This afternoon we face our old Lincolnshire rivals, Lincoln City.  Despite the fears of the police it is pleasing to see that the Club has stuck to its guns and insisted on a 3 o’clock kick off – from a personal point of view I never understood the fears of Humberside police with regards to this match.  The reverse fixture kicked off at 3 o’clock without incident and there isn’t any degree of antagonism between the two sets of supporters – in fact, quite the opposite!

A good example of this is the football match that was played this morning between supporters of both Clubs.  The game followed on from the highly successful Bike to the Bank event earlier in the season and was originally going to be “Bike to the Park” but the original noon kick-off time for this game rendered the idea unfeasible and a sponsored football match was arranged instead.

The beneficiaries of funds raised by this event are the two Trusts and Cancer Research UK and, on their behalf, we would like to say a big thank you to the organisers and players.

The Imps Trust must rank as one of the most successful Trusts in the country.  Formed in 2001 when the Club plunged into administration, the Trust became the Club’s biggest shareholder.  Since then they have blossomed into a shining example of how small clubs should be run.  “The Club’s the Hub” is a project looking to diversify the activities of the Football Club for the benefit of the Club and the community with a particular focus on the use of the facilities at Sincil Bank.

One distinct advantage that Lincoln have over us is the significant landholding they have at Sincil Bank but, when our new stadium materialises, we should be looking to follow a similar social enterprise route to our neighbours.

You may be asking the question of why the Imps Trust has been so successful in comparison to us with over 1000 members and a majority shareholding in the Club?  The reason is that, like every one of the successful Trusts, their Club was in real danger of going out of business.  That is the unfortunate common denominator of successful Trusts.  We are very fortunate to have a wealthy and committed Chairman and long may that continue.  However, a successful Trust is an investment in the future of the Club should that situation change.

The Imps Trust has always been most supportive of GTST and were, in fact, present at our first ever public meeting back in 2002 and we would like to welcome them and all Imps fans to Blundell Park this afternoon.

Dave Otter

Chairman

Grimsby Town Supporters’ Trust