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Granted there have only been seven league visits but it still remains that there has been just the solitary draw amongst six defeats. That last win came in the 1947/48 season when two goals from Jack Billingham gave us the points with a 2-1 scoreline.
Although we arrive at Grimsby following a defeat we find our opponents next to bottom in the league as they once again look set for a relegation battle. It is somewhat remarkable, given their resource and support, that they have managed to remain in this division for the last five seasons since winning promotion via the play offs in 1998.
They finished the first of those seasons in a comfortable 11th place with manager Alan Buckley but it has been something of a struggle since with them finishing in 20th, 18th, and 19th in the last three seasons. Those struggles cost Buckley and his successor Lennie Lawrence their jobs and since last December Paul Groves has been in charge as player manager.
They were top early last season but by the time Groves took over they were next to bottom and it wasn’t until a shock victory at Wolves in mid-March that they climbed out of the bottom three. This was the result that completely changed the fortunes of both clubs and Grimsby eventually pulled clear and ended the season in 19th place.
There is no money to spend on a recent television programme their Chairman Peter Furneaux said that player wages were more than 100% of the club’s income but Groves did manage to do some wheeling and dealing during the close season.
He was able to bring in three players in on free transfers in Terry Cooke from Manchester City and Barnsley’s Steve Chettle and Darren Barnard whilst adding Paul Robinson from Franchise on a loan deal. Robinson had previously been with them on loan, as he had with Burnley, from his previous club Wimbledon.
Despite the additions Groves did have two significant losses. Danny Butterfield signed for Crystal Palace and Michael Boulding moved to Villa and they didn’t pick up anything in fees as both players were out of contract.
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Two more loan players have also been added in youngster Shaun Allaway from Leeds and Palace’s Steve Kabba who had scored a goal on the opening day of the season for Palace.
That means a much changed team but it hasn’t been a good start and only the dreadful form of Brighton is keeping them off the bottom. There have been just two league wins and one of those was at Brighton. The other though was a stunning 3-0 home win against Ipswich, do Ipswich really only play well against the Clarets?
They can add just three more points to that from three 0-0 draws against Franchise and Rotherham at home and Bradford away and there wasn’t any better fortune in the Worthington Cup when they were beaten 1-0 in extra time at home to Chesterfield in the First Round.
Last Saturday they went down to Wolves 4-1 at Molineux in a game where they took an early lead through Kabba. Although Wolves were much the better side, and also missed a penalty, Grimsby did get through their back line on a number of occasions and should have scored more than the one goal.
Grimsby lined up: Danny Coyne, Iain Ward (Stacy Coldicott 66), Paul Raven, Simon Ford, Tony Gallimore, Stuart Campbell, George Santos, Alan Pouton (Darren Mansaram 74), Darren Barnard, Steve Livingstone, Steve Kabba. Subs not used: Shaun Allaway, Paul Robinson, Wes Parker.
They are certainly struggling for goals and have netted just ten all season with only four of those at Blundell Park where they have failed to find the net on six out of eight occasions in league or cup.
With the Clarets bang in form despite the defeat on Saturday there has never been a better opportunity to record a first league win at Grimsby for almost 55 years.
Click HERE for all Grimsby’s results this season.
He played for both
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We drew the game 1-1 at Blundell Park with a goal from Andy Lochhead to earn a Turf Moor replay. More than that, manager Harry Potts and coach Jimmy Adamson were so impressed with Grimsby midfielder Doug Collins that they immediately set about trying to sign him.
That was on 4th September and by 28th of the same month he was making his Burnley debut in a 2-1 home win against Chelsea but not before we had won the replay 6-0.
After a stop start spell he established himself in the side during the second half of that season but it was not to be so for the next three years as Burnley found themselves relegated to the Second Division. Collins struggled to win a place and even in the first season after relegation made just three starts in the first team.
He was considered a lazy player by many but he had a fantastic passing ability and was outstanding with dead ball kicks.
The 1972/73 season saw an upturn in fortunes for Collins and Burnley. He became a regular in the side that stormed to the Second Division title and he was to be a regular for three and a half years before falling out of favour along with a number of senior players after the sacking of Jimmy Adamson.
During that period Burnley were known for some excellent free kick moves, many of which brought us goals. The one player always involved at the beginning was Collins whose distribution was vital to their success.
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Sadly in 1976, for whatever reason, he was released along with the likes of Colin Waldron and he moved on to Plymouth. He wasn’t there long but long enough to come back to the Turf and have a stormer as they beat us 2-0 on an icy pitch.
Then it was Sunderland with Waldron and Mick Docherty and back with former manager Jimmy Adamson. His stay was short-lived and after a spell in America he took over as manager of Rochdale.
His last port of call in football was Sydney Olympic in Australia and that is where Doug is to this day. A born again Christian if you were to visit Oz and saw him at work he would probably serve you a Big Mac and fries, he owns a McDonald’s franchise.
For a period in the seventies he was a very important member of the Burnley team, and without doubt a class act in the midfield.
League results in the last 20 years
Season | Div | Ven | Result | Att | Scorers |
a | |||||
1982/83 | 2 | h | 1-1 | 7,136 | Donovan(pen) |
a | 2-3 | 5,448 | Laws(pen) Moore(og) | ||
1988/89 | 4 | h | 1-0 | 7,367 | Oghani |
a | 0-1 | 4,856 | |||
1989/90 | 4 | h | 1-1 | 5,647 | Jakub |
a | 2-4 | 5,973 | Francis(2) | ||
1994/95 | 1 | h | 0-2 | 10,511 | |
a | 2-2 | 7,084 | Davis Parkinson | ||
1997/98 | 2 | h | 2-1 | 8,256 | Little Payton |
a | 1-4 | 4,829 | Weller | ||
2000/01 | 1 | h | 1-1 | 15,413 | Cooke |
a | 0-1 | 6,044 | |||
2001/02 | 1 | h | 1-0 | 18,535 | Taylor |
a | 1-3 | 9.275 | Briscoe |
Click HERE to see all our past results against Grimsby going back to 1897.
Last Time in the League
Grimsby Town 3 (Boulding 5,43 Allen 12) Burnley 1 (Briscoe) – Nationwide League Division 1, Saturday 13th April 2002
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A year earlier in the same situation we had been sent to one of our graveyards Bramall Lane and this time it was no better – Grimsby Town’s Blundell Park.
Confidence was high though before the match despite the fact that we hadn’t been playing well but that was to evaporate before most Burnley fans had been able to find a seat with a half decent view.
With just two minutes on the clock we found ourselves a goal behind through Michael Boulding and it was going to be an uphill struggle. Just ten minutes later and the hill became steeper than Brunshaw Road when Bradley Allen added a second.
The rest of the first half remains a blur but suffice to say that with the Clarets attacking the Burnley support we hardly saw the ball. Grimsby still needed points to be assured of remaining in the division but they were head and shoulders better than us and just to make matters even worse they added a third just a few minutes before half time.
News wasn’t particularly good from everywhere else and it was looking as though our promotion hopes were finally disappearing.
There were rumours of dressing room bust ups at half time and it was said Grant and Bally were involved. Bally didn’t emerge for the second half whilst Grant missed the Coventry game the week after. Gazza replaced Bally and there is no doubt that just to make sure we never saw the ball we did most of the attacking in the second half.
Bad news was coming in from other games but right on time Lee Briscoe pulled one back to give us some hope of getting there on goal difference.
It wasn’t to be and although we didn’t lose out on the promotion race at Grimsby there is no doubt that it was there that our hopes finally collapsed.
As for this season we have no idea where our last away game will be. We are scheduled to play Franchise but it is anyone's guess where they will be playing if at all when the time comes around. If they have gone out of business then the last away game is at Nottingham Forest and it is 39 years since we won there.
The teams were,
Grimsby Town: Danny Coyne, John McDermott (Simon Ford 85), Andy Todd, Paul Groves, Ben Chapman, Danny Butterfield (Paul Robinson 75), Alan Pouton, Stacy Coldicutt, Terry Cooke, Bradley Allen (Steve Livingstone 78), Michael Boulding. Subs not used: Steve Croudson, Wayne Burnett.
Burnley: Nik Michopoulos, Dean West (Paul Weller 21), Steve Davis, Arthur Gnohere, Mitchell Thomas, Glen Little (Gareth Taylor 45), Kevin Ball (Paul Gascoigne 45), Tony Grant, Lee Briscoe, Ian Moore, David Johnson. Subs not used: Gordon Armstrong, Andy Payton.
Referee: Mike Pike (Barrow-in-Furness).
