GTST is delighted to bring you the first in a series of nostalgic articles by Trust member Chris Smith.

Those were the days my friend……

Actually, there are some good lyrics to a Town adaptation of this song but they aren’t really suitable for a Supporters Trust website although they do demonstrate the element of fantasy required to be a Town supporter.

After all, I don’t recall us ever taking the Stretford End as one line says. Or the Kop, Kippax and the Shed for that matter as it said in another.  of bogey teams. Teams who never used to beat us, such as Rochdale and Darlington, are now disappointed not to take three points off us home or away. The only side we seem to beat all the time are Barnet and I’ve probably put the jinx on us now for saying that. However, as we reminisce on yet another away trip, it wasn’t always like this.

Sorry, I couldn’t resist it! There aren’t that many Town fans alive that have even seen us play at Old Trafford but I’ve seen us play in the league at Man City and Chelsea. And plenty of us, although now a dwindling bunch who have given up on the Mariners after years of underperforming journeymen, can boast of regular trips to St James Park, Molineux, and The Hawthorns et al. It wasn’t all fantasy….

Over the last couple of years, I’ve watched Town register an ever increasing number of bogey teams. Teams who never used to beat us, such as Rochdale and Darlington, are now disappointed not to take three points off us home or away. The only side we seem to beat all the time are Barnet and I’ve probably put the jinx on us now for saying that. However, as we reminisce on yet another away trip, it wasn’t always like this.

Newcastle United

Newcastle always holds fond memories for me. I’ve seen Town there on five occasions and can boast three wins, one draw and just the one defeat. My first visit was in April 1981 as our promotion challenge was faltering. I had a friend from University, Ged, who lived up in North Shields and supported Sunderland and I regularly visited him when we made our annual trip to Geordie land.

Annual trip. It makes you realise how far we have dropped. At the time, Newcastle were a poor second division team and Grimsby were some way ahead of them in the table. We sat in a side stand close to the Gallowgate as my friends weren’t too keen on standing among the Town fans with their distinctive accents, which was all fine and dandy until we took the lead and I momentarily forgot where I was. Fortunately for me the lads, who then decided that I wasn’t going to make nineteen, weren’t as large as the Geordies who kindly protected me whilst probably having reservations about my sanity. When United equalised, I was probably happier than the Gallowgate who despite abusing their team since going behind, were going absolutely wild.

I would like to say that was a lesson learned but later that year I stood on the Chelsea Shed with another University pal. Tony Ford equalised and you can guess the rest.

I was very popular with my friend’s family. At the time, Scottish and Newcastle breweries were on strike and, kind soul that I was, I took my dad’s stock of cans of Newcie Brown Ale up there and was assured of a welcome up there any time I wanted by my friend’s almost tearful old man. I think my dad was tearful as well as I hadn’t told him that his home supply of ale was being relocated! And I’ve just recalled that Town’s home gate against Newcastle was about four thousand larger than United’s against us! That’d take some doing today.

The next season saw Town struggle until late in the season. Our lack of points wasn’t helped by postponements and George Kerr getting the boot not long after a 6-1 win at Millwall in the FA Cup. This time it was for the fourth round of this competition that I made my next acquaintance with St James Park.

Newcastle had just beaten Colchester in a replay to progress and as a student (in the loosest possible terms) at Essex University, I had hoped to see the tie at Layer Road (a ground in the loosest possible terms). However, the fervour of the Magpies fans and a dislike of Colchester meant I wasn’t too worried about another visit to the North East when I saw Newcastle win and a car load of us decided to have a weekend up there.

Newcastle had a good home record but we came away with a 2-1 win and had a great weekend to boot. In those days, you had to be wary at most away grounds and Newcastle had more lads (he said diplomatically) than most but what a cracking place to go for a night out and fantastic folk they were. I’d recommend a weekend up there to anyone. We used to round off the weekend with a Sunday lunchtime session at the Catholic Club in Whitley Bay where the priests would be banging the door down at midday. Ged’s priest was a diehard Sunderland fan who always gave me a great welcome given our track record there and was a man I am given to believe who made rather unspiritual comments from the Fulwell paddock at Roker Park. Class!

We played at Newcastle in the league in April 1982 and came away with a 1-0 win although I couldn’t afford to make the trip from Colchester as an impoverished student. Impoverished, I hasten to add by spending most of the taxpayer’s hard earned following Town all over. Okay, and in the Union Bar as well. The result didn’t surprise me though and I heard it as we were leaving a Colchester v Darlington match. We had to have the gate opened to leave early as the game was so awful. A bit of a taste of the present twenty years early.

I missed the 1982/3 visit which resulted in a 2-0 defeat, throwing in the towel after a wretched 1-0 defeat at Cambridge, and my eighteenth away game of the season. The only memorable thing about that game was the sight of Town fans banjoing each other in a dispute about whether it was right to slate the team during the game, much to the astonishment of the home fans. The Town fans won if I recall correctly. However, Chris Nicholl arrived for the 1983/4 season and another promotion campaign was under way with the defence looking well sorted. Another great weekend and plenty of optimism. Town’s bogey team that year was newly promoted Portsmouth and since our only thrashing of the season, 4-0 at Fratton Park, we had gone on a long unbeaten run, seeing off Wednesday at home and Chelsea away. Newcastle were just above us at the time and would eventually take the third spot but it was to be Town’s day again as Kevin Drinkell scored in what seemed to be our only attack and we defended resolutely.

(We didn’t lose again until Pompey turned us over 4-3 at home in the last minute, ending our unbeaten home record. And they knocked us out of the FA Cup.)

An added bonus was seeing Keegan manhandle the referee after his free kick hit the net and was disallowed. The home fans threw plenty of coins at us as well, presumably to pay for our celebratory drinks. Good folk as I said earlier. In those days, I was able to wear my black and white shirt up there as there was no club badge or sponsor logo. That was fine except that evening during a few beers at the marvellously named Fat Ox in Whitley Bay, I was approached by a few locals who asked me how the Toon did. I almost replied “We won 1-0” in an unguarded moment, only to be rescued by Ged’s mate Tim, a rather “lively” Toon fan himself. When told that they had thought I was a Grimsby fan, I told them in my best Geordie accent what I would do to one of those if I saw one, railing convincingly about the injustice of it all. We did drink up rather quickly just in case….

Hearing the bloke at Newcastle station choke on the word “Grimsby” when I inquired about train times back just rounded things off. We went sixteen games unbeaten in the league over four months, an unbelievable record given that we were competing against Wednesday, Chelsea, Newcastle and Man City, the only teams to finish above us.

We then didn’t meet until the 1991/2 season. Town were doing just enough to stay up and were understandably struggling a bit in adjusting to life in the second tier after two promotions. I can’t really remember that much about the game except that we lost 2-0 and were never really in it. The London Mariners had come into being after a few meet ups in pubs after London games (Wimbledon in the FA Cup and Orient away) and we had kept in touch. At the start of the 1989/90 season, we started going to games together and realised we had lots in common apart from Town. Lager, cider and more of it. We were only really interested in two drinks. Ours and yours.

Boots were doing an offer of a free rail ticket when you spent a fiver there so we all press ganged family to spend there so we could have discounted away travel to games that were a bit too far to drive to. Newcastle away was earmarked as one of these. All was going well until we went for the half five train back to Kings Cross and a failed train from Glasgow was disgorging its passengers onto ours.

Now, I’m not always that bright, despite the education, but could reason that a train packed with Scots and Geordies was likely to put pressure on the bar so a pre-emptive strike was called for. We ended up buying out the stock of Stella and Strongbow and settled down to what turned out to be a seven hour journey. I doubt any group of fans has ever been so unpopular. Not that we were taking much notice by the time we got to about York….

Having survived this, it was back for the 1992/3 season and Newcastle had run off eleven straight victories at the start of the season. We had Dave Beasant making his debut for us and despite an indifferent start to the season, expectations were high. Unlike other games there, Town had a lot of the play and it was a deserved winner when the unfortunately named Jim Dobbin let fly from thirty odd yards into the top corner, having misunderstood Buckley’s call to keep it in the corner.

Keegan quite rightly gave us our due, opining that we could have won by more. The pre-match rituals gave a sense of good karma when we stopped in a pub in Gateshead where the barmaid originated from Grimsby and we fulfilled a lifetime ambition by larging it up in the partisan home pubs, The Strawberry and Trent House just prior to the match started. I suppose I should admit that the pubs near the ground had emptied about an hour before the game, which had sold out, but it was nevertheless an impressive story when leaving the last bit out.

That’s it. I can’t see us playing Newcastle again in the near future. However, no matter how badly we might be doing, I’d fancy us there in a cup game. Gillingham away doesn’t quite do it for me. I’ll pass on spending £20 to sit in an open makeshift stand. I often say to Eddie, one of the lads who goes to games with us, that I feel sorry that he hasn’t had the opportunity to see what were great Grimsby sides and some of the tremendous results we had. Even when we struggled in the 1981/2 season, we played some great football at times.

Perhaps we were spoiled but I don’t think so. That is the level we should be aspiring to. Even today I speak to fans of other teams who remember those promising Grimsby teams. One was a Blade who was so impressed by us that he still looks out for our results despite being a Sheffield United season ticket holder. Those memories keep me going. We have a lot of fans who haven’t seen any sustained success and I couldn’t blame them if they thought enough was enough. We can ask fans to continue to support the club and the Trust but there has to be something worth watching.

All I can say is that I was glad I was there. Great away days, whatever the score.