Soccer chief in £10 jeans who created a real-life Roy of the Rovers story at Gretna
Last updated 11:27, Wednesday, 05 November 2008
THE money was scattered like confetti around the anvil at Gretna Green. Yet looking at Brooks Mileson you’d never believe the man bankrolling Gretna’s minnows to the Scottish Cup Final and the SPL was a multi-millionaire businessman.
In his donkey jacket, denim shirt, pair of £10 Asda jeans and desert boots, Mileson looked like he’d be more at home on a building site than a boardroom.
Fans loved him because he shunned the directors’ box to stand alongside them on the terrace, puffing his way through a packet Marlboros.
The common touch was Mileson’s trademark.
The only clues to the fortune he’d made in insurance, construction and property was the Aston Martin parked in the pot-holed car park at Raydale Park. His generosity knew no bounds and the lower divisions of Scottish football had never seen anything like it – a rich sugar daddy, who started life on a Sunderland council estate, offering an open cheque book to transform a ramshackle club into a team of winners.
Suddenly the town most famous for its marriages was as well known for its football team.
The club’s motto was Living The Dream. Silverware and medals characterised the club’s meteoric rise as they became the first club to win three successive championships on their way to the SPL, the 2006 Scottish Cup Final at Hampden Park and into the UEFA Cup.
Mileson, who died on Monday after collapsing at his mansion at Blackford, near Carlisle, made people believe anything was possible with a dream and a bit of cash.
Gretna’s run to the 2006 Scottish Cup Final when they became the smallest club in Britain to reach a major final made Mileson a household name.
Yet in the lead up to the game against Hearts at Hampden, he was selling tickets from a Portakabin at the club.
Davie Irons was working as a college lecturer and playing for Gretna part-time when Mileson persuaded him to give full-time football another go – at the age of 42.
At a stage in his life when he thought he’d finished with professional football, Irons ended up playing for, coaching and managing the club during their fairytale journey through Scottish football.
Irons, below, who was in touch with Mileson right up until last week, recalled: “I've hundreds of memories of Brooks, but I'll never forget the Scottish Cup Final when he was walking around Hampden with a huge smile on his face and wearing his Asda jeans.
“He was wearing a scarf which was half Gretna and half Hearts. He just loved football and was one of the most generous men I’ve ever met in my life.
“He gave me another opportunity in football and I enjoyed some of the best days of my football career. He sat me down and offered me a full-time playing contract when I was 42 and said ‘Come and join us and we’ll have lots of fun with this small village team.’
“What we achieved was just incredible – and it will never be repeated.” Big characters, big car, big salaries and big egos characterised Gretna’s rise which seemed incongruous with their dilapidated ground, more suited to hosting non-league football.
Gretna were thrilling to watch too – an exciting passing team with the sublime skills of David Bingham and goals galore scored by swashbuckling targetman and part-time medic Kenny Deuchar, whose six hat-tricks in one season broke Jimmy Greaves’ record.
Gavin Skelton was a member of Gretna’s UniBond League team after being released by Carlisle United – and went on to win three championship medals and play in the Hampden team.
He said: “It was an amazing journey. I think people will look back in years to come and appreciate what Brooks did.” Fans and players loved him but to members of the football establishment, Mileson was a pony-tailed maverick.
Gretna’s success created jealousy, suspicion and bad feeling throughout the Scottish game – something Mileson could never reconcile himself with. He knew many clubs resented his presence and that of his team.
Maybe it was because of Gretna’s background in English non-league football, but there was also simmering bad feeling that they were able to secure a place in Scotland’s top-flight when a foundation stone had not even been laid to develop a new stadium despite assurances from Mileson.
Few people would have predicted when Gretna took Hearts all the way to extra-time and penalties at Hampden that just two years later the Borderers would be dumped on the threshold of oblivion and that their rich benefactor would be conspicuous by his absence.
Mileson never enjoyed good health. As a youngster he had broken his back in a fall at a quarry, had only half a kidney and suffered from chronic fatigue syndrome, a debilitating condition better known as ME. Then in 2006, the famous chain-smoker collapsed with a burst bowel and underwent two bouts of major surgery. He was admitted to hospital again in February this year suffering from a brain infection.
Players weren’t paid, bills mounted and as Mileson lay seriously ill in a hospital bed, the fairytale he wove turned into a harrowing sob story.
The club was plunged into administration with debts of£3 million, before the plug was finally pulled on them in the summer. Speculation grew as to whether it was because he was ill or because he didn’t have the wealth everyone assumed.
When Mileson died on Monday, one of the saddest aspects of his involvement at Gretna is that he leaves no permanent legacy.
Only memories to cherish for those swept up on the magic carpet ride and who knew him best. One-time club physio Kenny Crichton summed it up when he said: “I respect him for having the guts to do what he did. He made it exciting for people.”
Former defender Derek Townsley added: “He put smiles on a lot of faces”
