The last time we were in league 2

We went 25 games without a win and set a new club record, we set one of the lowest attendances for a home league game at 2100, we had 51 players on the books, our top goal scorer was Peter Sweeney with 6 goals!

Just looking at this team Hurst is putting together, things are at last looking up for the team I love. People say that relegation can sometimes be a blessing for a football club because they bounce back with added momentum and start a winning habit. It got me thinking, what positives can we take from our 6 year exile and moving forward?

For starters we're used to winning more than we were losing,
The fans and the club are more tightly bonded than they have been for years
Season tickets were the highest since we were in the Championship
The players are no longer journeymen and appear to be hungry professionals with a fantastic team spirit (hopefully that can continue with so many new additions)
Away days are the most I have enjoyed since being a town fan and I have met more town fan friends as a result

On reflection I don't ever want to be back in the conference ever, however I think we have a lot to thank that division for. i cannot wait for 2016/2017. Hurry 8th August!

Shudder - those last two seasons (I actually think we were worse the season before) were horrific.

I think it forced tough decisions on the club and it meant we became more ruthless as a result.

On a positive front I think in 5 years time we will be in league one with a new stadium.

I have to admit I have enjoyed many an away game while we were in the conference,

BUT

Never want to go back there,

As you said we have come back stronger and we are looking up not down now,

Quoted from horsforthmariner

Shudder - those last two seasons (I actually think we were worse the season before) were horrific.

I think it forced tough decisions on the club and it meant we became more ruthless as a result.

On a positive front I think in 5 years time we will be in league one with a new stadium.

Are you mental?!

Quoted from grimsby pete

As you said we have come back stronger and we are looking up not down now,

Couldn't agree more. It's a strange feeling I have never had as a town fan

Our last ever L2 lineup- Colgan, Widdowson, Lancashire, Atkinson, Bore, Devitt, Hudson, Sinclair, Coulson, Peacock, Akpa-Akpro.  We've come such a long way since then. As a few have mentioned we are used to winning which is a good thing but I feel there is more of a feel good factor around the place and the manager has managed to attract names.

Anyone got a squad list for that season.

would love to see if any would remotely make the team now.

Quoted from monkeyboy

Anyone got a squad list for that season.

would love to see if any would remotely make the team now.

[url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009%E2%80%9310_Grimsby_Town_F.C._season]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009%E2%80%9310_Grimsby_Town_F.C._season[/url]


Hope number 33 does  

There were some decent players in that list.
Lee Peacock,  jamie devitt, damien mccrory, olly lancashire, micheal coulson, ryan bennet. rob atkinson.

Shame the rest were pants chambers apart.

What went wrong, surely any manager of worth could have kept us in the league. gloomy days and a distant memory thank god.

Didn't know Nathan Arnold went on the aborted Devon trip

Quoted from monkeyboy

There were some decent players in that list.
Lee Peacock,  jamie devitt, damien mccrory, olly lancashire, micheal coulson, ryan bennet. rob atkinson.

Shame the rest were pants chambers apart.

What went wrong, surely any manager of worth could have kept us in the league. gloomy days and a distant memory thank god.

I think you answer your own question there.

Just seeing Matthew Heywood's name sends shivers down the spine.

Quoted from Sigone

Didn't know Nathan Arnold went on the aborted Devon trip

Yeah we only offered him 6 month contract so he left and went to Hyde lol.

A few other players in that team Colgan, Widdowson never tried, Forbes, Jarman, Proudlock, Conlon once he got his contract was awful, Boshell, Clarke, Forecast there isn't any words to describe him, Ben Wright was the worse striker i have seen at the club and jesus i forgot about Tommy Wright he just as bad or even worse.

Hit the nail on the head, League 2 on the way up feels so much better than it did on that long way down. There was a resigned inevitability back then, now we have hope on top of pride!

Yes there was some dross in the team that went down and in the squad for a year or two before. Bad decisions were made, no money was available and the side was incredibly badly managed on the park.

This year we look to have better players and there is a spirit of optimism with the new faces. We will know more about the players and about how they are going to be fitted together as a team when we see the final few friendlies this month. Wouldn't it be great to hit the ground running in L2 and frighten a few of the fancied sides?

Remember that feeling at half-time during the opening game against Cheltenham?  One-nil up and we had absolutely wiped the floor with our hosts.  I, along with many others, were convinced we were going to win the league.

63-year-old Barry Hayles came on and bullied our weak defence all over the place, setting the tone for the rest of the season.  Our lack of fight, spirit and graft was put out there in that second half performance and we never recovered.

I don't recognise the club now from those dark days, especially around November/December 2009.  The lads that Woods brought in gave everything they could but the problems were so deep rooted relegation was on the cards long before we went down.  In hindsight it was just cruel that it took us so long to be put out of our misery.  

Best thing about league 2 this year, is we are not the favorites for every game like we was for the past 3-4 seasons.

which means teams will come at us more at BP, which means it suits Hurst!

63-year-old Barry Hayles


I remember someone who'd gone to the game told me our opening goal was the best he'd seen Town ever score.

Quoted from GtfcGarner

Our last ever L2 lineup- Colgan, Widdowson, Lancashire, Atkinson, Bore, Devitt, Hudson, Sinclair, Coulson, Peacock, Akpa-Akpro.  We've come such a long way since then. As a few have mentioned we are used to winning which is a good thing but I feel there is more of a feel good factor around the place and the manager has managed to attract names.

We put out some far worse teams than that in the past and really that team had enough to stay up but by then we were in a negative spiral and all confidence was gone.

Quoted from excusebeef

. People say that relegation can sometimes be a blessing for a football club because they bounce back with added momentum and start a winning habit. It got me thinking, what positives can we take from our 6 year exile and moving forward?

Also gives you the chance to start from scratch again.Sometimes as in life like in football is whats needed and is a good thing

Quoted from RoboCod

63-year-old Barry Hayles


I remember someone who'd gone to the game told me our opening goal was the best he'd seen Town ever score.

really?!? they're mad! seem to remember it was a Hegarty cross and Conlon bundled it in from a few yards out. perhaps the build up was better than I remember. I remember we were chanting "we are going up!" after that...how wrong we were. that was the most upbeat Town fans were all season! a poor long range effort went in with no attempt to save it from Conlon and then Hayles ran the show. also there was a minutes applause for Bobby Robson before the game.

Quoted from LondonMariner43

We put out some far worse teams than that in the past and really that team had enough to stay up but by then we were in a negative spiral and all confidence was gone.

Yes indeed. A negative spiral that began the day of the play off final in Cardiff. But for one silly decision over a manager's worth we could have been in L1 the following day. Instead we started a downward trek to the conference.

Quoted from diehardmariner

Remember that feeling at half-time during the opening game against Cheltenham?  One-nil up and we had absolutely wiped the floor with our hosts.  I, along with many others, were convinced we were going to win the league.

63-year-old Barry Hayles came on and bullied our weak defence all over the place, setting the tone for the rest of the season.  Our lack of fight, spirit and graft was put out there in that second half performance and we never recovered.

I don't recognise the club now from those dark days, especially around November/December 2009.  The lads that Woods brought in gave everything they could but the problems were so deep rooted relegation was on the cards long before we went down.  In hindsight it was just cruel that it took us so long to be put out of our misery.  

I remember the game well. Went to the match on the train with a few friends and on the way back we heard that Norwich had lost 7-1 at home to Colchester just one division above us.

"Cheer up lads, we could be Norwich fans" I said.  

Little did I realise how far apart our teams were going in the near future that day,

Quoted from fiveallive

Just seeing Matthew Heywood's name sends shivers down the spine.

I'm actually trying to remember who he was he was the only name on the list I didn't recall. I think he was a big tall guy that had all the mobility of a fridge?

There really was some dross. Akpa-Akpro was probably one of our better players and he was one of the most goal shy strikers I've ever seen, Seemed to be able to run to the corner flag from any position on the pitch. Tommy Forecast will never forget him even if he only played like 2-3 games that first game was enough to burn him into memory. Never forget the image of him being lobbed from about 6 yards all he had to do was put his hands up but he did that after the ball went in. How two top flight teams didn't manage to teach him to be a goalkeeper I don't know. Colgan was rubbish too wish we'd kept that lad from Scunny.

So many loan players I can't for the life of me recall Wes Fletcher playing for us.

Quoted from grimsby pete

Never want to go back there,

As you said we have come back stronger and we are looking up not down now,

Goes without saying
I still have a ticket from a League 2 home game 12 years ago against Swansea
Look where they are now - who knows where we'll be in 12 years time?

Akpro and Widdowson were both capable players but both very timid. Players not stepping up to the challenge was the main cause of that disastrous spell.
Heywood was also well rated but was just awful for us. A horrible time to be a Town fan as no one seemed to know what they were doing

I knew it was all over when Woods brought in Jamal Shahin, who was literally playing in the Sunday League 2nd division at the time.

Quoted from ska face

I knew it was all over when Woods brought in Jamal Shahin, who was literally playing in the Sunday League 2nd division at the time.

Even then he was the best Town player on that ill-fated day in November when Bath embarrassed us.

We will get to see how good Jamie Devit is now as he plays for Carlisle  

Quoted from ska face

I knew it was all over when Woods brought in Jamal Shahin, who was literally playing in the Sunday League 2nd division at the time.

Some of us suggested it was all over the day Neil Woods was announced as our manager after his disastrous caretaker spell.

L2 lineup- Colgan, Widdowson, Lancashire, Atkinson, Bore, Devitt, Hudson, Sinclair, Coulson, Peacock, Akpa-Akpro

Wouldn't be many make it into last years team let alone this one. Atkinson and Devitt for me the rest nah!
How things have changed

And some how 6 members of starting 11 has all played league football whilst we was in the conference

7 if you include Nick Colgan, but he never played a game for Huddersfield

Quoted from Rob_in_Grimsby

We will get to see how good Jamie Devit is now as he plays for Carlisle  

And Akpo-Akpro, he's signed for Barnet

Quoted from Brisbane Mariner

L2 lineup- Colgan, Widdowson, Lancashire, Atkinson, Bore, Devitt, Hudson, Sinclair, Coulson, Peacock, Akpa-Akpro

Wouldn't be many make it into last years team let alone this one. Atkinson and Devitt for me the rest nah!
How things have changed

Think I'd just stick with Devitt. Always felt he was too good for that team he'd try to do things with the ball but nobody would get on the end of it or he'd be looking for a pass that nobody is coming for and get bullied off the ball while waiting. Atkinson never rated that much he was like Bore he'd have a really good game 1 in 10 games and for the other 9 I'd barely notice him.

I always quite liked Widdowson and Leapy Lee Peacock, my abiding memory of him is the alleged two goals he scored against Lincoln when they wore clashy grey shirts and the most blatant hand ball wasn't given as a pen in the 94th minute!

Devitt was the only one in that side who can come away from those few months with any credit. Peacock was garbage. A lot of geeing up the crowd and chest thumping but in reality he did very little and he used to pull out of nearly every 50/50 challenge going.

Dark days indeed. It was a long drawn out demise.

Now we have momentum in the opposite direction.

Can't wait for the new season............

Quoted from Rob_in_Grimsby

We will get to see how good Jamie Devit is now as he plays for Carlisle  

Saw him play for Morecambe last season at Wimbledon. Looked OK. Nowt special but did nowt really bad either.

(as as aside, no way could I see Wimbledon getting promoted, as they were beaten 5-2 at home. Classic case of a boxer with a glass jaw).

I remember Tommy Forecast against Crewe at home , I think it was second game of the season . He looked terrible and we looked  a disorganised mish-mash of nothingness , looking back i didn't realise then quite what a season we were going to be in for all the wrong reasons . Then Burton last game they had an OAP in goal ( Kevin Poole ) who pulled off some absolute worldys , were us had Nick Colgan who was about 5 years past his best getting goaded by town fans . At least with Paul at the helm I 100% can't see anything like this happening again so when the moaners contemplate   having a go they should think of Crewe at home and Burton away in that season . Christ . Fox