Gretna F.C.

Gretna Football Club are a football club currently playing in the Scottish Football League. Their current manager is former player Rowan Alexander.

History

They were founded in 1946 and played locally in Dumfries. The following year, they made the unusual move of transferring to a league run by The Football Association (i.e., in England), the Carlisle and District League, despite being a Scottish club. They remained in this league for all but one season until 1982, moving to the newly created second division of the Northern League. They won the league and were promoted immediately, before back-to-back championship wins in the first division, in 1990/1991 and 1991/1992, resulted in their promotion to the first division of the Northern Premier League.

During the 1990s, they also became the first club from Scotland to appear in the FA Cup proper since Queen's Park had done in 1875. The club, however, saw its future in Scottish football and applied twice to the Scottish league in 1993 and 1999. To help boost their later application, they played a Rangers XI team in a game to raise money for the Lockerbie air disaster. To their credit, Gretna won 2-1 against a strong team.

In 2002 they were elected to the Scottish Football League, at the third attempt, following the extinction of Airdrieonians F.C. because of financial problems. They were promoted at the third attempt, and are currently playing in the Scottish Football League Division Two, largely due to the signing of keen striker Kenny Deuchar, who has smashed all sorts of records in Gretna's rise. Chairman Brian Fulton has recently invested heavily in the playing squad and it is said that they are currently paying the highest salaries outwith the SPL despite being in the third level of the Scottish structure. Although the population of Gretna is only 2,705 (as of 2001), the stadium is being replaced with one which is up to SPL standards (6,000 minimum capacity) - if a site can be found that's suitable to the club and the local council.

The club is being bankrolled by Brooks Mileson, a multi-millionaire who is a keen Carlisle United fan. The side have a small "core" fanbase but have attracted new fans from across the UK and further afield as they continue to win matches. Critics say that these fans are liable to disappear if and when success dries up, while supporters argue that these fans may become "Gretna for life" by developing an attachment to the club. They also point to the numerous "grass-roots" projects bankrolled by Mileson, such as free tickets for schoolchildren as far afield as Dumfries, and youth coaching, as indicative of Gretna's desire to become a self-sustaining football club.

Honours

Northern League Division Two - runner-up (1); 1982/1983
Northern League Division One - champions (2); 1990/1991, 1991-1992 - runner-up (1); 1989/1990
Scottish Football League Division Three - champions (1); 2004/2005

External links

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