As the second part of my rambling pilgrimage around Lincolnshire football clubs I visited Grimsby Town FC on the 2nd March 2024 to see them play Forest Green Rovers.
Grimsby seems not to have a great reputation as a town amongst people who may not have visited it but that is far from the truth. It does have a pretty rough dock area but the town itself is no worse than countless other English towns that have had to cope with a shrinking industrial heart and it does have the advantage of being joined to Cleethorpes a lively seaside town which is where Grimsby Town play.
Grimsby Town have played at Blundell Park, Cleethorpes ever since 1899 (they were formed in 1878), it is a ground full of history and character and has seen them play over that time in all of the top 5 tiers of English football. The ground itself is a little old fashioned, if you want an unobstructed view of the pitch the best place to sit is in the lower “Findus’ Stand which is where I chose to sit. Parts of the main stand which is on the eastern side of the ground date back to 1901, the history and character seem to ooze out of the structure and it is part of what gives the ground a great atmosphere.
The other part of the atmosphere is, of course, the supporters! From the walk to the ground onwards I found the supporters cheerful and full of optimism despite their position only 3 places from the bottom of League 2, lots of chanting, songs and banter before kick off no doubt helped by visits to the pubs on the way to the stadium and fortified by some traditional looking food from the stalls in the corner of the ground.
The opposition was another club with a long history, Forest Green Rovers formed only 11 years after Grimsby but until 2017 it had never been a football league club and now, following relegation after a season in League 1 they are second from bottom League 2.
For a description of the match I will give you the texts I sent to my family during the game, as an honorary Grimsby supporter for the day I was, of course, hoping for a Grimsby win.
"After a great lunch of leftover Chinese takeaway I'm here to watch the match, 4ft above sea level, it is cold, possibly as cold as Boundary Park, Oldham's ground, it is Grimsby v Forest Green"
"The pitch looks ok, good for football but the wind is weird, nothing predictable at pitch level but a gale about 10 feet up, some rain"
"A decent crowd, nearly full for the home support but very thin from Forest Green, I’ve counted only 50 of theirs but there may be a few more"
"Supporters surprisingly cheerful, good singing"
"BTW, I have no idea where Forest Green is, it sounds like a paint descriptor to me (actually they’re from Nailsworth in Gloucestershire, the smallest town to have a football league side ever)
"Early pressure from Grimsby, 2 corners"
"Grimsby score 1-0, nice goal, 8 minutes in"
"FG camped in their own half"
"Break in play, Grimsby goalie injured but all OK and the game resumes"
"A bit more even now, both attacks look threatening, until they get near the goal"
Half time report. No sign of relegation nerves here, lots of ambitious enterprising football, very little negative passing and Grimsby having the lion's share of attempts on goal. Where both teams are falling down is the quality of their crosses, overhit, underhit, wombling free etc, Ball retention and passing accuracy is another area both teams need to work on but skill on the ball is there, perhaps it is the rain and strong wind affecting them! An interesting second half ahead.
Second-half
"Pressure from FG, a series of corners"
"FG now playing good possession football, Grimsby can’t keep the ball"
"Just over 30 minutes to play, mostly FG pressure"
"FG winger is getting a hard time from the crowd by me, he has moved infield!"
"Grimsby struggling to retain possession, supporters becoming restless"
"FG still not threating the goal"
"Grimsby taking their time on free kicks etc tense"
"A bit of a scuffle between the two teams, nothing serious"
"Final score, Grimsby 1 Forest Green 0, phew"
So, my reflections on an entertaining afternoon at Blundell Park. For a football experience, despite there being only 1 goal it was great, plenty of passion from the players, hard work, ambition and some good skills on show. The Grimsby support was fantastic, really getting behind the team, good singing, vocal and some great humour as the unfortunate FG winger found out. Yes, as its reputation suggests, it is a cold ground and I was glad of my multiple layers but it was well worth the £22 admission. I think for a really ‘proper’ football experience it is just about how it should be – it just needed a few more goals and a lot more away fans to make it perfect.
PS, Don’t forget the fish and chips on the way home, they are pretty much all excellent around here!
Big thank you to Steve Boatright for another wonderful blog on his Lincolnshire Football Pilgrimage series, and we look forward to the next one!
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