Homage to Blundell Park

That rare thing: a Forest fan (and a Chief Football Writer) praising Blundell Park as a ‘Ground Jewel’ on this podcast (fast forward to 22 minutes).

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-ground-jewels/id1686362293?i=1000690705017

Quoted from Belfast Town

That rare thing: a Forest fan (and a Chief Football Writer) praising Blundell Park as a ‘Ground Jewel’ on this podcast (fast forward to 22 minutes).

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-ground-jewels/id1686362293?i=1000690705017

We need to stop all this praise otherwise the whole ground will be Listed by Historic England and there will be no more removal of pillars, even the police box will be considered an important historic contextual response to Town and Stoke fans scrapping on the pitch...

There has been one or two of these articles recently praising Blundell Park and it's historical context, its closeness to the sea and it's unique features which is a bit surprising to hear but welcome nonetheless.

We are most certainly staying at BP for the near and medium term and possibly forever so we need to ensure the uniqueness remains whilst we try to improve it.

What is more of a shame is most fans arrive at the ground having travelled down the worst entrance into the town, and the A180, Cleethorpe Road and the part of Grimsby Road to the ground is getting steadily worse which the club can't do anything about, but by the time they arrive at the ground any uniqueness and nostalgia about our stadium is the last thing on their minds.

I suppose what I'm saying is first impressions count for a lot and ours is a shocker.

Quoted from lew chaterleys lover

What is more of a shame is most fans arrive at the ground having travelled down the worst entrance into the town, and the A180, Cleethorpe Road and the part of Grimsby Road to the ground is getting steadily worse which the club can't do anything about, but by the time they arrive at the ground any uniqueness and nostalgia about our stadium is the last thing on their minds.

I suppose what I'm saying is first impressions count for a lot and ours is a shocker.

Seriously how many away grounds have you been to? There aren't many that are any better than the route in to BP!

Victoria Street have hidden empty shop fronts with large window posters showing Grimsby well known residents.

Could NELC do the same style of cover up along Grimsby Road?

Let's see some local famous names up like John Hurt, Julie Peasgood, and alongside some older famous Town pictures like Sir Alan of Buckley, Tony Ford, Kevin Moore, Dave Moore, Lawrie Mac, Bill Shankley, and they are just my first few thoughts !

Quoted from GrumpyPontooner

Seriously how many away grounds have you been to? There aren't many that are any better than the route in to BP!

That was a good question so I've just looked at the teams in the PL down to the National league and counted 54 away grounds I've been to, with quite a few more of clubs that have fallen through the cracks like Bury and...Scunthorpe. I guess the total would be about 60.

The point I was making was simply how much pride we have in Blundell Park is somewhat tainted by the decaying infrastrucure leading up to it regardless of other grounds.

Quoted from lew chaterleys lover

That was a good question so I've just looked at the teams in the PL down to the National league and counted 54 away grounds I've been to, with quite a few more of clubs that have fallen through the cracks like Bury and...Scunthorpe. I guess the total would be about 60.

So, how many of those 60 would you say had better infrastructure on the way to them? Not many I'd wager.

Quoted from GrumpyPontooner

So, how many of those 60 would you say had better infrastructure on the way to them? Not many I'd wager.

There will be a mixture no doubt, and i agree very few would have anybody purring as they drive along, but our entrance has undoubtedly declined markedly over time which I just feel it taints things a bit.

I suppose the question is whether we can do anything about it, even short term?

We are all proud of our club and our town(s) but it makes you wonder just how run down it will get along there before we see any improvement.

Quoted from GrumpyPontooner

So, how many of those 60 would you say had better infrastructure on the way to them? Not many I'd wager.

I suppose you could look at it the other way round, and ask you to list the ones you have been to that are worse?

Couldn't agree more LJL, forgetting about the ground itself, the approach from Grimsby/Cleethorpes Road is a total embarrassment, almost 3rd world standard in it's scruffiness and this is the first thing and last thing visitors see, leading to the narrative that all of Grimsby is a S- hole, which it isn't.
Unfortunately our council and it's leader are more interested in their vanity  Town Cinema project, rather than improving the parts of the Town that desperately need it, the Freemo flats were demolished 5 years ago and it's still waste land, my old school in Eleanor St has been crumbling and decaying for decades yet they seem to do nothing to persuade it's owners to do something with it, or attempt to purchase it, sitting on their hands saying 'what can we do?, we don't own it' isn't good enough.
I've lived every minute of my life in this  Town and I'm proud to be a Grimbarian, it's just so  sad how parts of the Town have been neglected.