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Sky Sports documentary marks 10-year anniversary of Gretna's doomed fairytale

The tale of a Dumfriesshire club's meteoric rise and fall through Scottish football

GRETNA, UNITED KINGDOM - MAY 09: Brooks Mileson chairman of Gretna FC is seen with the Tennents Scottish FA Cup trophy at Raydale Park May 9, 2006, Gretna,

In 2004/05 the leading goal-scorer in the Premier League was Thierry Henry. But the top scorer in the land became nearly as famous the Frenchman thanks to Sky Sports’ Gillette Soccer Saturday.

The Club That Vanished

A decade on from his brush with fame ‘The Good Doctor’, medical practitioner Kenny Deuchar, remembers his time in the spotlight as Jeff Stelling’s favourite striker in a new Sky Sports documentary.

‘The Club That Vanished’ tells the story of Gretna FC’s spectacular rise and fall which saw them go from the village green all the way to the Scottish Premier League, the Scottish FA Cup final and even into Europe before disappearing virtually overnight.

With 63 goals in 93 games Deuchar became the poster boy of this unlikely success story. Combining a football career and his job as a doctor at Wishaw General Hospital with Soccer Saturday making him a cult hero along with his Grandma Mae.

“Every time I scored Jeff would mention my Grandma, and she was just loving that!” recalls Deuchar. "She would talk about it all the time and we even got to meet him when he came up to open a call centre at Livingston.”

Deuchar (R) celebrating  Ryan McGuffie's s goal in the 2006 Scottish Cup Final
Image: Deuchar (R) celebrating Ryan McGuffie's s goal in the 2006 Scottish Cup Final

Eccentric Gretna owner Brooks Mileson, whose money propelled the club through the leagues, was equally impressed, lending the star striker his car as a thank you.

“There he was in front of the cameras handing over the car," he added. "He drove away in my Nissan Primera and I drove away in his Aston Martin!”

Recalling the good times at Raydale Park, Gretna’s player-manager at the time Davie Irons said: “If somebody said you would experience cup finals and Europe with a village team you wouldn’t believe it."

But after just a single season in the Scottish Premier League the dream was over. With Mileson’s health deteriorating he withdrew his financial support, before his death in 2008, and the club collapsed with debts of nearly four million pounds.    

“I look back with mixed emotions really,” his son Craig Mileson said. “Obviously it was a great ride rising through the leagues and getting to the Scottish Cup Final. But I’m just very sorry how it all ended.”

Watch ‘The Club That Vanished’ at 6.30pm this Sunday on Sky Sports 1 or available on Sky Go and On Demand now.

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