Blundell Park - Grimsby Town FC
Saturday 19th March 2005
V Darlington, League Two, 3pm
By John Gledhill

Having not been to an away game for a few years, despite holding a season ticket, it was a late decision to make the trip to Grimsby. All the northerm based clubs seem to be in Division One at the moment and having lost clubs like Hartlepool, York and Carlisle this is almost a local derby. After a mixed season we were hovering on the brink of the play offs and, after a recent run of form, we expected Grimsby to provide a tough game and a potential banana skin to our run in. They had played well at Darlington and I remembered there forward line having a good deal of pace and height, so it was off to Humberside on a fine Saturday morning.
 
I had never been to Blundell Park before so, even though I had seen the ground during business visits to Grimsby, I used your web site to make sure I had all the details I needed and persuaded my neighbour and his brother to make the trip. We all attend home games together so they needed little encouragement. We left about 10.30am had a quiet run down the A1 onto the M62 before joining the M180 as we headed into Humberside. It has to be one of the most uninspiring journeys, the road is ramrod straight and the countryside flat and rural but nevertheless easy to navigate. Anyone using this road watch for the mobile speed cameras and unmarked cars. Eventually we hit the edge of Grimsby, finding it to be a typical port location but we found the route in relatively easy not encountering a lot of heavy traffic.

There was a noticeable police presence and at around 1pm, as we drove down Grimsby Road past the stadium, we noticed quite a few Darlo fans milling around ( fish and chips in hand ). We cased the area around Blundell Park but found parking opportunities to be limited, we were resigned to the fact that we would have a reasonable walk from wherever we parked. After scouring the streets around the ground we decided to find food, the pubs around the area seemed a bit dodgy so we headed up into Cleethorpes instead. Cleethorpes is a popular seaside resort and even in spite of it only being March quite a lot of people were enjoying the amusements and the sea air. It is not a big resort so we looked around until we found parking on the front. Here we found a good pub, The Punchbowl, and we popped in for a drink and a bar meal before we headed for the ground. The staff were friendly, the beer was good and the food was top value. We all had fish meals ( one being Scampi ) and they only ran out at about £5 per head, good quantity and top value. The lady who served us gave us directions to the stadium and, as it was only a 15 minute walk, we decided to leave the car where it was. We walked part of the way with the person in question and her hubby, enjoying a laugh and a joke along the way.
 

 

As we left the pub we had a slight shock, a sea fret had descended and the fog was rolling in off the sea, as we headed along the sea front we started to fear the game might be called off. The area around Blundell Park was fairly rough but we had no problems and arrived at the ground 10 minutes before kick off, we found the visitors end and joined the queue. Despite a strong police presence some of our travelling fans were behaving badly but, hats off to the local constabulary, they were patient and tolerant. We were a little frustrated that they only had one turnstile open, especially as we had a following of about 1,000 for this important fixture. Once in the ground we made our way to the area designated, there is a visitors bar and very basic toilets behind the stand but is all very 70's closed in and concrete. We found a seat and settled down as the match was due to kick off. Despite the rowdy nature of our army of fans the home contingent were quiet and reluctant to get involved in any verbal banter with our supporters. The view was restricted by large pillars, the seats were in poor repair and it isn't the best view of a game you could have. All things being equal we settled down to watch the game, the only major nuisance being the less desirable element of our fans who had clearly made the journey to get drunk and cause trouble. Fair play to the police and stewards they handled them professionally and, after they had all tried to leave the ground in pursuit of trouble, removed them to a safe holding zone.
 
The game started at a good pace and Grimsby were in control, Darlington were playing away from our end so we saw a lot of the early action as the home team pushed forward. They had a good, pacey forward line and it began to look like we might be lucky to come away with any thing. After 17 minutes we had our moment and scored against the run of play, a crisp volley enhancing our play off hopes. This was one of our few attacking moments and the rest of the game belonged to our opponents. The Darlo fans were in typical good voice keeping a high level of vocal support, Grimsby were in quiet mood and showed no interest in competing on the vocal front. Things kicked off in the second half as the Mariners continued to drive us back, our keeper bringing down the tall Grimsby striker as we entered the last 20 minutes. The referee, quite rightly, gave a penalty but chose to use the yellow card when he should have sent our goalie off. Grimsby hammered in the spot kick but, to the anger of the fans, made them take it again for encroachment. Horror of horrors they missed it our keeper, who should have been watching, pushing it wide. All hell broke loose and the referee, who you felt couldn't be a bigger idiot, sent one of their players off for having a moan. Grimsby continued to dominate and we were very lucky to hear the final whistle still in front. Our fans went barmy and the home supporters, players and staff focussed their attention on the ref.
 
We left the ground alongside the home fans and the crack was good, we shared good natured banter as we headed back to the car. Despite the fact that it killed off their season they were magnanimous, expect for one old boy who shouted abuse all the way up the road. We watched some young kids abusing a group of Darlo fans on the walk back up the sea front but they laughed it off, and we arrived at the car. On the radio we listened to the Grimsby boss slating the ref on local radio, and we soon got back on the motorway and arrived home at 7.30pm. It was a good day out, we are still in the play offs and it is away to Mansfield for our next excursion.

Are you an away or general football fan who has visited Blundell Park recently?
If so why not submit your own review of the ground and general day out?
Click here to find out more.

Return To The Grimsby Page
Return To The Main Menu