The Quiz

Cod Almighty | Quiz

First match nerves

3 August 2014

Full of pre-season optimism? Looking forward to the season ahead? Probably not, if you are a typical Grimsby fan. Never mind, let's lower your spirits still further with our look back at starts to the season gone by.

1. Grimsby's first league match after the end of the second world war was a 2-1 defeat in front of an attendance of 41,025 in the first division. Who were our hosts?

Arsenal

Liverpool

Manchester United

Wolverhampton Wanderers

2. In their first ever season in the fourth division, the Mariners finished 23rd out of 24. Which are the correct details for our first match of that 1968-69 season? 

Darlington 0 - 0 Grimsby

Grimsby 3 - 0 Newport County

Grimsby 0 - 1 Workington

Scunthorpe United 1 - 0 Grimsby

3. Who scored a hat-trick in Lawrie McMenemy's first match in charge of the Mariners, in 1971-72?

Stuart Brace

Mike Hickman

Jack Lewis

Matt Tees

4. Back in the second division after an absence of 16 years in 1980-81, who were Grimsby's first opponents?

Chelsea

Derby County

Shrewsbury Town

West Ham

5. The Mariners' first match of the 1990-91 season was a 3-1 win on an artificial pitch. Who were the hosts?

Luton Town

Oldham Athletic

Preston North End

Queens Park Rangers

6. How many matches did it take Town to secure their first league win in the 1997-98 season?

One

Three

Five

Seven

7. Whose substitute appearance helped Grimsby come from 2-0 down to beat Boston 3-2 in 2006, the last time Grimsby won the first match of a Football League season?

Peter Bore

Gary Jones

Danny North

Michael Reddy

8. Steve Evans was again the opposing manager when Town won their first ever match in the Conference, 1-0 at Crawley. Who was the scorer?

Peter Bore

Alan Connell

Michael Coulson

Lee Peacock

9. What had the messageboards boiling over following Town's 1-1 draw with Aldershot at the start of the 2013-14 season?

Aldershot had thrown their team together a few days before after coming out of administration

Co-manager Rob Scott swore at a ballboy for not returning the ball quickly enough in injury time

Major shareholder John Fenty took a pair of scissors to the scarf of an Aldershot fan

The referee ordered Ross Hannah to retake a penalty, resulting in him missing the chance to put Grimsby 2-1 up

10. What is Grimsby's longest unbeaten start to a season, when was it achieved, and where did we finish the season?

Ten matches, 1933-34, first

Ten matches, 1960-61, sixth

Seven matches, 1982-83, 19th

Six matches, 1990-91, third

Are you fancied for promotion, or in for a relegation battle?