Gretna

A Brief History of Gretna Football Club

Gretna Football Club took the Bell’s Scottish Third Division title in style in season 2004/05, re-writing the record books along the way. The club broke Inverness Caledonian Thistle’s 11-game winning run by 2 games in the December and striker Kenny Deuchar shattered the Third Division scoring record of 24 previously held by Michael Moore of Stranraer and D. MacFarlane of Hamilton Accies. Gretna demolished the Third Division highest goals total of 87 held jointly by Stranraer and Ross County and romped to the earliest promotion from the Division when they beat Cowdenbeath 1-0 on the 5th March. Gretna also shattered the Division’s highest points total of 80 held by Forfar from season 1994/95.

It was testament to local businessman and managing director Brooks Mileson’s vision and substantial cash injection into the club which saw players of Premier League calibre turning out at Raydale Park.

The club was formed in July 1946, with assistance and professional advice from the Messrs. McKinnell (Senior and Junior) of Queen of the South F. C. and under the chairmanship of Jock Kerr, an ex-professional player himself. The club played its inaugural season in the Dumfries Junior League. The following season the decision was taken to transfer to the Carlisle and District League where the club remained until 1982, with the exception of season 1951-52 when it competed in the newly formed Cumberland League which folded after only one season.
Amongst the club’s best known players of this successful era were Billy Cross who skippered the team for several years without missing a match, and strikers Dennis "Touchy" Smith and the late Tommy McFarlane, who each hold the distinction of scoring over 100 goals in a season.

Six consecutive Carlisle and District League titles proved that the club was becoming too strong for its local surroundings and the club was admitted to the newly formed Second Division of the Northern League in 1982, spending over £100,000 on upgrading the ground to the standards required by the League.
Promotion to the First Division was achieved at the first attempt and the club spent nine successful seasons at this level culminating in back-to-back championships in 1990-91 and 1991-92, the latter ensuring promotion to the First Division of the Northern Premier League.

In 1999 Gretna beat Glasgow Rangers (virtually the first team) 2-1 in a match arranged to raise money for the Lockerbie Air Disaster.
In their first season in the NPL the club finished sixth and reached the semi-final of the League Cup.

Although the team was not able to match that League position again in the nineties they hit national headlines by reaching the 1st round of the F. A. Cup where they acquitted themselves well v Rochdale (1991-92) and Bolton Wanderers (1993-94.) Gretna have won the Cumberland FA Senior Cup four times since 1991-92.

In 1993 and 1999 Gretna applied for membership of the Scottish Football League. Though not successful the club’s applications were well received. Gretna finished the 2001-2002 season in 7th place in the UniBond League First Division. In June 2002 the club were successful at the third attempt of asking in gaining membership of the Scottish League. Gretna finished 5th and 3rd respectively in their first two seasons in the Scottish League and, thanks to Brooks Mileson’s generosity and dedication to the club, revealed plans to build a new 6,000 all-seater stadium to SPL standard matching the club’s ambitions.