Ideas for how Grimsby Town can improve further.

Transport/parking coud be a real issue next season. I generally come to Cleethorpes am, visit various family then leave and up the 180 straight after the match. If I do Steels its easy park at 12, loads of space walk to Cleethorpes then back along the wall but other days a struggle to get within 15 mins if arriving as early as 2pm. Definately needs a way of moving fans from around the town on matchdays with a fleet of buses going directly to BP on fairly short routes. But even so I still expect loads of fans will still drive just a couple of miles to get to the ground. Stoke (I know bigger crowds edge of the city) do this quite successfully.

Bring back the random safe standing experiment in between the Pontoon and Findus

I walked to most Saturday home games last season from Scartho Top. Obviously not everyone can do that sort of distance but if you can I’d recommend it for:
1) saving the bother finding a space
2) able to drink
3) good, free phys
4) see bits of Town you wouldn’t normally see.

For the people that can’t then I think setting up some sort of lift share scheme (possibly through this website) would be an idea.

I’ve always thought that there needs to be a one way system on the roads between Grimsby Road and Brereton Ave too. Would stop the stand offs half way down them.

Quoted from grimps

I’ve always parked in Meggies and walked from there , I grew up on Isaacs Hill so the walk to me is a bit of a tradition and only takes 20 or so minutes .
There’s loads of car parking space near the station that’s always empty.

I’m not sure what’s being done with the old Ramsdens site now but they used to have a big car park behind there too that’s only ten minutes walk from the ground

And that's fair enough.  I've always walked as it's a 35/40 minute walk, stroll down with mates and without doubt it's quicker and less stressful.   This summer I'm moving away from the area (not too far but definitely not a walkable distance!) so I'll be parking up at my mates house and walking down.    

For me (and you), that works nicely.  We know the area, we know where we can park and it suits us.  But not every fan coming to the games will know the side streets where you can park just enough away from the ground to avoid the build up and not have a major struggle getting parked.  

Good shout on Ramsdens, it looks an absolute hell-hole now.  Even as a temp measure you would think the landowners would be happy to generate a bit of extra money every other weekend for the sake of clearing it up a little.  

Quoted from HackneyHaddock

-  Transport.  If we're going to be getting 6500-8500 most weeks, and if we're going to bandy about phrases like "green" and "sustainability", then we really need to have a proper plan to enable more people to get to BP without driving all the way up to the ground.

That doesn't mean *no-one* can drive to BP, but there are plenty of people who could either park further away and walk in (explore remote car parks), would take a bus if it was more direct (and then have a drink at the game), or in some cases, even cycle to the game.  Club, council and bus company need to work together to have a better transport plan.  For example, if you want to get back to Waltham or New Waltham, you need to take a bus back through Town, taking 45-60 minutes, plus waiting time. Direct buses from and to those areas taking 25 minutes, could potentially remove hundreds of car journeys from the roads and alleviate parking pressure around the ground.  Could existing routes and train/bus times be better publicised?

Quoted from 800

We did have a scheme for a few seasons where you showed your ST and could board a bus going towards the ground for free. I was disappointed when that was shelved. I always thought it was a cracking idea and would like to see that brought back despite now having a disability pass which I can use in GY.

This is more the sort of thing I was thinking along the lines of rather than a bespoke park and ride.  People from outside the boundaries of NELC are going to drive and because park and ride probably won't be that advantageous they're going to want to park as close to Blundell Park as possible.  That's fine, we have to accept that and do two things; 1) maximise the potential parking around the ground and 2) see if there's a way we can reduce the number of cars making relatively short journeys to Blundell Park.

I really like the idea of dedicated buses.  Very few pick up points but where they are is central and convenient for the majority.  Completely thinking off the top of my head here but one route could be as simple as Laceby, Laceby Acres, Bradley Cross Roads and then from there the quickest route to the ground.  Doesn't stop anywhere else.  Tie it in with tickets purchased (unlikely we'll have many walk up sales on the day anyway) so you only get on the bus if show a matchday ticket/season ticket.  

Quoted from diehardmariner

This is more the sort of thing I was thinking along the lines of rather than a bespoke park and ride.  People from outside the boundaries of NELC are going to drive and because park and ride probably won't be that advantageous they're going to want to park as close to Blundell Park as possible.  That's fine, we have to accept that and do two things; 1) maximise the potential parking around the ground and 2) see if there's a way we can reduce the number of cars making relatively short journeys to Blundell Park.

I really like the idea of dedicated buses.  Very few pick up points but where they are is central and convenient for the majority.  Completely thinking off the top of my head here but one route could be as simple as Laceby, Laceby Acres, Bradley Cross Roads and then from there the quickest route to the ground.  Doesn't stop anywhere else.  Tie it in with tickets purchased (unlikely we'll have many walk up sales on the day anyway) so you only get on the bus if show a matchday ticket/season ticket.  

Bristol rugby do free shuttle buses on matchdays through the town onto Ashton Gste. They’re always heaving

Quoted from LH

I walked to most Saturday home games last season from Scartho Top. Obviously not everyone can do that sort of distance but if you can I’d recommend it for:
1) saving the bother finding a space
2) able to drink
3) good, free phys
4) see bits of Town you wouldn’t normally see.

For the people that can’t then I think setting up some sort of lift share scheme (possibly through this website) would be an idea.

I’ve always thought that there needs to be a one way system on the roads between Grimsby Road and Brereton Ave too. Would stop the stand offs half way down them.

And I thought my nan's friend parking near Ronnie Ramsdens or my dad parking near Sidney Park was a trek 🤣

Quoted from Poojah

I’ve seen mention of improvements being made to the Trust bar. Any idea what’s happening there? Some better beer on tap would be a good start.

Quick update.

Popped in today to see how it's coming along. Was asked if I would do some alteration work to the bar, which I will be doing in due course.

Apart from it all now being painted out in a new colour, the seating has been re-upholstered and the heaters have been removed and replaced with two ceiling mounted dual air con/heating units.

A new carpet is to be fitted when other works are complete.

Will be smart.

Quoted from ginnywings

Quick update.

Popped in today to see how it's coming along. Was asked if I would do some alteration work to the bar, which I will be doing in due course.

Apart from it all now being painted out in a new colour, the seating has been re-upholstered and the heaters have been removed and replaced with two ceiling mounted dual air con/heating units.

A new carpet is to be fitted when other works are complete.

Will be smart.

Thanks for the update - sounds excellent. Even before the recent refurb it was a great facility to have, and a lot nicer than standing in some cold, breeze block laden concourse like you tend to get at most grounds these days.

Are you aware of any additional work on the fan zone? I think it’s absolutely brilliant by the way and a huge credit to everyone involved in it, but it’s understandably less appealing in those dark winter months when it’s freezing cold and belting it down.

Given how rammed the Trust bar is going to be given the upper and lower are now both close to being sold out to ST holders, I’d imagine the demand for the fan zone will increase substantially. What’s the chance of some additional weather proofing?

Quoted from Poojah

Thanks for the update - sounds excellent. Even before the recent refurb it was a great facility to have, and a lot nicer than standing in some cold, breeze block laden concourse like you tend to get at most grounds these days.

Are you aware of any additional work on the fan zone? I think it’s absolutely brilliant by the way and a huge credit to everyone involved in it, but it’s understandably less appealing in those dark winter months when it’s freezing cold and belting it down.

Given how rammed the Trust bar is going to be given the upper and lower are now both close to being sold out to ST holders, I’d imagine the demand for the fan zone will increase substantially. What’s the chance of done additional weather proofing?

I did ask about the fan zone and was told that the container with the seating is being moved back slightly toward the Osmond Stand so the capacity can be increased by 160 and still meet fire regs with the addition of a second entrance/exit.

Nothing else was mentioned but I wouldn't rule out further improvements in the future.