Annan Athletic have been admitted to the Scottish Football League after winning a vote to replace Gretna. At a meeting at Hampden Park yesterday afternoon, the 29 SFL clubs voted in favour of the East of Scotland League team being invited to join the Irn-Bru Scottish League third division next season.

Spartans, Edinburgh City, Preston Athletic and Cove Rangers had also applied to take the place left vacant by Gretna, who went out of business after being relegated from the Clydesdale Bank Premier League last season.

With a minimum of 15 votes required to gain entry to the SFL, three rounds of voting were needed before Annan's place was confirmed. They polled 17 votes in the final round, with Cove Rangers their closest challengers with 12 votes. Spartans, the one-time favourites, dropped out of the running after the second round after amassing just six votes.

Henry McLelland, the Annan chairman, said: “It's just sunk in but it's been a long time coming. We've not been working towards this for only a few months - we've been working for this since we played Stranraer in 1979. We have been rewarded for all our work since then.”

Annan failed with their last bid to join the SFL when they lost out to Peterhead and Elgin City in January 2000. David Longmuir, the SFL chief executive, said: “On behalf of the working party, I would like to say how impressed we were by all five clubs. We welcome Annan to the Scottish Football League, where they will play a Challenge Cup game on July 26 and then their first league game on August 2.”