Gretna players remain in limbo as powers that be drag their feet

Published on Saturday 22 March 2008 18:32

SMALL steps, small victories. Just as a goal, maybe a clean sheet or, hallelujah, a draw was considered the equivalent to a victory to a Gretna side struggling on the pitch in their fledgling days in the SPL, the final days are also defined by small victories. This time off the field of play.

This time it's not about pride, it's about livelihoods. It's about the club trying to tread water to save the SPL losing face.

Last week there was talk of the club being unable to see out the subsequent few days, then it was the suggestion that there would not be enough players to fulfil the fixture at Aberdeen. In the end the club limped on and while several players refused to play because wages were not forthcoming and they weren't willing to put themselves on the line, risking injury and their chances of a move, a team was eventually cobbled together. The next problem to surface was the fact that the dodgy Fir Park pitch meant there was no ground to play this afternoon's must-have money-earner against Celtic. Then there was as the league decided to turn a blind eye to a mid-season switch of venue and Livingston's Almondvale ground was identified as the replacement. By the beginning of the week, with still no evidence of salary dues being brought up to date, the entire squad were considering strike action. A token payment staved off that threat. Now there are supposedly guarantees of the club's survival until the end of the season at least. Cash advances and examples of people bending over backwards to dig the club out of a mire left by one man's lack of foresight, mismanagement or complete inconsideration.

Small victories but there is no win bonus. Not for the players who remain stuck in limbo, a personal purgatory where there is no assurance worth a penny and mortgages still to be paid. A limbo where creditors, including current, as well as former, employees await the monies owed to them, while the administrators struggle to find ways of playing football matches. Some players are not even travelling to training, the cost of petrol an un-affordable expenditure when there is no longer adequate income.

Their hope is that FIFA acts quickly and grants dispensation for them to move to other clubs outwith the transfer window. That period of grace, though, ends on Thursday for clubs down south, and the end of this month in Scotland and with the SFA offices closed for the Easter weekend, the wheels of bureaucracy are grinding slower than ever. Frustrating given the fact that several have already been courted by other clubs keen to bring them on board.

Fraser Wishart, chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association Scotland, is acting on behalf of the Gretna squad, seeking understanding and expediency from FIFA. And Allan Preston, who represents several of the players, said the hope is that the matter can be resolved quickly once the offices open again this week, but there are no guarantees.

"The fact is we don't have much time and players are left without games on a Saturday or even day-to-day training. It is in their best interests that we get this resolved as soon as possible. But we have to wait to see what FIFA decides. We just have to hope they do it soon."

If the world football governors rule in the players' favour then the pressure is back on Gretna. They have always said they are unwilling and unable to stand in the players' way if they choose to leave. But they still need enough people to select a team from if they are going to see through assurances offered to the SPL this week that they will complete their remaining top-flight fixtures.

By that time, though, the club will have had their hoped-for windfall from the meeting with Celtic today and the split will be looming. Not just between the top and bottom six but between Gretna and the real world of football they fleetingly infiltrated.