GRIMSBY TOWN FC HAS STRONG SUPPORT IN BRIGG WHERE FAMOUS PLAYER ONCE COACHED OUR GRAMMAR SCHOOL PUPILS

 

Grimsby Town FC has enjoyed strong support in the Brigg area for many decades. So there will be many happy faces locally tomorrow (Saturday, August 6) when the Mariners make their return to the Football League - six years after suffering relegation.

Griimsby will be hosting Morecambe at Blundell Park.

There used to be a Brigg Branch of the Grimsby Town Supporters' Association which ran a coach to all home matches for many years until the early 1980s.

Back in the 1930s, Grimsby Town were playing in the  First Division (equal to today's Premiership) and finished fifth one season. The club also reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup before a record crowd at Manchester United's Old Trafford ground.

Grimsby Town have attracted bigger attendances in recent seasons than some clubs in the Football League. 

Now, having worked so hard and for so long to regain their coveted status, Grimsby must put measures in place to ensure they never again suffer the dreaded drop.

Our picture from the Ken Fisher Collection was taken at a Grimsby Town home game during the 1971/2 campaign which proved particularly enjoyable for Brigg Branch supporters.

The Mariners won the old Division Four championship with an entertaining brand of attacking football. 

The players featured in the famous black and white stripes are Stuart Brace, Mike Hickman and Dave Boylen (No 10). 

Grimsby averaged more than 10,000 at home games that season, despite being in the basement section of the Football League. 

For the final home game, in May 1972, the attendance exceeded 22,000.

INTERESTING ADDITION: After reading this post, former Brigg resident Cliff Turner, who grew up in the town in the 1930s, emailed us from New Zealand to say: "You reported that back in the thirties Grimsby were in Division One of the League. In fact they were still in the first division until 1948. I have good reason to remember as I had bet the ship’s blacksmith 10 tots of rum that Grimsby would finish higher in the first div than Portsmouth. Not only did I lose my bet and have 10 rumless days but Grimsby were relegated. Did you know that in the thirties Grimsby player Jackie Bestall used to come to BGS (Brigg Grammar) to coach a few selected boys, and a street in Grimsby is named after him? "