There is something uniquely powerful about football – a fact brought home to me when my mother died this summerI read Marc Stears’ book, Out of the Ordinary, this summer and recognised much of what he said in my own experience. The thrust of his argument is that our politics has become intellectually abstracted from how most people live and derive meaning in their lives. We have lost sight of the “everyday”, the joy that it offers in connection and community.I moved away from Grimsby at 18 and built an itinerant life, studying and living abroad. I eventually settled to work and build a family in London until my children started to develop “cock-er-ney” accents and I had to get...
Reflections on an extraordinary 15 months since we took over and the incredible buzz around the town and the club now“There’s a hard way, there’s an easy way … and then there’s the Grimsby way.” The commentator on BT Sport called the final whistle and our team, Grimsby Town, were promoted to the EFL after an almost unbelievable sequence of playoff games. We finished the National League season in sixth position and entered the playoffs very much as underdogs. In our first eliminator, we equalised against Notts County in the 96th minute before winning in extra time; in the semi-final, against the expensively assembled squad of Wrexham, a 119th-minute goal took us to the final at the London Stadium versus...
Swift tumble from League One play-offs to foot of League Two leaves eighth manager in three years trying to turn fortunesNo team have conceded more League Two goals than Scunthorpe this season and their worrying slide to the bottom of the Football League has been punctuated by some PR own goals too. They have banned the local paper, the Scunthorpe Telegraph, over its refusal to pay for access and in April the transfer of the stadium to another company owned by the chairman, Peter Swann, caused alarm among a disillusioned fan base, amid dwindling crowds. Then there are the accusations of nepotism, with Swann’s son Will tasked with leading player recruitment.Swann responded promptly to questions from the Guardian, explaining each...
Fan and former under-eights coach Mark Bonner is overseeing unlikely promotion push at free-scoring League Two clubIt is a romantic rise that has the hallmarks of a homegrown hero making his name on Football Manager but, whereas that is a world of fantasy, Mark Bonner is calling the shots in the dugout having earned his stripes at his boyhood club. He started coaching Cambridge United’s under-eights almost two decades ago before roles as academy manager, first-team coach, assistant manager and spells in caretaker charge paved the way to becoming the head coach.“Growing up in the area and having been a supporter as a kid, it is a very unusual [story] – I know that and I don’t take that for...
Brentford have a new home and must bounce back, as must Forest, while grudge rivalries await in Leagues One and TwoWith the transfer window open until 5 October, players primed for a move to the Premier League can give their clubs a leg-up in the opening weeks of the season. Bournemouth have so far retained Callum Wilson and Joshua King, while Norwich can still call on Ben Godfrey, Max Aarons, Todd Cantwell and Jamal Lewis. Watford, too, could start life in the Championship with Ismaïla Sarr and Gerard Deulofeu. Ivan Toney’s switch to Brentford feels significant in terms of a possible domino effect but Ollie Watkins and Saïd Benrahma, both of whom are valued at around £25m, are in full...