Cod Almighty | Article

by Phillip Norton

21 September 2004

After Ian Poulter's recent article, the Grimsby Telegraph's Phillip Norton dropped us a line. In his piece, Ian argued that he and his friends hadn't seen coverage of the club's recently launched Fone-a-Friend scheme in the Riby Square Squealer. In response, Phil has sent on a piece, published in the Grimsby Telegraph during the build-up to the Rochdale game, which details the scheme. The newspaper has let us republish the item below.

POLICE, TOWN AND SUPPORTERS CLUB TOGETHER TO CRACK FOOTBALL CRIME

Please turn your phones on at match

Mariners fans who feel threatened or intimidated at Blundell Park have been thrown a lifeline - Fone-a-Friend.

From Saturday - when Grimsby Town welcome Rochdale to Cleethorpes - supporters who spot trouble in the ground or have concerns they wish to report will be able to use their mobile phones to text stewards.

A special number - 07821 490519 - has been set up by the club and Humberside Police, which can be used to inform stewards of foul language, racial chanting or aggressive behaviour by people in the stands.

Texts will be reviewed by police and ground staff and decisions made whether to despatch stewards or log the complaint for later action.

It means fans who may hold back from reporting incidents due to worries about being seen speaking to stewards can make their feelings known over their phones.

Club safety officer Terry Rudrum said: "I get a lot of complaints after the match about behaviour.

"The service will be there for anything that distracts from general crowd enjoyment, giving fans an opportunity to text their concerns and us a chance to monitor it."

The scheme has already proved a success at other grounds and was used in Portugal during this summer's Euro 2004 championship.

Mr Rudrum added: "The message is that we want a good atmosphere at Blundell Park."

Pc Alan Rutter, the football intelligence officer based at Grimsby Police Station, hopes the scheme will prove useful.

"We are trying to eradicate as many problems as we can inside the stadium because 99 per cent of the people who come to watch Grimsby are decent people."