Cod Almighty | Article

by Simon Wilson

9 October 2002

You might have caught the news that Grimsby MP Austin Mitchell has changed his name to Austin Haddock. To recap, never one to shy away from the limelight Austin is helping to promote Seafood Week by changing his name and embarking on a number of photo opportunities during the Labour Party conference at Blackpool (right).

You could label it daft, maybe even go as far as naff, but the pictures of Austin Haddock flanked by supporters and a large pink prawn have caught the imagination of the country's press. Some have found it a handy little space filler (Cod Almighty included). Others have taken to it as a genuine attempt to raise awareness of an industry that has faced its struggles recently. Still more have found it a handy "and finally..." story.

Hidden away in a swathe of quotes from Austin are references to his love of seafood and the fact that seafood is an integral part of Grimsby's economy. In someone else's hands it could come across as forced, strained, unsubtle, obsequious towards the sponsoring company. But Austin's charisma and happy-go-lucky approach give the whole campaign a rosy glow.

Most importantly, it's that rare old thing: a positive spin on the town, even if it relies on the piscatorial cliché. After the recent (local) media-fuelled histrionics regarding immigrants settling in the Grimsby area and a man with local connections being the chief suspect in a highly prominent child murder case, Austin Haddock was a breath of fresh air straight off the North Sea.

Compare this to two recent matters relating to the Mariners' games against Reading and Ipswich, both illustrating two contrasting aspects of public relations.

Obscure gesture

For Saturday's game against Reading, the club decided to wheel out its free children's ticket to every paying adult. A kind enough gesture – and, given the financial plight of the club a generous one – but one that people seemed fully aware of only by the Wednesday before the match. The club's official site posted details on Tuesday (and dropped hints later on with several further articles). The Grimsby Telegraph gave it a footnote reference shortly afterwards. Public transport in the town carried the occasional poster.

The result of this offer? An attendance of 5,582 – a good 500 of which were visiting fans. Just over 5,000 people are alleged to have sat in the home stands at Blundell Park. Whether this is the actual number of tickets sold or the number of people admitted to the ground that day, only the club's staff will know.

When you're talking about an attendance of 5,000 against a mediocre, mid-table side (which Reading are), is it worth speculating?

Assume for the moment that this figure represents the number of ticket stubs collected at the gates – the actual number of people inside Blundell Park that Saturday. Now imagine for a moment what the attendance would have been if the club had not offered free tickets. Difficult to fathom, isn't it? The only obvious indication of these 'extra' supporters being in the ground was seeing people negotiating with other fans so they could sit next to their children.

Some may have been coming to the game anyway; others may not have considered coming without Town's 'kids go free' enticement. But we can't precisely say how many extra supporters there were on the day. Let's be honest – when you're talking about an attendance of 5,000 against a mediocre, mid-table side (which Reading are), is it worth speculating?

Town's methods of informing the fans always seem to rely on the same avenues. They're safe, reliable, if not attention-grabbing.

Is a free children's ticket announced on the website, in the newspaper and on the buses enough to entice people? Would the club announcing this offer sooner have made any difference? Would the club announcing this offer to a collected mass – say, at the previous home game – have made a difference? Should they be making a bigger song and dance – like Austin?

The club constantly tells us that its tickets are the cheapest in the second flight – suitably proud and deservedly so. In football terms £13 isn't expensive (remember that football dwells within its very own micro-economy), especially in a day and age when people are prepared to pay twice that amount in a monthly subscription to satellite and cable providers – money that supports a different league altogether.

For the club to expect high attendances for every game, regardless of sympathies tapped into due to the required minimum attendance for the club to break even, isn't realistic. Not every supporter is going to travel from Grimsby, from Scunthorpe, from Leeds, from London for every game. Not everyone in Grimsby with an interest in football is interested in Grimsby Town Football Club.

And to others who don't live within the football bubble, £13 is a few bob for a couple of hours' promise of relegation-battling fooball against an ordinary team like Reading on what could be a inhospitable autumn day. And that's before you take into account Blundell Park. It's not an easy concept to sell.

Sniff of safety

Attendances for the run-in last season against Wimbledon, Crystal Palace and Burnley quash the notion that the faithful aren't there when their team needs them. They clearly just save up for when their support is really needed, when the sniff of safety lures them through the turnstiles. The only hype those matches required was a glance at the league table. The seats for the Reading game would have been empty anyway – might as well get some bums on the seats, to try and ignite that spark in those who don't (won't) attend regularly.

Spare a thought for the club though: even charity is abused by its own fans. Witnesses outside the ticket booth area saw several 'fans' boorishly trying to offload their free child tickets for cash. "The tickets were given away for nothing, so nothing is lost!" some might cry. These petty, profiteering individuals exploiting the situation to their own gains present a little microcosm of the footballing world's perception of Town.

For a contrasting take on public image, fast forward to Grimsby's 3-0 win over Ipswich Town.

The stubborn resistance any Grimsby manager faces when recruiting new players to Blundell Park is well recorded. It's an outpost on the edge of the civilised world, the kind of place you really wouldn't visit, let alone reside in.

The prospect of conditions that Grimsby Town expect their fans to endure has the same effect on participants in the game. Were it not for league rules forcing a team to play home and away, Grimsby's opponents would sooner forfeit the points than turn up to Blundell Park.

These feelings were once echoed by Tuesday's defeated manager, George Burley. Upon promotion from the first division, Burley declared he was glad to be in the Premiership – if only so he didn't have to "go to places like Grimsby" anymore.

How the feeling of a return trip to Blundell Park must have sent a chill through Burley as he sat roasting in Grand Canaria, Majorca, or wherever relegated managers retreat to top up their suntans as they smugly contemplate strolling through the dungeon that is Division One.

The showing by his team on Tuesday suggests that they too wished they were somewhere else altogether, suffering from a serious dose of reality bites. They suffered the ignimony of losing to Grimsby - the lowest of the low. They couldn't sink any lower. If the pressure were not on Burley before that game, then slumping to a sound beating at the hands of Grimsby was suggested as the final straw in some quarters of the press.

Being perceived as the opposite of Manchester United and yet sitting only a division below Ferguson's global giants says a lot for the club and its supporters in the face of adversity

There must be some resonance in the fact that 4,688 people turned up to the Ipswich game. That's 1,000 fewer than attended the match several days previously. With their reputation as a deposed Premiership side battling away in the UEFA Cup, you'd have thought more people would rather watch the Tractor Boys than scruffy, workmanlike Reading. Apparently not. It seems the Grimsby fans had a feeling mutual to the visiting manager that night.

This perception of Grimsby – as a footballing bastion – needs to be maintained. The national press handily keeps this going with its stock collection of clichés and stereotyping. "Lowly Grimsby"? Maybe so, but it's publicity – and a reputation that the club doesn't even need to push. Convincing its fans that the club is more than that is another matter. Being perceived as the opposite of Manchester United and yet sitting only a division below Ferguson's global giants says a lot for the club and its supporters in the face of adversity.

While there are calls for the club to 'push itself' more within the North East Lincolnshire area – to diversify its promotional attempts with something more imaginative – can a club like Grimsby compare with a politician like Austin Mitchell? Mitchell may not be the equal of Tony Blair in terms of identity and recognition, but he is in the 'second division' of the country's MPs. He's buoyant and enthusiastic - something Blundell Park doesn't exude, reflecting the dour greyness that fuels the preconception.

Importantly, however, both parties represent Grimsby, as focal points for the community. Austin Haddock fronts a campaign for the industry that gives Grimsby its reputation, his personality outshining any negativity. Mitchell has been associated with Grimsby Town Football Club in the past, most notably during the twin trips to Wembley in 1998. Maybe it is time the Mariners took the chance to see if he will support them in one of their 'lowly' times.