It's just five short years since Livingston won the Scottish League Cup.

Derek Lilley and Jamie McAllister netted in the 2-0 final victory over Hibs at Hampden Park to seal a fairytale win. It looked as if that achievement would only further cement Livi's place among the elite teams in Scotland.

That silverware success even came on the back of qualifying for the UEFA Cup after finishing third in their debut season in the Scottish Premier League back in the 2001-02 campaign.

The future looked bright for the club that made a rapid rise through the ranks up to the Scottish Premier League. But now the dream is in danger of turning into a living nightmare.

So what has gone wrong? Have they paid the ultimate price for living the dream justlike Gretna?

Well their rise to the top proved to be relatively short lived when they dropped out of the top flight in May 2006 having earlier slipped into financial administration. And they've faced an uphill battle ever since with things going from bad to worse for the Lothian side.

Just last week Livingston were relegated from the First Division to the Third Division after breaching insolvency rules.

The club refused to accept the decision and failed to play their opening fixture against East Stirlingshire. They also appealed against the radical move but that proved to be fruitless at an SFL meeting.

However, the club could now try to plead their case to a high power - the Scottish Football Association - although that looks unlikely to be a rewarding path to