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Taken from “The Times Online” – November 14th 2004
Millionaire With The Midas Touch Follow the signpost to the Sunday market, turn right at the rundown social club and there, sitting among the potholes and puddles outside Raydale Park, is what looks suspiciously like an Aston Martin. In a town renowned for its runaway marriages, the first of which was conducted there more than 250 years ago, the one between Brooks Mileson and Gretna Football Club is perhaps the most incongruous yet.
After a couple of years together, what started as an affair and escalated into something of a whirlwind romance has become a way of life these past few months, but still they make an odd couple. Gretna, until two seasons ago an impoverished part-time club padding around in the Unibond League, could not in their wildest dreams have imagined that they would be swept off their feet by a multi-millionaire, given a facelift and promised a place in Scotland’s top flight.
Mileson, though, has his sights set on the SPL, an ambition that has had the curtains twitching in Gretna and beyond, as though his unlikely courtship of the club were something to be ashamed of. Yesterday, on his 57th birthday, his team beat Peterhead to claim leadership of the Third Division, but after selling two of his businesses last month, a deal that netted him £36m, they are wondering what a man like him is doing with a club like this.
He, after all, was making his way up the rich lists long before he cashed in on the accident-management and credit-hire businesses he had built from scratch. He still owns “seven or eight” companies, and is in the process of buying “two or three” more. Gretna, meanwhile, were playing in the Carlisle and District League until 1982, joined the Scottish Football League only two years ago, and attract attendance figures that would barely fill their benefactor’s wallet. Quite how they will fill the 6,000 capacity stadium he plans to build them remains a mystery.
Mileson has heard all the stories, the claims that he will sell their humble abode to a housing developer, the rumours that his investment is the product of a bet between sugar daddies. When he mischievously told one reporter that Harrods were planning to build a new branch on the site, the newspaper printed the exclusive. “They try to think up ways of knocking it, of finding an angle, instead of just saying, ‘Here is a guy from a council estate in Sunderland who loves football’. People are suspicious. They want to know why. They will not accept that I just have a love of the game at grassroots level.”
His track record bears that out. He supports Carlisle United and, despite failing in a long-running bid to buy out Michael Knighton two years back, he refuses to rule out the possibility of a future takeover. “Whether or not it happens, it will not affect Gretna,” says Mileson, who last month donated £25,000 to the United Trust, and promised to give another £1 for every further £1 raised. They need £300,000 to secure the shareholding they seek in the parent company.
The Roman Abramovich of the non-league scene, Mileson has sponsored “40-odd clubs” in the north of England, from Scarborough and Whitby Town to Penrith and Workington Reds. He has been president of Whitby since the 1980s and, when they won the FA Vase at Wembley in 1997, he was so excited that he agreed on the spot to a plea for sponsorship from Mike Amos, chairman of the stricken Northern League. The deal commits him for the rest of his life and, through a trust, his children ’s lives. “He could have asked me for my wife that day, and I would have given her to him” he says.
Mileson can accept it when people call him eccentric. He is, it seems, the patron saint of lost causes, although his health could do with rising from the ashes. As well as his faded denims, he wears a ponytail and goatee, rises at 4am every day and by bedtime has smoked 100 cigarettes. “More, if I can stay up long enough,” he says. “I started smoking at 48. Somebody had to. Everybody else was giving up. But I very rarely drink, and for days on end I forget to eat. I live on Marlboro and Lucozade.”
What he cannot accept, as a practising Christian, are doubts about his honesty. He moved into the Gretna area eight years ago when Arnott Insurance Group, a company he sold in 2000, was thriving north of the border. Familiar with the club from their days in the Northern League, he attended their first match in the Scottish Third Division, and was hooked. “When people question my integrity, when people say, ‘Why is he doing it, what’s in it for him? ’ I resent that. My wealth, to use that awful word, has been created by dealing with the man in the street, and this is my way of putting something back.”
Mileson identifies with people who have nothing, but who refuse to accept their lot. He was brought up on the Pennywell council estate in Sunderland, and was among a family of seven in a two-bedroomed house. He and his brother used to take turns going out because they had only one pair of wellingtons between them. Not long after his first encounter with Rowan Alexander, Gretna’s manager, he knew they would become friends. “I came to understand just what he had done to keep this club going, what he had sacrificed personally. He built some of the stands, mowed the grass and paid some of the kids out of his own pocket. I admire that. I’m enjoying helping Rowan, and others like him at the club, to fulfil their dream.”
Alexander’s employer is a romantic, a dreamer, a guy who learned early in his life that nothing was impossible. At the age of 11, when he and six of his mates were larking about in a quarry, Mileson was trapped under an avalanche of sand, the base of his back broken and his hips displaced. The trauma would give him nightmares for the next 20 years, and still haunts him to this day. “I will never forget the ambulance taking me through the fields, and the people telling me that I would never walk again,” he says. “I thought, ‘No bugger’s going to tell me I can’t walk’, so when my mum and dad were in bed I used to get up through the night and drag myself round the furniture. Eventually, I was given a zimmer frame and, after about a year, I was able to walk. Then they said, ‘Well look, you’ll have to wear built-up shoes because of the difference in your hips, and you won’t be able to participate in sport’. To me, it was like they were saying, ‘OK smart arse, you can walk, but you won’t be able to run’.”
So Mileson resolved to become a runner and, at the age of 20, won a bronze medal in the event that would later become the world junior cross-country championship. After that, he gave up, his point proven. “The day I stopped running was the happiest of my life. I hated it. When I was 17, I was running 100 miles a day. I used to run through ploughed fields to build up my strength. Sometimes, because I had damaged a kidney in the accident, I trained so hard I was peeing blood. I was in agony at times. I did it because I wanted to prove not only that I could participate in sport, but that I could be good at it.”
Mileson still endures pain in his back and legs, and for the last six years has suffered from ME. In a disturbing flashback to his youth, there are times, he says, when he can barely climb the stairs. “What you can’t do with this disease is give in to it. You have to fight it. When you stop and rest, that’s when it hits you. The good thing about my lifestyle is that I live on adrenaline. If you’re getting a buzz out of things, it helps you overcome it.”
Mileson gets his kicks out of Gretna, even though some find it strange. By way of explanation, he cites the example of a former business partner, who bought a £2m yacht with his share of their profits. “Nobody said anything about that, except, ‘Great, good for him’. Well, what’s the difference? This is my enjoyment. He bought something that would last him for 10 or 15 years. I’ve bought something that will last forever.”
His philanthropy is rewarding too. He used to sponsor Allison Curbishley, the Scottish 400m runner, and recently pledged £25,000 to Carlisle athlete Jordan Fleary. Under his ownership, Gretna have taken a stand against drugs, against racism, and are engaged in a community project to “get kids off the streets”. The 100 acres of land where he lives in nearby Blackford double as an animal sanctuary, where he keeps ostriches, emus, wallabies, parrots, racoons and monkeys. If they are on peanuts, the same cannot be said of his staff.
Estimates vary as to how much Mileson has invested in Gretna. First, he wiped out their debt, then he tidied up the ground, re-laid the pitch and went full-time with a host of players from higher divisions. David Bingham rejected a one-year deal with Premier League Inverness Caledonian Thistle to head for the border. The squad have been promised that, if they are top of the League at Christmas, they will be taken to La Manga for a mid-season break. Next season, a new 4,000-capacity stadium will be in place, ready to be upgraded for the Premier League, a development that would take its total cost to around £3m.
All of which has prompted a degree of resentment. If rival managers are not complaining that their players have been tapped, they are deriding the resources at Alexander’s disposal, as though it were somehow immoral.
Scottish football, perhaps, has been bruised too often by ambition, as Dundee, Livingston and Motherwell will testify. The suspicion is that Gretna’s transformation is too good to be true, and that with a population of 2,705, eventually they will be unable to sustain themselves. Without Mileson, they will have only a millstone.
He insists that they are in it for the long haul, til death do they part. “We’re not Rangers or Celtic, nor will we ever be. We’re just a nice, little professional club who try to do things properly. Of course they can’t sustain themselves. Of course there is no population, but I’ve never walked away from anything in my life. I won’t say, ‘OK, I’ve done that, I’m bored, now let’s go and do something else’. No matter where I go, or whatever happens, I will always make sure Gretna are looked after.”
i`m currently playing as gretna in my 4th season and i am sitting at the top of the spl and doing well in the uefa cup after winning the scottish cup last season.my team is
gk per morten kristensaen 150k
rb christoffer andersson 800k
lb simone padoin 1.5m
cb naldo 1m
cb lee wilkie free
cm david dunn free
cm freddy guarin 1m
cm papa boba diop free
fc freddie kanoute free
fc john carew free
fc spinesi free
animal sanctuary, where he keeps ostriches, emus, wallabies, parrots, racoons and monkeys. If they are on peanuts, the same cannot be said of his staff.
Wonderful opening. Is that true about Mileson or just creative imagination? Either way, good luck
Thanks chaps - I can't take any credit for the opening though, it really does come from the Times. I originally saw the article in the paper and clipped it out as I thought that it could make a great basis for a story.
So that’s the real-life situation at Gretna. But FM2005 has let me roll back time to July 2004 and Rowan Alexander is no longer in charge at Raydale Park – I am. And what do I find on my arrival? Well, as far as backroom staff are concerned there was not too much to shout about. I have 42-year-old Davie Irons as my Assistant and he is also on the playing staff; Billy Bently is my sole Physio and Mark Ferguson forms the entire strength of my Scouting operation. Clearly reinforcements are required so one of my first actions is to post a few ads in the Job Centre. On the playing front there are over 35 players on the books and it will certainly take some time to sort out the wheat from the chaff.
There are a number of experienced campaigners on the books. Alan Main is a very experienced keeper having played previously for Dundee United and St. Johnstone. Right back Derek Townsley includes Motherwell and Hibs on his CV. Midfielder Danny Lennon has experience at Partick, Raith and Hibs. Midfielder Stephen Cosgrove is a product of the Man United youth system and forward David “Bingo” Bingham has had stints with Inverness Caledonian, Livingston, Dunfermline, Forfar and St. Johnstone in his long career.
Financially the club is in excellent shape, as you might expect. The bank balance is a healthy £1.8M with over £900K available in the transfer budget and over £14K a week allocated to wages. The Chairman has made it clear that he expects us to win the Third Division title and with the level of investment he has made this is a reasonable goal.
There are a number of friendly games already arranged on my arrival – too many for my liking so some are immediately cancelled. But I can do nothing about the trip to Yeovil on my first day officially in charge. Settling on a simple 4-4-2 formation and taking advice from my assistant Irons on team selection, I record a 2-1 defeat on my debut. Ten days later we played Celtic Reserves and gained a 2-0 win with a fairly decent performance. We finished pre-season preparations with a good turnout to watch the visit of Leeds and a reasonable performance in our 2-0 defeat.
Our season opener involved a trip to Berwick in the Challenge Cup and after an exhausting 120 minutes of goalless football we squeezed through on penalties. It’s still early days but many of the senior players looked like they can do a job for us this season.
Authors Note
It has taken me some time to get into FM and this is my first proper attempt at a game so I’m really not sure how long it will last. I am running 5.0.2 with the full English and Scottish leagues.
We had a fortnight to wait before our opening league match and during that time we concentrated on sharpening up the players on the training pitch and making sure that they started to understand the basic formation that I wanted to play. I set the team up in a 4-1-3-1-1 style – essentially a 4-4-2 but with one midfielder pulled back to guard the defence and one forward playing in a slightly withdrawn position.
We also started strengthening both the playing squad and the backroom staff. The Job Centre ads had brought in a very good response and I was able to boost our backroom significantly. Current Assistant Davie Irons was happy to step down from the coaching staff and I was lucky enough to be able to bring in the highly experienced Tommy Craig (53) as my new Assistant. All in all we brought in 7 new staff members
Coaches Alan Robertson (51) John McLaughlan (41) John Bell (28) from Albion Rovers
Scouts Robert Watt (37) from Albion Rovers Julian Carrera (32)
Physios Steve Lock (34) from Forest Green Peter Lake (47) from Kettering
On the playing side we sealed a deal with Newcastle to bring 20-year-old central defender Peter Ramage in for a fee of £55K. At that point the lad was on loan at Hartlepool but he would come to Gretna at the start of next January.
Sunday 8th The big showpiece south of the border took place today and Manchester United and Arsenal battled out the Community Shield. Looking at the highlight that night it seemed a pretty tame affair with United running out 2-1 winners.
Wednesday 11th Rangers were in action in the Champions League 3rd qualifying round taking on Dinamo Bucharest at Ibrox in the first leg. After a quiet first half Rangers got into their stride after the break, scoring three goals in the last 20 minutes to put them in pole position to qualify for the group stage.
Thursday 12th Dunfermline started their European campaign with a trip to Moldova to play Tiligul. They came back with a good 2-1 win in the first leg and should be in good shape to progress.
Saturday 14th Matchday One in the Scottish Third Division and we had quite a journey up to Peterhead. It turned out to be a frustrating day as we failed to break down the highlander’s stubborn defence. This despite the fact that we played against ten men for the entire second half after the home side had midfielder Scott Robertson sent off. We created enough chances to get the win but just didn’t hit the target often enough. We did look pretty solid at the back though with keeper Alan Main and Man of the Match Derek Townsley impressing. A 3-1 win for Stenhousemuir over neighbours East Stirling gave them the early lead in the division, heading Cowdenbeath, East Fife and Queen’s Park on goal difference.
Saturday 21st Queen’s Park were our first visitors of the season and the team was in good spirits after their win last weekend. We expected them to play a pretty standard 4-4-2 formation and I was hopeful of getting a win under our belts. Well I was once again to be disappointed as we played out another 0-0 draw. Again we looked fairly firm at the back and created some presentable chances up front but the words “ cow’s backside” and “banjo” come to mind regarding our finishing. None of our half dozen or so scoring attempts so much as bothered the visiting keeper and already it looks like we needed to find a consistent goalscorer. East Fife took over at the top of the table after they won their needle match at home to Stenhousemuir with an impressive 3-0 scoreline.
Wednesday 25th Rangers finished off the job in Romania by holding Dinamo Bucharest to a goalless draw in the second leg of the Champions League qualifier and took their place in the lucrative group stages. They were drawn in Group A alongside Valencia, Lyon and Leverkusen, a tough looking proposition for Alex McLeish and his team. Martin O’Neill would feel that his Celtic side didn’t have it any easier as they were placed in Group E with Real Madrid, Chelsea and Rosenborg.
Thursday 26th Dunfermline moved into the first round proper of the UEAF Cup with a comfortable 3-0 win at home to Tiligul to give them a good 5-2 aggregate victory. All of the goals came in the first half and the Pars were able to take their foot off the gas and cruise through the second period.
Friday 27th
Champions League holders Porto defeated Valencia in the European Super Cup in Monaco, but it took a penalty shootout to decide the game after the score was tied at 1-1 after 90 minutes.
Saturday 28th We travelled to Montrose still looking for our first win of the season and when veteran striker Andy Smith found the net twice in the first half it looked like we would get what we were looking for. But an uncharacteristic fumble by Alan Main shortly after the restart allowed the home side to equalise and our misery was complete when they squared the game with ten minutes remaining. I wasn’t too happy with our capitulation and there is no way that we should have let that lead slip, but such is football. The leadership of the division changed hands yet again with Peterhead taking over following their 3-1 defeat of hapless East Stirling.
Tuesday 31st Our first win of the season came in a competition where quite honestly I would have been happier if we had lost. The Challenge Cup wasn’t high on my list of priorities and the visit to Stenhousemuir was more of a nuisance than anything else. I put out as many second string players as I could and after a scoreless first half the veteran Davie Irons fired us ahead. We were two minutes from victory when the home side scored to force extra time. With no further goals forthcoming in the additional half hour we went to a penalty shootout where we squeezed through 4-3.
Wednesday 1st Peterhead boss Iain Stewart won the managerial plaudits for August and his team certainly look like they will be in the promotion mix come the end of the season. After scoring all four goals in his team’s 4-2 defeat of Albion Rovers, experienced Montrose forward Steven Kerrigan won the Player of the Month and 19-year-old centre back Shaun Molloy of Queen’s Park did enough to get the vote as Young Player of the Month.
Tuesday 7th We faced Cup action once again, this time in the League Cup, as we entertained visitors Ross County from Division One. We took a while to get into our stride but once we got going we caused the First Division outfit no end of problems. The first half ended scoreless but Andy Smith fired us ahead just after the restart. Midfielder Mark Boyd doubled our advantage on the hour and Man of the Match David Bingham secured the win with 20 minutes remaining. County scored a late consolation but the 3-1 win was a terrific morale-booster and was fully deserved. There was one other notable giant killing act in the first round when Peterhead had an excellent 3-0 win at First Division Raith. Our win set us up for a visit to SPL side Motherwell and a chance to see how we get on playing with the big boys.
Wednesday 8th Scotland’s World Cup qualifying campaign got off to a poor start with a 2-1 defeat by Slovenia at Hampden Park. Despite taking an early lead through Kenny Miller, Berti’s boys failed to build on their advantage and conceded an equaliser before the break. The winner came just 6 minutes from time and it would now be an uphill struggle to challenge for a playoff position.
Saturday 11th The visit of Albion Rovers on Matchday 4 gave us our first win of the season courtesy of a second-half goal from Jamie McQuilken. The 29-year-old was on loan from St. Johnstone until the end of this year and he was my first choice on the left side of midfield. With Peterhead only able to draw at Stenhousemuir, East Fife went back to the top of the table after their defeat of Cowdenbeath and we moved up to 4th. The bad news was an injury to DavidBingham – a sprained ankle that meant a 4-week layoff.
Tuesday 14th We entertained First Division opposition in the 3rd round of the Challenge Cup as Clyde came to Raydale Park and my second string pulled off an excellent 3-1 win. We went behind early on but knuckled down and really made a game of it. Veteran striker Ian Stevens was a thorn in the side of the opposition all night, scoring the equaliser a few minutes before half time. Earlier his trickery in the box had earned us a penalty but full back Lee Maddison failed to convert. Our good play continued after the break and late goals from Davie Irons and substitute Andy Smith gave us the win. Keeper Alan Main was named Man of the Match for his string of fine saves that kept us in the game and he was turning out to be one of our most consistent performers.
Rangers began their Champions League group games with a disappointing 1-0 defeat at home to Leverkusen. They conceded an early goal and despite having the better of the game they were denied by the excellence of the visiting keeper, much to the frustration of the fans and players alike.
Wednesday 15th Celtic had slightly more success in their Champions League opener, drawing 1-1 at home to Rosenborg. But given that this game probably represented their best chance of three points it was nonetheless a disappointing result for the hoops.
Thursday 16th The 1st round of the UEFA Cup saw a couple of Scottish teams in action. Dunfermline had a decent 3-1 win at home to Maccabi Haifa. Having fallen behind on the half hour, David Hay’s team fought back well and should be favourites for the return leg. Hearts suffered a 2-1 defeat at Portuguese side Maritimo but the away goal could prove vital for Craig Levein and his team.
Saturday 18th It was too early in the season for any game to be a title decider but the visit of leaders East Fife was certainly a big game for us – a win would signal our intentions for the season and a defeat would be a big knock-back. As it turned out we got neither as the game ended in a 1-1 draw. We didn’t play particularly well but we still made the best part of a dozen chances and yet the visiting keeper was rarely troubled. The Fifers took the lead early in the game when we failed to deal with a corner. We equalised shortly before the break when Danny Lennon fired home his first of the season. We had the better of the second half but our finishing was pretty poor and we failed to capitalise on our opportunities. With Peterhead losing, a 3-1 win at home to East Stirling allowed Montrose to take over at the top of the table.
Saturday 25th We had another trek up north today as we faced Elgin in Matchday 6. After a goalless first 45 minutes Brian Wake, who has been replacing the injured Bingham, scored his first of the season to give us the lead. We were seeing more of the ball and creating most of the chances but our inability to turn chances into goals cost us a win. The home side equalised on a rare foray upfield and we had to settle for yet another draw – our 5th in 6 league games.
Tuesday 28th We faced divisional rivals Peterhead in the Semi Final of the Challenge Cup. I once again fielded my second string and they once again came up with a win, triumphing in a penalty shootout after a gruelling contest. Young centre back Martin Bell gave us the lead after 20 minutes when he headed home a neat free kick from midfielder Ian Cummersky, who later gained Man of the Match honours for his performance. The visitors equalised in stoppage time at the end of the first half. With no further scoring in normal time, not the extra 30 minutes, it all came down to the dreaded penalty lottery. Our lads held their nerve best and we took our place in the final. In the Champions League Celtic suffered a 3-1 defeat at Chelsea, the home side gaining their second win to top Group E. The Celts prop up the rest and would do well to progress from that position.
Wednesday 29th We sealed a deal today to bring another young central defender to the club – 21-year-old Patrick McCarthy will join from Man City at the turn of the year after a £55K fee was agreed. Rangers boosted their Champions League hopes with a fine 1-0 win in Lyon, the only goal of the game coming from Zurab Khizanishvili from the penalty spot.
Thursday 30th Hearts crashed out of the UEFA Cup, losing 3-1 in their home leg against Maritimo. A nightmare start saw the visitors three goals ahead inside the first ten minutes and the tie was effectively over. Captain Steven Presley scored a late consolation but the 5-2 aggregate defeat was a huge disappointment to the Tynecastle faithful. Dunfermline suffered a similar fate despite holding a 3-1 lead from the first leg as they lost 3-0 in Israel, Maccabi Haifa triumphing 4-3 on aggregate.
Gretna Green - The Colour Of Money 
I was about to leap in with my J-E-T-S! Jets! Jets! Jets! 
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