Rotherham Take On Grimsby Tomorrow

Rotherham United continue their pre-season friendly games with a trip to Blundell Park where they take on Grimsby Town of the National League.

Grimsby Pelham Football Club was founded in 1878, changing it’s name to Grimsby Town two years later and moving to Blundell Park in 1898 after previously playing at Clee Park and Abbey Park. 1888 saw them join the newly formed Combination league which didn’t last too long with the Mariners being turned down by the football league after applying to join the following year going to play in the Football Alliance. 1892 saw them get a place in the football league’s second division getting promoted at the end of the 1901/2 season. They lasted in league one two seasons before being relegated and within ten years found themselves in the Midland League although they finished their first season as champions and soon back playing league football.

The end of the First World War saw Grimsby relegated to the new Third Division moving to the newly created Third Division North league the following year. A couple of promotions saw them start the 1929/30 season back in Division One and in 1936 they reached the semi-final of the FA Cup but lost one-nil to Arsenal. They found themselves in a similar position three years later where an injury to their goalkeeper (and no substitutes) saw them go down to ten mean early in the game, an outfield player taking up the position in goal, and losing five-nil to Wolves.

Another war saw football suspended and in the first season it re-started Grimsby were relegated with much of the 1950’s and 60’s seeing them
yo-yoing between the Second and Third Division North, which later lost the ‘North’. Probably their most famous manager was Bill Shankley who was there from July 1951 to January 1954 when he resigned and Grimsby appointed Elemer Berksessy who was the first foreign manager in the football league.

In 1971 Lawrie McMenemy took over as manager and helped them to the fourth division title where they stayed until 1977, although McMenemy had left in 1973, being relegated then promoted again two years later. Under George Kerr they got promoted again to the second division staying there until 1987 when they suffered back-to-back relegation and back into non-league before Alan Buckley led Grimsby to two promotions. At the end of the 1996/7 season they were relegated to Division Two and the following season saw Buckley back in charge and under him they won the 1998 Football League Trophy game at Wembley and a few weeks later were back in the capital when they took on Northampton Town in the Division Two Play-Off Final again winning, getting a Wembley double.

The next years saw Grismby struggle although in the 2001/2 season they beat Liverpool at Anfield in the League Cup. The following season saw them relegated with the sudden collapse of ITV Digital leaving the club, like others, with debt. Paul Groves was sacked as manager in 2004 with former Miller Nicky Law not faring much better when Grimsby were relegated, Russell Slade taking over the hot seat. The Mariners started the following season well and defeated Spurs in the League Cup but lost out in to Cheltenham Town in the Play-Off Final at the Millennium Stadium with Slade leaving soon after, Graham Rogers taking over. Rogers was sacked in November and Alan Buckley again took over the reigns and took the Mariners to Wembley in the Football League Trophy Final losing to MK Dons before being sacked a few weeks into the 2008/9 season. Mike Newell came next then Neil Woods and at the end of the 2010/11 Grimsby were relegated to the Conference National League. After fifteen months in charge Woods was sacked with former Millers Rob Scott and Paul Hurst taking over as joint managers, Hurst taking sole charge in September 2013 and three years later saw his side promoted back into the football league. A couple of months into their return Hurst joined Shrewsbury, Marcus Bignot taking his place before Russell Slade came back in April 2017 before he was sacked and Michael Jolley took over before December 2019 saw Ian Holloway in charge. Holloway left after a year with Paul Hurst returning in December 2020 but he couldn’t help them avoid relegation and after finishing bottom of League Two they start next season in the National League.

The Millers and Grimsby have met fifty-five times in all competitions, Rotherham winning twenty-eight of those to the Mariners sixteen. Last time the pair met at Blundell Park was in a League Two game in August 2009 when an Adam Le Fondre penalty on fifty-three minutes put the visitors in front. Eleven minutes later Peter Sweeney equalised for Grimsby with Micky Cummins getting the winner on sixty-seven minutes for the Millers.

Tomorrow’s game at Blundell Park is a 1pm kick-off and is ALL TICKET and there are none available to buy on the day.