A remarkable story: Chelsea of the North

mikemac

Gretna scored a goal in the final minute of the game of the season to get promotion to SPL.
I've been following this team and their meteoric rise from Scotish Division 3 and now to SPL. Three straight promotions!

They were unlucky in the Scottish Cup last year.

If any of you bet on football, they've been won of the bankers on any betting slip-often get massive runs of consecutive wins.

Anyone else follow Gretna, otherwise known as the Chelsea of the North?

This thread isn't to show my support for a team, the forum would be clogged up in no time if everyone did this.

But three straight promotions and a great cup run, and a last minute goal to ensure promotion and and noone else has ever started on this team. Can understand why. Story's like this happen maybe once a decade.

evilhomer

Didn't they invite along hundreds of people from all the local clubs to trial for them and pick the best squad from that? Or is that just a crazy rumor I heard?

mike65

Its Swansea all over again.

Mike.

ziggy

This post has been deleted.

_blank_

micmclo wrote:

But three straight promotions and a great cup run, and a last minute goal to ensure promotion and and noone else has ever started on this team.

:rolleyes:

And a 1-5 loss to Derry City at home in Europe last season. Or has that been forgotten by the bandwaggoners who get behind Irish football when it's "doing well"? Derry fúcking destroyed them that night, IN SCOTLAND.

Yes, no-one has ever heard of the famous Gretna.

Zebra3

micmclo wrote:

Gretna scored a goal in the final minute of the game of the season to get promotion to SPL.
I've been following this team and their meteoric rise from Scotish Division 3 and now to SPL. Three straight promotions!

They were unlucky in the Scottish Cup last year.

If any of you bet on football, they've been won of the bankers on any betting slip-often get massive runs of consecutive wins.

Anyone else follow Gretna, otherwise known as the Chelsea of the North?

This thread isn't to show my support for a team, the forum would be clogged up in no time if everyone did this.

But three straight promotions and a great cup run, and a last minute goal to ensure promotion and and noone else has ever started on this team. Can understand why. Story's like this happen maybe once a decade.

Rich bloke comes in and spends a fortune getting a small village team through the lower ranks of Scottish football. And given the hiding they took off Derry last season in the UEFA cup, it shows any sort of money would have any sort of club strolling through the nether regions of Scottish football.

Comes nowhere near the Wimbledon (RIP) story.

If any rich bloke (or bird, we're non-sexist) wants to invest in the nether regions of Irish football, ring Tolka Park. Please!

odonnell

And as the St Johnstone manager and countless newspaper reporters and radio phone-ins pointed out yesterday - they bring nothing to the SPL and frankly, nobody is getting excited about them being there.

Frankly, im embarassed about them being in the SPL next season because it proves that you dont need to have a good quality team, you dont have to have a stadium, and you dont need a large support - all you need is a wee bit of cash and voila! Youre a pub team turned Scottish Premier League. That annoys me greatly....

There are other teams who have been striving for over a hundred years in Scottish football who deserve their chance, St Johnstone being one of many - dundee, hamilton, ross county for goodness sake - most of the first division teams would be more welcome than Gretna because at least they would bring something to the league in terms of fans, a stadium to travel to for the away support, marketing, strips etc.... But Gretna?? Pfft

I doubt theyve even got decent pies.

Zebra3

Will Gretna play in their home ground or in Fir Park like they did during their European "run"?

Doodee

seansouth wrote:

:rolleyes:

And a 1-5 loss to Derry City at home in Europe last season. Or has that been forgotten by the bandwaggoners who get behind Irish football when it's "doing well"? Derry fúcking destroyed them that night, IN SCOTLAND.

Yes, no-one has ever heard of the famous Gretna.

Is that the same as Man u beating Roma 7 - 1?

congratulations to them in fairness, Lets see how they do in the SPL against Celtic and the gang

nlgbbbblth

I hate them.
I think Brooks Mileson is a creep.

Hope they're relegated next season.

Was great to see Derry City hammer them 5-1.

Raskolnikov

nlgbbbblth wrote:

I think Brooks Mileson is a creep.

Apparently he lives on cigarettes and Lucozade :eek:

odonnell

Zebra3 wrote:

Will Gretna play in their home ground or in Fir Park like they did during their European "run"?

i heard theyd be playing at fir park mate but i cant see how this would work for an entire season.... maybe they are indeed able to sort out a ground share but id lament the nice surface at fir park... its generally a lovely pitch.

Iago

odonnell wrote:

There are other teams who have been striving for over a hundred years in Scottish football who deserve their chance, St Johnstone being one of many - dundee, hamilton, ross county for goodness sake - most of the first division teams would be more welcome than Gretna because at least they would bring something to the league in terms of fans, a stadium to travel to for the away support, marketing, strips etc.... But Gretna?? Pfft

I doubt theyve even got decent pies.

they won the league, St. Johnstone didn't. If St. Johnstone or dundee or hamilton or anybody else had a better team then gretna then they would have won the league and got into the SPL.

Gretna were the best team in the league so they deserve their chance, as for what they bring to the SPL that's obvious. The best squad of players from division 1.

thebaz

Iago wrote:

they won the league, St. Johnstone didn't. The best squad of players from division 1.

The dizzy heights of division 1 in Scotland -- how anyone has interest in lower league Scottish football , unless your from Scotland or the area ...

odonnell

Iago wrote:

they won the league, St. Johnstone didn't. If St. Johnstone or dundee or hamilton or anybody else had a better team then gretna then they would have won the league and got into the SPL.

Gretna were the best team in the league so they deserve their chance, as for what they bring to the SPL that's obvious. The best squad of players from division 1.

They deserve their chance, correct. But what i was trying to illustrate wasnt quite as black and white as you seem to think. I do feel i illustrated my main problem with Gretna being in the SPL fairly well though in that they only prove how fickle the scottish game is at present.

They dont necessarily have the best group of players at all, and they dont have a stadium which meets the minimum SPL requirements, they have a tiny support - so, sorry, i believe they bring nothing of note to the SPL.

You say they bring the best group of div 1 players - oddly enough so would any other team that won the div 1 title, but there are far bigger, and far more illustrious teams than Gretna who in my opinion would be more deserving considering their years of hard labour and clawing their way through the decades to get to div 1 in the first place. There are teams with decent stadia, decent supports and real heritage.... they would make the SPL more interesting and again more marketable - what do Gretna bring?

theres no real argument against what im saying here you know, its not myth or lies...

But yeah, go on gretna... more power to you and well done, and all that, its nice to see a success story...BUT - you being promoted is not good for our game.

Zaph

thebaz wrote:

how anyone has interest in lower league Scottish football , unless your from Scotland or the area ...

Corrected

odonnell

zaph wrote:

Corrected

funny that... coming from an irish forum. Need i point out the irony of that?

Zaph

Yeah, I know, I just couldn't help myself.

odonnell

its tough at the top