Cod Almighty | Diary
A cheeseburge beyond awful
17 April 2017
So, a somewhat eventful week for Grimsby Town Football Club, which saw former manager Russell Slade triumphantly return to lead the team to a 2-1 victory against Cambridge. You could be forgiven for thinking that the hot discussion topics on Twitter post-match might be the main man's team selection and formation; the return of club forgotten man James Berrett; or who was at fault for the Cambridge goal, McKeown or Danny Andrew? Or the man who divides opinion on a weekly basis, Mr Cool Gav Gunning. But no, the worlds of Twitter and GTFC have collided over cheeseburgers!
There's no denying the pic of what is allegedly a cheeseburger sold at BP posted by a somewhat – and quite rightly – disgruntled fan clearly highlights an issue that is an ongoing problem at Blundell Park. The catering quite frankly sucks; it's beyond awful. Nurse Diary wouldn't purchase food from there if my life depended on it, and I like my food.
It's not hard, is it? A burger, bun and a slice of cheese, possibly a few onions, bit of sauce and the job's a good un'. I can't be the only fan who fondly remembers being able to get a decent pie and mushy pea combo at BP? The jacket spud van from a few years back was an absolute winner and always had a good queue alongside it. I even remember a "Dinky Donuts" van taking up residence in the corner between the Findus and Pontoon, which led to me and the group I sit with practically munching our way through our body weights in freshly made donuts. Happy flipping days! The demise of food at BP for me began when the jacket spud van vanished and the current catering vans were introduced.
Like many others who are frequent away travellers, and can see how many clubs do get it right, the question is how are we getting it so wrong? And why is it being allowed to happen. If done right, surely it's a great source of potential revenue for the club?
Ask any football fan in the lower leagues where they think the best food is available and you'll find very few who won't salivate at the thought of the amazing homemade pies at Kidderminster Harriers: their cottage pie is a pie of pure beauty. It may cost more than the average footy ground pie but I for one didn't resent a single penny of the £4.50 I handed over for it.
Gainsborough Trinity in the Conference North is always a favourite place to visit in pre-season, where you can get pie or sausage with chips and mushy peas or beans, burgers that contain actual meat and don't look like something you wouldn't feed your dog. The pies at Morecambe come with the option of gravy; basic but what a difference it makes tucking into a tasty hot pie with gravy on a cold day. Even the Bradley Community Stadium, home of local sides Grimsby Borough and Clee Town serve up a fab menu of fresh burgers, bacon and sausage buns and cheesy chips. It's not that hard GTFC!
Grimsby is a town that is known for fish and chips. As someone who has worked in catering for years I do actually see the point in John Fenty's argument (don't hold it against me) against the viability of offering fresh fish and chips in the ground. Oil purchasing and disposal is costly, and oil that you fry fish in does need replacing and looking after more than say a fryer for chips with the batter effect. It would no doubt be high maintenance for the occasional match day use and providing fish and chips does have to be financially viable for the club. I get that there is a lot to consider but maybe some mobile vans outside, like other clubs do might be an option to consider.
Alternatively, the club could consider making Young's Mariners Pie available; that would be a lot simpler to implement and a clever compromise on the club's part.
But something has to give here. What is currently on offer is way below standard. So come on, JF, sort it out: improve the food offerings and watch those sales grow – surely a win-win for the club and the fans alike.