Boom and bust

With unpaid wages and rumours of administration leading to the defection of their head coach, Moira Gordon asks how the Gretna adventure will end.

AS HIS club prepared for the Scottish Cup final two years ago, owner Brooks Mileson said: "People always ask me what's going to happen at Gretna, where the fairytale is heading. I tell them, I've no idea, I'm too busy to read the next chapter."

While wages were being paid, that element of the unknown was considered enchanting. Any fears of future financial woes went unspoken. A man whose ME and general poor health made the club's success all the more endearing, it was Mileson's latest bout of illness, diagnosed as a brain infection, which served as a reminder that there may not be a happy-ever-after. This is a club wholly dependant on one man and his millions. Without him, even for a week, things grind to a halt.

At a club which included a book group among the lengthy list of community initiatives spawned during the ascent through the Scottish leagues, there has always been a reluctance to analyse their own story. Now, though, for many, there is a growing desire to sneak a peek at the final few pages.

This week, with players and staff failing to get their weekly wage, rumours of administration and waning finances led to the defection to Morton of head coach Davie Irons and his assistant Derek Collins. Ironically for a club dogged by accusations of glories bankrolled rather than earned, it was a lack of monetary security along with a feeling that the Border club had already reached its potential which contributed to their decision.

Gretna's rise and rise was astonishing. Hailing from a town with a population of just 3,000, the former Northern League side joined the Scottish Football League six years ago after a couple of failed attempts. After two seasons treading water in the Third Division, impatience and ambition dug their claws in. They refused to relinquish their tight grasp until the side arrived in the top flight this season. Then costs started being cut. Youth rather than experience became the new policy when it came to players.

At the start of season 2004/05, after two seasons finishing sixth and then third in the Third Division, the decision was taken to use their cash clout to ensure they had the best teams in the league. The wages on offer were startling. David Bingham rejected the chance to play in the SPL with newly-promoted Inverness Caledonian Thistle to ply his trade in the basement league with Gretna. Jamie McQuilken left First Division St Johnstone, David Nicholls joined from Falkirk, Steve Tosh swapped Aberdeen for the lowest tier, Chris Innes joined from Dundee United and Alan Main from Livingston.

"We had the dream to take the club upwards and the only way it could conceivably happen as quickly as it did was by encouraging good players to come to Gretna," says Irons, who, as player, assistant manager and then head coach was there every step of the way. "We knew if we were going to get them the only way was to give them an attractive financial package and we were in the fortunate position that we had Brooks, who shared our desires and could finance the dream.

"The wages weren't massively extortionate but they were very good for the level they were playing at so we had the best players in the Third Division, the best players in the Second Division and, ultimately, in the First Division. We would bring in players from the leagues above. Once you reach the top flight, though, you can't do that and the higher we got up the leagues the less attractive the financial package looked. The gap between the average wage in the leagues and the wages we were offering was closing the higher we climbed.

"We were paying the same if not less and up against established clubs like Motherwell and Kilmarnock and suddenly we weren't the most attractive option. What you've seen at Gretna since last March is a massive turnaround. There was a necessity to change and reconstruct the financial side of things. Brooks made it clear the wage bill had to be reduced and I understood that, it was a sensible thing to do in any business but, at the same time, we were going into the SPL where I felt we needed more experience. It was frustrating after the hard work in getting to the SPL."

Some observers believe director of football Mick Wadsworth was brought in by Mileson as his footballing hitman, there to cull the high-wage earners and ageing servants and replace them with youth. If so, then it appears that too has been done with undue haste.

"It wasn't my decision, I was only head coach, I picked the team from the squad I had but I wasn't responsible for recruiting those players," says Irons. "That's why I joined Morton, I want that responsibility. I understand that Gretna want to eventually rely on a youth system but because we got up into the SPL so quickly we had laid no really solid foundations beneath us and maybe this was a year when we should have just tried to preserve our place in the top league and given our infrastructure time to catch up. We could still have brought some young players in."

Having motored up through the leagues – they won the Third, Second and First Divisions in consecutive seasons – Gretna had long since left the infrastructure of the club behind. Raydale Park did not meet the SPL criteria and groundsharing with Motherwell was the only way forward.

For a club with an already limited fanbase, the 160-mile round trip for every "home" game has led to paltry attendance figures and, allied to the higher policing and stewarding costs, as well as ground rental, it's unsurprising Gretna's chief executive Graeme Muir scoffs at the notion that the club is in any way self-sustaining. "The SPL is not the promised land, as many people imagine," says Muir. "What comes through the turnstiles is not going to sustain this club. Brooks deals with it. All the payments. I was brought in to set up the community programme and asked him what my budget was and he just laughed. He said don't be stupid, we're in the Third Division, forget it. If you need it just go and get it. I went back in the Second Division and he laughed. First Division, forget it. He told me to come back if we ever got a sniff of the SPL, then he might talk to me about budgets. There's still not a budget, it comes out of his pocket. If we need it, he pays. Maybe after this week he will have to look at that."

This week, as the owner lay incapacitated in hospital, unable to sign off on the payroll, staff went unpaid, fuelling rumours that the club was on the brink of administration, the owner's wealth and/or interest apparently on the wane. Those who know Mileson refuse to countenance a loss of appetite for the club. "Apart from his family and his animals, the club, the match every Saturday, are the biggest things in his life," says Irons. "I believe that the club genuinely couldn't access his account to get the wages paid, I think we all accepted that. Unfortunately, there are other signs that there are financial problems but what they are and what level they are at I'm not entirely sure. Brooks' personal wealth is no business of mine and I sincerely hope that everything at the club will be OK but that element of doubt is there."

With Mileson, who is estimated to be worth anything between £10m and £75m, now out of hospital, wages will be in accounts tomorrow, according to Muir, with all outstanding payments up to date by next Monday at the latest. He describes the non-payment as a "wee problem" but insists measures are in place to avoid a repeat.

"The last time Brooks took ill he had someone with that power of attorney (to sign pay cheques] but unfortunately that person is no longer with the company and the error was that we had never had that replaced. With hindsight it is something we have learned from." Muir says administration isn't likely but refuses to rule it out. "Will Gretna be in administration any time soon? My answer is I don't think so but I don't know for definite and I don't think we are the only club in that position because what amazes me is that there is hardly anybody watching this game," he says.

Fans are worried about the future and unhappy with what they consider the overbearing and divisive influence of Wadsworth. Protests had been planned for last weekend's match but were cancelled at the last minute, considered inappropriate with Mileson so ill in hospital. But feelings are still running high.

"There was always a danger with this club that the ambition would leave the infrastructure behind and it would take time for the rest of the club to catch up and that's exactly what has happened here this week," says Muir.

With Mileson's health remaining a problem, fears over the future of the club are justified.

"I can't honestly see anything other than a club of Gretna's size relying on a benefactor," admits Muir, "but you tell me if Rangers (would] survive without David Murray or Dundee United without Eddie Thompson's money. Lots of clubs rely on one person's finances and are not self-sustaining. I don't think we are the only club struggling to get the payroll through."

What would happen without Brooks? "Well we would need to get another benefactor! But while people keep telling me there's always people like Brooks Mileson, the guy at Aberdeen, Thompson and Murray, who want to invest in football clubs, if I'm honest, I'm not so sure there are always these people about."

GRIM REALITY AT HEART OF GRETNA'S FAIRYTALE RISE TO THE TOP FLIGHT

2002 Gretna, formerly playing in England's Northern League Division One, become members of the Scottish League. Brooks Mileson becomes owner, clearing the club's £150,000 debt.

Target promotion by embarking on policy of attracting higher league players, paying best wages in Third Division.

2004/05 In only their third season in league, Gretna win promotion as Third Division champions, scoring 130 goals, one short of the British league scoring record.

2005/06 Win second straight promotion, finishing as Second Division champions. Lose to Hearts in Scottish Cup final on penalties. Result means qualification for UEFA Cup.

August 2006 UEFA Cup second qualifying round. Knocked out by Stephen Kenny's Derry City. Gain a respectable 2-2 away draw after losing 5-1 in home leg – played at Fir Park.

March 2007 Gretna charge to a 12-point lead at top of First Division, but manager Rowan Alexander takes sick leave due to stress. Davie Irons takes over as caretaker manager.

April 2007 Promotion to SPL hinges on final match of season when dramatic injury-time goal from James Grady for a 3-2 victory over Ross County snatches title from St Johnstone, making Gretna the first team in Britain to win three back-to-back promotions.

July 2007 Irons becomes manager.

August 2007 Gretna ground share with Motherwell at Fir Park, Raydale Park not meeting SPL's 6,000-capacity standard.

First game of new season, Gretna v Falkirk: Alexander arrives to claim he is still the club's manager and tries to enter Fir Park but is turned away.

October 2007 Gretna v Inverness Caley Thistle. A paltry 1,020 people watch home match – the record low for an SPL game.

November 2007 Alexander is formally dismissed.

February 11, 2008 Mileson becomes ill, is rushed into hospital.

February 19, 2008 Irons and assistant Derek Collins resign. Current financial situation at Gretna is a factor with wages not being paid.

Club currently sit bottom of SPL with only 13 points in 25 matches.

KALI LINDSAY