This Sporting Life: Eight-goal whipping the latest sorry chapter in Stranraer tale

Published on Sunday 25 January 2009 22:11

IT HAS become a worryingly familiar story in Scottish football: smalltown club makes progress on the field before hitting a financial wall, leading them to sell their best players, see their manager depart and hope that someone, somewhere, emerges to square off their debt while they flounder at the foot of their division. For Gretna last season, read Stranraer now.

The omens were not good going into Saturday's home game against Stirling Albion. Stranraer chairman Nigel Redhead admitted last Wednesday that "it's about 50-50 that we will go out of business at the end of the season" with the club buckling under 250,000 of debt. Gregory Tade, a talented Frenchman, had been sold to Clyde earlier in the day to raise funds.

The match itself, at Stranraer's rickety Stair Park ground, was evenly poised 1-1 at half-time. But then the second half began and Stranraer's world caved in. By 76 minutes, they were 6-1 down. Martin Grehan went on to complete his hat-trick for Stirling, his side's second of the match with Chris Hamilton having earlier notched a treble. Final score: Stranraer 2 Stirling Albion 8 (Eight).

Within hours, it was announced that manager Derek Ferguson had departed the club by mutual consent. The former Rangers, Hearts and Scotland midfielder had taken charge last February and won the Third Division manager of the month award at the first time of asking. But his relationship with the club's dwindling band of supporters rapidly deteriorated, and his exit had long been anticipated.

Ferguson did guide Stranraer from the Third to the Second Division in his time in charge, though that was due to the demise of another fiscally challenged club, Gretna. When the Borders side's dream turned into a nightmare and they went bust last May, the knock-on effect was that the Second Division was a team light. Stranraer, as Third Division play-off beaten finalists, were granted promotion.

It was a false dawn. They are without a win since October, are all but certain to be relegated at the end of the season (if they make it that far) and have seen crowds dwindle to around 300, often below. Chairman Redhead admits this does not nearly cover the wage bill of 250,000. That is 250,000 per year; Manchester City were prepared to pay Kaka more than that per week. Same game, different planet.

"We're living week-to-week here at the moment," admitted Redhead. "If we make it to the end of the season then there will be drastic cutbacks in the budget."

So Scotland's third-oldest senior team now see their very existence threatened. A planned share issue can not be formalised until the summer, by which time it may be too late. A band of followers have set up Friends of Stranraer FC, a group aiming to raise funds for the club from like-minded football supporters at home and abroad.

A new club may take Stranraer's SFL spot, players will find new clubs, even Ferguson will probably continue in coaching somewhere. But the Scottish football landscape would be a lot less colourful without the likes of Stranraer's blues.