MacFarlane following his Heart in tying the knot with ambitious Gretna

IF GRETNA are indeed fashioning themselves as "little Hearts" during their storm to ascendancy in Scottish football, then Neil MacFarlane has jumped from the fairytale into the adventure story.

After spending the first half of last season as a strict bit part of Vladimir Romanov's self-proclaimed Tynecastle revolution, one of this country's most effective holding midfield players has chosen to follow an equally unfulfilling six-month stint with Aberdeen by dropping down a division and accepting a two-year contract from Gretna.

Therein lies the romance. MacFarlane was fully aware of the endeavour and burrowing going on behind the scenes during the latter months of his four years at Tynecastle as Vladimir Romanov strove to hoist Hearts to a position of prestige, first amongst their SPL peers and secondly beside the elite of Europe.

With the initial aim achieved, the next is likely to take slightly longer to facilitate. But fundamentally it was such lofty intentions that forced the humble MacFarlane out the exit door in Gorgie with more luminary names filling the midfield berths. Having sampled the ambition that grips Romanov and those around him in their everyday lives, he has sought more of the same by joining a club happy to depict themselves as new-found cousins of those at Tynecastle.

Brooks Mileson and his merry band of conquerors at Raydale Park have found long-term allegiances in Romanov and Hearts, with more goodwill gestures being exchanged between the owners of the two clubs than the Salvation Army could offer on a busy day.

"There are definitely a lot of similarities, albeit on a smaller scale in Gretna's case," admits MacFarlane from his early impressions of life on the Border.

"There's no doubting both of them have the money to take their clubs as far as they want to go, and who can argue with what Hearts did last year? It's not a bad approach for Gretna to take to get to the Premier League.

"When I was in discussions with the people at Gretna at first they were telling me that they were ahead of schedule with their plans. I went down and had a look at the place while I made my mind up and had a long chat with them. I think we can take this club another step and get into the Premier League. That's how we feel. The ambition is there, you can see that from the players they have.

"I was at the Scottish Cup final and I think you could see the ambition of the Gretna boys that day. If the club can sign a few more players, which they intend to do, then we'll have the ability to take on the big teams like Hearts regularly.

"They think, and I think, they have a great chance to win the First Division. You can never say you're going to win it when there's only one team promoted, but they definitely want to win it this year."

No point wasting any time, then, certainly not when you're as driven an individual as Romanov or Mileson. MacFarlane admits he could have secured himself a place in the SPL already, with a concrete offer from Motherwell just one of the options available to him when he departed Pittodrie at the end of the season. But, at 28, he simply couldn't resist the ideology of helping Gretna in their quest for an unprecedented third successive promotion.

Had he been utilised a little less sporadically at Hearts, it could all have been so different, of course. But just four appearances between August and January affirmed to the midfielder that having his own ambitions stifled on the bench or in the stand was as productive as life would get in Edinburgh.

"I'd have stayed at Hearts forever. But football is like that," continues MacFarlane. "I'm still quite happy that every time I played for Hearts I did my best and I think the fans appreciated that.

"Now I have another new challenge. I needed a new challenge because I was playing regularly during my first three years at Hearts and then last season was very stop-start. I need to be playing.

"I loved it at Hearts and I took a wee chance in going up to Aberdeen for the six months. I enjoyed being involved again and playing some games, especially the bigger ones like Rangers and Celtic. Aberdeen are a big club but I knew I only had a short time to prove myself. I just thought Gretna were the right club. I got that feeling from speaking to them and I know boys like Chris Innes and James Grady. If they can win the league this year then they have the means to strengthen and stay in the SPL."

And just to prove that Mileson and manager Rowan Alexander are striving to duplicate the Hearts model down to the last detail, they're even preparing for the almost absurd reality of European football next season. Whilst the Jambos enter the Champions League as seeds in the second qualifying round, Gretna will begin their UEFA Cup campaign at the same stage.

They're seeded, too. If it's good enough for Hearts, it's good enough for Gretna. "European football was a big factor for me after enjoying that environment so much at Hearts," says MacFarlane. "We start pre-season training next week so I'm really looking forward to it. I've met Brooks a couple of times and he seems a very decent and genuine man. A bit like Romanov, he's brought some life into the Scottish game and no-one should knock that. The game would be a lot worse without them.

"I was actually down in Gretna a couple of days ago and the difference in the stadium is amazing. A lot of it has gone and there's a brand new stand going up."

That won't be sufficient to permit the hosting of UEFA Cup football at Raydale. Instead Gretna will take to the M74 and head for Fir Park, Motherwell, to entertain continental opponents. But it matters not a jot. For Neil MacFarlane, a man recently returned from holidaying in the magical Disney-filled state of Florida, the fairytale continues.

Taken from the Scotsman