Scottish football has gone to the dogs. As Pearse Flynn prepares to end his expensive association with Livingston, one prospective buyer, Eddie Ramsay, has decided the only way to make the stadium economically viable is to lay a greyhound track around the pitch. Presumably, macaroon bars and spearmint chewing gum will be back on the menu for Woodbine-scented punters in Barbour jackets and cloth caps.

Further up the ladder, the flimsy finances of the supposed elite suggest that the game's custodians will be faced soon with a product in a state of ruin. This morning, Gretna are set to confirm their lurch into administration. It may be the tip of the iceberg. Hearts have again been visited by the Sheriff Officers over an unpaid office supplies bill of £13,500, while Eddie Thompson, the remarkable Dundee United chairman, has done his best to ensure fans that the club will remain in strong financial health "whatever happens" in his inspirational fight against cancer.

The tales of two footballing philanthropists have taken a grim turn; both entrepreneurs of extreme benevolence and loyalty are racked with serious illness and heavily out of pocket. Without Brooks Mileson there is no Gretna. Forget the fairytale. They were nothing before Mileson and will be nothing again should he be unable to maintain his commitment. It is the shotgun wedding gone horribly wrong.

Mileson fulfilled his ambition of financing a provincial club to the top flight and had his moment in the sun at Hampden in the Scottish Cup final. Gretna's journey proves that a healthy disposable income is all that is required to navigate the wasteland of the Scottish Football League to the self-preservation society.

What next? After the enforced removal of the building blocks, paid for at a premium out of Mileson's own pocket, all that is left is an empty shell with no support.

There will be no-one willing to inherit a club who have heaped embarrassment on the Premier League by attracting 501 supporters to their temporary accommodation, Fir Park. Not when the infrastructure is dependent on one man burning money, to the detriment of his own financial security if yesterday's report that he is more than £300,000 in debt is accurate.

At the weekend, Thompson pledged a £1m in-perpetuity guarantee to United. It could be the final act of kindness of a dignified stewardship. He, more than anyone, deserves to celebrate a CIS Insurance Cup triumph over Rangers but there are few guarantees thereafter despite the recent boardroom reshuffle. The Thompson family will attempt to ensure administrative stability but the time will come when they cannot or will not continue to finance an unsustainable business.

Hearts remain the most mysterious case of all. A Scottish football institution, the club has lived a double life since being bought by Vladimir Romanov. On one hand, they unveil ambitious plans to improve the stadium at a cost of £51m, can afford to pay Layrea Kingston £10,000 per week but apparently can't pay for stationery.

What must Campbell Ogilvie make of it all? A man of honour and integrity, a vice-president of the SFA, yet a club secretary who has had to address a host of unpaid bills. Should Romanov decide he has had his fun, the club could be homeless with debts of over £25m.

Aberdeen have lost Michael Hart and Chris Clark to Preston North End and Plymouth Argyle respectively and are now resigned to borrowing from the underbelly at Middlesbrough and Birmingham City. Stewart Milne's refusal to fritter away his massive fortune would be admirable if it wasn't so constrictive to Jimmy Calderwood.

Hibernian's bank balance has been boosted by their Old Firm-driven car-boot sale but sporting ambition has been compromised as a result. Kilmarnock have endured a wretched season but the worst may be still to come. Michael Johnston, the chairman, is the subject of boycott threats and his refusal to allow Jim Jefferies to strengthen after selling Colin Nish to Hibs for £100,000 may be the final straw for one of the country's most astute and experienced managers.

The entertainment value of the Premier League has dwindled but mercifully for sponsors and television rights holders, Rangers and Celtic have provided a sustained contest, while Motherwell have offered a welcome challenge for third. The gap between the Old Firm and the rest is akin to the gap demonstrated this season between the big two and Barcelona.

Unless Scottish football can reinvent itself, with the input of all the fractured organisations, the dugs may be in for a renaissance . . .


  • And another thing . . .

THE romance of the cup could prove a costly business for the Scottish FA. It is doubtful if Michel Platini and Sepp Blatter are familiar with Queen of the South's work but in keeping the Old Firm separated as they made the Scottish Cup semi-final draw, the ties are unlikely to whet the appetite of the paying public. With no sponsor and the genuine prospect of empty seats at the national stadium, Gordon Smith and Co can only look on enviously as the English version marries genuine drama with profitable box-office.