So, that’s it, our journey with Gretna has come to and end. What a crazy and emotional time it has been. I never really knew what to expect with this save and where we would end up. We rose up the leagues far quicker than what I thought and we also quickly became a stable side in the Premiership. During our 10 seasons we achieved 4 promotions, with us winning 3 of them and 1 being through the play-offs and we also won 2 cups as we won both the South Challenge Cup in 2020 and the Tunnock’s Caramel Wafer Challenge Cup in 2024.

This is how our trophy cabinet looks at the end of journey. It has more trophies in that what I thought we could pick up. We were so so close to adding the Scottish Cup and Euro II cup to it in our final season.

Our journey began far better than expected as we somehow managed to get back to back to back promotions which included doing the double in our very first season and then again in 2023/24. In our very first season we did the double as we won the Lowland League by 11 points and the South Challenge Cup after beating Civil Service 3-0. We instantly punched above our weight in our first season in League 2 as we won the league by 9 points. We also got promoted via the play-offs in League 1 after beating Falkirk over two legs to clinch our third promotion in a row before we spent a year stabilising in the Championship. In our first season in the Championship we comfortably beat the drop as we finished mid table. In our second season we won the league as we beat Ross County who finished in second by 7 points to secure our 4th promotion and also beat Hamilton in the final of the Tunnock’s Caramel Wafer Challenge Cup 3-0 to get a second double winning season. We then went on to spend 5 seasons in the top flight being consistently around fifth every season and our highest finish being fourth in our second season and be close to catching Celtic in third. In our time in the Premiership we have managed to get European football in all but one seasons which is some achievement as we continued to beat the drop and punch above our weight and be in among the big boys constantly. Although it was always the Euro II competition which is the worse and smallest competition to be in, it was still Europe and it helped increase our reputation and name in Europe and helped attract better players which in turn improved our squad and help us continually fight in the top 5 of the league.

We were in charge for a total for a total of 3689 days and in that time we managed 496 games. In that time we won just over half of our games as we won 254 of them with a 51% win ratio while we went on to draw 96 games and lose 146 games, it felt a lot more at certain times I can tell you that! We also scored a total 881 goals and conceded 609 with a difference of +272. So you can see where our problem was for a large portion of our time at Gretna.

Slawomir Dziubek is the top goal scorer for the club with 47 goal in his 2 and a half year stay at the club. Jhon Serna and Anthony Elanga are hot on his tail with 27 and 41. Pascal Kpohomouh holds the record for most appearances with 142 in his 4 years at the club after he overtook Anthony Elanga‘s record in the past year.

Our biggest win was against Edinburgh City in the Betfred Cup as we won 8-0 in 2025 while our biggest defeat came against Hibernian as we lost 5-0 in 2026.

I do want to give another massive shout out to Alfonso for creating these amazing Gretna kits. If you need any kits making then make sure to drop him a message!

In our ten season we have been through a number of different players and we have brought in a total of 169 players for a total of £20 million which does include youth players and players who never made it near the first team. We have also sold 85 players for a total of £48.5 million and releasing 44 players in our time here. So it has been far more difficult to pick my favourite 11 than what I first thought. Our record fee spent on a player was Mark Gauld from Celtic for a total of £2.5 million and the record sale was Dodo for £15 million as we sold him to Leeds United in our final season.

So here is my final decision on my favourite 11 and will try and explain why they are in as we use a 424 formation which we used early in our Gretna journey and it worked well for us.

Goalkeeper – Will Mannion – We have never really had a settled goalkeeper but Will Mannion was one our first keepers that had a bit of quality about him and he was our number 1 for 2 years before going out on loan and eventually leaving on a free. In his time here he played 78 games with him helping us do the double as we won the Championship and Tunnock’s Caramel Wafer Challenge Cup in 2024.

Right back – Josh Emmanuel – Josh joined us in our second season at the top level and quickly became a favourite with his energy up and down the right side. Although the end of his Gretna career was a bit sour he was one of the most consistent players we have had and contributed with assists and also a couple of goals in his 3 years here.

Centre back – Pascal Kpophomouh – Pascal or PK for short. He joined on a free from Southampton at the same time as Josh after he head a solid loan spell at Plymouth the year before. He quickly established himself as a quality centre back with his pace and he can outjump a lot of people which showed with the handful of times he has scored from a set piece.

Centre back – Alfie Jones – Alfie joined on a free in the January window of our 22/23 season. He was here for 3 years and was a key part of the side that won the Championship and Tunnock’s Caramel Wafer Challenge Cup.

Left back – Connor Barber – He technically wasn’t our player as he spent 2 years on loan with us from Liverpool. But in his time here he made a big impact with his pace down the left and his left foot was magical with how he could whip the ball in to the area to get our forwards a goal.

Centre midfield – Ruaridh Porteous – A more recent favourite with him spending 4 seasons wit us on loan from Celtic. A player that sat behind the striker and was our go to man for assists and he popped up with the odd goal himself. He was a dead ball specialist with his corners and free kicks either leading to goals or scoring them himself. He was our very own David Beckham! In his very first season at 18/19 years old he came in and established himself as a starter and contributed with 10 assists in 34 games.

Centre midfield – Glenn Hancock – Glenn played a crucial role in getting us out of the Championship and ensuring we survived the Premiership in the first couple of years. He went on to play around 90 games for us and was the leading appearance holder until Anthony Elanga overtook him. A player that sat in a two man midfield and helped contribute with goals and assists and was one of our first quality players to join the club when trying to make that next step for the club

Right wing – Anthony Elanga – A £350k gamble from rivals Hearts which turned out to be a massive signing for us and helped us get to where we are. A left winger but was deadly in front of goal as he went on to score 41 goals in 4 seasons. He was also our top goal scorer with 16 goals with 13 being in the league in the 2027/28 season.

Left wing – Connor McLennan – Connor played a part in our rise up the leagues as helped us get out of League 1 and the Championship. He was a class above the team we had at the time and was a star signing which he went on to prove with 30 goals in 3 seasons from the left wing and winning the double in his final season in 2023/24 season.

Striker – Sam Jamieson – Our first favourite as in our early years he was our go to man for goals. He scored 31 goals in 3 years as he helped get us from the Lowland League up to League 1. He could play as a striker or on the left wing. He also won fans player of the season in his first season.

Striker – Slawomir Dziubek – Big Slaw! He came in as a bit of a gamble from Portsmouth on a free but he took a while to adapt but then proved he was our star striker with his pace and eye for goal after playing right wing for a while before. The amount of times he beat the defence for pace or beat the keeper to a ball was a joy to watch which contributed to his 47 league goals in 2 and a half years.

Subs – There were a handful that were close to making it or in another couple of years could have forced themselves in to it.

Jhon Serna – Our new star striker and very quickly becoming the leading scorer for the club in his 2 years. He is a better version of Slawomir Dziubek and already has popped up with crucial goals in games including our journey to the Euro II final.

Steven Caldwell – He joined when we were in League 1 and is still here. He has become an adopted Gretna boy and has been with us for most of the journey and has even played and started in Euro II games in recent seasons. He is a versatile player and can play centre back, defensive mid or centre mid and even right back or striker if needed, basically the James Milner of our team.

Scott Robertson – Well I couldn’t leave him out could I otherwise he would murder me! He only played for us for one season before retiring when we were in League 2 and he was a leading centre back in that season and even scored a goal. He retired after that and since then he has been our Under 18’s manager and then Reserve Manager and has become somewhat of a personal favourite.

Layton Stewart – He joined us on loan from Wolves for two season before we signed him on a free. He played a vital role in helping us become champions of the Championship and then leading the way in surviving the Premiership in our very first season. Another pacey striker as he scored 29 goals in 76 games with 13 of them coming in our Championship winning season.

Jordan Alexandre – One of our very first signings after we joined Gretna. A consistent player who helped us get up to the Championship. He played over 91 times in his 4 years with us and contributed with 28 goals and 12 assists. He only left because of a work permit issue otherwise he could have stayed longer.

Brandon Mason – Brandon joined for our adventures in to the Championship and played a key role as he played 68 games in just over two years with 65 of them being in our 2 years in the Championship. A very solid and all round defender and did also contribute with a couple of goals in is first season.

Gael Bigirimana – Gael was on trial for a lot of our first season and joined officially for our first season in League 2. He made an instant impact with fans and opposition alike as if he wasn’t trying to score from 30 yards he was being shown a red card. A solid player and was a class above the team for a while as he helped us get up the leagues. He played 70 games in just over 3 years and getting 5 goals in that time and I don’t believe any of them were from inside the area.

David Wheeler – David joined on a free after his release from Wycombe. He was only here for two season as he was coming to the end of his career but he was a solid player for us as he scored 18 goals from 49 games playing on the right wing. He was a part of the side that won our second double winning season as we won the Tunnock’s Caramel Wafer Challenge Cup and the Championship.

Around The World

One thing I have never really covered is what has gone on around Europe and the major international competitions and who was won the leagues etc which I will quickly cover here.

England

19/20 – Liverpool, 20/21 – Manchester United, 21/22 – Manchester City, 22/23 – Manchester City, 23/24 – Manchester United, 24/25 – Manchester City, 25/26 – Manchester United, 26/27 – Liverpool, 27/28 – Manchester City and 28/29 Manchester United.

France

19/20 – PSG, 20/21 – PSG, 21/22 – PSG, 22/23 – PSG, 23/24 – PSG, 24/25 – PSG, 25/26 –PSG, 26/27 – PSG, 27/28 – PSG, 28/29 – PSG.


Germany

19/20 – Bayern Munich, 20/21 – Bayern Munich, 21/22 – Bayern Munich, 22/23 – Bayern Munich, 23/24 – Borussia Dortmund, 24/25 – Bayern Munich, 25/26 – Bayern Munich, 26/27 – Bayern Munich, 27/28 – Bayern Munich, 28/29 – Bayern Munich.


Spain

19/20 – Real Madrid, 20/21 – Barcelona, 21/22 – Barcelona, 22/23 – Barcelona, 23/24 – Real Madrid, 24/25 – Real Madrid, 25/26 – Real Madrid, 26/27 – Real Madrid, 27/28 – Real Madrid, 28/29 – Real Madrid.


Italy

19/20 – Juventus, 20/21 – Juventus, 21/22 – Juventus, 22/23 – Napoli, 23/24 – Napoli, 24/25 – Inter Milan, 25/26 – Napoli, 26/27 – Juventus, 27/28 – AC Milan, 28/29 – Inter Milan.


Champions League

19/20 – PSG, 20/21 – Tottenham, 21/22 – Real Madrid, 22/23 – Liverpool, 23/24 – PSG, 24/25 – PSG, 25/26 –PSG, 26/27 – Arsenal, 27/28 – PSG, 28/29 – Bayern Munich.


Europa League

19/20 – Benfica, 20/21 – RB Leipzig, 21/22 – Chelsea, 22/23 – Sevilla, 23/24 – Chelsea, 24/25 – Benfica, 25/26 –Monaco, 26/27 – Valencia, 27/28 – Tottenham, 28/29 – Liverpool.


Euro II

21/22 – AC Milan, 22/23 – AZ Alkmaar, 23/24 – Arsenal, 24/25 – Aberdeen, 25/26 –Brighton, 26/27 – Lille, 27/28 – Sevilla, 28/29 – Spartak Moscow.


World Cup

2022 – Brazil, 2026 – France.


Euros

2020 – England, 2024 – Spain, 2028 – France.


No real major shocks in this football universe although the likes of Aberdeen and Brighton could be seen as somewhat of an upset after both winning the Euro II cup. As expected the big boys have dominated their leagues and PSG and Bayern Munich have also dominated Europe at times. We even get on to a list after our run in the Euro II as we amazingly got to the final.

If you have somehow become a fan of Gretna because of this save or want to follow how the real club are doing then why not drop them a follow on Facebook & Twitter.

Thank you so much for enjoying our journey. Hopefully we will return for a new adventure with a new team in the future.