People and Places

WEMBLEY Stadium - the home of football, the pride of a nation and venue of legends. This weekend, one half of it will be turned into a sea of black and white as Grimsby Town and thousands of fans descend upon a very special part of London.

The Mariners have an impressive 100 per cent winning record at Wembley, having won the two games they have ever played there under the old Twin Towers. Both of the matches came in the glorious 1998 season, winning the then Auto Windscreens Shield, and just a month later, promotion through the play-offs.

I was lucky enough to be there with my family on both occasions. I was 16 at the time, and clearly remember the excitement and anticipation during the build-up to the game. I can remember the journey to the Capital - the A1 was just one huge long artery filled with much of the population of North East Lincolnshire. There were flags sticking out of cars, flapping off the back of vans, hung up inside bus windows. A beep here and there prompted a range of responses – a foam hand would be shaken at you, a cheer, a beep back.

On the tube, the carriages swayed and clacked along the tracks to the sound of the Mariners fans anthem, "Sing When We’re Fishing". Confused and bemused Londoners looked on with wry smiles at the northern circus which had descended upon them.
And then there was the stadium itself, those magnificent twin towers enticing you nearer as you walked along Wembley Way amid a sea of black and white stripes. It was more than just a football match – families were brought together, meeting up from across the country to support the team in unison, while fans from both clubs mingled, laughed, joked and sang.

It was an amazing sense of belonging.

Of course, to get to Wembley once in a lifetime was something – my late grandfather always dreamed of watching the Mariners play in the shadow of the twin towers, but sadly the Auto Windscreens final came just a few years too late for him. Instead, he was there on a treasured photograph, held aloft by my dad as the teams came out of the tunnel. I’m sure there were many similar photographs proudly being held among the fans.

The match has become a bit of a blur for me now. Like many I was a muddle of nerves, excitement and pride as I shuffled around on my seat, complete with black and white curly wig, commemorative flag and a punctured Harry Haddock which needed topping up from time to time. But I clearly remember Wayne Burnett scoring a golden goal in extra time, and the euphoria which took over.

In recent years, there hasn’t been much to celebrate for Mariners fans. The club has slipped from the heights of the Championship through the divisions, even flirting with the relegation places in League Two. But there was a trip to Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium a couple of seasons ago which briefly put a smile back on the fans faces, the team reaching the League Two play-off final.

Sadly, with a lacklustre display and a 1-0 defeat, the smiles were short-lived.

And so to this season, and to churn out a well-loved football cliché, it’s been a bit of a rollercoaster to say the least. It was just before Christmas when conversations with friends would usually include a few words about the prospect of relegation out of the football league. The club teetered on the edge of the drop zone after a poor start to the season, but then Alan Buckley’s master plan kicked in. A huge unbeaten run of 11 games rocketed the Mariners up the table, to leave us within touching distance of the play-offs yet again.

Then there’s the Johnstones Paint Trophy, a competition few would have considered important when it was thought the club was facing a scrap for its own League existence. But now we’ve reached the final, it’s brought the town back to life and there’s a buzz about the place. Once again there are big beaming smiles around Blundell Park, Harry Haddocks are being dusted off and having punctures repaired, and flags are being unfolded ready for another trip to Wembley.

It’s amazing to think we’re going back. The stadium may have been completely rebuilt since the last visit, but the magic is still there – and how I’d love to see Alan Buckley dancing with a funny hat once again come the final whistle on Sunday.

Top Tips:

Get there early – the atmosphere is sure to be electric and enjoyable, and we’ll probably be around to interview you for Look North or Radio Humberside!

Avoid travelling to the stadium by car – the roads around Wembley are a nightmare and parking is extremely limited and expensive. Tube and rail links are good.

Find a Harry Haddock to take – extra brownie points for original green Harry’s of yesteryear. A puncture repair kit or plasters are good to patch them up! (Continuously topping them up makes you mouth ache!)

Deck yourself out in as much black and white as possible – face paints, curly wigs, silly hats, scarves, giant foam hands and flags are all good. Although this does attract television cameras – as I found out in Cardiff when I unwittingly appeared glum-faced and curly wigged clutching a sorry-looking Harry Haddock just before Town lost the game. Look North’s sport reporter Simon Clark still winds me up about that now!

Sing up and sing loud – support the boys on the pitch and be that ‘twelfth man’.

Don’t buy an air-horn to take into the ground – there will be lots of people selling them around the stadium like there was in Cardiff, but you won’t get them past the turnstile. And if you manage it, like I did at Wembley the first time around, it’s embarrassing when the stewards mob you to confiscate it!

Take a camera to help you remember the day – the nerves make it easy to forget.

Finally, keep absolutely everything crossed!