(746)  NO MONEY AT GRETNA

A New Year’s resolution at Scots Law News was to keep an eye on the fortunes of Gretna FC (No 723).  Alas, the club remains anchored to the bottom of the Scottish Premier League while the other teams, even Hearts, steam slowly away over the horizon.  Fortunes appeared to take a turn for the worse when eccentric owner Brooks Mileson, who has funded the club’s rise from non-league obscurity, was taken seriously ill with a brain infection in early February 2008 and admitted to Newcastle General Hospital for tests.  This meant that no funds could move to the club, as Mileson was the only person able to authorize the necessary transfers, and as a result players and other staff did not receive their wages in the middle of the month.  The head coach Davie Irons and his assistant resigned on 18 February to take over at Greenock Morton FC, and there were fears that Gretna might have to go into administration.  Happily Mileson was released from hospital on 22 February, expected to make a full recovery; back-payments of wages were made, and the following week’s payments also authorized.  A close-run thing, perhaps, but Gretna are still afloat, albeit they lost again on 24 February, 4-2 to SPL leaders Glasgow Rangers FC.