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The club that vanished- The story of Gretna


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On 26/11/2014 at 14:02, Stu said:

Yup. I despised them long before they played us for the first time and knocked us out of the Scottish Cup. The constant pish in the papers, the living the dream nonsense, the portrayal of Alexander as some sort of managerial genius and that the players were there because of his vision, not the ridiculous sums of money being thrown about. Instead they were guys who slaved all day at their jobs during the week, tended the fields on Saturday morning and had some of Granny's special soup for lunch before taking on and beating all comers.

Don't you live and work down that way? 20 years ago you'd have been one the zoomers putting pish in the papers.

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12 hours ago, Arch Stanton said:

Don't you live and work down that way? 20 years ago you'd have been one the zoomers putting pish in the papers.

That's unlikely given 20 years ago I was still at school and Gretna were playing in the English leagues 😛

I started in 2007 and cover a different part of the region so had nothing to do with the original Gretna and only the odd phonecall to do with the current one when someone has been on holiday.

 

Edited by Stu
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3 minutes ago, Empty It said:

Don't think Hearts ever beat them in 90 minutes either. (Could be wrong)

You beat them in February 2008 seemingly, Velicka double.

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Always instructive to reflect after a few years....

Loathsome club.

I have lived in Dumfries for over 30 years. No real affinity with QoS at all - and I did try my best when my children were Junior Blues. The best I can say is that, unless they're in our division, I wish them no harm. I'm actually quite fond of Annan, despite their habitual long ball, diving b*****ds routine.

Gretna, otoh, in terms of players, attracted a shower of chancers, from the length and breadth of the country. There was money there. Could we expect less?

However, in D & G?

Need a chaplain? I'm yer man.

Youth coaches? See us, we've got HNCs in, ahem, Sports Science.

Announcers? Press liaison?

Will you cover a Cheap Day Return from Dumfries?

Good old Brookes maybe did want to form a " community club " but did anyone, especially the bandwagon jumpers from Dumfries, ever ask what community? Or at the expense of which existing communities?

Loathsome club.

 

 

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8 hours ago, Big Chief Toffee Teeth said:

Always instructive to reflect after a few years....

Loathsome club.

I have lived in Dumfries for over 30 years. No real affinity with QoS at all - and I did try my best when my children were Junior Blues. The best I can say is that, unless they're in our division, I wish them no harm. I'm actually quite fond of Annan, despite their habitual long ball, diving b*****ds routine.

Gretna, otoh, in terms of players, attracted a shower of chancers, from the length and breadth of the country. There was money there. Could we expect less?

However, in D & G?

Need a chaplain? I'm yer man.

Youth coaches? See us, we've got HNCs in, ahem, Sports Science.

Announcers? Press liaison?

Will you cover a Cheap Day Return from Dumfries?

Good old Brookes maybe did want to form a " community club " but did anyone, especially the bandwagon jumpers from Dumfries, ever ask what community? Or at the expense of which existing communities?

Loathsome club.

 

 

Yes, that's about the size of it.

Quite a few decent people got carried away with the hubris of the whole flimsy charade.

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27 minutes ago, Doctor said:

I only really started following Scottish Football in 2008 or so so I didn't really pay any attention to Gretna in their later years, sounds fascinating though 

The later years weren't really, about halfway through their First Division campaign they imploded financially. Absolutely zero idea why the SPL didnt act at the time and refuse them entry as they clearly were on their way out before they even started the season (best similar example is Bury).

Their top flight season was a complete farce.

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The media's fawning over Gretna's so-obviously-doomed-from-the-start "rise" just proved the sad fact that they only show interest or respect when someone starts splashing the cash around.

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The later years weren't really, about halfway through their First Division campaign they imploded financially. Absolutely zero idea why the SPL didnt act at the time and refuse them entry as they clearly were on their way out before they even started the season (best similar example is Bury).
Their top flight season was a complete farce.
Looking at the stats for that leauge season you arn't wrong. 13 points. Minus 51 goal difference. Ouch.
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18 minutes ago, Doctor said:
2 hours ago, RandomGuy. said:
The later years weren't really, about halfway through their First Division campaign they imploded financially. Absolutely zero idea why the SPL didnt act at the time and refuse them entry as they clearly were on their way out before they even started the season (best similar example is Bury).
Their top flight season was a complete farce.

Looking at the stats for that leauge season you arn't wrong. 13 points. Minus 51 goal difference. Ouch.

Doesn't that include a points deduction too?

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Gretna sealing promotion at the expense of St. Johnstone and totally confirming our relegation (I know Airdrie winning had doomed us anyway) is one of the worst experiences I've ever had as a County fan.

James Grady scoring in front of a packed away end filled with glory hunters on a day trip was an absolute kick in the stomach. I don't even particularly like St. Johnstone but them going up would have been far more preferable. 

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15 minutes ago, Comrie said:

Gretna sealing promotion at the expense of St. Johnstone and totally confirming our relegation (I know Airdrie winning had doomed us anyway) is one of the worst experiences I've ever had as a County fan.

James Grady scoring in front of a packed away end filled with glory hunters on a day trip was an absolute kick in the stomach. I don't even particularly like St. Johnstone but them going up would have been far more preferable. 

Well county shouldn't have missed a 90th minute sitter then.

 

 

 

c***s.

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3 minutes ago, tree house tam said:

Well county shouldn't have missed a 90th minute sitter then.

 

 

 

c***s.

I was astonished we even scored two with Diarmuid fucking O'Carroll up front.

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1 hour ago, Doctor said:

Looking at the stats for that leauge season you arn't wrong. 13 points. Minus 51 goal difference. Ouch.

 

1 hour ago, Merkland Red said:

Doesn't that include a points deduction too?

Was more the whole fiasco of it all. I'm sure they could barely afford a squad, ending up with random English jobbers, and obviously had their home games 66 miles away from Gretna. Add in their, still hired, manager being turned away from the ground on the opening game of the season, and it became a total circus.

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2 minutes ago, RandomGuy. said:

 

Was more the whole fiasco of it all. I'm sure they could barely afford a squad, ending up with random English jobbers, and obviously had their home games 66 miles away from Gretna. Add in their, still hired, manager being turned away from the ground on the opening game of the season, and it became a total circus.

I know someone who played for them of decent name value. Brooks would openly talk about how much he was paying him and others in front of the guys who were on peanuts. Great for morale that.

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Gretna sealing promotion at the expense of St. Johnstone and totally confirming our relegation (I know Airdrie winning had doomed us anyway) is one of the worst experiences I've ever had as a County fan.
James Grady scoring in front of a packed away end filled with glory hunters on a day trip was an absolute kick in the stomach. I don't even particularly like St. Johnstone but them going up would have been far more preferable. 


On the opposite side of that, watching the St Johnstone fans faces drop after the full time whistle went as news of Grady’s goal ticked through was delicious.

Some of them were claiming Gretna fixed it to kick off late as well.
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