Gretna Football Club Stop Paying Wages

Scottish Premiership club Gretna have confirmed that they have been unable to pay players and staff due to club owner Brooks Mileson’s continued hospitalisation. He has bankrolled the tiny club’s progress from the Scottish Third Division to the Clydesdale Bank Premier League. The 59-year old collapsed last week and is still undergoing tests at a Newcastle hospital. The 60 players and staff at Gretna are paid weekly by a holding company and only Mileson can authorise the payments. However, wages have been paid on previous occasions when the owner has been ill. The club has expressed the hope that the problem is a short-term one and has emphasised the fact that the Mileson family has a long-term commitment to the club. Finances at the club have been stretched this season with Gretna suffering poor crowds after being forced to play matches at Fir Park, Motherwell’s ground, a long trip from their Dumfriesshire home at Raydale Park which does not meet stadia criteria.