For people who are outside the UK, or only pay a passing interest in the game of soccer, you will be lead to believe that all the action takes place in the Premier League, and nothing else really matters. It is true that all the money and glamour is to be found in the top flight, and because of its lucrative TV rights deals, it is only going to get wealthier and wealthier in the coming years. It is shown in nearly every country in the world, with its players becoming household names in everywhere from Angola to Zimbabwe.
However, to assume that the other leagues in the English soccer pyramid aren’t exciting just isn’t true. In fact, for many thousands of fans, the soccer played away from the top flight is far more interesting and enjoyable than what Sky Sports and BT Sport are broadcasting each week. There are three incredibly enjoyable leagues in the EFL; the Championship, League One and League Two.
Each week, fans of the clubs who find themselves playing in these competitions will travel to grounds across the country, going hundreds of miles hoping to see their teams win. They will be looking for all the latest sports betting stats, to find the best odds and to place bets on their teams. While you won’t find players as good as Salah, Ronaldo or Lukaku in these leagues, you will find players full of hard work and spirit, who can still produce moments of magic if need be.
The fun doesn’t stop there. The Conference Premier League, or National League as it is also known, is the fifth tier in English soccer and is the first one where not every player is fully professional. That doesn’t mean there aren’t great games on offer, as each week you are guaranteed to find a game full of goals and incidents. Every side is desperate to get back into the Football League, so will be giving everything they can to earn promotion.
One such side ar Grimsby Town, who currently find themselves top of the Conference Premier after the opening 11 games. Who are Grimsby you might be asking? Let’s have a look at the club’s history, and evaluate their chances of promotion later this season.
Mixed fortunes for the Mariners in the last 25 years
While Grimsby have never troubled the top table of English soccer, for many years they moved between the second and third tiers. Arguably their finest period came in the 1997/98 season, where they not only won the Football League Trophy, beating AFC Bournemouth 2-1 at Wembley Stadium but also made it into the Division Two play-off Final, where they were again victorious. Kevin Donovan scored the only goal of the game against Northampton Town, to make it two wins from two at the famous national stadium.
Unfortunately, in more recent times things have been much tougher for the Mariners, who play their home games at Blundell Park. They were relegated back into the third level the following season, where they stayed for five years. Following that, they dropped into the fourth level, where they remained for six years, before dropping out of the professional leagues entirely in 2010. While they did gain promotion in 2016, they were never able to push on, and at the end of the 2020/21 campaign, they were relegated back to the Conference once again.
New owners, new manager, can they bounce back?
Despite dropping out of the English football league again, confidence has been renewed in Grimsby. They have new owners, with local businessmen Jason Stockwood and Andrew Petit taking charge. They have also employed Paul Hurst, who has previous experience with Ipswich Town and Shrewsbury Town.
They are currently right at the very top of the Conference table, two points clear of Boreham Wood in second. Grimsby have only lost once all season, a 3-1 defeat to Bromley. Other than that, their performances have been very strong, and are really dominating the National League right now.
Out of their eight wins so far, the standout performance has to be the 6-0 thrashing they handed out to Dover Athletic on the 2nd of October. In this game, both Luke Waterfall and Ryan Talor scored twice, with John McAtee and Will Bapanga also getting on the scoresheet. Grimsby are currently the league’s top scorer, having managed 25 so far, one ahead of Dagenham and Redbridge.
It’s not just their attack that is excelling, as defensively they have been very solid too, only conceding 11 goals in total. If they keep this rate of scoring and conceding up, they are sure to finish near the top of the league at the end of the season.
That is still a long way off, however. They have some tough fixtures ahead in the next few weeks, against fellow promotion rivals Boreham Wood and recently relegated Southend United. If Grimsby can come through these games with maximum points, then their fans might just start to believe they are in for a promotion this year.
