Town fights for football ground

The group hopes to secure the ground for the community

A campaign group is to pursue a legal bid to secure the former football ground of Gretna FC for the community.

Retired teacher Grace Hind heads the Fighting '46 Fund Committee which claims Raydale Park was gifted to the the townspeople in 1946.

It believes there are grounds to contest administrators plans to sell the football ground on the open market.

Former Scottish Premier League side Gretna went into administration last year with debts of about �4m.

The community group has taken legal advice on its bid to secure the ground for the town.

We want the town to have a football ground but we do not want to blame or point the finger at anyone

Grace Hind
Fighting '46 Fund Committee

It centres on the claim that the land was gifted to the community more than 60 years ago and should not have been considered part of Gretna FC's property.

Ms Hind said: "We had a well-attended meeting of the committee and it's been decided to proceed with our challenge.

"We can't say too much at the moment or go into any detail but our contention is that Raydale Park was not validly transferred to the football club when it became a limited company.

"Our QC gave what I can describe as a reasonably supportive opinion."

She added that the main goal was to ensure the community had use of the land.

She said: "We want the town to have a football ground but we do not want to blame or point the finger at anyone."

However, administrators believe they are in a position to sell Raydale Park.

They have told creditors that their legal advice is that the ground is an asset of the football club.

Last year, Dumfries and Galloway Council ruled out a bid to buy the site due to concerns at a "lack of clarity" over ownership.