. players, stadium, trainning ground!

OK cheers mate.

Im sure they will have trouble attracting players in the near future. I think almost everyone has taking a liking to Gretna (from what i can see from Australia) and im sure there will be some class players that will want to sign and potentially become one of the great dynasty's of Scottish football.

How much does their stadium hold? 5,000 - 10,000 area?

Ground Raydale Park

Capacity 3,000


They are redeveloping the whole ground though, they got 12.000 for the Scottish cup final and need to increase the capacity for the UEFA cup next season!

3,000!!!

Do you think they could easily fill it up for SD1 games no matter what size its increased too?

well the population of Gretna is 4,700!! haha

so i don't know what the increase will be i reckon another new stand to make it 5,000!

Geez only 5000. Is Brookes a native of Gretna? Or did he just do an Abramovich but is choosing to build up a dynasty from the bottom? It seems a bit of a strange move if he did choosing an area with only 5000 population.

Nah mate, he lives there! He is just a passionate guy who realises that they can only ever go so far. However he wants too promote the fact they are a small family orientated club.

I wish the chairman of my team in Australia (Newcastle Jets) was like that He wouldnt know what family was and what community spirit can do

Really? thats a shame. Where abouts in Aus and what are your attendances like?

Im based in Newcastle. Its about 2 hours north of Sydney. Our biggest attendance for the year was about 13,500. There was a game when it looked much bigger but in Australia our U 12's our allowed in for free so they dont get calculated in ground attendances. As a whole the league average was just over 11k for the season. This was bought down significantly by NZ who only got about 2,500 to a game. On the other hand teams like Sydney and Melbourne regularly got 18 to 20k.

The grand final was a sellout of 42000 which was awesome.

So as you can see our attendances were fairly average but it was the first season of the A-League and it will continue to grow next year

Im assuming them crowd figures rank next to SD1 teams attendances...

That is ammazing for your first season in A League!

Former Motherwell manager Terry Butcher has taken over Sydney FC, what kind of pressure/demand will be on him to succeed?

Im not sure if there will be much pressure on him from the board but following a coach who won the A-League will have enough pressure in itself. I think ultimately it will come down to how much pressure he puts on himself.

Scott McDonald a Motherwell player, is very good. It's a shame he missed out on the WC.

I wonder if Butcher will try and tempt him with a move to Aus. What kind of money is there in the A league?

Yeah ive been keeping a bit of an eye on Scott Macdonald. I think he is pretty disappointed to have missed out on the WC.

There is a salary cap in the A-league of about 1.6 plus 1 marquee player for every team who does not come under the cap. Dwight Yorke is Sydney's marquee player and he earnt about 1 mill in the first year.

The good thing is though that they are allowed to offer other incentives such as a house or a car.

That's very interesting, this basically increases the potenial for Aussies to come through the ranks instead of brining in tons of foreign players on high wages.

Must give credit to the A League there.

The worry here in Australia is not bringing in foreign players but losing players to overseas teams. An example is 18 year old David Williams from the Roar, who was very promosing last year, is already leaving to go overseas.

We need to keep them type of players if the league is too succeed.

Yea definately agree, however if they have massive potenial you can't expect them wanting too stay in the A League beyond the age of 21. If they want to become the best they need to develop in stronger leagues, with better coaches etc.

Yeah i agree with the stronger leagues but going over at an early age is not necessarily the best move. A few players have gone overseas and they have become big flops. Their are 2 Aussie players playing in Romania (cant remember names) and they say its like being in hell. They dont get paid there wages and really have no freedom. Ive heard em say a few times that they wished they stayed in Australia instead of leaving at such a young age.

But then their has been players like Kewell and Cahill who have been brilliant.

Its really a mixed bag and a terrible decision for a youngster to make when it comes down to the crunch.

That would be great if the attendances were that high in SD1. Usually teams only get 2000 at the most.



I don't think they will. The 1st Division is a really competitive league and Gretna will struggle. And Gretna will more than likely bring a bad support to Ross County. The main competitors next year will be Saint Johnstone and Hamilton.