Gretna FC was a Scottish League team which was founded in 1946 by servicemen returning from the Second World War. Being close to the English border the club played in the Carlisle and District League during for much of its history.  In 1982 the club moved to the newly-created Second Division of the Northern League which they won. Back-to-back championship wins followed in the First Division, in 1990–91 and 1991–92, resulting in their promotion to the First Division of the Northern Premier League. During this period, the club featured in the FA Cup, becoming the first club based in Scotland to appear in the competition proper since Queens Park in 1887.  The club nevertheless saw its future in Scottish football and applied twice to join the Scottish League in 1993 and 1999 before being elected in 2002, taking the place of Airdrieonians. Gretna was soon taken over by Brooks Mileson and with his financial input Gretna's on-field fortunes improved. Gretna won the Division Three, Division Two and Division One titles in successive seasons from 2005 to 2007 and were also runners-up to Hearts in the 2006 Scottish Cup Final. Gretna's 3–0 win in the semi-final against Dundee made them the first team from the third tier of Scottish league football to reach the final. As Hearts had finished second in the Scottish Premier League and had therefore qualified for the UEFA Champions League, Gretna became the first team from the third tier of the Scottish league to qualify for the UEFA Cup. When Gretna won promotion to the SPL in 2007 they were forced to ground share with Motherwell at Fir Park while their new ground was prepared. This proved to be their undoing. The team struggled at the foot of the Premier League, well adrift of the rest and few supporters were prepared to make the 180 mile round trip to Fir Park to watch them lose. Ill-health led Brooks Mileson to step down as chairman and the funds that had kept the club afloat dried up. In March 2008, Gretna FC announced that they would enter financial administration and attempts to keep the club alive foundered after the SFL announced that Gretna would have to play in the Third Division the following season because its ground did not meet the required standard. The club resigned its place in the Scottish Football League on 3 June 2008 and was  formally liquidated two months later.