Grimsby Town increase season ticket prices by almost three times rate of inflation

It has been announced today that season ticket prices will increase for the 2013/14 season at Grimsby Town. The cost of the cheapest adult ticket, which would seat you in the Pontoon Stand, will go up from £266 to £285 – an increase of over seven per cent. The current rate of inflation in the UK is 2.4 per cent.

On top of that, the Grimsby Telegraph has today revealed there will be a basic increase of £1 in the Pontoon and Lower Findus and £2 on adult ticket prices in the Upper Findus. The club is attempting to defend the rises by stating this is the first increase in ticket prices since the 2005/6 season. When, of course, Town finished 4th in League 2 and lost in the Play Off Final. There’s also the rationale that Grimsby have done their market research and because Braintree charge £300, it’s all OK to increase the prices. Except Grimsby Town aren’t competing with Braintree for supporters. They’re competing with Hull City and the Premier League. Incidentally you can go and watch a season of Premier League football for £395 at Hull City in 2013/14. That’s just £76 more expensive than the dearest season ticket at Blundell Park.

Disappointingly the Mariners Trust have been trotted out to front the rise and take the flack (something I hope we don’t see more of). The key line is this:

Next year’s budget is once again reliant on considerable private funding.

It’s no secret that Grimsby Town are reliant on John Fenty and without him we’d be in trouble. We know that it is all about sustainability. But there are many ways to make the balance sheet look better. You can cut your costs or you can increase your revenue. There are many ways to do both. You can cut your playing budget (which it looks like we’re doing) or you can try and get more bums on seats. The latter is hard and I blogged last week on how I think both the club and the fans can play their part in doing that. But I think taxing the loyal fans who have stayed with the club through thick and thin and penalising them for their loyalty isn’t the way to go about it. It’s the laziest way.

Will increasing ticket prices encourage floating fans to come to Blundell Park more regularly? Of course not. There’s a recession on for Christ’s sake and we live in one of the poorest parts of the country with pockets of deprivation. 7,000 people turned up to watch the Lincoln game on New Year’s Day. 16,000 went to Wembley. The supporter base is there, just don’t treat them like idiots.

Richard Brodie admits ‘fall out’ with ‘joint manager’ led to his departure from Grimsby Town

In the biggest non-shock of last season, Richard Brodie has admitted a fall out with one of Grimsby Town’s joint managers was the reason why he left Blundell Park early. In an interview with Gateshead’s official website, the striker admits his departure from the club was due to an argument after his penalty miss in the FA Trophy Final at Wembley.

After my half season loan at Morecambe was up I joined Grimsby for the second half of last season and played 15 games. My last outing was in the FA Trophy final defeat on penalties against Wrexham in March at Wembley. I didn’t score with my penalty, there was a fall out with one of the joint-manager’s and it turned out to be my last game for Grimsby and the end of my season. I trained with Hartlepool, Gateshead and Hereford, who are managed by my former York boss Martin Foyle, but Hereford is a fair old distance from the North East. I’ve now got myself sorted for the new season and am looking forward to a good pre-season and getting my career back on track.

This only goes to confirm reports after the incident that Brodie had outstayed his welcome. His performance at Wembley was one of the worst I’ve seen in a Grimsby Town shirt and, after the last 12 years, that’s really saying something. My guess is he will be given a ‘warm’ welcome when he returns to Blundell Park with Gateshead next season.

Mansfield join race for Grimsby Town target Scott Kerr

According to today’s York Press, Mansfield have joined the race to sign Grimsby Town target Scott Kerr. On the same day Rob Scott told the Grimsby Telegraph Kerr was a player he was interested in signing, the midfielder, recently released by York City, has now been linked to last season’s Conference champions. Kerr was York’s player of the season when the Minstermen won promotion to League 2 and has also played for Lincoln, Bradford, Scarborough and Hull. He was linked to the Mariners when at Scarborough as a potential signing for Russell Slade. Kerr has already been linked to his former club Lincoln but he fits the bill for the type of midfielder that Rob Scott and Paul Hurst will be looking for to play alongside Craig Disley.

Former #GTFC midfielder Shaun Cunnington announced as new Evesham manager

Former Mariners midfielder Shaun Cunnington was yesterday announced as the new manager of non-league Evesham. Cunnington, who formed one of Grimsby Town’s best ever midfield partnerships with John Cockerill, made almost 200 appearances for the Mariners in the late 80s/early 90s and was a mainstay in Alan Buckley’s first Town side. Signed for £65,000 from Wrexham, Cunnington was later sold to Sunderland for ten times that amount. Since retiring from the game in the late 90s Cunnington has coached at Kidderminster (he caretaker managed the side for a while and was replaced by another ex-Mariner Stuart Watkiss) and has also managed non-league teams Willenhall Town and Halesowen.

(Image taken from Cod Almighty)

Grimsby to play Boston Town in pre-season friendly

Grimsby Town will take a side to play Boston Town during pre-season. The game has been fixed for Tuesday, 16 July so is likely to feature young players as the first team have a match pencilled in at Brigg Town on the same day.

Friendly games already announced:

Tues, 9 July – Cleethorpes Town (a) 7.15pm
Sat, 13 July – Winterton (a) 3pm
Tues, 16 July – Brigg Town (a) 7pm
Sat, 20 July – Scunthorpe United (a) 3pm
Fri, 2 August – Gainsborough Trinity (a) 7.30pm

BT Sport to show Conference football next season

According to yesterday’s Non League Paper, “hands have been shaken” on a deal which will mean BT’s new Sports channels will show live Conference football next season. The £300,000 deal will bring 30 live games over the course of the season. The deal is similar to that run by Premier Sports in recent seasons. However, with BT offering their Sports channels free to their broadband users, it means millions of people will be able to watch the games for free next season, as opposed to a few thousand who subscribe to Premier Sports. Conference chairman Brian Lee told the paper: “It’s great news, we’ve got an agreement in place for next season and it’s the news the league wanted.”

Former Mariners striker Richard Brodie signs for Gateshead

Richard Brodie has signed for his home town club Gateshead, according to the BBC. The striker, who had a turbulent and unsuccessful loan period at Grimsby Town last season, has signed a one year deal. Gateshead manager Anth Smith has described Brodie’s signing as ‘massive’ for his club and he’ll form a strike partnership with another new signing Adam Boyes, who had previously played under Rob Scott and Paul Hurst at Boston. Interestingly, Brodie has told The Shields Gazette he has been ‘distracted’ in recent times and found it “easy to focus on other things rather than football.” Anyone who witnessed his ‘performance’ at Wembley wouldn’t disagree.

(Image taken from the official Grimsby Town website).