I decided to write something about our past meetings with Notts County rather than something topical about the financial crises facing many football clubs. That changed by the time I got to the end of this as it can’t be ignored. And the reason for that? It just makes me angry to see our own club struggling in the basement whilst those who have overspent decide to renege on their responsibilities and let someone else take the consequences.

The fact that serial offenders will definitely be playing in the league next year when we might not does rankle. I won’t mention the apology for a football venue I visited a few weeks ago, though you can guess where it was.

I’ve had some good times going to Notts County, although I seem to remember David Elleray trying to get into the Guinness Book of Records for the most sendings off in one match in the 1990s. I’ve had no time for him since.

Nottingham itself is a good day out with plenty of pubs with good food around and was a comparatively short journey in the 1980s when I was living in Grimsby. The only obstacle in the 1984/5 season was the decision by Nottinghamshire Police to declare UDI and illegally restrict movement in and around the county, whether it be striking Yorkshire miners or football fans.

I was tipped off about this for the league game by some workmate Man Ure fans, who’d witnessed the holding of fans on Nottingham station, so we bought tickets to Lincoln, had a few pints there and then made out we were from Lincoln on a day trip. We’d then blow it by congregating outside the station after pulling a fast one, shouting “The Grimsby” and legging it down the road to a fortunate boozer. I say fortunate because I never saw trouble at Notts County and the publicans were always very happy to take our money. As with the attempt to get Town to play behind closed doors last season, it makes you wonder what it’s all about.

It’s not as if policing is cheap. As I put a quid in a bucket at Bury a few years back, I was told that they could have hosted fundraising friendlies against their more illustrious neighbours, but the gate money would have been wiped out by the GMP cut. Whilst it was quite trendy for some post 1997 MPs to express an interest in the future of football,  I do wonder whether there is any interest in helping the smaller clubs or giving a fairer share of income to us.

We’ve always had a good following at Notts and I was told in their club shop last season that they’d want us to stay up because we were a good earner for them. 1984/5 also saw an FA Cup game there on a pitch that would be classed unplayable today. Being colour-blind, I couldn’t see much of the orange ball as it went over the grass but another good day out was had and we won the replay in a season where Town scored for fun. We got two draws away there and scored a deserved 2-0 moral victory against the prototype police state.

I also have to mention the knuckle munching game last April, where I was surprised to hear our chairman say that the County set up had taken delight in letting him know about the lunchtime Chester win that had put us back in the drop zone. A disappointing lack of class from what I’ve found a friendly club to visit. Justice was done as a magnificent following saw a 2-0 win.

Notts and Town are the biggest yoyo clubs in the league although our opponents have had spells in the top flight far more recently. It seems to be going wrong off the field for them now, which is where we can at least take some heart with our own club. I wouldn’t say I was happy with our league position-far from it-but the last I heard, we had our own ground and don’t owe money to anyone but our chairman.

I’m not an apologist for John Fenty because I happen to be on the Trust Board, but I am grateful for his financial support. If I had John’s reputed money and position, I’d still be wincing at the amount I’d had thrown at some of the mercenaries purporting to be players. I’m not sure I’d do the same in his position and it’s worth wondering how many of us would. The abuse he receives makes me wince and I never thought I’d say that about a Conservative!

I’ve criticised the way the club have done things this season and put this across to John and he has acknowledged our stance. I know he would like to see GTST have a bigger membership. So would we! We will always struggle to have more influence when the Grimsby public balk at such a small membership charge. If you want things to change about the club, why not get involved? We really struggle for members locally and consequently don’t have the profile we would like. Let’s stop being so passive and show the heart that has seen this club come through other bad times.

When established clubs like Palace are going into administration and others WILL fold, at least we know that should relegation occur, we will be entering another chapter in our history (as my old mate Rob Moss said last week) rather than facing extinction. Other clubs above us can’t say the same.

Chris Smith – GTST Board Member