I agree with Conaldinho here. Alot of people were ranting and raving about their success year after year. If the money had have been invested and used properly they could have made steady progress instead of steaming up through the divisions and looking like going bust soon

Another game off. If dundee was in the spl this wouldnt be happening. But then again when we were to get put up we had to have a stadium big enough for the spl as were not aloud to groundshare.

A disgrace

Gretna will hold a crisis meeting with their financial backers on Friday after caretaker manager Mick Wadsworth revealed they could go out of business.

Just 501 spectators - a record Scottish Premier League low - turned up at Fir Park to watch the bottom club lose 3-0 to Dundee United on Thursday.

Chief executive Graeme Muir hopes that Gretna will not go into liquidation.

"I don't think it is just as bad as that, but we have a difficult situation at the club," he told BBC Sport.

"Does any club have a future when only 501 fans turn up?

"Dundee United did not bring many fans through, so I think many Scottish clubs are facing problems.

"We've been battling through the last three weeks and getting us to the end of the season is paramount."

Gretna's financial problems broke into the public domain when the club was late with player wages while owner Brooks Mileson was seriously ill in hospital.

"Thankfully, the payroll is up to date, but we have other creditors and we are trying to resolve that," said Muir, explaining the reason for Friday's meeting.

Gretna have picked up just 16 points from 28 games in their first season in the top flight.

And, after Thursday's defeat, Wadsworth could give no guarantees that Gretna would stay afloat until the end of the season.

"There's a lot of difficulty at the moment," he said.

"The finances and the survival of the club is on everyone's minds and that takes precedence. We are on a sticky wicket, put it that way.

"People have worked really hard to keep the thing going.

"All we have done in the past few weeks is patch it up, but we are in a bit of a corner now.

"I'm worried about the immediate future.

No money has been forthcoming from Mileson since he was discharged from hospital last month after being hit with a brain infection.

"Brooks is very ill," said Wadsworth. "We have no direct contact with Brooks.

"Everything is through Craig, his son, and it has been a tough call for Craig. We have got no financial assitance from that corner because Brooks is ill.

"If his illness is going to be long term then he has every right not to be worrying about a football club next season.

"What we do hope is that we can cobble it together to get through this season so there is a graceful withdrawal if necessary.

"But our major hope is that he gets better and picks up the reins again, because without him we are in a very difficult situation.

"A lot depends on the meetings, which will involve financial people, directors of the club and probably people from the parent company."

Thursday's attendance was less than half the previous low between Gretna and Inverness and came after the match was postponed twice in six days.

"I think the SPL have let us down," said Wadsworth, whose club have been sharing a ground with Motherwell this season.

"To turn a game round in less than 48 hours when our public have got to travel the best part of a 200-mile round trip, I thought it was unfair. We wanted to play in a fortnight's time.

"I bet there were a lot of people who didn't know this game was on, Rangers and Everton were on telly, Bolton were probably on another channel."



501 fans...that's shocking. They'll be lucky if they even make it to the end of season now

Guess thats what happens when you buy your way through the league

Just shows how pathetically fickle and shallow so many football fans are, everyone supports them when theyre winning then as soon as the club starts going through a tough time the fans just abandon them. They need the fans more than ever right now but sadly thats just how football works.

Supposedly Gretna are going to be losing midfielder Erik Paartalu to an A-League club. They're going the same way as Corinthians in Brazil. It's not great to see, I'll agree, but it wasn't great planning, funding a club so heavily in a town of 3,000 people, and then playing somewhere else, so even the home fans have to travel.

Gretna's SPL game against St Mirren on Tuesday night has been postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.

The surface at their adopted Fir Park home failed a pitch inspection on Tuesday morning following the bad weather of recent days.

Gretna and Motherwell have encountered a number of postponements this season due to the state of the pitch at Fir Park.

The match was due to be played a day after struggling Gretna, who are 11 points adrift at the bottom of the table, announced their intention to go into administration.

No new date has yet been set for the match to take place.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is getting ridiculous. Heard today that the chances of our game with Motherwell, scheduled for Saturday, going ahead are very slim. Why oh why did the SFA allow Gretna to ground share

Pathetic isn't it.

Every time there game is off the other team should be rewarded the points.

I was thinking that if the game is called off, the tie should be reversed and the away team should get to play at home

Gretna chief executive Graeme Muir is expected to resign as an administrator prepares to take over the running of the ailing SPL club.

And several more staff, including players, face the prospect of redundancy as early as Thursday.

With backer Brooks Mileson withdrawing his financial support, Gretna cannot survive and remain viable with their current wage bill and small crowds.

Motherwell are seeking assurances over their groundsharing deal for Fir Park.

However, the SPL will be anxious to see that arrangement continue since any threat to it would jeopardise Gretna's ability to see out the season's remaining fixtures.

The league has already stressed clubs in such positions can apply for loans recoverable from prize money.

Gretna reduced their squad in January, selling, loaning out and releasing a number players, while bringing in a host of youngsters on loan from England.

But more players are sure to be seeking new clubs once David Elliot of Wilson Field Limited is appointed and cuts are enforced.

Elliot will hold a media conference at Gretna Green on Wednesday afternoon.

Motherwell sacked 19 players when they went into interim administration in April 2002.

Dundee also slashed their squad when the same fate befell them in November 2003, with 25 players and backroom staff losing their jobs.

Administration will mean a 10-point penalty for the SPL's bottom club and almost certain relegation.

When we went into adminastration it was not nice. But we were playing in a dream for a while

Celtic were 8 minutes away from going into non-existence in 1994 until Fergus McCann stepped in. Dark days. Unfortunatly I can't see Gretna having the same sort of escape as we had back then

I know and to think scottish football could of been totally different now if that happened.

We into adminastration through our idiots of a chairmen just like gretna buying there way through it. Dosnt work and ends up biting you in the ass. There dream is over now

It would have been shocking. Rangers would be on course for their 19th title in a row this year

They have until tomorrow to raise £30,000 i believe or they will be "closed down". As much as it is theirn own fault, it's never nice to see this happen to a football club in my opinion.

Unless it's Swindon or Oxford of course.

I thought the SPL were giving them a loan until the end of the season? Doesnt that pay for the administrators?

Sorry folks, had to delete all the other Gretna threads as they were everywhere. Try and keep all discussions on the goings on of the club in this one. Apologise for any inconvenience caused (unless its floody)

A bit of hope for Gretna. Hope this answers a few unanswered question from above


The Scottish Premier League has advanced Gretna some of the money the club needs to survive until at least the league splits.

Gretna, who entered administration this week after benefactor Brooks Mileson withdrew his financial backing after falling ill.

BBC Sport has learned Gretna will be paid £100,000 by the SPL.

Meanwhile, former Carlisle United boss Roddy Collins is heading an Irish consortium aiming to buy the club.

The money from the SPL would enable Gretna to play the five matches before the league divides into top six and bottom six.

Collins said he and other members of property developers the McMullen Group, will meet administrators at Raydale Park on Tuesday to discuss the bid.

Gretna's SPL match against Aberdeen on Saturday will also go ahead, despite the club entering administration.

Its future remains in doubt after benefactor Brooks Mileson withdrew his financial backing through illness.

Gretna's administrator David Elliot said on Thursday only 10 players were willing to play on Saturday.

But the club said that a full squad would travel to Pittodrie and it thanked everyone for their messages of support and goodwill.

A club spokesman said that a number of U-19 players would feature at Pittodrie.

"We've got a squad now capable of travelling so there's no problems at all doing that," he added.

"Obviously, it's not going to have some of the players that were here beforehand.

"It will include three or four under-19 players but generally it still contains a lot of the original squad."

The club has indicated that it is confident the league game against Celtic scheduled for Sunday 23 March at Fir Park will also go ahead.

If Gretna cannot complete the 10 remaining games of the season, the Scottish Premier League will have to recalculate the standings.

All points from games involving the bottom club would be taken out of the reckoning.

Dundee United, who have lost twice to Gretna, would be the main beneficiaries.

Celtic, who are three points behind league leaders Rangers, would move top of the table on goal difference.

However, Rangers would have two games in hand rather than the one they have at present.

Like Kilmarnock, St Mirren no longer have the threat of relegation hanging over them, following the 10-point penalty handed to Gretna for going into administration.

The Black and Whites have been playing at Motherwell's Fir Park this season, with Raydale not meeting the SPL seating criteria.

Motherwell have already stated their wish to liaise with the administrators and Gretna between now and the end of the season in order to assist as much as possible.