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Grimsby Town F.C.

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Grimsby Town

Full name	Grimsby Town Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Mariners
Founded	1878 (as Grimsby Pelham)
Ground	Blundell Park Cleethorpes (Capacity: 9,106) (10,033 with temporary seats)
Chairman	John Fenty
Manager	Mike Newell
League	League Two
2007–08	League Two, 16th
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Grimsby Town are an English Football club playing in League Two, the fourth tier of English football. The club is located at Blundell Park in the seaside town of Cleethorpes, part of the conurbation of Grimsby borough in North East Lincolnshire, on the Humber estuary. ^[1]

Despite having fallen on hard times in recent years, the club has been the most successful of the three professional league clubs in historic Lincolnshire, being the only one to play top-flight football. It is also the only club of the three to reach an FA Cup semi-final (doing so on two occasions) and is the only one to succeed in two finals at the old Wembley Stadium. It has also spent more time in the English game's first and second tiers than any other club from Lincolnshire.

Notable managers include the late Bill Shankly, who went on to guide Liverpool to three League titles, two FA Cups and a UEFA Cup triumph and Lawrie McMenemy who, after securing promotion to the then third division in 1972, moved to Southampton where he won the FA Cup in 1976. Alan Buckley is the club's most successful manager, he had three spells as team manager between 1988 and 2008, and guided the club to two Wembley appearances during the 1997–1998 season winning both the Football League Trophy and the Nationwide Division 2 Play Off Final. In 2008 Buckley took Grimsby to the capital again, but lost out to MK Dons in the final of the Football League Trophy.

[edit] History

[edit] Early history

The club was formed in 1878 after a meeting held at the Wellington Arms public house in Freeman Street. Several attendees included members of the local Worsley Cricket Club who wanted to form a football club to occupy the empty winter evenings after the cricket season had finished.

The club was originally called Grimsby Pelham, this being the family name of the Earl of Yarborough, a significant landowner in the area. In 1880 the club purchased land at Clee Park which was to become their ground until 1889 when they relocated to Abbey Park, before moving again in 1899 to their present home, Blundell Park. The original colours were blue and white hoops, which were changed to chocolate and blue quartered shirts in 1884.

In 1888 the club first played league football, joining the newly-formed 'Combination'. The league soon collapsed and the following year the club applied to join the Football League, an application that was refused. Instead the club joined the Football Alliance. In 1890 the club became a limited company and in 1892 finally entered the Football League, when it was expanded to two divisions. The first game was a 2-1 victory over Northwich Victoria.

The 1901-02 season saw promotion to the first division; two seasons later they were relegated and within a decade they would be a non-league side again, failing re-election in 1910 and falling to the Midland League. However they won that at the first attempt and at the subsequent re-election vote, replaced local rivals Lincoln City in the Football League.

Grimsby Town and Hull City were the only two professional teams which had official permission to play league football on Christmas Day because of the demands of the fish trade. That tradition has now disappeared following the dramatic reduction of their trawler fleets in recent years.^[2]

[edit] The Inter-War Years

This was probably the most successful period in the club's history as they played at the highest level. The first full season after the Great War the club was relegated to the new Third Division North. By 1929 they were however back in Division One, where they stayed (with a brief break from 1932 to 1934) until 1939, obtaining their highest-ever league position, 5th in Division One, in the 1934-35 season. In 1925 they adopted the black and white stripes as their colours.

On 25 March 1939, Wolverhampton Wanderers played Grimsby, in a FA Cup semi-final at Old Trafford. The attendance of 76,962 remains Old Trafford's largest ever attendance, though it is likely to be exceeded in the near future. The Mariners lost the game 5-0 after the second choice goalkeeper George Moulson was injured early on in the match (first choice keeper George Tweedy had caught the flu days earlier). With the then rules forbidding substitutes for injuries Grimsby had to play with 10 men and an outfield player in goal. It was at this match that the squad wore numbered shirts for the first time, three months before it became official.

As well as the semi-final of 1939 the club also reached the semi-final of the FA Cup in 1936 but lost 1-0 to Arsenal.

[edit] Postwar decline

With the resumption of the Football League for the 1946-47 season after World War II the club were relegated at the end of the 1947-48 season and have never returned to this level. Much of the 1950s and 1960s were spent alternating between the Second Division and the Third Division North, later the Third Division. In 1968 they slipped into the Fourth Division for the first time. The following season the club had to apply for re-election to the league having finished second from bottom. It was in this season that the lowest-ever attendance for a Football League match at Blundell Park was ever recorded; 1,833 saw a 2-0 defeat to Brentford.

[edit] Revival during the 1970s

Three years later 22,489 people witnessed a home victory against Exeter City that saw the club promoted as Fourth Division Champions. This turnaround was credited to the appointment of Lawrie McMenemy as manager. The club stayed in Division Three until relegation in 1977 but were promoted again in 1979. A year later they finished as Third Division Champions under the stewardship of George Kerr and returned to the second tier of the English game, a level they had not been at for 16 years.

In 1976 the club saw what could be said to be its' most prestigious visitor when the local Member of Parliament and then Foreign Secretary Anthony Crosland invited the then American Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to watch the Mariners play Gillingham.

[edit] Back in the Second Division

The first season back (1980-81) saw the club finish 7th. Work started that year on a new £1m stand, originally called the Findus Stand (now the Carlsberg Stand) after the former Barretts Stand had been declared unsafe. In the 1983-84 season the club finished fifth in the Second Division after spending most of the latter part of the campaign in the top three promotion places. This was their highest league finish since the 1947-48 season.

Grimsby's stay in the Second Division ended in 1987. They actually spent much of the 1986-87 season in the top half of the table, but a run of 8 losses and 2 draws in the final 10 games saw them fall from 8th to 21st.

[edit] Another decline and another revival

By 1988 the team were back in Division Four and the club was in extreme financial difficulties. Following the resignation of Dave Booth in 1986 (to pursue outside business interests) the club had two managers in two years (Mick Lyons and Bobby Roberts). Alan Buckley was appointed and by 1991 had led the club to two successive promotions with the chairman at that time being Peter Furneaux. Grimsby established themselves in the First Division with Buckley's current crop of players currently boasting some of the most popular and biggest cult heroes in the clubs history. Players such as Shaun Cunnington, Mark Lever, Dave Gilbert, Steve Livingstone, Paul Futcher, Paul Groves and Clive Mendonca were mixed with a crop of fresh faced youngsters like Peter Handyside, Gary Croft, John Oster and Jack Lester to make the club a mid-average first division outfit. Buckley departed Grimsby in 1995 to join West Bromwich Albion and was replaced by Brian Laws. During his tenure Laws became famous for a changing-room altercation after a defeat at Luton with Italian striker Ivano Bonetti, which left the latter with a broken cheekbone, and caused the popular player to leave the club at the end of the season.

[edit] The 1997 relegation

In 1996–1997 season The Mariners were releagted from the First Division. Despite flowing goals from Clive Mendonca, and notably good performances from John Oster and new comer Kingsley Black, Grimsby failed to save themselves. The club had suffered at the losses of Gary Croft, who made a £1.5 million move to Blackburn Rovers and ever present Goalkeeper Paul Crichton, who would see his replacement, Jason Pearcey(who had been the clubs second choice keeper in the previous season) struggle to fill his boots.

[edit] Back in Division One

The 1997–98 season saw the return of Alan Buckley as manager, after an unsuccessful period at West Bromwich Albion, for Grimsby's most successful post-war season. The club won the Football League Trophy final at Wembley Stadium courtesy of a golden goal from Wayne Burnett, followed four weeks later by promotion to Division One via the play-offs. The same season saw notable victories against several clubs above them in the league structure in the League Cup, including cup-holders Leicester City.

The 1998–99 season saw Grimsby finish mid-table, as did 1999–2000, despite some threat of relegation. The 2000––01 season saw a boardroom change with Doug Everitt taking over from Bill Carr. Everett dismissed manager Alan Buckley just two games into the season, replacing him with Lennie Lawrence. The new manager changed his entire team around and brought in some expensive loan signings from abroad such as Zhang Enhua, Menno Willems, David Nielsen and Knut Anders Fostervold. Despite this the club struggled to avoid relegation, only securing their place in Division One on the last day of the season with a win over promoted Fulham.

The Mariners started the 2001–02 season strongly, topping the league table after 5 games. The club knocked local rivals Lincoln City and Sheffield United out of the League Cup to meet holders Liverpool at Anfield. Grimsby held the Premier League team to a 0–0 draw after 90 minutes taking the game into extra time. Despite Gary McAllister scoring to put the Reds 1–0 up, loan signing Marlon Broomes and Phil Jevons scored to give the club a historic victory. Town slipped from the top of the league down to the bottom and Lawrence was dismissed halfway into the season; skipper Paul Groves was chosen to replace him. Grimsby again struggled to avoid relegation, and were again successful. The season was overshadowed by loanee Martin Pringle's footballing career being ended after a leg-breaking tackle by Stockport County defender Dave Challinor as well as the collapse of ITV Digital putting enormous strain on finances. 2002–03 proved to be the club's last season in Division One, the club finishing bottom of the table.

[edit] Financial crisis and another relegation

Relegation hit Grimsby hard. Integral team members such as Danny Coyne and Georges Santos jumped ship, and for money reasons as well the club had to supply its own kits for the season. Groves dabbed in the transfer market and brought in some rough diamonds, notably Jason Crowe and Des Hamilton, while Dutch striker Laurens Ten Heuvel joined on loan. His dealings saw The Mariners boast a thick squad for the 2003–2004 campaign but despite this, Groves soon found his men sliding down the league. And they found themselves involved in another relegation scrap with Sheffield Wednesday like the previous season. Groves was sacked in 2004 following a 6-0 drubbing against Oldham Athletic and was replaced by Nicky Law. To be fair, things were always against Law, after the club lost Goalkeeper Aidan Davison to injury, as well as players like Marcel Cas ,Alan Pouton and Michael Boulding departing for various reasons. Other players such as Iffy Onuora were deemed surplus to requirements and were released. Law brought in his own team, veterans Paul Warhurst, Alan Fettis and Jamie Lawrence were joined by controversial journeyman Mickael Antoine-Curier and injury prone Huddersfield midfielder John Thorrington. With little time left for the new team to gel, Grimsby dropped into the relegation zone and went down again on the last day of the season.

The sudden collapse of ITV Digital had left the club with debts of over £2m, £700,000 of which is owed to the Inland Revenue and a further substantial amount to their bankers, Lloyds TSB. In 2005 director John Fenty became the controlling shareholder in the club after a search for outside investors failed, and a sale of shares to the local public was poorly received. He now owns 51% of the club and has made significant loans to the club to ensure its continued operation.

In 2006 the club announced an arrangement with the Revenue which allowed the club to repay its tax liabilities in instalments. In the report for the year ending 31 May 2006 it was revealed that the club made a profit after tax of over £400,000, due mainly to cup exploits and the play-off final.

[edit] Back in the basement division

With Nicky Law failing to keep Grimsby in the Second Division, chairman Peter Furneaux wielded the axe and ended his short stay as first team manager. The club move to appoint Scarborough manager Russell Slade as his replacement, and despite being questioned by some of the clubs supporters, he answered his critics with the signings of Michael Reddy, Andy Parkinson, Dean Gordon and Ashley Sestanovich who were all arguably considered to be of a standard higher than the division. However with the current cash flow a problem, corners had to be cut and the squad was paper thin, numbers were mainly made up by inexperienced youth team players, and pointless loan signings. Like many other teams who suffer a relegation in the previous season Grimsby got off to a mediocre start and a lower mid table finish was a good as it would get for Slade's men. For the 2005–2006 season, The Mariners started well. Slade made more additions with popular signings Jean Paul Kamudimba Kalala and Gary Croft added to the already hungry looking team, the club soon found themselves rising to the top of Coca-Cola League Two, and beating Derby County and Tottenham Hotspur in the League Cup (although they were finally knocked out of the cup by Newcastle United). Grimsby failed to gain automatic promotion into League One after conceding a last minute goal against Northampton Town, although a Lee Steele goal giving Leyton Orient victory at Oxford United condemned Grimsby to the play-offs regardless. This despite being amongst the automatic promotion places for the majority of the season. The Mariners faced local rivals Lincoln City in the play-offs semi-finals, going on to win 3-1 on aggregate. They faced Cheltenham Town at The Millennium Stadium in Cardiff but, perhaps surprisingly as the bookmakers made them favourites, they lost 1-0.

[edit] Rodger fails and Buckley returns

On 31 May, manager Russell Slade left the club after failing to agree terms on a new contract. The club also lost important players such as Steve Mildenhall, Curtis Woodhouse and Jean Paul Kamudimba Kalala. Assistant Manager Graham Rodger was promoted to Manager and was looked on by some clubs supporters as the cheap option, but like Slade, he answered his critics by signing popular players. Isaiah Rankin who had a short but fruitful stay with the club in 2004, was re-signed from Brentford and other signings such as veteran Peter Beagrie and Sheffield United Goalkeeper Phil Barnes were brought in. Former Mansfield Town manager Stuart Watkiss was appointed as the clubs Assistant Manager. Despite high expectations The Mariners stumbled out the starting blocks and the mouth watering strike partnership of Rankin and Michael Reddy never got going due to injury woes and Reddy harboring the interest in playing at a higher level. Grimsby found themselves near the foot of the table, and by November the poor start had basically destroyed any chances of promotion. On 6 November , 2006 John Fenty sacked Graham Rodger, The club released a statement, saying "He has been a loyal servant to the club, but has become a victim of circumstances,... Graham has qualities this club needs - the shame of it is that this man deserved better."[1]

Stuart Watkiss took temporary charge until the unexpected happened. On 9 November 2006 saw the return of Alan Buckley for his third stint at managing the club in the last twenty years. Generally agreed to be the club's most successful manager,^{[citation needed]} he had already taken the club from a basement division position to one that became established in what is now the Championship in his first term at the club (1988–1994). Buckley inherited a strong but under performing side. He in turn brought in Peter Till from Birmingham City, Martin Paterson and Anthony Pulis on loan to bolster the squad. Buckley soon found himself under pressure as Grimsby slipped down too 22nd in the League, but the board and the supporters stuck by him, and he turned the clubs fortunes around with a whopping 6-0 victory away against Boston United. Grimsby once again stuttered into a lower mid table position.

The 2007-2008 season was mainly non eventful but the club enjoyed a good run in the Football League Trophy and on 4 March 2008 Grimsby booked their place at the new Wembley Stadium after beating Morecambe in a nervy two-legged Northern Final. A Paul Bolland goal in the away first leg enough to see Town through. They went on to play MK Dons in the Final on 30 March, losing 2-0 after Danny Boshell had missed an early penalty.

There was frustration from the start in the next season, with Town hunting for a new striker, Buckley failed to sign Delroy Facey and club hero Michael Boulding, coupled with this Grimsby fans grew frustrated with the lack of transfer action at the club, notably he did bring in Scotland International Robbie Stockdale, but the club were to start the season with want away Martin Butler, injured Danny North and the vastly inexperienced youngsters Andy Taylor and Nathan Jarman as their only striking options. Following a poor pre-season period in which the team suffered defeats to a number of different Non League clubs such as Farsley Celtic and Corby Town, the club started the new season poorly and soon dropped down to near the foot of the league. After a 13-game winless streak in the league stretching from 22 March 2008, on 15 September 2008 Alan Buckley was sacked as manager of Grimsby Town FC. ^[1]

[edit] The Mike Newell Era

Following the dismissal of Alan Buckley his assistant Stuart Watkiss was given a Caretaker manger role for the second time since his arrival in 2006. He was replaced on a permanent basis by Mike Newell, a year and a half after his dismissal by Luton Town.^[3] His first transfer dealings were to sign two former Grimsby players, Jean-Paul Kamudimba Kalala and Robert Atkinson on loan.^{[citation needed]} Grimsby's winless streak in the league, going back to March 2008, was finally ended after 23 games with a 2–0 win over Bury at Gigg Lane.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Stadium

Main article: Blundell Park

Grimsby play their home games at Blundell Park in Cleethorpes. The stadium has an all-seated capacity of just under 10,000 since 1995. Since the late 1990s, there have been plans for a new 20,200-seat stadium at nearby Great Coates - tentatively titled the Conoco Stadium after a naming rights deal with the American oil producer ConocoPhillips. Delays have marred the progress of this new stadium but the local council have finally granted planning permission. The Mariners hope to kick-off the 2010/11 season in their new home.^[4]

[edit] Mascot

Mighty Mariner is the Grimsby Town mascot. He normally torments the opposition fans, plays football with the mascots and warms up the Grimsby Town fans.

[edit] Rivals

This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (October 2008)

Grimsby share a geographical rivalry with Hull City, but the two clubs have rarely played each other in recent times. Within recent years Grimsby dropped from the higher breaches of professional football down to the bottom, while Hull did the opposite. The last time the two clubs met in a competitive game was in the Football League Trophy in the 1997–1998 season, with Grimsby winning the game 1-0. The closest professional football club to Grimsby is Scunthorpe United. Like Hull rivalry is high, but the teams have rarely spent time together in the same leagues. With Grimsby spending most of their time in higher divisions than Scunthorpe. Which like Hull, is now reversed.

In recent years Lincoln City has been Grimsby's local derby games, but to Grimsby supporters, Lincoln have not been thought of as local rivals until recent seasons. And to some supporters they are not seen as rivals at all. From 2001 to 2004 a rivalry with Sheffield Wednesday intensified, with the two clubs involved in the same relegation battles in both First and Second Divisions. Games between the two teams were very heated and at the time were Grimsby's main local derby.

Grimsby have rivalries with a number of Yorkshire teams including Barnsley, Sheffield United, Rotherham United, Doncaster Rovers, Bradford City, Huddersfield Town and Leeds United. Other rivalries have lessened due to other teams playing at a non-league level, such as those with Mansfield Town, York City, Boston United and Gainsborough Trinity.

[edit] Players

As of 2 January 2009.^[5]

[edit] Current squad

No. Position Player 1 GK Phil Barnes 2 DF Robbie Stockdale 3 DF Tom Newey 4 DF Ryan Bennett (captain) 5 DF Matthew Heywood 6 DF Richard Hope 7 MF Peter Till 8 MF Paul Bolland 9 FW Adam Proudlock 10 MF Chris Llewellyn 11 MF Danny Boshell 12 MF Jamie Clarke 13 GK Gary Montgomery 14 MF James Hunt 15 DF Matthew Bird 16 MF Jean-Paul Kamudimba Kalala (on loan from Oldham Athletic)

No. Position Player 17 MF Nick Hegarty 18 MF Peter Bore 19 FW Danny North 20 FW Andy Taylor 21 DF Joe Widdowson (on loan from West Ham United) 22 FW Nathan Jarman 23 MF Grant Normington 25 DF Robert Atkinson (on loan from Barnsley) 26 FW Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro 27 MF Mickaël Buscher 28 GK Leigh Overton 29 DF Bradley Wood 30 MF Stuart Elliott (on loan from Doncaster Rovers) 31 MF Dean Sinclair (on loan from Charlton Athletic)

[edit] Notable Former Players

Further information: List of Grimsby Town F.C. players

[edit] Club Officials

Chairman:John Fenty
Executive Director:Peter Furneaux

Life President:Dudley Ramsden
Directors:John Elsom,Michael Chapman
Team Manager: Mike Newell
Team Assistant Manager:Stuart Watkiss
First Team Coach:Brian Stein
Reserve Team Manager:Stuart Watkiss
Head of Youth:Neil Woods
Youth Team Manager:Neil Woods
Youth Administrator:Adam Smith
Chief Scout:Brian Stein
Goalkeeping Coach:Steve Croudson
Physiotherapist:Dave Moore
Club Captain:Matthew Heywood

Community Sport Officers:Gary Childs,Graham Rodger
Chief Executive:Ian Fleming
Commercial Manager:David Smith
Accounts Manager:Steve Wraith
Press Officer:Dale Ladson
Marketing & Promotions Manager:Lucie Ramsden
Head Groundsman:Mike Phillips
PA Announcer:Rob Andrews
Honorary Club Physician:Frank Howells
Club Shop Manager:Fiona Fenty
Ticket Office Manager:Lisa Piggott
Caretaker:Joe Drury
Study Support Centre:Oliver Cowling
Scoreboard Coordinator:Dave Payne
Crowd Medical Officer:Dr K Collett

[edit] Managers

[edit] Famous Ex-Players/Managers

Main article: List of Grimsby Town F.C. players

In a survey published by the Professional Footballers' Association in December 2007, Matt Tees was listed as the all-time favourite player amongst Grimsby Town fans.

In the BBC Sports Cult Heroes poll, Grimsby fans voted Clive Mendonca as the all time favorite player, with John McDermott second, and Ivano Bonetti in third place.

[edit] Kit

Grimsby Town's traditional home kit

The original 1878 kit of Grimsby Pelham FC, featured a shirt with narrow horizontal stripes in royal blue and white, with long white shorts and black socks. Between 1884-1910, various kits colours were introduced, with the most most common colours being variations of pale blue and chocolate brown, worn with white shorts and black socks. Other kits from this period include:

• 1897-1898 - Plain white shirt, with royal blue shorts and socks
• 1904-1906 - Pale red shirt, with black shorts and socks
• 1906-1908 - White shirt with red collar and cuffs, red shorts, black socks with red bands

Black and white bar stripes were adopted in 1910 and with a few exceptions, they have rarely been missing from the kit design ever since and have become one of the most recognisable features of the club. The 1911 kit included the black and white striped shirt, white shorts and black socks. Exceptions from the traditional bar-stripe kit:

• 1935-1936 - Plain white shirt featuring the coat of arms of the County Borough of Great Grimsby, black shorts and red socks
• 1958-1959 - White shirt with black pin stripes, black shorts, red socks
• 1960-1962 - White shirt with black collar and cuffs, red shorts, red socks
• 1963-1966 - White shirt with black pin stripes, black shorts with white stripe, white socks with black bands
• 2006-2007 - Black and white halves, black shorts, black socks

Since the introduction of the black and white bar stripes in 1910, the GTFC kit have featured exclusively red, black and white. The only exceptions to this are the corporate colours used in a sponsor logo and the yellow/gold trim used between 2001-2003. The official GTFC club logo first appeared on the club kit in 1974.

The new home and away kits were unveiled on 8 June 2008 for the 2008-2009 season. The home is black and white strips with a red trim and the away is red with a white trim, with Errea being the new kit manufacturer. For the 08/09 season they will also have a third kit which will be all blue and will be worn in the first few away games of the season against Brentford and Lincoln City.

[edit] Honours

Main article: Grimsby Town F.C. seasons

[edit] Records

[edit] Club records

• Biggest League Attendance: 26,605 v Stockport County on April 11, 1952
• Biggest FA Cup Attendance: 31,651 v Wolverhampton Wanderers on February 20, 1937
• Biggest League Cup Attendance: 23,115 v Wolverhampton Wanderers on December 4, 1979
• Biggest Neutral Venue Attendance: 76,972 v Wolverhampton Wanderers on March 25, 1939 in the FA Cup semi final at Old Trafford,Manchester
• Smallest League Attendace: 1,833 v Brentford on May 3, 1969
• Smallest Cup Attendance: 970 v Scunthorpe United in Sherpa Van Trophy on December 5, 1987
• Highest League Gate Receipts: £81,200 v Newcastle United on May 4, 1993
• Highest FA Cup Gate Recepts: £119,799 v Aston Villa on January 4, 1994
• Highest League Cup Gate Receipts: £97,000 v Tottenham Hotspur on October 29, 1991
• Smallest League Gate Receipts: £32 v Glossop on April 13, 1907
• Biggest League Victory: 8-0 v Tranmere Rovers on September 4, 1925
• Biggest FA Cup Victory: 8-0 v Darlington on November 21, 1885
• Highest Scoring Game: 9-2 win over Darwen on April 15, 1899
• Biggest League Defeat: 1-9 v Arsenal on January 28, 1931
• Biggest FA Cup Defeat: 1-9 v Phoenix Bessemer on November 25, 1882

[edit] Player records

• Most League Goals In A Season: 42 by Pat Glover (1933–34)
• Most League Goals In Total: 180 by Pat Glover (1930–39)
• Most League Appearances: 647 by John McDermott from between 1987 and 2007
• Most Appearances (all competitions): 754 by John McDermott from between 1987 and 2007
• Most Capped Player While At Club: 7 by Pat Glover playing for Wales
• Most Capped Player: 31 by Kingsley Black playing for