2008–09 Grimsby Town F.C. season

The 2008–09 season was Grimsby Town's 5th season in League Two. The club were still managed by Alan Buckley until September, when he was dismissed after poor pre-season and poor start to the club's League campaign. Mike Newell was given the job on a permanent basis after assistant manager Stuart Watkiss briefly took control of first-team affairs.

Grimsby Town

2008–09 season
Chairman	John Fenty
Manager	Alan Buckley (until 15 September 2008) Mike Newell (from 6 October 2008)
Stadium	Blundell Park
League Two	22nd
FA Cup	First Round
League Cup	Second Round
Lincolnshire Senior Cup	Runners-up
Top goalscorer	League: Adam Proudlock (8) All: Adam Proudlock (8)
Highest home attendance	7,095 vs. Aldershot Town (28 March 2009)
Lowest home attendance	1,858 vs. Tranmere Rovers (12 August 2008)
Home colours Away colours Third colours
← 2007–08 2009–10 →

Matches

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

Pre-season and friendlies

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
16 Jul	Corby Town	Rockingham Triangle, Corby	L 1–3	-	Bore
19 Jul	Oldham Athletic	Blundell Park, Cleethorpes	L 1–2	-	Hope
21 Jul	Winterton Rangers	West Street, Winterton	D 1–1	-	North
22 Jul	Gainsborough Trinity	The Northolme, Gainsborough	W 2–0	-	Till, Butler
25 Jul	Farsley Celtic	Throstle Nest, Farsley	L 0–3	-	-
30 Jul	Eastwood Town	Coronation Park, Eastwood	L 1–5	-	Jarman
4 Aug	Brigg Town	The Hawthorns, Brigg	D 1–1	-	North

The Mariners struggled to gel in pre-season, and it became clear the club would struggle in the league. Manager Alan Buckley included utilised his first team squad in the games against Corby, Oldham and Gainsborough, while a weakened side took a 5–1 drubbing by Eastwood Town.

Pre Season Top Scorers

Rank	Player	Goals
1	North	2
=	Bore	2
3	Butler	1
=	Hope	1
=	Jarman	1
=	Till	1
As of 22 July 2009

Lincolnshire Cup

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
29 Jul	Lincoln City	Blundell Park, Cleethorpes	W 1–0	-	Bore
2 Aug	Scunthorpe United	Glanford Park, Scunthorpe	L 0–4	-	-

A late strike from Peter Bore gave a youth dominated Grimsby side the win against Lincoln City in the semi-finals, only to see another youthful side get be well beaten, in the next round by Scunthorpe United.

League Two

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
9 Aug	Rochdale	Blundell Park, Cleethorpes	D 0–0	-	-
18 Aug	Brentford	Griffin Park, Brentford	L 0–4	-	-
23 Aug	Chesterfield	Blundell Park, Cleethorpes	L 0–1	-	-
30 Aug	Lincoln City	Sincil Bank, Lincoln	D 1–1	-	Till
Sept 06	Gillingham	KRBS Priestfield Stadium Gillingham	L 0–3	-	-
Sept 13	Chester City	Blundell Park, Cleethorpes	L 1–3	-	North
Sept 20	Morecambe	Christie Park, Morecambe	D 1–1	-	Till
Sept 27	Barnet	Blundell Park, Cleethorpes	L 0–1	-	-
4 Oct	Rotherham United	Don Valley Stadium, Sheffield	L 1–4	-	Boshell
11 Oct	Wycombe Wanderers	Blundell Park, Cleethorpes	D 1–1	-	Bore
18 Oct	Exeter City	St James Park, Exeter	D 0–0	-	-
21 Oct	Luton Town	Blundell Park, Cleethorpes	D 2–2	-	Bore, Bennett
24 Oct	Bradford City	Blundell Park, Cleethorpes	L 1–3	-	Trotter
28 Oct	Dag & Red	Victoria Road, Dagenham	L 0–4	-	-
1 Nov	Darlington	Blundell Park, Cleethorpes	L 1–2	-	Kalala
15 Nov	Bury	Gigg Lane Stadium	W 2–0	-	Trotter, Jarman
21 Nov	AFC Bournemouth	Blundell Park, Cleethorpes	D 3–3	-	Clarke, Bennett, Atkinson
25 Nov	Macclesfield Town	Moss Rose, Macclesfield	L 0–1	-	-
6 Dec	Port Vale	Vale Park, Burslem	L 1–2	-	Proudlock
12 Dec	Shrewsbury Town	Blundell Park, Cleethorpes	W 1–0	-	Proudlock
20 Dec	Aldershot Town	Recreation Ground/EBB Stadium, Aldershot	D 2–2	-	Kalala, Hegarty
26 Dec	Notts County	Blundell Park, Cleethorpes	L 0–1	-	-
28 Dec	Accrington Stanley	Crown Ground, Accrington	L 1–3	-	Proudlock
17 Jan	Wycombe Wanderers	Adams Park, High Wycombe	W 1–0	-	Jarman
24 Jan	Rotherham United	Blundell Park, Cleethorpes	W 3–0	-	Widdowson, Proudlock, Sinclair
27 Jan	Dag & Red	Blundell Park, Cleethorpes	D 1–1	-	Elliott
31 Jan	Bradford City	Valley Parade, Bradford	L 0–2	-	-
2 Feb	Exeter City	Blundell Park, Cleethorpes	D 2–2	-	Jarman (2)
10 Feb	Barnet	Underhill Stadium, Barnet	D 3–3	-	Bennett, Elliott, Forbes
14 Feb	Bury	Blundell Park, Cleethorpes	L 1–2	-	Proudlock
21 Feb	Darlington	The Northern Echo Darlington Arena	L 1–0	-	-
24 Feb	Morecambe	Blundell Park, Cleethorpes	L 2–3	-	Forbes (2)
28 Feb	Rochdale	Spotland Stadium, Rochdale	L 0–2	-	-
3 Mar	Brentford	Blundell Park, Cleethorpes	L 0–1	-	-
7 Mar	Lincoln City	Blundell Park, Cleethorpes	W 5–1	-	Proudlock (3), Akpa Akpro (2)
11 Mar	Chesterfield	Saltergate, Chesterfield	L 1–2	-	Bennett
14 Mar	Chester City	Deva Stadium, Chester	D 1–1	-	Hegarty
17 Mar	Luton Town	Kenilworth Road, Luton	L 1–2	-	Bennett
21 Mar	Gillingham	Blundell Park, Cleethorpes	W 3–0	-	Akpa Akpro, Hegarty, Conlon
28 Mar	Aldershot Town	Blundell Park, Cleethorpes	W 1–0	-	Conlon
4 Apr	Shrewsbury Town	New Meadow, Shrewsbury	D 1–1	-	Conlon
11 Apr	Accrington Stanley	Blundell Park, Cleethorpes	L 0–1	-	-
14 Apr	Notts County	Meadow Lane, Nottingham	W 2–0	-	Atkinson, Boshell
18 Apr	Port Vale	Blundell Park, Cleethorpes	W 3–0	-	Conlon (2), Jarman
25 Apr	AFC Bournemouth	Dean Court, Bournemouth	L 1–2	-	Jarman
2 May	Macclesfield Town	Blundell Park, Cleethorpes	D 0–0	-	-

FA Cup

Main article: 2008–09 FA Cup

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
8 Nov	Morecambe	Christie Park, Morecambe	L 1–2	-	Stockdale

Football League Cup

Main article: 2008–09 Football League Cup

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
12 Aug	Tranmere Rovers	Blundell Park, Cleethorpes	W 2–0	-	Hunt, Chorley(O.G)
28 Aug	Blackburn Rovers	Ewood Park, Blackburn	L 1–4	-	Newey

Football League Trophy

Main article: 2008–09 Football League Trophy

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
Sept 03	Chesterfield	Saltergate, Chesterfield	D 2–2	-	Jarman, North (Grimsby win 4–1 on penalties)
7 Oct	Scunthorpe United	Glanford Park, Scunthorpe	L 1–2	-	Hegarty

League table

Brentford made a return to League One as champions, the second club to win the fourth tier three times since Doncaster Rovers. Exeter won their second successive promotion, and on the final day of the season managed to pip Wycombe Wanderers for the runners-up spot. Wycombe themselves managed the final automatic promotion spot by virtue of a single goal over Bury. The play-offs were won by Gillingham, who made an immediate return to League One after the previous season's relegation.

Several teams suffered heavy points deductions during the season. Rotherham were docked 17 points at the start of the season and Darlington 10 points later on. Without these penalties they would have both qualified for the play-offs, but instead managed only mid table. Bournemouth also suffered a 17-point deduction pre-season, and halfway through it looked to be enough to cost them their League status; however, a fightback under new manager Eddie Howe saw them climb to safety and secure survival with a game to spare.

Luton suffered the heaviest deduction however, and the loss of 30 points proved too much for them to survive. They suffered their third successive relegation and dropped out of the league, making them only the third English team to suffer three successive relegations, and the first to drop from the second tier to the Conference in successive years. The other relegated team was Chester City, who were statistically the worst team in the division and returned to the Conference after only five years. Grimsby would also have suffered relegation, if not for Luton's points deduction.

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
20	Macclesfield Town	46	13	8	25	45	77	−32	47
21	Bournemouth	46	17	12	17	59	51	+8	46[a]
22	Grimsby Town	46	9	14	23	51	69	−18	41
23	Chester City (R)	46	8	13	25	43	81	−38	37	Relegated to Conference National
24	Luton Town (R)	46	13	17	16	58	65	−7	26[b]

Source: The Football League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Bournemouth deducted 17 points for leaving administration without a Company Voluntary Agreement.^[1]
2. Luton Town deducted 30 points; 20 points for leaving administration without a Company Voluntary Agreement, and 10 points for making illegal payments to agents.^[2]

Coaching staff

Role	Nationality	Name
First-Team Manager (sacked 15/09/08)		Alan Buckley
First-Team Manager (hired 6/10/08)		Mike Newell
First-Team Assistant Manager		Stuart Watkiss
First-Team Coach		Brian Stein
Reserve Team Manager		Stuart Watkiss
Head of Youth		Neil Woods
Youth Team Manager		Neil Woods
Chief Scout		Brian Stein
Goalkeeping Coach		Steve Croudson
Physiotherapist		David Moore
Community Sport Coach		Gary Childs
Community Sport Coach		Graham Rodger

First-team squad

Squad overview

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  ENG Phil Barnes (Departed in April 2009) 2 DF  SCO Robbie Stockdale 3 DF  ENG Tom Newey 4 DF  ENG Ryan Bennett 5 DF  ENG Matthew Heywood 6 DF  ENG Richard Hope (Departed in February 2009) 6 MF  SCO Peter Sweeney (on loan from Leeds United) 7 MF  ENG Peter Till 8 MF  ENG Paul Bolland 9 FW  ENG Martin Butler (Departed in October 2008) 9 FW  ENG Adam Proudlock 10 MF  WAL Chris Llewellyn 11 MF  ENG Danny Boshell 12 MF  ENG Jamie Clarke 13 GK  ENG Gary Montgomery (Departed in April 2009) 14 MF  ENG James Hunt 15 DF  ENG Matthew Bird 16 DF  ENG Javan Vidal (on loan from Manchester City) 16 MF  COD Jean-Paul Kamudimba Kalala (on loan from Oldham Athletic) 17 MF  ENG Nick Hegarty 18 MF  ENG Peter Bore

No. Pos. Nation Player 19 FW  ENG Danny North 20 FW  ENG Andy Taylor 21 MF  ENG Simon Heslop (on loan from Barnsley) 21 DF  ENG Joe Widdowson (on loan from West Ham United) 22 FW  ENG Nathan Jarman 23 MF  ENG Grant Normington 24 MF  ENG Liam Trotter (on loan from Ipswich Town) 24 FW  EIR Barry Conlon (on loan from Bradford City) 25 MF  SLE Malvin Kamara (on loan from Huddersfield Town) 25 DF  ENG Rob Atkinson 26 FW  ENG Tomi Ameobi (on loan from Doncaster Rovers) 26 FW  FRA Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro 27 MF  FRA Mickael Buscher (Departed in May 2009) 28 GK  ENG Leigh Overton 29 DF  ENG Bradley Wood 30 MF  NIR Stuart Elliott (on loan from Doncaster Rovers) 31 MF  ENG Dean Sinclair (on loan from Charlton Athletic) 32 MF  ENG Adrian Forbes (on loan from Millwall) 33 GK  EIR Wayne Henderson (on loan from Preston North End) 34 GK  ENG Jonathan Lund 35 MF  ENG Josh Fuller

Appearances & Goals

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		League Two		League Cup		Football League Trophy		FA Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	ENG	Phil Barnes	37	0	32	0	2	0	2	0	1	0
2	DF	SCO	Robbie Stockdale	22	1	20	0	1	0	0	0	1	1
3	DF	ENG	Tom Newey	29	1	24	0	2	1	2	0	1	0
4	DF	ENG	Ryan Bennett	49	5	45	5	1	0	2	0	1	0
5	DF	ENG	Matthew Heywood	22	0	18	0	2	0	2	0	0	0
6	DF	ENG	Richard Hope	7	0	6	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
6	MF	SCO	Peter Sweeney (on loan from Leeds United)	8	0	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
7	MF	ENG	Peter Till	21	2	16	2	2	0	2	0	1	0
8	MF	ENG	Paul Bolland	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
9	FW	ENG	Martin Butler	5	0	3	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
9	FW	ENG	Adam Proudlock	29	8	28	8	0	0	0	0	1	0
10	MF	WAL	Chris Llewellyn	32	0	28	0	1	0	2	0	1	0
11	MF	ENG	Danny Boshell	28	3	24	3	1	0	2	0	1	0
12	DF	ENG	Jamie Clarke	35	1	32	1	1	0	2	0	0	0
13	GK	ENG	Gary Montgomery	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
14	MF	ENG	James Hunt	27	1	22	0	2	1	2	0	1	0
15	DF	ENG	Matthew Bird	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
16	DF	ENG	Nick Fenton	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
16	DF	ENG	Javan Vidal (on loan from Manchester City)	4	0	3	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
16	MF	COD	Jean-Paul Kamudimba Kalala (on loan from Oldham Athletic)	22	2	21	2	0	0	0	0	1	0
17	MF	ENG	Nick Hegarty	39	5	36	4	1	0	2	1	0	0
18	MF	ENG	Peter Bore	29	1	27	1	1	0	0	0	1	0
19	FW	ENG	Danny North	18	2	15	1	1	0	1	1	1	0
20	FW	ENG	Andy Taylor	9	0	6	0	2	0	1	0	0	0
21	MF	ENG	Simon Heslop (on loan from Barnsley)	11	0	8	0	2	0	1	0	0	0
21	DF	ENG	Joe Widdowson (on loan from West Ham United)	20	1	20	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
22	FW	ENG	Nathan Jarman	37	7	33	6	1	0	2	1	1	0
23	MF	ENG	Grant Normington	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
24	MF	ENG	Liam Trotter (on loan from Ipswich Town)	16	2	15	2	0	0	1	0	0	0
24	FW	EIR	Barry Conlon (on loan from Bradford City)	8	5	8	5	0	0	0	0	0	0
25	MF	SLE	Malvin Kamara (on loan from Huddersfield Town)	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
25	DF	ENG	Rob Atkinson	32	2	31	2	0	0	0	0	1	0
26	FW	ENG	Tomi Ameobi (on loan from Doncaster Rovers)	3	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
26	FW	FRA	Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro	20	3	20	3	0	0	0	0	0	0
27	MF	FRA	Mickael Buscher	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
28	GK	ENG	Leigh Overton	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
29	DF	ENG	Bradley Wood	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
30	MF	NIR	Stuart Elliott (on loan from Doncaster Rovers)	11	2	11	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
31	MF	ENG	Dean Sinclair (on loan from Charlton Athletic)	9	1	9	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
32	MF	ENG	Adrian Forbes (on loan from Millwall)	15	3	15	3	0	0	0	0	0	0
33	GK	EIR	Wayne Henderson (on loan from Preston North End)	14	0	14	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
34	GK	ENG	Jonathan Lund	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
35	MF	ENG	Josh Fuller	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Loaned out player stats

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		League Two		League Cup		Football League Trophy		FA Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
3	DF	ENG	Tom Newey (on loan at Rochdale)	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
7	MF	ENG	Peter Till (on loan at Chesterfield)	15	0	15	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
18	MF	ENG	Peter Bore (on loan at York City)	4	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Most frequent starting line-up

<Barnes

Stockdale

Bennett

Atkinson

Newey

Jarman

Kalala

Boshell

Hegarty

Proudlock

Akpa Akpro

Most frequent starting line-up uses the team's most used formation: 4-4-2. The players used are those who have played the most games in each respective position, not necessarily who have played most games out of all the players.

Scorers

All Scorer Goals Adam Proudlock 8 Nathan Jarman 7 Barry Conlon 5 Nick Hegarty Ryan Bennett Adrian Forbes 3 Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro Danny Boshell Stuart Elliott 2 Liam Trotter Jean-Paul Kalala Danny North Peter Till Rob Atkinson Dean Sinclair 1 Joe Widdowson Robbie Stockdale James Hunt Tom Newey Jamie Clarke Peter Bore

League Scorer Goals Adam Proudlock 8 Nathan Jarman 6 Barry Conlon 5 Ryan Bennett Nick Hegarty 4 Adrian Forbes 3 Jean-Paul Kalala Danny Boshell Rob Atkinson 2 Liam Trotter Jean-Paul Kamudimba Kalala Peter Till Stuart Elliott Dean Sinclair 1 Joe Widdowson Danny North Peter Bore Jamie Clarke

Domestic Cups Scorer Goals James Hunt 1 Tom Newey Nick Hegarty Nathan Jarman Robbie Stockdale Danny North

Transfers

In

Pre-season

#	Player	From	Age	Fee
02	Robbie Stockdale	Tranmere Rovers	28	Free Transfer
05	Matthew Heywood	Brentford	28	Free Transfer
06	Richard Hope	Wrexham	30	Free Transfer
10	Chris Llewellyn	Wrexham	28	Free Transfer
21	Simon Heslop	Barnsley	21	Loan

Mid Season

#	Player	Previous club	Age	Fee
06	Peter Sweeney	Leeds United	24	Loan
09	Adam Proudlock	Darlington	27	Loan
09	Adam Proudlock	Darlington	27	Undisclosed
16	Javan Vidal	Manchester City	19	Loan
16	Jean-Paul Kalala	Oldham Athletic	26	Loan
21	Joe Widdowson	West Ham United	19	Loan
24	Liam Trotter	Ipswich Town	20	Loan
24	Barry Conlon	Bradford City	30	Loan
25	Malvin Kamara	Huddersfield Town	24	Loan
25	Rob Atkinson	Barnsley	21	Loan
25	Rob Atkinson	Barnsley	21	Free Transfer
26	Tomi Ameobi	Doncaster Rovers	20	Loan
26	Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro	FCM Brussels	23	Signed
27	Mickael Buscher	Gretna	21	Signed
29	Bradley Wood	Grimsby Town Youth Academy	18	Pro Contract
30	Stuart Elliott	Doncaster Rovers	30	Loan
31	Dean Sinclair	Charlton Athletic	24	Loan
32	Adrian Forbes	Millwall	30	Loan
33	Wayne Henderson	Preston North End	25	Loan
34	Jonathan Lund	Leeds United	22	Signed
35	Josh Fuller	Grimsby Town Youth Academy	17	Pro Contract

Out

Pre-season

#	Player	To	Age	Fee
10	Ciarán Toner	Rochdale	27	Free Transfer
15	Justin Whittle	Harrogate Town	37	Free Transfer
16	Nick Fenton	Rotherham United	28	Free Transfer
19	Gary Jones	Retired	33	Released

Mid Season

#	Player	To	Age	Fee
01	Phil Barnes	Gainsborough Trinity	30	Free Transfer
03	Tom Newey	Rochdale	26	Loan
06	Richard Hope	Retired	30	Released
07	Peter Till	Chesterfield	23	Loan
09	Martin Butler	Burton Albion	34	Free Transfer
13	Gary Montgomery	Retired to compete in cricket	26	Released
18	Peter Bore	York City	20	Loan

See also

• List of Grimsby Town F.C. seasons

References

1. "Bournemouth face 17-point penalty". BBC Sport. 7 August 2008. Retrieved 7 August 2008.
2. "Luton to face 30-point deduction". BBC Sport. 10 July 2008. Retrieved 10 July 2008.