The end of the Dream
(5 votes, average: 4.8 out of 5)
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As the administrators move in at Gretna, it would appear to be only a matter of time before the dream completes its transition into a nightmare. The entire playing staff is free to leave, nobody is being paid, Davie Irons has already jumped ship for Morton, crowds are at a Third Division level, Brooks Mileson has servered all ties with the club and Rowan Alexander, who had previously “had a job for life” is chasing £800,000 he believes he is owed.
The amazing thing about this story is that there are those who genuinely did not appear to see how it was going to end. Just like Livingston, Dundee and dare I say it, Airdrieonians, Gretna chased a ridiculous dream of paying out money they simply did not have in a vain attempt to punch above their weight. Inevitably, it will bring some short term success and Gretna’s quick progress through the leagues was impressive. Admittedly, they spent a lot of money but even still, winning a league title is easier said than done so they do deserve some credit.
However, Gretna’s financial figures simply don’t add up. Paying something like £22,000 just to stage a home game with the tiny crowds they get was never going to be a profitable arrangement. Playing games at Fir Park - a 140 mile round trip - is just ridiculous and as frustrating as it might have been, the wise option would have appeared to have been to stay in the First Division for another season until a new ground was ready. After all, if this team was so good surely they would be in the SPL sooner rather than later?
Gretna did do a lot of good - most notably in their youth iniatives - but in the bigger picture of Scottish football, they added nothing. Despised by the lower league clubs who saw their best players snapped up on bigger wages as Gretna bought their way through the leagues and not wanted by the SPL who knew exactly just how small their crowds would become, the only people in Scottish football who cared about Gretna were the media, who by building the dream were able to fill vital column inches.
The Gretna bandwagon was frankly nauseating and I have never celebrated a football match as much as I did when Hearts won the penalty shoot out in the 2006 Scottish Cup final. The image of this friendly, fun-loving club could not have been further from the truth, with it being common knowledge Alexander was disliked by his entire playing staff, rumours of players not being paid and much more. This was never reported in the press though who were happy to live in fantasy land by building the Gretna dream.
It’s this land of fantasy that has seen Scottish football reach the state that it is in. Who on earth thought Airdrie, St Johnstone, Livingston, etc were going to fil 10,000 seats?
As much as we point and laugh at Gretna, as Airdrie United fans we cannot exempt ourselves from this fantasy world that exists inside Scottish football. A quick read over the Stomp on a weekly basis sees Jim Ballantyne savaged by fans for “not caring enough about the club”. This is despite the fact without this man there would be no Airdrie United Football Club. Despite the fact that he was the only man ready to step up to the plate when it seemed all hope had been lost. Despite the fact he loses a six figure sum on an annual basis just to keep things going. But he’s accused of lacking ambition.
If you have ever been critical of Jim Ballantyne in the past, stop and pause for a moment. Now, ask yourself why you don’t live in a bigger house to the one you have. Why you don’t have a better car. Why you don’t go a couple of extra holidays every year. After all, chances are you’d be a lot happier if you did have all that. If you’re now thinking “well I would, but I don’t have the money” then bingo, you’ve just defended Jim Ballantyne. Lets get one thing clear - Airdrie lose money every year. Not a few £20 notes, a lot of money. More money than you make in a year.
So why should Jim Ballantyne continue to plough more and more money into the club if people like you don’t care? You might be sitting at home today having a laugh at Gretna for spending money they don’t have and getting themselves into this state. But that is exactly what Airdrie United fans want Airdrie United Football Club to do. The fact we are being run prudently (we are still losing money) does not seem to appease the fans, who have no grip on financial reality and seem to want to live in the same island of fantasy as the Gretna bandwagon.
Sitting here today, I cannot convince myself that Airdrie United will never go bust. How can I after we had 611 at our last home game? What I can convince myself of is that had we followed the policy the fans want us to, we would not currently be in existence.
I could come along tomorrow and give Airdrie United Football Club £1million. Paying a 22 man squad just £800 a week (what calibre of player are we getting for that?) would use up almost all of that on basic wages alone. That’s before bonuses, policing costs, signing on fees, ground mainteance and all the many, many other costs that go with running a football club. And that’s just cost me £1 million.
Gretna are living (for now) proof that dreams do not work. If Brooks Mileson and his multi-millions cannot avoid this situation from happening, what chances do the rest of us have?
The only way for football clubs such as Airdrie United to survive are for the fans and the community to unite behind the club and support it unconditionally. I’ll be honest, I think the standard of football over the past 18 months has been awful - almost unwatchable. But I know that overtime, we can turn it round by making the right moves and give us a club we can be proud of again. Put it this way, we’re in a better position now than Hamilton Accies were a few years ago and look where they are now.
But if people like me stop going there will be no Airdrie United Football Club in years to come. So if you care, ever have cared or think you one day might care about this football club, then put your dummy back in, stop your bitching and get down and support the team. Bring a friend, bring your brother, bring your son. Turn out and back the club in anyway you can safe in the knowledge we are a well run club and if we all get behind the club, one day it will turn around. We have a genuinely good chance of promotion this year through the Play Offs (do you really fear Clyde?) and next season, we could be competing with the likes of Dunfermline, Dundee and Morton. Things WILL pick up.
By all means enjoy a laugh at Gretna’s expense - personally I hope they go under - but don’t miss the point of it all. There is a lesson in a message in their demise which will make of break Airdrie United Football Club.
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