Gretna resign from Scottish Football League

Published on Tuesday 3 June 2008 14:10

GRETNA have resigned from the Scottish Football League, the League confirmed today.

An SFL spokesman said: "I have this morning received intimation from the Gretna FC administrator of their resignation from the Scottish Football League with immediate effect.

"I have accepted this resignation on behalf of the Scottish Football League and accordingly, we now have a vacancy in the Third Division and are seeking applications."

Gretna's resignation promises a busy summer for the SFL and potential applicants for the vacancy in the Irn-Bru Third Division.

The SFL have set a deadline of Thursday June 12 for prospective new clubs to apply for membership.

Meanwhile, SFA chief executive Gordon Smith has announced that he will seek talks with league officials in an attempt to prevent a repeat of Gretna's demise.

Smith believes lessons must be learned over the role of owner and benefactor Brooks Mileson, who effectively pulled the plug on Gretna after his money had taken them to the top flight.

"It's very sad," Smith said. "Unfortunately the problem with Gretna was their success was down to the money of one person and there was no stability behind it because of that.

"That's something that maybe lessons have to be learned about, the stability in the game.

"If someone is putting a lot of money into a team and it's getting a bit of success for a while, is there any future for that team if that one person pulls out?

"I think all of us in Scottish football need to look at that, all the bodies, everybody involved in the game.

"The SFA, the SFL, the SPL will need to look very closely at these aspects of how the game is structured and financed."