At a meeting with employees on Monday, administrators appointed in March after English owner Brooks Mileson fell seriously ill and severed all financial ties with the club, made all 40 staff, from goalkeeper to groundsman, redundant.
Not all is lost: a potential buyer is in talks with administrators, but the prospect of losing Gretna FC has fans asking whether having a rich benefactor, a phenomenon that is increasingly common in British football, is such a good idea.
"We'd rather not have had Mr Mileson's money if this was the outcome," said Heather Bryden, a Gretna fan of 30 years who used to work on the gate at home games.
Gretna's difficulties, including debts of some four million pounds ($7.92 million), are partly linked to their success. Their pitch, which one former employee said needed 350,000 pounds' worth of refurbishment, was not up to SPL standards, forcing the team to hold all their home matches 120 kms away in Motherwell.
This meant many fans were no longer attending Gretna matches as trips to Motherwell were too expensive.
I have written in an earlier post this week that this club had gone through three consecutive promotions to reach the top flight in Scotland. This also could make a valid argument against US Soccer adopting a system of promotion and relegation.
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