Gretna were urged yesterday to fall on their sword and quit the Scottish Football League, rather than protracting their certain demise a moment longer. The SFL told the stricken club that the “integrity” of the game would be better served if Gretna resigned from the league, rather than being expelled.

The spectacular rise and fall of Gretna, which saw a village team become one of Scotland’s top-flight clubs in just six years before debts of up to £8 million were uncovered, is now in its last act. The club were expected to be put into liquidation yesterday by their administrator after any lingering hope of a rescue deal evaporated on Sunday.

David Elliot, the man who has been running the club since they went into administration in March after their backer, Brooks Mileson, refused to commit any more funds, stopped short of pulling the plug yesterday but put the ground, Raydale Park, up for sale and claimed Gretna’s demise was a formality. Last week, the SFL demoted Gretna to the Irn Bru third division after declaring that the ground was unfit for first division football, following the side’s relegation from the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.

Yesterday, Elliot, of Wilson Field Ltd, the administrator, said that he expected the SFL to expel Gretna because he could offer no guarantees that the club could complete their fixtures next season, even in the fourth tier of Scottish football. However, that approach earned a rebuke from David Longmuir, the chief executive of the SFL.

“Gretna need to formally resign,” Longmuir said. “We can’t go forward if they refuse to do so. I don’t see how it is in their interests not to do it. The SFL don’t want to expel them. We would prefer it if they resigned, that course of action has the most integrity.”

Gretna’s fate has been sealed since the SFL members voted at their AGM last Thursday to relegate them a further two levels following the administration and financial implosion of their inaugural Premier League campaign. Paul Davies, a football agent fronting the consortium that had made a late bid, then withdrew as its business plan was based on first division football.

The SFL had given Gretna until the “very early part” of this week to sort out a takeover but that proved impossible. A statement from Wilson Field yesterday read: “In the circumstances, we anticipate losing third division status and our agents have been instructed to also consider offers for the ground from parties outside football.”

Elliot estimates that Gretna’s debts are around £8 million. That cash had propelled Gretna through three successive promotions, and the 2006 Scottish Cup final, but the abrupt withdrawal after Mileson fell ill left them with debts approaching £4 million. The deficit includes substantial football debts and a £500,000 Inland Revenue bill, which cannot be paid off slowly to allow the club to move out of administration.

“The overriding problem is that you have got to have somebody who wants to invest a substantial amount of money to bring the ground up to standard and then acquire it from the administrator so that he can pay the creditors,” Elliot said.

“But the income you are going to get from the anticipated gates may not be sufficient to cover those costs. That’s why you need a benefactor in there with deep pockets.”

Elliot also revealed the plan put forward by Davies had hit snags over the redevelopment of Raydale Park. Around £35,000 was needed to bring it up to first division standards but Davies could not promise the SFL that work would be completed by the start of next season.

There was also uncertainty over the extent of the football debts, while Longmuir claimed the plan contained “fundamental flaws”. Raydale Park was valued at £850,000 in the last club accounts but there is an added complication over any sale as the land is earmarked for sport and recreational use by the council.

“They still are in the third division of the SFL but that is going to change within days, just as soon as the formalities are completed,” Elliot said. “I’m not thinking of formally putting it into liquidation because there may be some tax reasons for actually selling the ground in administration but in effect there will be no trading. That’s it.” Wilson Field added that the ground-sale plan emerged because, “we anticipate losing third division status and our agents have been instructed to also consider offers for the ground from parties outside football”.

Gretna FC were formed in 1946 and played in the Carlisle and District League – across the border in England – before rising to the Northern Unibond League in the English nonleague pyramid. In 2002, they surprised everyone by beating off rivals to gain admission to the Scottish League. The SFL will fill the gap that Gretna’s departure will leave in the third division by inviting a new member from one of Spartans FC, Annan Athletic, Preston Athletic and Cove Rangers.