On the 3rd of June 2008 Gretna FC resigned from the Scottish Football League due to severe financial difficulties.
On the 2nd of July 2008 a new club Gretna 2008 were accepted into the East Of Scotland League and the South Of Scotland League.
Later that month, Gretna 2008 were re elected into the SFL Third Division at the expense of Montrose FC, this was due to an appeal from the club that involved their much improved financial state and high standard of respect for the SFL's rules and guidelines. Following their re appointment to the SFL, Gretna 2008 became Gretna FC once more.
The next day, Harry Charnock was elected Chairman of the club, with Ben Worthington being his only Director. Both men were quite wealthy in money, but not in experience, as this is the first time either of them had been involved behind the scenes at a Football Club.
Gretna FC fans were buzzing about their reappointment, but there was a down side to the predicament - they had absolutely no players or staff and with £2million in the bank they had to build a team fit enough to gain promotion which is the new managers aim. Surely this is all to much for one man to handle!
So after extensive discussion between Ben Worthington and Harry Charnock they agreed to appoint Ben's nephew as the new manager of Gretna FC! His name's Luis Woods and he has had little experience so this is a massive task for the guy.
Luis started his career off with Liverpool and had a professional contract with them until he was 19. At 19 he moved onto Tranmere Rovers and played there until he was 26. He played just over 200 games for the club scoring 45 goals from the attacking midfield role. At the age of 26 he moved on to Macclesfield until he was 33. His last 2 season were injury struck therefore Macclesfield decided to let the players conract run out. In his 7 seasons he played 192 games and scored 29 goals, his last 4 or 5 seasons playing in a deeper role compared to early on in his career. His final club would be Prescot Cables a small side from Merseyside in the North-West of England. He played there at centre midfield until he was 35 playing just 51 games for the Merseyside club scoring 8 goals. He then retired and took a break from the games until his 36th birthday when he took up a coaching role at Prescot. Then at the age of 40 he took over as manager at Prescot Cables and after consolidating, in his 2nd season (his 1st full season) he earned promotion to the Unibond league. He survived in the league but after coming close to relegation Luis Woods left the managerial role at Prescot Cables due to too much stress and wanting to spend time with his family.
And today Luis Woods walks into his first job in football for 2 years. He made it known to the board that he felt he could at least finish in the top half of the Irn Bru Scottish 3rd division. He has Rangers as a parent club to help his cause. He also has £2 Million to spend on building a team and maybe bringing in some staff although the board had placed heavy restrictions on signing coaches or any other staff. Luis made an aim to only spend £1 Million in his first season building his team. In his first press conference on the 2nd July 2009 this is what Luis had to say,
Well, Luis Woods what are your feeling towards your appointment here at Gretna?
I'm pleased to have the chance to work here. It's exciting having to build a club from scratch but I have fantastic foundation to work with.
Seeing as you have no players in the squad have you already got players shortilsted that you are interested in making part of your team?
Not at the moment but soon after this interview I will walk into my office and look long and hard at some players to make my first season here a success.
What are your aims for this season?
Well I basicly want to finish in the top half of the table.
You have some basic staff at the club, are you going to terminate their contracts and bring in some new staff or will you give the current staff a chance?
I am going to keep all staff here at least until next season.
My first couple of days on the job. I will update tomorrow with screenshots of my transfers, first couple of results etc. Thanks please feel free to comment and credit to Harry Charnock for creating this database for me!
On the 2nd of July 2008 a new club Gretna 2008 were accepted into the East Of Scotland League and the South Of Scotland League.
Later that month, Gretna 2008 were re elected into the SFL Third Division at the expense of Montrose FC, this was due to an appeal from the club that involved their much improved financial state and high standard of respect for the SFL's rules and guidelines. Following their re appointment to the SFL, Gretna 2008 became Gretna FC once more.
The next day, Harry Charnock was elected Chairman of the club, with Ben Worthington being his only Director. Both men were quite wealthy in money, but not in experience, as this is the first time either of them had been involved behind the scenes at a Football Club.
Gretna FC fans were buzzing about their reappointment, but there was a down side to the predicament - they had absolutely no players or staff and with £2million in the bank they had to build a team fit enough to gain promotion which is the new managers aim. Surely this is all to much for one man to handle!
So after extensive discussion between Ben Worthington and Harry Charnock they agreed to appoint Ben's nephew as the new manager of Gretna FC! His name's Luis Woods and he has had little experience so this is a massive task for the guy.
Luis started his career off with Liverpool and had a professional contract with them until he was 19. At 19 he moved onto Tranmere Rovers and played there until he was 26. He played just over 200 games for the club scoring 45 goals from the attacking midfield role. At the age of 26 he moved on to Macclesfield until he was 33. His last 2 season were injury struck therefore Macclesfield decided to let the players conract run out. In his 7 seasons he played 192 games and scored 29 goals, his last 4 or 5 seasons playing in a deeper role compared to early on in his career. His final club would be Prescot Cables a small side from Merseyside in the North-West of England. He played there at centre midfield until he was 35 playing just 51 games for the Merseyside club scoring 8 goals. He then retired and took a break from the games until his 36th birthday when he took up a coaching role at Prescot. Then at the age of 40 he took over as manager at Prescot Cables and after consolidating, in his 2nd season (his 1st full season) he earned promotion to the Unibond league. He survived in the league but after coming close to relegation Luis Woods left the managerial role at Prescot Cables due to too much stress and wanting to spend time with his family.
And today Luis Woods walks into his first job in football for 2 years. He made it known to the board that he felt he could at least finish in the top half of the Irn Bru Scottish 3rd division. He has Rangers as a parent club to help his cause. He also has £2 Million to spend on building a team and maybe bringing in some staff although the board had placed heavy restrictions on signing coaches or any other staff. Luis made an aim to only spend £1 Million in his first season building his team. In his first press conference on the 2nd July 2009 this is what Luis had to say,
Well, Luis Woods what are your feeling towards your appointment here at Gretna?
I'm pleased to have the chance to work here. It's exciting having to build a club from scratch but I have fantastic foundation to work with.
Seeing as you have no players in the squad have you already got players shortilsted that you are interested in making part of your team?
Not at the moment but soon after this interview I will walk into my office and look long and hard at some players to make my first season here a success.
What are your aims for this season?
Well I basicly want to finish in the top half of the table.
You have some basic staff at the club, are you going to terminate their contracts and bring in some new staff or will you give the current staff a chance?
I am going to keep all staff here at least until next season.
My first couple of days on the job. I will update tomorrow with screenshots of my transfers, first couple of results etc. Thanks please feel free to comment and credit to Harry Charnock for creating this database for me!