Welcome to the “Tour Of The 72” series, where I attempt to visit every EFL ground to find the greatest football experience there is to offer and rate each ground on five different factors: Pricing, Atmosphere & Quality of the game, Food, Facilities and the overall experience of the matchday. This edition took me to Blundell Park, home of Grimsby Town F.C for their Sky Bet League Two fixture against Colchester United on the 11th Of October.
Pricing: 6/10
My match ticket for this afternoon of League Two action, cost £25, within the Osmond Stand which is home to the away end in the corner (where I was located) which also seems to be the case across the ground, with no fluctuations in price between the home end or away end, except for the Ramsdens Stand opposite the dugouts which is a couple of quid steeper in price. Overall, the view from the away end was slightly restricted in areas due to support pillars blocking certain angles to the pitch, but I managed to evade any of these restrictions.
For a League Two ticket, £25 pounds is a tad above average, however due to rising prices of everything recently, I can’t complain too much, especially given tickets as Blundell Park seem quite hard to come by, as there wasn’t any areas of empty seats, aside from a small section closed off next to the away end. Grimsby’s fanbase is undoubtably growing, particularly in recent years, as the mood seems way more positive than my previous visits.
Atmosphere: 5/10
Perhaps my expectations were too high, as Grimsby away fans are by far some of the best in League Two, and were immense in their televised cup games in recent years against Manchester United and Southampton, but they weren’t as loud as I had expected. Although obviously a game against Colchester isn’t quite the same spectacle, I’d personally say that despite the higher attendance and top-class League Two form this campaign, they were slightly quieter than recent years.
On the occasions that noise was created, I was quite impressed that all four stands contributed to the atmosphere, rather than just the singing section surrounding the drum in the Pontoon Stand, really getting behind their team during these scenarios, albeit they didn’t have too much to get excited about, particularly during the second half. Their frustrations certainly outnumbered the chants (mostly towards the referee, who made a few questionable calls) as the game progressed, with large parts of the second half being spent with players on the floor time-wasting!
The most important factor, however, is how much class the whole attendance showed in the 22nd minute, with a minute’s applause being held for Grimsby supporter Jayden, who unfortunately passed away, as well as the referees pausing the game. A classy touch and may God bless him and his family.
Stadium Food: 7/10
A town known for their fish and chips, should have some quality food options in their ground, right? Well, unfortunately I didn’t arrive early enough to fully explore the surrounding local area to gauge the options, opting for a little stroll on Cleethorpes Beach after a long journey to North Lincolnshire, but got plenty to try inside of the ground.
Inside, there wasn’t too many options available, most of them being related to chips, with the option of a topping for said chips, which included chilli con-carne and nachos, chicken curry and prawn crackers and roast beef and gravy available for £8. As I’m not a local, these toppings sounded pretty unusual, but the common consensus was that these are actually quite common for stadium food! Additionally, there was a range of pasties on offer for the reasonable price of £4 but was missing the absolute staple of any football ground in England, a proper steak pie!
My personal favourite was the chilli and nachos on proper “chippy chips”, which was one hundred percent worth the slightly steep £8, with the chips soaking up the sauce from the chilli perfectly, fuelling me for a sunny Autumn afternoon of EFL action. On the other hand, my companion for the journey went for the Cornish pasty, but their feedback stated that it was “below average” due to being “quite dry” and wouldn’t recommend to any future visitors.
Facilities: 5.5/10
Unfortunately, I didn’t get the chance to fully venture to see what the front of the ground had to offer, as I arrived reasonably late, but opinions from others I spoke to said there was a decent sized outdoor bar area but not many food outlets outside of the ground, but that’s of course expected for a League Two side.
When thinking of proper, classic football grounds, Blundell Park is one of the first that springs to mind, given its location right in the centre of the community, with streets filled with terraced housing surrounding the ground, giving it real character compared to the more modern looking football stadiums that are often located away from housing estates. In terms of things to do nearby, unsurprisingly there is plenty of local family run restaurants surrounding the area, as well as the basic McDonalds right next the ground.
Once entering the away end where I was sat, you can immediately sense just how in the middle of things you are, as from the steps to my seat, I could see pretty much into people’s back gardens, making it quite compact in the outdoor concourse. Inside the concourse, there was just one window to receive food causing slight queues, as well as a decent sized bar which I didn’t however step foot in.
My only two small complaints, were that the speakers were a bit quiet, it was a serious struggle to hear what the stadium announcer had to say, and the toilets weren’t particularly clean, but with an old-school ground, that’s sort of what I’d expect!
Tour Overall Experience: 9/10
To put it quite simply, Grimsby is one of my favourite League Two grounds to visit, with the close proximity to Cleethorpes Beach, friendly locals and staff inside and outside the ground, as well as the character of the ground, so I’m inclined to give a relatively high score on this.
In terms of the game, it was fairly stop-start, with both sides making some heavy tackles throughout, causing plenty of injury delays to prevent either side gaining momentum to push on. Grimsby didn’t overall create too much, but there few chances were threatening with Charles Vernam’s crosses causing problems for the Colchester defence, but lacking that cutting edge creativity from their midfield, which I expected more of from Evan Khouri and Kieran Green.
Colchester on the other hand were smart with their tactics, with plenty of time-wasting antics slowing Grimsby’s progress down heavily but using their physicality well. They almost conceded in the last minute, when substitute Jude Soonsup-Bell’s header reverberated off the crossbar (almost giving me heart palpitations), but scraped away with the three points thanks to young talent Micah Mbick’s hattrick.
Personally, I enjoyed my experience thoroughly, but don’t want to see Lincolnshire’s fields for a long time, they felt never-ending on the way home!
Lineups:
Grimsby: Pym, Sweeney (Rose 82’), McJannet, Warren, Rodgers, Green, Khouri, McEachran (Walker 82’), Vernam (Soonsup-Bell 73’), Burns (Svanthorsson 56’), Kabia (Amaluzor 73’)
Colchester: Macey, Iandolo, Araujo, Tucker, Vincent-Young, Bishop, Read, Anderson, Payne (Hunt 90+2’), Lisbie (Edwards 71’), Mbick (Williams 88’)
Goals: Green (18), Mbick (38, 60)
Attendance 6,931
Overall Total
32.5/50
