Grimsby Town v Huddersfield Town
The FA Cup 3rd round
Saturday January 4th - 3:00 ko
at Blundell Park
Huddersfield Town travel to Cleethorpes on Saturday to play Grimsby Town at Blundell Park in the FA Cup. It's our first visit there since a JPT match in 2007, in which we were soundly spanked by four goals to one. We did gain a bit of revenge though a few weeks later when we beat them 3-0 at our place in an FA Cup run that would eventually lead to Stamford Bridge.
Last season we reached the 5th round of the cup, beating Charlton and Leicester, before going out in humiliating fashion, live on TV against Wigan. The Mariners didn't even make it to the first round proper last season, losing at home to Kidderminster in the 4th qualifying round. Obviously they have done better this time. After beating Rushall Olympic of the Northern Premier League, they then took out a couple of Football League clubs in the shape of Scunthorpe Utd and Northampton Town.
How to get there: By car, if using sat nav, plumb this number in. DN35 7PY. If using your nose, follow the smell of fish. If using your eyes, go by M62, M18, M180 and A180. Before reaching Grimsby town centre, continue along the A180 towards Cleethorpes and the ground is on your left, just by MacDonald's and the Blundell Park Hotel. There's no car park, so it's street parking only. There are loads of side streets around, so try your luck in one of those.
By train, Cleethorpes station is about a mile from the ground, so you can enjoy an idyllic walk along the promenade and back alongside the railway track which you will have just passed the ground on your way in.
Wheere to sup: The Mariners Trust run a bar for away supporters inside the ground. All profits from this go towards the club and they are asking fans to donate some memorabilia from your club to make it a true football bar. You have to be in the ground to gain admittance to this bar, which is called Scotties Bar and has Sky Sports on.
If you fancy a drink away from the ground, the traditional away supporters pub has now been demolished. The Leaking Boot not falling victim to the lack of away support now that Grimsby ply their trade in the Conference, but a rather large fire.
The closest pub is the Blundell Park Hotel on Grimsby Road. There is also the Rutland Arms which is a five minute walk away. If you're coming by train, there is the Number 2 Refreshment Room at Cleethorpes station, which is listed in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide. Or there is O'Neill's just outside the station, which is now the new away fans boozer. It's a 20 minute walk to the ground from there.
The Leaking Boot
O'Neill's
Blundell Park Hotel
Team news: Town's leading scorer, James Vaughan had a scan on his knee injury on New Year's Eve and according to manager Mark Robins, he is a couple of weeks away from returning to action. Joel Lynch limped off in the first half of the Burnley match and will be rested.
But the great news is that after a long lay off, dynamic midfield magician, Anton Robinson, is back fit again and could come into contention for this one.
Grimsby's Lenell John-Lewis is suspended having been sent off on New Year's Day in the draw with Lincoln City.
A brief history of Grimsby Town: The club was formed as Grimsby Pelham in 1878, before becoming Grimsby Town in 1889. They joined the Football League in 1892 and then in 1899 moved to their new home, Blundell Park.
After a couple of seasons at the new ground they won the 2nd division, thus gaining entry to English football's top division. That didn't last long though and a rapid downward spiral saw them fail to gain re-election in 1910, being replaced in the Football League by a two year old club from the West Riding of Yorkshire, Huddersfield Town. They subsequently won the Midland League and got an immediate re-election back in the following year.
After the first world war, as Huddersfield Town were winning promotion to the First Division for the first time, Grimsby Town got relegated to the newly formed Third Division. This was a regional division up until the 1950s and to start with, Grimsby were somehow placed in Division Three South, until somebody with a map decided to put them in the 3rd Division North, which they won in 1926. By 1929 they were back up top for what was their most successful period in the club's history. In 1936 they reached the FA Cup semi finals and played Arsenal at the splendid surroundings of Leeds Road, Huddersfield. They lost the match 1-0.
We almost met each other in the FA Cup Final in 1939, but alas both of us lost at the semi final stage. Town against Portsmouth down at Highbury and the Mariners, at Old Trafford, lost to Wolves.
That was the end of Grimsby's glory years and shortly after the 2nd world war they were relegated, never to return to the top flight again and by 1968 they were in the 4th division.
They yoyoed between the lower divisions for the next few decades. The high spot came in 1997/98 when two former Huddersfield Town players brought them a double Wembley success. They reached the final of the Auto Windscreens Shield against Bournemouth and in extra time ex Terrier Wayne Burnett scored the winning goal. That was Grimsby's first ever trip to Wembley and four weeks later they were back again for the Division Two Play Off Final against Northampton. This time they won 1-0 and another ex Terrier got the winner, Kevin Donovan who manager Alan Buckley had signed in the summer from his former club, West Bromwich Albion.
Up and down again over the next few years until disaster came in the shape of relegation to the Conference in 2010. A nine match unbeaten run at the end of last season saw them reach the Conference Play Offs for the first time, but they missed out, losing at the semi final stage to Newport County.
Grimsby's big day at Wembley in 1998
Head to Head
Grimsby lead the overall head to head by 30 wins to 23, with 21 draws. That's in all competitions. In league matches it's 26 wins to Town's 21, with 21 draws.
The last time I went to Blundell Park, it was at the back end of the Bruce era, a terribly boring 0-0 draw. My first time there was for a 2-1 defeat in 1979 and in between then and now we have only won once. That was a 1-0 win in 1987 with a goal from Joey Jones. In amongst that lonely win there have been some right tonkings including a 5-1 and a 4-0.
One of the best performances I have seen from an away side at Leeds Road came in the famous 4th division championship winning 1979/80 season when they came to ours and stuffed us 4-1 in the League Cup. So despite Grimsby's now lowly league status, I still fear them as opposition. The only bright spot is our positive FA Cup record against them with the Terriers beating the Mariners at home in 2007/08 and 1989/90. Grimsby won the only FA cup meeting at their's though, a 1-0 scoreline in 1974/75.
So what have modern day Grimsby got?
They come here on the back of a one all draw in the big local derby at home to Lincoln City on New Year's Day. Managed these days by Paul Hurst, a defender who played for 15 years at Rotherham United. He has been in sole charge of the club since his fellow joint manager, Rob Scott was dismissed in September for gross misconduct. The pair had had previous spells together at Ilkeston Town and Boston Utd.
Mariners boss, Paul Hurst.
Who has Hurst been playing in his first XI?
His selected first XI in the last match was.....
13 James McKeown
18 Andi Thanoj
05 Shaun Pearson
03 Aswad Thomas
06 Chris Doig
15 Paul Bignot
07 Joe Colbeck
08 Craig Disley ©
11 Scott Neilson
17 Ross Hannah
14 Lennel John-Lewis
Substitutes:
26 Patrick McLaughlin
20 Dayle Southwell
09 Andy Cook
23 Alex Rodman
24 Paul Walker
Of those names, Chris Doig played 77 games for Nottingham Forest, while Joe Colbeck, Scott Nielsen and top scorer Ross Hannah played for Bradford City. Lenell John-Lewis has already destroyed a Town defence in his time. At Gigg Lane, playing for Bury in 2011/12, he ripped our right back to pieces. Such a nightmare was Jack Hunt having that he got subbed at half time. That was the game when we led 3-0 but ended it drawing 3-3. However, he got sent off on New Year's Day, so will be suspended for this one.
Leading scorer - ex Bradford City, Ross Hannah with 8.
Recent form - Last six games:
Grimsby 1-1 Lincoln
Grimsby 2-3 Macclesfield
Lincoln 0-2 Grimsby
Grimsby 3-1 Kidderminster
Barnet 1-2 Grimsby
Grimsby 1-1 Welling
Burnley 3-2 Town
Town 5-1 Yeovil
Town 1-1 Derby
Brighton 0-0 Town
Town 0-1 Reading
Ipswich 2-1 Town
Town are 13th in the Championship with 31 points. Grimsby are 4th in the Conference on 44 points.
Grimsby's FA Cup journey so far:
Grimsby Town 3 - 0 Rushall Olympic
Grimsby Town 0 - 0 Scunthorpe United
Scunthorpe United 1 - 2 Grimsby Town
Grimsby Town 2 - 0 Northampton Town
Club connections:
Martin Paterson of the current Town squad played for Grimsby Town. Born in Stoke, he trialled at Port Vale but was then taken on at Stoke City's academy. He made his first first team appearance as a 17 year old, coming on as a sub against Plymouth in 2005 and made his full debut the following season against the mighty Leeds United. He played 15 times for Stoke, scoring one goal, before going on loan to Grimsby Town. He scored on his debut for the Mariners, the first of six goals he scored in a three month loan period, before returning to the Britannia Stadium. He was then transferred to Scunthorpe Utd, signed by Nigel Adkins as a replacement for Billy Sharp.
He had a relatively successful season at Glanford Park, which saw him gain the first of his Northern Ireland call ups and then a big money move to Burnley. He helped them win promotion to the Premier League and scored four goals in Burnley's doomed to relegation season, at the end of which he signed a three year contract extension. When that came to an end this last summer, he opted to join the greatest team in football the world has ever seen and has to date added five goals to his tally, four of those coming in the last three games, plus another two international goals for Northern Ireland since donning the bright blue and white.
"Where's that bloody Clayton?"
Wayne Burnett: is the current manager of Dagenham & Redbridge. He joined Town, initially on loan, from Premier League Bolton Wanderers in 1996. Scored the winner in a League Cup tie against Bradford City before being moved on to Grimsby where he became a cup winning hero, as described above in the history section.
Andy Butler: had a loan period at Blundell Park whilst a Scunthorpe Utd player. Joined Town from the Iron in 2008, but after being out of favour with manager Lee Clark, he went on loan to Blackpool, helping them secure promotion to the Premier League, before returning to Town, getting released and joining Walsall. He is now captain of Walsall.
Terry Curran: a legend at Sheffield Wednesday in the early 80s, he had one, not very productive season at Town and an even less productive spell at Grimsby in 1987.
Kevin Donovan: came through Town's junior ranks. Was transferred to West Brom with whom he won the Play offs. Got a move to Grimsby and did the same for them, as described above in the history section.
Des Hamilton: was utter garbage for Town and his signing was cited as one of the reasons that Peter Jackson got sacked first time around. He too was a Play Off winner, with Bradford City. Became a big money player when Kenny Dalglish made him his first signing at Newcastle, from where he came on loan to Town. Later in his career he had a season at Grimsby for whom he was equally garbage, having his contract terminated before it came to an end and went to Barnet.
Phil Jevons: is another Town striker who started his career in the Everton youth academy. He made his Goodison debut as a 19 year old, but only made another 7 appearances for them before being transferred to Grimsby. he bacame a cult hero at Blundell Park, leading to one supporter actually recording a song about him. Pete Green wrote "The Ballad of Phil Jevons" in 2007 following his transfer to Yeovil Town. From there he went to Bristol City. It was from there that he came on loan to Town, scoring his first two goals for us in the FA Cup match against his former club Grimsby. After this he signed permanently. His time here didn't prove to be a good one though and he was loaned out to Bury and Morecambe before being released in 2010. Now plays for Stockport County in the Conference North.
Brian Laws: was recently relieved of the Scunthorpe manager's job. He started his career at Burnley before Mick Buxton signed him for Town in 1983. He played at the top level with first Middlesbrough and then under Brian Clough at Nottingham Forest. When Clough retired, Laws went to become player manager at Grimsby. His time there was most famous for when he threw a plate in a half time hissy fit and it hit Ivano Bonetti, almost taking his eye out. Has also managed Burnley and Sheffield Wednesday.
Iffy Onuora: signed for Town in 1989 and went on to play nearly 200 times for us before being transferred to Mansfield. Travelled around a few places, including Grimsby in 2003, before coming back to Town for a short spell, helping us get to the Play Off Final at Cardiff, although he didn't play in the final against Mansfield. He is now "equalities coach for the Professional Footballers Association", whatever that means.
John Thorrington: tried his luck as a junior at Manchester United and Bayer Leverkusen, before signing for Town in 2001. Despite being born in South Africa, whilst at Town he was capped for the USA national side. A couple of years later he signed for Grimsby where injuries kept his appearances down to just three matches. He then left for America, where he now plays for D.C. United.
The most famous one though would be Herbert Chapman: He started his footballing career as an amateur in the Lancashire league but made his Football League debut in 1898 when he joined his brother Tom at Grimsby Town. His favoured position was at inside right, but Grimsby played him in an unfamiliar centre forward position. he was eventually dropped and after only 10 matches for them he left to join Swindon Town.
He didn't have a very successful playing career, even though he has Tottenham Hotspur on his club list, they were still an amateur side back then. He moved into management when he finished playing for Spurs, going back to one of his former clubs, Northampton Town. They were still playing in the Southern League then and despite Chapman's desire to see his side promoted to the Football League, it never came.
In 1912 he left to join Leeds City, a move that would prove to be a bit controversial. When the first world war broke out and players from the football world signed up, Chapman decided to do his bit by working as a manager at Barnbow munitions factory in Cross Gates. He had taken a complete break from Leeds City FC but as the new football season started up again after the war, he was one of the men banned from football, cited in an illegal payments scandal which led to Leeds City being thrown out of the league and disbanded.
By the time he had proved his innocence, there was a new club formed in the city of Leeds and playing at Elland Road. Leeds United had tried to steal the playing staff of Huddersfield Town and their league status and move the whole club to Leeds. This dastardly deed had been thwarted and when Chapman was once again allowed back into the football fold, he didn't join Leeds, he went to Huddersfield Town as assistant to Ambrose Langley.
After a short while though he was in total command of the team and signed such players as Clem Stephenson and George Brown as Town went on to win the FA Cup in his first full season in charge. The following season we finished third in the first division and then the next season saw the first ever league title in the club's history. That was successfully defended the following year, but before the club could complete the hat-trick of title wins, Chapman had been poached away from the glamour of the West Riding of Yorkshire to the far off land of London and a small team known as The Arsenal, who had been a struggling team battling relegation until he arrived. By the end of the season he had them finishing as runners up as the Town went on to complete the job and become thrice champions.
Chapman was eventually to get one over his former club when in 1930, Arsenal beat the mighty Town 2-0 at Wembley in the FA Cup Final. A year later they would go on to win the league championship, Chapman's third, and then his fourth the year after. But once more he failed to complete the hat-trick of league titles. Not through moving clubs this time, but through his untimely death.
After a scouting trip back up north, he returned to London with a cold, which suddenly took a turn for the worse and on the 6th of January 1934, Herbert Chapman died of pneumonia in his home at Hendon.
In tribute to his achievements at Arsenal, a bronze bust of Chapman stood for years in the marble halls of the East Stand at Highbury. Now resited at the Emirates Stadium. A replica was presented to Huddersfield Town as part of the centenary celebrations in 2008.
Herbert Chapman, front row on the left, with the 1922 FA cup winning team.
Any more? Bill Shankly managed Grimsby before moving to Workington from where he travelled down to Leeds Road to manage Huddersfield Town. he then went on to manage Liverpool, winning a few trophies for them and getting some gates named after himself.
Famous fans
Keeley Donovan: The only famous Grimsby person is Kevin Clifton, known only as Kevin from Grimsby, who partnered Susanna Reid to the Strictly final, and I have no idea whether he frequents Blundell Park or not. So the only famous Grimsby Town fan is Look North Weather Girl, Keeley Donovan. Not only a fan, but her dad, Terry and her grandad, Don, both played for the club. She is no relation though to Kevin who used to play for both Huddersfield and Grimsby.
Keeley was married in 2012, but has recently set tongues wagging by splitting from her husband and moving in with fellow weather girl, Kay Crewdson. Eeeee, by 'eck!
Where does Harry Gration get his kebabs?
From Keeley's Donner Van!
Keeley's weather forecast for Saturday: Light rain with a southerly wind direction of around 12 mph.
TV Coverage: The highlights are on ITV1 at 11:05 on Saturday night. If Town lose, it'll be the first match on. If we win, it'll be the last. For those followers living in the good old US of A, MNterrier informs us that it will be televised live in the US on Fox Sports 2.
The draw for the 4th round is on ITV1 after the Forest/West Ham match, which kicks off at 12:00 on Sunday. So about 2 o'clock then.
Snooty's prediction: 3-1 to Town.
Snooty's Town line-up:
Over to you then:
Some talking points for you.
Should we play a reserve team in this match?
Can we actually win the FA cup this season?
Are you going? It's only £16.
Do you think this could be the giant killing match of the round?