Mariners Trust Newsletter December 2016

Mariners Trust 

NEWS 

www.marinerstrust.co.uk 

@MarinersTrust 

Issue 3 - December 2016 

FREE 

Picture courtesy of: Duncan Young/Grimsby Telegraph

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Welcome 

Words from the chair with Trust 

chairman Terry Rudrum 

Life on the board 

Jon Wood on what it’s like to be a 

Mariners Trust board member 

New stadium 

The club needs you to show your 

support and make this happen 

Community 

How the Trust is doing some 

great work with local projects 

AGM 

Looking back on an incredible 

year on and off the pitch 

Mariners Trust News 

Inside this issue: 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

Mini Mariners 

Youngsters are visiting some new 

grounds and meeting some legends 

Club and culture 

A look ahead to an evening capturing 

what it means to be a GTFC fan 

Kits to Africa 

Haydn Sandvig takes your 

shirt donations to Kenya 

Link to the fans 

Kristine Green talks about her role as 

the club’s Supporter Liaison Officer 

Harry on Tour 

Harry Haddock certainly gets about, 

but where has he been to lately? 

Know your rights 

Words of advice from the 

Football Supporters’ Federation 

Giving YOU a voice on OUR club 

Welcome GTFC fans to our third Newsletter 

and I hope that you will find the contents 

interesting, as we continue to try and 

let supporters know how the Trust is 

representing them with the football club. 

We are still pursuing the matter of reduced 

ticket prices for those fans where a season 

ticket would not be appropriate. The club 

is looking at how this can best be achieved, 

without impacting on season ticket sales. We 

will keep you informed on progress. 

We are pleased that so many season ticket 

holders have taken up the option of a free 

years Trust membership. This will help those 

fans to keep in closer touch with our activities 

through the website and social media. 

Hopefully we will retain many of those into 

next year, as the greater number of members 

that we have, so the greater involvement we 


will have as a voice within the club. 

As many of you know, we have met with the 

club’s directors to express our disappointment 

with the EFLs decision to allow Premier 

League B teams into the EFL Trophy. 

Those discussions resulted in a Fans’ 

Forum, which took place in September, 

giving all fans the opportunity to discuss this 

and any other issues with the directors of the 

club. 

I think that we have made a reasonable start 

to the season, and we now welcome a new 

manager, Marcus Bignot, who together with 

his assistant, Mickey Moore will build on that 

start and hopefully take this team to another 

level. 

Terry Rudrum 

Chairman of the Mariners Trust 



Issue 3 - December 2016 3



Wearing a suit 

to the football 

Jon Wood tells us what it’s like to be on the 

board, how he balances it with work and 

family life and why he’s had to smarten 

up on a Saturday afternoon... 

If anyone had ever said to me that one day I 

would be smarter for my Saturday afternoon 

at the football, than for work then I would 

have never believed them. 

Ok, that’s probably not that difficult if I am 

honest. As a nurse, albeit a relatively senior 

one, I still wear a uniform most days, but a 

suit is still a far cry from the jeans and Town 

top (whichever one I deemed currently 

lucky) that I used to wear every week. 

The question is why do I bother with a 

suit? I buy my season tickets in the main 

stand and still sit there with my wife and 2 

kids. They haven’t introduced a dress code 

yet for the Main Stand so I don’t really need 

it for that and I have to say we don’t exactly 

blend in. I say we, because if I am doing it, 

so are my family by and large. Standing out 

is not always a good thing as I am prone 

occasionally to giving the 4th Official and 

the opposition manager the benefit of 

my (ahem) experience. (always politely 

obviously). 

I am the Mariners Trust GTFC Board 

member. As the Trust representative on the 

board of GTFC, match days are a really good 

way of keeping in touch with what’s going 

on at the club. I usually go to the Boardroom 

before or, more often, after a match when I 

am in my suit. More often now than when 

I used to be one of two reps. I meet the 

directors from the opposition, talk to the 

other directors from GTFC, club staff and 

often got to hear from Paul Hurst. 

I have a full time job, family and other 

commitments so linking in like this is 

really important. Of course there are board 

meetings, phone calls and daily emails, but 

match days offer some face to face time to 

raise and be involved in issues 

and discussions. 

Most home matches I spend time before 

the games in some of the Trust bars. I am 

always happy to discuss any concerns or 

good ideas you might have, or even just 

say hello. It’s not always easy, but I try to 

be as open and honest as I can be, without 

disclosing any sensitive information. 

Of course I don’t always wear my suit. 

Some games I like to go back to my lucky top 

and jeans, and certainly when we travel away, 

that’s how we go. It’s a nice change from the 

suit. Irrespective of what I wear it’s all about 

GTFC whenever or however I go to a game. 

4 Issue 3 - December 2016 @MarinersTrust www.marinerstrust.co.uk 





New community stadium takes a 

step forward as site is confirmed 

It’s great news that a location has now been 

decided and that we have a lead developer 

with great plans for additional leisure 

facilities but there are many hurdles still to 

be overcome to make the new community 

stadium a reality. 

The one big thing we can all do is to write 

to councillors and show our support. 

We recognise that not everyone agrees 

with the chosen site but we know the 

The benefits as we see them: 

majority do and our stance has always been 

that once chosen we all need to get behind 

it and make it happen. 

At the same time we should show respect 

for those with concerns and strive for best 

possible solutions. 

Please email or write to councillors and 

the local media showing your support for 

the plans. 

www.marinerstrust.co.uk/home/stadium 

The club already do some amazing work 

in the community and we are proud to 

supplement this with our own projects to 

further enhance the link between club and 

community. 

Internet Mariners – Building up great 

relationships with other club’s supporters 

– the way it should be. We are very pleased 

to be sponsoring a much needed new kit 

for them. 

Broadley FC - A very special football 

club formed in memory of avid Town fan 

Richard Broadley. We managed to arrange 

some training kit for them through the 

generosity of the club 

Grimsby and District Intermediate 


Trust’s work in the community 

league – We are once again proud to 

sponsor the local youth league. As well 

as encouraging kids to play we actively 

promote the club to make sure as many as 

possible come along to Blundell Park. 

Sporting Memories are a national 

organisation we have supported since 

formation and so when we heard that the 

local branch needed £500 to help with a 

project we had no hesitation in supporting. 

The work they do is truly inspirational . 

In the summer, we once again entered 

a team in the Humberston Lions It’s a 

Knockout event which as well as being 

great fun raised vital funds for the local 

NPCC 

- Circa 350 much needed permanent jobs 

- Additional est 500 jobs during construction 

- Total inward investment of circa £80m 

- Fantastic new community leisure and educational facilities 

- New stadium with vastly improved facilities compared to Blundell Park 

- Facilities will attract better players to the club 

- Much needed new income streams for NELC and GTFC 

- Football Club becomes self sustainable and more competitive 

- Expansion of sports and education trust which has proven health and social benefits 

- Car parking and improved access. 

- Provision of new cycle and pedestrian walkways 

- Provision of much needed affordable housing 

GIVE THE GIFT OF OMAR! 

Treat your 

favourite Town 

supporter this 

Christmas... 

NEW BOGLE T-SHIRTS & MUGS AVAILABLE 







AGM - ‘Operation Promotion took 

the Trust to a whole new level’ 

Last month the Mariners Trust held its Annual 

General Meeting. 

Ian Townsend, Treasurer of the Trust, 

described the last 12 months as the ‘most 

challenging’ he had faced in his time in the 

role. 

“Operation Promotion took the financial 

circumstances of the Mariners Trust to an 

entirely new, higher level,” he said. “Nobody 

could have predicted just how successful 

the campaign was going to be but it is well 

documented that the final sum raised from all 

sources was £110,500. 

“This incredible sum was raised primarily by 

ordinary fans of Grimsby Town football club 

but was topped up by an incredibly generous 

donation of £20,000 from Lee and Sue Mullen. 

“The Mariners Trust chose the Crowdfunder 

system to administer the fund. We felt the 

transparency their system gave the whole 

project was worth the 6% fee charged. 

“The system of pledges and rewards used 

presented us with some logistical issues. For 

the first time in my treasurership we were 

ordering items in bulk. T-shirts, mugs, signed 

photographs badges and wristbands were all 

purchased at Trust expense. 

“The main expense incurred however was 

the purchase of the all-new Harry Haddock 

from China. The order for Harrys was the 

most expensive undertaking and we were 

extremely grateful to our friends at Histon 

Mariners and in2wrk for their donations to 

sponsor the production. 

“Once monies had been pledged we had 

the task of getting the rewards out to all those 

who had generously pledged so much money. 

Although we had set up pick up points and 

had the help of a large group of volunteers 

to distribute items locally the worldwide 

impact of Operation Promotion meant that 

we incurred a huge postage bill. The bill to 

Australia, Canada and the U.S.A. alone was 

approaching £1,000. 

“Away from Operation Promotion the bars 

run by The Mariners Trust saw an increase 

in takings up by almost a third reflective of 

the larger crowds enthused by Operation 

Promotion and the introduction of a new 

bottle bar facility in The Pontoon Stand. 

“The profit from the bars enabled us once 

again to fulfill our obligations to raise £30,000 

for the year to maintain our representatives on 

the board of the football club.” 

Exiles better 

represented 

on the board 

Following our annual general meeting last 

month, we’ve had significant changes to the 

make up of the Trust board. 

Following the retirement of Dave Roberts, 

Hannah Dawson has stepped up and will 

become the new secretary. 

We’ve also had a number of new members 

join the board to fill the gaps left by recent 

departures. 

These include a number of exiled 

supporters who no longer live in the Grimsby 

and Cleethorpes area. Grimsby Town has a 

substantial number of exiled fans and we feel 

they will now have better representation on 

the board. We’d like to take this opportunity 

to welcome Alan Rutter, Allan Ogle, Dave 

Otter, Tom Roberts, Haydn Sandvig, Chris 

Thirlwell, Peter Cribb and Rich Mills to the 

board. 

With an increasing membership we feel 

the new, expanded Trust board will help us 

connect to the GTFC fan base even better. 

For more details on the Trust board visit 


Hannah’s new role 

Hannah Dawson, 

right, was elected 

as the new 

secretary of the 

Trust. 

Hannah has 

replaced Dave 

Roberts who has 

opted to stand 

down after several 

years in the 

position. 

Speaking after the meeting, Hannah 

said: “I am delighted to have taken on 

the role of secretary for the Mariners 

Trust, and will relish the challenge of 

trying to live up to all the amazing work 

which Dave Roberts has done, and will 

undoubtedly continue to do, for both the 

Trust and Grimsby Town Football Club. 

“Having been a Board Member with the 

Trust for a year now, I know I have a great 

team to work with, and will endeavour 

to keep bringing in fresh ideas and 

look at new ways of engaging with the 

supporters. 

“I would like to personally thank 

everyone who has helped me in my Trust 

role over the past year, and hope for 

many more successful seasons to come.”



Can You Hear The Grimsby Sing? 

An evening of words 

and music celebrating 

our football club, culture 

and community 

Picture: Rob Faulkner 

Mini Mariners 

meet legends 

The Mini Mariners have really enjoyed the 

start to the new season and visiting new 

grounds. 

We ask each away team if we can interview 

a player – Colchester United, Wycombe 

Wanderers and Derby County were really 

helpful with Luton Town arranging for us to 

interview ex GTFC player Kingsley Black! 

Talking of legends we got to meet and 

interview legend Kevin Donovan in the 

summer and he was very nice. We are also 

going to meet John McDermott and Jack 

Lester in the future. 

Our Mini Mariner of The Month is going 

well so if you have an entry, please do let us 

know. 

W 

minimariners – GTFC 

@minimariners 

minimarinersgtfc.wordpress.com 

Have you ever heard a song about Phil Jevons 

signing for Yeovil? A poem about the 2006 

play-off final against Cheltenham Town? 

Join us for what promises to be a very 

special gig as Can You Hear The Grimsby 

Sing? brings together some of the brilliant 

writers and musicians among the Mariners’ 

fan community to perform work that reflects 

on Grimsby Town and the town of Grimsby. 

The Mariners Trust has joined forces again 

with the team behind last year’s We Are Town 

book to stage this unique event celebrating 

values and experiences that will strike a chord 

with all Town supporters. 

Proper football. Working-class culture. 

And all that makes up our distinct identity 

as Grimsby supporters, whether it’s Clive 

Mendonca’s hat-trick against Ipswich in 

1996 or the remembered sound of your dad’s 

moped engine as he set off at 4am for his shift 

on the fish docks. 

Artists include: Roger Beard, Tracy 

Booth, Andy Freeman, Pete Green, Alastair 

Wilkinson, Gordon Wilson 

The event takes place on Friday, December 

9, in the Trust bar, Blundell Park. 

Tickets are £5 and proceeds go to support 

the GTFC youth academy. 







Keeping in touch with the fans 

Kits bring smiles to kids in Africa 

GTFC fan Haydn Sandvig recently put out an appeal for old football shirts to take 

with him on recent trips to Africa. He was inundated with old kit from Town fans. 

Here, in his words, he explains why he decided to take the shirts with him. 

I am so very proud of our football clubs trust 

and the generosity of GTFC fans. I have had 

the great pleasure and honour to be able to 

pass onto others football shirts donated by 

our fans during my visits to Africa in the last 

couple of months. 

In September I had the pleasure of visiting 

a children’s home in Nairobi, home to over 

100 young children. Being able to share the 

fun and joy with the children of the home, 

the smiles of the children in receiving the 

shirts and kits showing just how important 

your generous act has been. 

Following our FA Cup match, I fly to 

Monrovia, Liberia, to again share more fun 

and joy and spreading the word of GTFC. 

Thank you to each and all at the Trust and 

our amazing fans. 

It’s been a busy few months in what is a new 

role for both myself and the club. 

The SLO (Supporters Liaison Officer) is a 

requirement now that the club are back in 

the Football League. The club decided that 

a committee would be most effective with 

myself as fans liaison officer, Lee Spall as 

disabled fans liaison officer and Rae Walker 

dealing with charity requests. 

Part of the role predominantly so far has 

been dialogue with fans, away clubs, police 

and the FSF. This is because of the large 

numbers that we regularly take away but has 

also covered home games as well as other 

one off communications. 

After the recent change of kick off for the 

Doncaster Rovers game it was decided that 

a meeting should take place to ensure this 

festive derby and first visit to the Keepmoat 

would be as eagerly anticipated as possible. 

The meeting took place at the Keepmoat 

between both clubs and me present. The 

meeting was a positive one with more 

information hopefully being released nearer 

to the fixture. 

I was also invited along to Wigan Athletics 

DW stadium for the regional SLO meet 

organised by FSF. It was good to meet people 

A picture of Wigan Athletic versus Grimsby Town 

adorns the walls at the DW Stadium. 

in the same role for different clubs of varies 

sizes and set up. Ideas to take forward were 

brought back and well received by GTFC. 

Looking forward to the role progressing 

over the coming months but if you want to 

contact me in the meantime please do or I 

can be found in the Pontoon for home games 

and around about at all away games. 

UTM 

Kristine 

@ 

supporters@gtfc.co.uk 

@krispygreen84 

12 Issue 3 - December 2016 @MarinersTrust www.marinerstrust.co.uk

Matthew Barker snapped Harry looking out over the 

Cascades National Park, Washington State. 



Advice for travelling fans from the 

Football Supporters’ Federation 

The reality is that the vast majority of travelling fans 

won’t encounter any issues with policing or stewarding, 

but if fans do run into difficulties it’s important to know 

what to do both at the time, and afterwards. 

Dave Marshall and his brother snapped Harry in 

Milwaukee at the Bronze Fonze statue. 

Harry on tour 

Believe it or not Harry Haddock is now over 

a year old and in that time he has racked up 

the miles and travelled all over the world. 

In previous newsletters we’ve featured 

Harry at The White House, the Great Wall of 

China and even in New Zealand. 

In this issue we have some great images of 

Harry’s further travels... 

If you’ve got a photo of Harry on his travels 

please send them in to us via enquiries@ 

marinerstrust.co.uk 

You can also check out further pics on 

Facebook - search for Mariners Trust. 

Neil Paxman took Harry with him when he travelled 

through Death Valley! 

Susan Bell took Harry to an FC Dallas game and then 

to the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. 

- The police have the power to take 

your personal details if they suspect you 

have been acting anti socially. If you are 

challenged, ask them to clarify exactly why 

they want your details 

- Police cannot just search you. They need 

reasonable suspicion to do so. Check why 

you are being searched. 

- Very rarely, the police can search you 

without reasonable suspicion but rely on 

powers under what’s called Section 60. They 

should tell you if they’re searching using S60 

powers. 

- They do not have the powers to ask you to 

produce your match ticket. 

- They do have the power to curtail your 

movement if they suspect imminent 

disorder. If your movements are restricted, 

ask the police what powers they are using 

and why. If you feel that you are being 

unreasonably restricted, there is little point 

in arguing. Just take a shoulder number of 

the officer you are speaking to. 

- Generally speaking it is perfectly 

acceptable to record any interactions 

between you and the police either the 

audio or visuals. If the police are arresting 

somebody or dealing with disorder and 

you stick a phone in their faces, it may not 

go down well and you could be arrested 

for obstruction. 

- I recommend recording interactions 

where the police are dictating movements, 

stopping and searching etc. In short, 

anything that isn’t friendly interaction, 

asking for directions etc. 

- Stewards have the power to search you 

before entering a stadium. Indeed, it’s a 

condition of entry that you are searched. 

- Taking alcohol into a stadium is illegal as is 

being drunk trying to enter a stadium. 

- You are obliged to respond to a stewards 

reasonable request 

- Force by a steward should be reasonable 

and proportionate 

- Possession or use of pyro is illegal. Don’t 

do it! 

- It isn’t a good idea to jump around on 

a concourse at half time and throw beer 

around. This behaviour is viewed dimly by 

authorities and may effect away allocations 

or how your’re policed/stewarded 

- A football ground is private property so if 

a steward asks you not to film an interaction 

between him and fans, don’t. However, they 

have no power to ask you to show them 

what’s on your phone or to delete anything 

recorded. 

- If there are problems, again, I recommend 

recording them but discreetly. 

Design: www.willbonddesign.com

Mariners Trust Newsletter December 2016

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