First ever Town game?

Can't remember - but my memory of watching Grimsby beat Scunthorpe 7-1 in a night match does remain and apart from Tees scoring the first and Green scoring 3 - Brian Hill's strikes cutting in from the left remain etched - and all of this through the front palings of the Barratt Stand - with Bedford scoring a consolation goal for Scunthorpe.

Ironically, my first ever match was at the Old Show Ground, Scunthorpe - can't remember who they played but Frank Barton and Bobby Smith were in their team and they later played for us. I preferred it there at the time, as my dad was able to sit me on a parapet wall at the front so I could see - but his ultimate plan was to in doctrine me to Grimsby Town.

1984 last game of the season versus Chelsea.  Kerry Dixon 1 nil.

Quoted from Teestogreen

Can't remember - but my memory of watching Grimsby beat Scunthorpe 7-1 in a night match does remain and apart from Tees scoring the first and Green scoring 3 - Brian Hill's strikes cutting in from the left remain etched - and all of this through the front palings of the Barratt Stand - with Bedford scoring a consolation goal for Scunthorpe.

Ironically, my first ever match was at the Old Show Ground, Scunthorpe - can't remember who they played but Frank Barton and Bobby Smith were in their team and they later played for us. I preferred it there at the time, as my dad was able to sit me on a parapet wall at the front so I could see - but his ultimate plan was to in doctrine me to Grimsby Town.

My dad told me about that game. Ray Clemence was in goal for Scunthorpe as I recall lol.

Brighton October 1965 night game only wanted to go see Bobby Smith play for Brighton. Had seen Spurs win the cup in 1962 and they were my team until that night with Tees, Green, Foster in Barratt Stand that fantastic night atmosphere we used to have and the smell of piped tobacco etc.

Still go watch Spurs but town is first love proven when I went crazy after JP’s goal back in 2005.

Town 3-2 Watford (August 1992)

We went on to finish 9th in what is now the Championship.

Although that was my first league game. I remember a preseason friendly in 92, against Gainsborough at BP. For no reason other than this:

Dave Gilbert scored a free kick but the ref made him retake it. Put it top corner again. But the ref made him take it again. Keeper saved the 3rd one.

Quoted from Teestogreen

Can't remember - but my memory of watching Grimsby beat Scunthorpe 7-1 in a night match does remain and apart from Tees scoring the first and Green scoring 3 - Brian Hill's strikes cutting in from the left remain etched - and all of this through the front palings of the Barratt Stand - with Bedford scoring a consolation goal for Scunthorpe.

Ironically, my first ever match was at the Old Show Ground, Scunthorpe - can't remember who they played but Frank Barton and Bobby Smith were in their team and they later played for us. I preferred it there at the time, as my dad was able to sit me on a parapet wall at the front so I could see - but his ultimate plan was to in doctrine me to Grimsby Town.

Think that game was played in early September as were on a family holiday in Mablethorpe, those were the days when life was so simple, and can remember seeing the score in the next days Daily Mirror. 10/11 years later played with Brian Hill for Market Rosen in the Lincs League, great bloke and still see him at club reunions and funerals.

I'm not certain as supporting GTFC sort of creeped up on me. Lived not far from the ground and had a mate who lived in Blundell Ave. His garden backed onto the Pontoon Stand. We would get his Dad's ladder and sneak over the fence when no-one was looking. Sometimes a big gang of us and it was late 60's early 70's. We didn't really sneak in to watch the footy, it was more because it was a laugh and a bit daring. We'd probably sneaked into the ABC cinema in the morning too and on Sunday, we would walk down to the old zoo and sneak in there too. Times were hard and we didn't have Playstations.   In those days, they used to open the gates quite early and you could just walk in and catch the last part of the game for free, so we sometimes did that, if we weren't down Sidney Park playing footy ourselves for hours on end.

At the start of the 71/72 season, i got a job selling the Sports Telegraph and we used to get let into the ground for free at half time with our bag of newspapers, and then go to a little shack in Phelps Street to tally up and get our halfpenny or penny (can't remember) commission for each paper sold. Now that was a special season as any Town fan will tell you and as it wore on, i got more and more interested in the events on the pitch, the atmosphere was electric and when we scored, which we did often, the noise was incredible. I swear the Barratt Stand would shake when it happened. The Barratt was my patch and it was a fantastic place to be. People would buy papers and say "keep the change lad". One said i was a lucky omen as we were shite the season before with the other paper seller before me. I loved it and soon found myself watching the football more than i was trying to sell papers. The guy who we tallied up with said i wasn't selling enough and sacked me, so from then on i started going just as a fan, so i don't know which game that happened. If my Mam was skint (Dad was a fisherman, sometimes we were loaded, sometimes skint) and couldn't give me the entry money, over the fence we went, or got in some other way. Sometimes we would hang around in Harrington Street and the players would let us in with them. Sometimes we would just hang around the Barratt Stand and someone we knew would pay us in. Sometimes the turnstile guys would let us through for nothing if we badgered them enough, but we always got in somehow. What a great season that was and what a great finish to it. Me and my brother ran alongside the victory parade bus all the way from Park Street to the Town hall.

That is why i am a Town fan. Got the bug and never lost it. Sorry for the long ramble, but i started and the memories just came flooding back. Can hardly remember a game in recent times. I guess not many stick in the memory.

Vs Leeds, John McDermott’s first testimonial, Aug 1996. In my first season watching Town we beat Southend 4-0 on the last day and still went down. It was an early insight into just how disappointing it can be following Town.

Boxing Day 1977, Halifax 0-0, not a great game if I recall  

First game on my own was Sunderland April 65  drew 22  think we went down that year ,,went to a few before that  with family but cant realy remember much  was 13 then