2009–10 Grimsby Town F.C. season explained

Club:Grimsby Town
Season:2009–10
Chairman:John Fenty
Manager:Mike Newell
(until 18 Oct. 2009)
Neil Woods
Captain:Matthew Heywood (until 1 Feb. 2010)
Lee Peacock
Stadium:Blundell Park
League:Football League Two
League Result:23rd place
Cup1:FA Cup
Cup1 Result:First Round
Cup2:League Cup
Cup2 Result:First Round
Cup3:Football League Trophy
Cup3 Result:Regional Quarter Finals
Cup4:South West Challenge Cup
Cup4 Result:Final (withdrew)
Cup5:Lincolnshire Senior Cup
Cup5 Result:Runner Up
League Topscorer: (5 goals)
Season Topscorer:Peter Sweeney (6 goals)
Highest Attendance:7,033 v Barnet
1 May 2010
Highest Away Attendance:11,321 v Bradford City
13 February 2010
Lowest Attendance:2,103 v Bath City
7 November 2009
Lowest Away Attendance:1,839 v Accrington Stanley
5 April 2010
Prevseason:2008–09
Nextseason:2010–11

Grimsby Town Football Club entered the 2009–10 as a member of Football League Two for the 6th season on the trot. The club are still aiming to leave Blundell Park within the next few seasons. Manager Mike Newell brought in eight players in the close season, four of which were on loan at the club the previous season, he also released eight players, the club also offered four contracts to youth team members. Manager Mike Newell also gave new contracts to midfielders Jamie Clarke and Danny Boshell. Also in the close season Assistant Manager, Stuart Watkiss did not have his contract renewed and he joined Hull City as Development Coach, and Brian Stein who was chief scout took on the responsibilities of Stuart Watkiss.

Fixtures and results

Pre season matches

South West Challenge Cup

!Date!!Opponent!!Venue!!Result!!Attendance!!Scorers
15 July RRFC Montegnee
1–0 212 Clarke
17 July Yeovil Town
3–2 239
18 July Rushden & Diamonds
4–1 Forbes, Akpa Akpro, Arnold, North
19 July Luton Town
C – C --------

Lincolnshire Cup

!Date!!Opponent!!Venue!!Result!!Attendance!!Scorers
20 July Scunthorpe United
0–3 859 --------

Friendlies

!Date!!Opponent!!Venue!!Result!!Attendance!!Scorers
21 July Leeds United
1–1 3,416 Akpa Akpro
25 July Stockport County
0–1 1,144 --------
28 July Doncaster Rovers
0–2 1,886 --------
30 July Gainsborough Trinity
P – P --------
1 Aug Winterton Rangers
12–1 Akpa Akpro (4), Conlon (3), North (2), Jarman, Leary, Clarke
Pre Season Top Scorers
!Rank!!Player!!Goals
1 Akpa Akpro6
2 Conlon4
= North4
3 Arnold2
= Clarke2
4 Forbes1
= Jarman1
= Leary1
As of 1 August 2009

Mike Newell took Grimsby Town to the 2009 South West Challenge Cup in Devon, in which the rules allowed him to make ten changes in each match, which he did on each occasion. They started off strong in pre-season with a one-nil win against Belgian side R.R.F.C. Montegnée, with a late free kick from Jamie Clarke. They then played in a five-goal thriller against Yeovil Town in which Grimsby Town won 3–2, with Barry Conlon, Danny North, Nathan Arnold all scoring, going on to reach the semi-final and finishing top of their group. Then continuing their strong form they beat Rushden & Diamonds 4–1 with Adrian Forbes, Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro, Nathan Arnold, Danny North all scoring, putting them into the final. After reaching the Final they had to withdraw on the grounds that they could not agree a kick-off time with their opponents Luton Town, in which there would be police at the ground, providing protection for the fans, as fans' safety concerns had been expressed earlier in the tournament. During the 2009 South West Challenge Cup Mike Newell named two trialists in his 23-man squad, who were Nathan Arnold from Mansfield Town in which he impressed by scoring two goals and he also named Swansea City striker Chris Jones in his squad, although he didn't score, he impressed enough to be offered a contract. Also joining for their last match, defender Sol Davis from Luton Town joined up for a trial.

On their return home they faced Scunthorpe United in the Lincolnshire Senior Cup Semi-Final, in which they were beaten by a strong Scunthorpe United side 3–0, after Mike Newell fielded a weakened team. Their next opponents were Leeds United, in which they drew 1–1 in front of a big crowd after Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro had put them in the lead in the first half.

They faced Stockport County in their next pre-season match and were beaten one-nil, they were without skipper Ryan Bennett, Rob Atkinson and Danny North, in a well worked play eight minutes into the second half, Poole slotted the ball under Grimsby's Nick Colgan. Both Nick Hegarty and Nathan Jarman had good chances to score but were denied by Stockport County's defence. In the second half of the match Stockport County's Matty Mainwaring went off with two fractures to his leg after a tackle from Michael Leary, new striker Chris Jones, came on for Nick Hegarty.

In their last pre-season friendly Grimsby played Northern Counties East Premier League side Winterton Rangers, the Mariners were the dominant force throughout the game with Barry Conlon grabbing a first half hat-trick in under twenty-five minutes after his first goal after eight minutes and completed his hat-trick twenty five minutes later, with a Nathan Jarman goal after his second. Winterton Rangers scored through Gary Jones after he spotted Leigh Overton off his line and chipping it into the back of the net. Nathan Jarman coming off in the first half with a suspected broken toe, which was later confirmed along with a broken metatarsal. In the second half the manager changing his squad totally with the exception of the keeper and Chris Jones, who came on for the injured Nathan Jarman, in the second half Akpa Akpro scoring four after he walked through the defence, Danny North scored a brace after chipping the keeper twice and nearly grabbing his hat-trick only for his effort to be tipped onto the bar but he later set up Michael Leary for a tap in. Clarke scored his second free kick. Grimsby had left sided Watford player Louis Lavers on trial who started in the first half in left back but moved to the left side of midfield in the second half, on the 75th minute Grimsby brought on 14-year-old Jack Barlow from the youth-team.

Football League Two

!Date!!Opponent!!Venue!!Result!!Attendance!!Scorers
8 Aug Cheltenham Town
1–2 3,654 Conlon
15 Aug Crewe Alexandra
0–4 5,007 --------
18 Aug Rotherham United
1–2 4,156 Sweeney
22 Aug Bury
1–0 2,799 Conlon
29 Aug Aldershot Town
1–2 3,757 Conlon
5 Sep Port Vale
Vale Park, Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent0–4 5,056 --------
12 Sep Hereford United
1–0 3,173 North
19 Sep Torquay United
2–0 2.575 Nicholson (OG), Sweeney
26 Sep Darlington
1–1 4,014 Atkinson
30 Sep Chesterfield
2–3 3,329 Proudlock, Sweeney
3 Oct Barnet
0–3 2,497 --------
10 Oct Burton Albion
1–2 4,002 Jones
17 Oct Rochdale
0–2 3,754 --------
24 Oct A.F.C. Bournemouth
1–3 5,270 Linwood
30 Oct Accrington Stanley
2–2 4,325 Forbes, Conlon
14 Nov Northampton Town
0–0 4,028 --------
21 Nov Lincoln City
0–0 4,981 --------
24 Nov Bradford City
0–3 3,646 -------
28 Nov Macclesfield Town
0–0 1,409 --------
5 Dec Dagenham & Redbridge
1–1 3,090 Coulson
12 Dec Shrewsbury Town
0–0 4,850 --------
18 Dec Morecambe
1–1 3,119 Sweeney
28 Dec Port Vale
1–2 4,401 Conlon
2 Jan Bury
1–1 3,463 Akpa Akpro
16 Jan Cheltenham Town
0–0 3,334 --------
23 Jan Rotherham United
1–2 3,751 Fletcher
30 Jan Aldershot Town
1–1 3,195 Grant (OG)
6 Feb Notts County
0–1 4,452 --------
13 Feb Bradford City
0–0 11,321 --------
17 Feb Notts County
1–1 5,163 Devitt
20 Feb Lincoln City
2–2 6,395 Peacock (2)
23 Feb Macclesfield Town
1–1 4,813 Devitt
27 Feb Dagenham & Redbridge
0–2 2,190 --------
6 Mar Shrewsbury Town
3–0 3,651 Sinclair (2), Akpa Akpro
9 Mar Crewe Alexandra
2–4 3,272 Akpa Akpro, Sinclair
13 Mar Morecambe
1–1 1,882 Coulson
20 Mar AFC Bournemouth
3–2 4,428 Devitt, Coulson, Chambers
27 Mar Rochdale
1–4 4,724 Chambers
2 Apr Northampton Town
1–2 6,482 Coulson
5 Apr Accrington Stanley
3–2 1,839 Hudson, Coulson, Devitt
10 Apr Hereford United
1–0 2,143 Devitt
13 Apr Chesterfield
2–2 5,648 T.Wright, Akpa Akpro
17 Apr Torquay United
0–3 5,702 --------
24 Apr Darlington
2–0 1,911 Lancashire, Akpa Akpro
1 May Barnet
2–0 7,033 Atkinson, Hudson
8 May Burton Albion
0–3 4,987 --------

FA Cup

!Date!!Opponent!!Venue!!Result!!Attendance!!Scorers
7 Nov Bath City
0–2 2,103 --------

League Cup

!Date!!Opponent!!Venue!!Result!!Attendance!!Scorers
11 Aug Tranmere Rovers
0–4 3,527 --------

Football League Trophy

Grimsby received a bye into the second round of the competition, in the Northern Section. Due to the new way of determining which teams received byes into the second round of the competition, the teams who received a bye last season, will not receive a bye two seasons in succession, the byes are now determined by recommendation at club meetings.

!Date!!Opponent!!Venue!!Result!!Attendance!!Scorers
6 Oct Hartlepool United
2–0 1,675 Sweeney, Proudlock
10 Nov Leeds United
1–3 10,430 Sweeney

League table

Notts County's season mostly made the headlines for all the wrong reasons, as they were involved in an abortive high-spending takeover by a consortium who bought in Sven-Göran Eriksson as Director of Football, and got through four managers during the course of the season. However, they managed to shake off their off-field problems and won the title. Bournemouth continued their revival under Eddie Howe and won promotion in the runners-up spot. The last automatic promotion spot was won by Rochdale, who were promoted for the first time since 1969

Dagenham and Redbridge won the play-offs, reaching the 2nd tier of the Football League for the first time in their 18-year history.

Darlington were unable to recover from losing many of their players during their spell in administration at the end of the previous season, and were relegated in bottom place, becoming only the third club (after Halifax Town and Chester City) to be relegated to the Football Conference on two separate occasions. Grimsby suffered the relegation that they only avoided the previous year due to Luton Town's points deduction; their form improved significantly in the final weeks of the season, but they were ultimately undone by a run of nearly five months without a win earlier in the season, and were relegated to the Football Conference after losing on the final day of the season.

Coaching staff

RoleNationalityName
First-Team Manager Mike Newell (sacked 18 October 2009)
First-Team Manager Neil Woods (hired 23 November 2009)
First-Team Assistant ManagerBrian Stein (left 30 November 2009)
First-Team Assistant ManagerChris Casper (hired 1 December 2009)
Reserve-Team ManagerBrian Stein (left 30 November 2009)
Reserve-Team ManagerChris Casper (hired 1 December 2009)
Youth Team ManagerNeil Woods (promoted to first team manager 23 November 2009)
Chief ScoutBrian Stein (left 30 November 2009)
Goalkeeping CoachSteve Croudson
PhysiotherapistDavid Moore
Community Sport CoachGary Childs
Community Sport CoachGraham Rodger

Appearances and goals

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Loaned out player stats

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Scorers

All

ScorerGoals
Peter Sweeney6
Michael Coulson5
Jamie Devitt
Barry Conlon
Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro
Dean Sinclair3
Adam Proudlock2
Lee Peacock
Ashley Chambers
Rob Atkinson
Mark Hudson
Danny North1
Chris Jones
Paul Linwood
Adrian Forbes
Wes Fletcher
Tommy Wright
Olly Lancashire

League

ScorerGoals
Michael Coulson5
Jamie Devitt
Barry Conlon
Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro
Peter Sweeney4
Dean Sinclair3
Lee Peacock2
Ashley Chambers
Rob Atkinson
Mark Hudson
Danny North1
Adam Proudlock
Chris Jones
Paul Linwood
Adrian Forbes
Wes Fletcher
Tommy Wright
Olly Lancashire

Domestic Cups

ScorerGoals
Peter Sweeney2
Adam Proudlock1

Transfers

In

Pre-season

PositionPlayerPrevious clubAgeFee
01 GK 35 Free Transfer
03 DF 19 Free Transfer
06 MF 24 Free Transfer
07 MF 30 Free Transfer
10 FW 30 Signed as Free Agent
18 FW 19 Signed as Free Agent
16 DF 25 Free Transfer
19 MF 26 Signed as Free Agent
GK Ed Eley 18 Pro Contract
MF Drew Rhoades 18 Pro Contract
MF Jamie Steel 18 Pro Contract

Mid Season

PositionPlayerFromAgeFee
04 MF 25 Loan
12 DF 27 Loan
20 GK 22 Loan
20 MF 20 Signed
21 GK 22 Loan
21 MF 19 Loan
21FW 21 Loan
22 DF Mark Gray 17 Pro Contract
23 DF 20 Loan
23 DF 20 Loan
23 FW 18 Loan
24 FW 19 Loan
24 DF 19 Loan
24 MF 19 Loan
30 FW Nathan Dixon 17 Pro Contract
30 MF Harry Deane 17 Pro Contract
31 MF 21 Loan
31 MF 21 Loan
32 MF 29 Free Transfer
33 FW 21 Loan
33 FW 19 Loan
34 FW 19 Loan
34 FW 19 Loan
36 FW 25 Free Transfer
37 MF 33 Free Transfer
38 GK 19 Loan

Out

Pre-season

PositionPlayerNew ClubAgeFee
03 DF 26 Released
07 MF 23 Released
08 MF 29 Free Transfer
10 MF 28 Free Transfer
14 MF 32 Released
20 FW 20 Released
27 MF 22 Released
34 GK Jonathan Lund 22 Released

Mid Season

PositionPlayerFromAgeFee
04 DF 19 Loan
04 DF 19 £500,000
05 DF 30 Released
10 FW 31 Loan
10 FW 31 Free Transfer
11 MF 28 Free Transfer
12 DF 27 Free Transfer
15 DF 19 Loan
17 MF 19 Loan
17 MF 19 Released
18 FW 20 Loan
27 FW 22 Released
GK Ed Eley 18 Loan
GK Ed Eley 18 Loan
GK Ed Eley 18 Loan
GK Ed Eley 18 Free Transfer
MF Jamie Steel 18 Released

Trialists

Manager Mike Newell took two of the trialists Nathan Arnold, Chris Jones in his 23-man squad to the 2009 South West Challenge Cup and defender Sol Davis joined up with the squad mini way through the 2009 South West Challenge Cup and was given 45 minutes to impress. Before the 2009 South West Challenge Cup Mike Newell had a number of strikers on trial, but none of them were offered a contract. Although not scoring Chris Jones impressed enough to be offered a contract by the club and which was later accepted.

Pre-season

Nat.Pos.NameFromAgeAppsGoalsResult
MF 22 4 2 Contract Offered but Declined
FW 27 0 0 No Contract Offered
DF 29 1 0 No Contract Offered
FW 19 3 0 Contract Offered & Accepted
DF Louis Lavers 18 2 0 No Contract Offered
FW 28 0 0 No Contract Offered
GK Kevin Strukelj 24 0 0 No Contract Offered

Mid-Season

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Nat.Pos.NameFromAgeAppsGoalsResult
MF Chris Arthur 19 1 1 No contract offered
FW Steve Lozano-Calderon 1 1 No contract offered
DF Chris Ramsey 2 0 No contract offered
DF 32 1 0 No contract offered
MF 21 1 0 No contract offered
MF Ben Osman 19 1 0 No contract offered
MF 29 1 0 Contract Offered & Accepted
FW Sean Evans N/A 1 0 No contract offered
MF James Cronesberry 19 1 0 No contract offered
MF 28 2 0 No contract offered
FW 22 0 0 No contract offered
MF Mark Doninger 19 1 0 No contract offered
DF Curtley Williams 19 1 0 No contract offered
MF 23 1 0 No contract offered
DF 25 1 0 No contract offered