In Focus | Grimsby Town
“Long-term security rests with working with our communities. As clubs, we need to work together to make that happen”
Kristine Green, Grimsby Town Director.
An establishment year of 1878 makes Grimsby Town one of the oldest clubs in English football. With so much history comes many ups and downs, and the Lincolnshire club have certainly experienced their fair share of both. This is Grimsby Town’s story.
Grimsby Town, previously Grimsby Pelham, began life as quite a yo-yo club. Set up by Worsley Cricket Club for entertainment during the winter months, the club had already experienced five promotions prior to the Second World War, with four of them seeing Grimsby finish as league champions. However, the promotions also had four relegations attached to them, as the club could only manage ten of their 44 seasons in the First Division after the reformation of the league in 1892. That is certainly more than other clubs can boast about though, as Grimsby also featured in two FA Cup semi-finals in that time.
A few promotions, a brief managerial tenure of Bill Shankly and more relegations later and the Mariners found themselves in the Fourth Division for the first time in their history in the late 1960s. 1968 had seen their lowest ever attendance in a Football League match at Blundell Park, as 1,833 witnessed a 2-0 defeat to Brentford.
It would take a colossal overhaul to get Grimsby back to where it belonged. Despite a brief revival in the 1970s – the club won the Fourth Division in 1972 before being relegated back down in 1977 – it would take until 1980 until the club found themselves in the Second Division again, off the back of successive promotions under boss George Kerr.
Grimsby bounced between the Fourth and Second Divisions, eventually finding themselves in the First Division when the Premier League was created in 1992. New beginnings did not mean good fortune however, as the Mariners dropped to League Two when it was created in 2004. The collapse of ITV Digital meant Grimsby Town held debts of over £2million, leaving the club with little choice but to move first team players on. To make matters more troublesome, the club now had to supply its own kits thanks to the closure of their long-term kit-maker Avec Sportswear.
The negativity around financial trouble, the departure of key players and kit difficulties was only exacerbated by relegation to the Conference National in 2010. Their 100-year Football League stay had come to an end, and the rebuild demanded time and patience. It would take two play-off semi-final losses and six years for their return to League Two, on the back of 30 goals from Padraig Amond. A 2-0 home victory against Lincoln in their promotion season saw 7,650 turn out to Blundell Park, which was a league-high for that campaign.
Make no mistake, Grimsby Town are a well-followed club. The Mariners Trust epitomise that fan-backing, with a 14% stake in the club and multiple fundraisers and events throughout the year. As a result of their stake in Grimsby, the Mariners Trust channel fan voices through their position on the board, ensuring football and the community always come first.
Whilst Grimsby will once again find themselves in the National League next season after an ugly 2020/21 campaign, new and local owners bring new promise. 1878 Partners Limited, named as such after the year Grimsby Town was founded, bought long-term owner John Fenty’s shares in May 2021. Joint owner Jason Stockwood’s comments suggest fans will continue to be considered in the future of the Mariners: “All being well, we will be able to complete the transaction immediately after the general meeting and start a broader conversation with all supporters about the future of the Club”
It is their fan-backing and persistence that makes Grimsby Town a Fair Game club. With their fair share of financial issues and problems on the pitch, one of the oldest clubs in English football have held firm even though the National League once again looms. Grimsby Town Director Kristine Green understands Grimsby’s place in Fair Game:
“I am acutely aware of how much our club means to our fans. Long-term security rests with working with our communities. As clubs, we need to work together to make that happen and that is why we are endorsing Fair Game”
