Chick Young's World of Football

By Chick Young BBC Scotland football correspondent

Gretna Football Club lie wounded, fighting for life.

In fact the obituary writers are hard at work. And all the bitter and twisted can think of doing is give them a right good kicking.

It has been vitriolic at times, the tsunami of delight which has thundered over their demise.

Jigs of delight danced around their sickbed. I've found it all a little sad.

Gretna's players and staff face an uncertain future

Have the ghouls no place in their hearts for the players whose income has been slashed or taken away altogether?

Is it different from the closure of a factory or a coal mine?

And in any case when a romance turns sour, is it better never to have had the love affair at all?

Do you not smile at the memory of the joyous moments before it went horribly wrong.

Brooks Mileson is not guilty of any crimes against humanity. All he did was throw his fortune at a village team and trigger one of the most remarkable adventures in the history of the game in this country.

Gretna are the mouse that roared.

Of course, it has crashed and burned in spectacular style.

The demise of the club completes the most spectacular game of football snakes and ladders ever seen.

But when all is said and done they brought interest to our leagues where there was none and if their core support never really topped 1,000 then they still multiplied it fourfold from where they began.

They planted seeds of fascination with our game with coaching classes in parts of Scotland where they were once more intrigued by the flounder trampling championships on the Solway.

And trust me, such a pastime exists.

MY SPORT: DEBATE What does the future have in store for Gretna?

Of course there was gross mismanagement. It wouldn't have come to this had there not been.

But there should be some self examination by other clubs in this country before they point the finger at Raydale Park.

What is to become of them? Gretna were, I concede, a little like spoilt kids, the recipients of too much too early and too easily in their lives.

That tends to be a scenario which ends in tears. And maybe that is why they are hated.

But there is not that much wrong with buying success.

The Old Firm have been doing it since before Hibs last won the Scottish Cup. Or the Ice Age. Which ever came first.

I'll tell you exactly what will happen to Gretna.

Will Gretna survive to return to their Raydale Park home?

They will parachute back to from whence they came, after breathing on a life support machine until the season's end, their presence in the SPL making an absolute farce of the bottom six fixtures after the split.

In truth, the clubs will be taking money from fans under false pretences as Gretna depart the top division never to be seen again.

And then they will start life in the First Division next season hit by a ten point penalty, victims of a player embargo.

They cannot claim protection in law from double-jeopardy because the SFL and the SPL are separate bodies. Their fate is already laid before them.

Then it becomes a decision by those in charge of the club - the administrators - as to whether it is really worth the bother.

It will be like trying to halt the rushing tide on the Solway, an impossible job at the best of times without attempting it standing on quicksand.

They are living the nightmare now all right, speeding back down the road which led them to the stars with only their memories to keep them warm from the cold wind of reality.

"Preserve your memories," wrote Paul Simon, "they're all that's left you." He was right too. But they don't pay bills.

I haven't had the chance to ask him, but I suspect that Brooks would do it all over again.

Oh come on, the man had a right go and when all is said and done rocked the very foundations of the game in this country.

And I can't find it in me to dance on the grave of a football club.