Homer Thompson Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 Johnstoun...thanks for that info...that makes sense,from what i have pieced together it seems that they were in a mess Before the SPL season started. He obviously made zero plans for life without him... surely somebody should have spotted that ? Plenty did, mostly non-Gretna fans. Seemingly he made lots of promises to fans of continued funding. Either they didnt question it hard enough or he genuinely intended to do something about it. Either way, it never happened Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alert Mongoose Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 Johnstoun...thanks for that info...that makes sense,from what i have pieced together it seems that they were in a mess Before the SPL season started. He obviously made zero plans for life without him... surely somebody should have spotted that ? Off topic I know but I'm not sure that is an accusation exclusive to Gretna. I can think of several clubs (most notably in England) who would go under if their sugar daddy were to disappear suddenly. I'm not sure how you can plan ahead when you are being effectively bankrolled by an individual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markc Posted November 26, 2014 Author Share Posted November 26, 2014 Mongoose..yeh that is a good point. However in some cases ( ie Chelsea or Man City) at least there is a fan base that would keep the club at some(if not the same)level.At Gretna it would appear they were up the creek from week one without Mileson. It appears he was ill from late 2006..once this happened was he incapable of any influence ? Rowan Alexander paints a picture of Mileson vanishing with all promises stoped ? Is this true ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 answer to 7: Mileson was suffering from ill health, and went missing, at the same time wages were late and the signs of trouble began to appear. they had a buyer IIRC correctly before being punted to the 3rd, the buyer pulled out and they were liquidated. If I remember a football agent was trying to buy them as a showcase for his clients. When it was announced they were being punted to the third division he did one sharpish. I can't remember his name (Paul something maybe?) but I think he or his dad was involved in a takeover attempt at Saints a few years ago with one of our directors. There was a poster on here who was a creditor, I think he was an architect who did plans for the Raydale eco-stadium. He posted some goodstuff in threads at the time about what happened. Usually I think people describing I think he had the username Alibi and was a Morton fan. He was about the only creditor speaking out at the time. Have found articles in our system at work about the infamous eco-stadium. It had backing from Salmond and "will harness wind and solar power and use thermal undersoil heating, with rain water used in the sprinkler system and in toilets". Out of interest, at which point does a stand that has been up for about a decade stop becoming temporary? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markc Posted November 26, 2014 Author Share Posted November 26, 2014 I found a piece in the archives of the Herald that said when Mileson became very ill his wife and sons took power of attorney and from then on it was they who held the purse strings and they never gave it back.It was THEY that withdrew support of the club leaving the unwell Mileson with no say. Had anybody heard about this ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mizfit Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 I found a piece in the archives of the Herald that said when Mileson became very ill his wife and sons took power of attorney and from then on it was they who held the purse strings and they never gave it back.It was THEY that withdrew support of the club leaving the unwell Mileson with no say. Had anybody heard about this ? Remember a rumour his son pulled it out to keep his inheritance, which obviously didn't work as his estate went bankrupt with debts of 8 million Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HibeeJibee Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 Another quirk was that when SFL demoted them to SFL3, an official reason was that Raydale was unsuitable to host SFL1 football, them having been given 2yrs to upgrade it on promotion from SFL2. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/2293441/Gretna-face-double-relegation-over-Raydale.html http://www.theguardian.com/football/2008/may/29/gretna http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1023002/The-end-Gretna-demotion-signals-death-knell.html A further oddity was that they were included in the local cup draw for the next season (the Southern Counties Cup) so Stranraer ultimately got a walk-over in R1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19QOS19 Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 Newcomer to the forum (from England)..my grandparents were Scots so please go easy !! Watched the Gretna doc on sky..fascinated..have read up what i can..but Sky didnt go into detail so can anyone help with these questions. 1.Did Mileson have millions at any point? 2.Was there a tipping point ? 3.Why didnt they improve the ground in good time before getting to SPL ? 4.What was the reason he fell out with the manager ? 5 Why was Mick Wadsworth brought in and what for ( he's never done much ) ? 6 If Mileson had remained in better health would things have been ok ? 7 Where was Mileson when it started to go wrong ? 8 I get the impression he knew it was ubsustainable in the season BEFORE the SPL and just left them too it from that point ?? ANY answers would be welcome.... Many thanks in advance. 1. Yes, he was a wealthy guy. Gr£tna was always a hobby for him, never an investment. 2. I don't understand the question. 3. See my rant at the bottom. 4. I don't know. There are plenty of rumours but I wouldn't want to give an answer I wasn't sure about. 5. As above tbh. But by all accounts he was a pr&ck of a man that did very little other than cause a lot of bother. 6. Absolutely not. 7. His health started to deteriorate half way through the Division 1 season, so I imagine this was the reason he wasn't around as much nearer the end of the whole fiasco. 8. He would have known it was unsustainable, although to be fair to him I think his health was a big reason why he wasn't around. The whole Gr£tna fiasco was a complete and utter disgrace from beginning to end. It made a mockery of the Scottish Football League's and left a lot of people out of pocket. The documentary was very tinted in Gr£tna's favour. They way they told it, they only brought in one or two big players through the leagues. They failed to mention that it was practically a whole new squad that was brought in, featuring players far too good for the Division 2, 3 and in some cases 1. They were on wages at least 10 times more than the competition. The main reason folk were angry was the continuous claims that their success was "nothing to do with the money". I suppose this speel could answer Q3, 6 and 8. Half way through Gr£tna's Division 1 campaign I was speaking to Brooks while he was in the hospital. I asked him if he felt they would go up this season (they were sitting comfy at that point) and he basically said he didn't think they'd go up. It was said in such a way that he all but said "I don't want them to go up". As soon as they were promoted to the SPL I (and I imagine everyone else) knew the end was nigh as it was never going to be able to work with them going to Motherwell every fortnight. Their fans were made up of gloryhunters from Dumfries and the north of England. They went to watch a team win games and win games by a few goals. This was never going to happen in the SPL, and there was no way there was enough passion or loyalty amongst their "fans" to stick by a losing side. I've no sympathy whatsoever for that Gr£tna group. Some say decent folk lost their jobs, but in all honesty, they must have knew what was coming at some stage and could surely have gotten out. I'll be honest and say that I miss the complete rage I used to get when playing them or someone in my vicinity talking about them. We'll never have a close rivalry like that ever again, which is really sad tbh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markc Posted November 26, 2014 Author Share Posted November 26, 2014 19Q0S19...great reply..thanks for that. Forgive my ignorance ,you were speaking to him in hospital in what capacity ? Friend or professional ? Bear in mind i knew little about this subject until i watched the Sky doc on Sunday i have read allsorts on the subject since and you have just mentioned something that was nagging away at me....i had become convinced that the worst thing to happen was that last minute goal that sent them up and that if i had have been Brooks Mileson i wouldnt have wanted promotion at that point. The Sky doc certainly misses out lots of detail (i watched it again last night) and sugar coats the tale. It made little mention of bringing in so many players from higher leagues. I am starting to think Brooks paid out of his own pocket for the first 3 or 4 years but the last 2 years were via the bank overdraft and on credit with everybody.I suspect other business interests he had must have had issues and he had used all his liquid assets (cash). Once he was very ill his family excercised their power to pull the plug on Gretna thinking they would get all the remaining money. The irony was that after the high point of the Cup final it all went wrong.There was turmoil in that Div 1 season and Rowan Alexander knew things were wrong. ( im surprised people havent come up with more as to why he was stood down then fired ??). They were dead meat as a club BEFORE the SPL season. Very sad tale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waspie Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 Apologies, I thought they replaced the Long Terrace with a larger temporary enclosure and that's why it's now a void. It looks much deeper in the photo with the crowd. My memory is hazy but were Alloa or East Fife or someone not supposed to be buying the temporary seated stand off the liquidators? Obviously that fell through. Alloa were in discussions to buy it but it turned out the roof wasn't for sale. Was the roof there before the temporary seats were put in? Anyway, it was just the seated structure without the roof that was for sale so Alloa pulled out. Shortly after there were press reports that East Fife had "trumped" Alloa and bought the stand. Then EF also found it was just the seats and they pulled out too. Gretna under Mileson were a time bomb from the start. It was never sustainable and they didn't even try to pretend it was. It was just a matter of when it was going to blow up in their face. I always felt sorry for the people who built that club up from amateur football to play in the FA Cup then reach the SFL. That was indeed "living the dream" and it was achieved by hard work over a few decades. Mileson pissed all that away in no time at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grazza Posted November 27, 2014 Share Posted November 27, 2014 It was a good watch that documentary. It is unfortunate what happened with Rowan Alexander, things happen at football clubs and a lot of people have had severe stress at some point in their life. Looking at a lot of the work he is doing with youth development the guy clearly has a hunger for the game and wants to get back into management. Maybe the sharp rise of Gretna was a bit much for him and beyond his level. Surely worth a punt for a league 1 or league 2 club. I guess there is more to his story that I don't know or have forgotten, would be nice to see him get a chance to redeem his reputation and prove he can be a decent manager even without a big budget. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sergeant Wilson Posted November 27, 2014 Share Posted November 27, 2014 It was a good watch that documentary. It is unfortunate what happened with Rowan Alexander, things happen at football clubs and a lot of people have had severe stress at some point in their life. Looking at a lot of the work he is doing with youth development the guy clearly has a hunger for the game and wants to get back into management. Maybe the sharp rise of Gretna was a bit much for him and beyond his level. Surely worth a punt for a league 1 or league 2 club. I guess there is more to his story that I don't know or have forgotten, would be nice to see him get a chance to redeem his reputation and prove he can be a decent manager even without a big budget. If he hadn't been such an arrogant fucking James Hunt to all and sundry he might well have had another chance by now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdenbeath Posted November 27, 2014 Share Posted November 27, 2014 If he hadn't been such an arrogant fucking James Hunt to all and sundry he might well have had another chance by now. Aye shit on folk on the way up and they will remember when you fall back down. Horrible individual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markc Posted November 28, 2014 Author Share Posted November 28, 2014 After research i reckon Mileson tried to break the team up to STOP them getting in the SPL as he knew the money had run out. Hence Wadsworth undermining Alexander and offloading their best players.Im sure that by that point Mileson must have known that the SPL would spell the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~~~ Posted November 28, 2014 Share Posted November 28, 2014 Didn't Alexander show up first game of Gretna SPL season at Motherwell after being punted claiming he was still the manager? I remember us needing a last minute winner against them at Motherwell, pretty sure it was Chris Killen who got it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kilbowie's Finest Posted November 29, 2014 Share Posted November 29, 2014 I still wonder how much longer The Bankies might have limped on in Senior football if Gretna's application had been rejected and Airdrie United's initial one had been accepted The rest as they say is History....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gannonball Posted November 29, 2014 Share Posted November 29, 2014 Didn't Alexander show up first game of Gretna SPL season at Motherwell after being punted claiming he was still the manager? I remember us needing a last minute winner against them at Motherwell, pretty sure it was Chris Killen who got it It was indeed. I think the team formally known as Rangers had dropped points against them (I think it was a game they had needlessly rearranged as well) so we needed them to keep going to the end of the season as other wise all games against them would have been void. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mid-table Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 Didn't Alexander show up first game of Gretna SPL season at Motherwell after being punted claiming he was still the manager?He said in the documentary that he had to do that otherwise he would have been in breach of contract. Mileson gave the Berwick Rangers Supporters Trust either £10k or £15k, I can't remember which. The Trust basically had a couple of meetings with him then asked for the money. It allowed them to buy a significant shareholding in the football club. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HibeeJibee Posted December 2, 2014 Share Posted December 2, 2014 I still wonder how much longer The Bankies might have limped on in Senior football if Gretna's application had been rejected and Airdrie United's initial one had been accepted The rest as they say is History....... I suppose it would have depended whether the Clydebank Supporters organisations, or someone else, would have been able to come in, and buy the club out of administration? Otherwise the feared liquidation would have come about, and we'd probably have ended-up in virtually the same scenario... with Airdrie United having filled the vacancy caused by Airdrieonians demise, and then Gretna later filling that of Clydebank. It was indeed. I think the team formally known as Rangers had dropped points against them (I think it was a game they had needlessly rearranged as well) so we needed them to keep going to the end of the season as other wise all games against them would have been void. As I recall, in October the SFA asked to postpone Rangers & Celtic's league games ahead of the vital concluding home qualifer v Italy (which we lost). Rangers then came along a month later and asked to postpone their league game against the mighty Gretna (which they later scraped 2-1) ahead of their vital home CL match v Lyon (which they lost heavily). This highly disruptive 'innovation' was promptly dropped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Binos123sam Posted December 2, 2014 Share Posted December 2, 2014 I am not saying I am definitely telling the truth but I will say all I know about it mileson tried to take over at Carlisle but that ended up failing so he bought Gretna and wanted to make them be up there with the of but after the hearts and Europa league games he just went oh f**k it whilst still owning Gretna he couldn't give two fucks about them. The reasons about the stadium where because what I said above I think That could all be piss but that's all I think I know Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.