Referee: A Bates. Attendance: 5,510
John Fenty, the Grimsby Town chairman, has pledged to hand life bans to the supporters who disgraced his club after ugly scenes at the Pirelli Stadium ensured a thoroughly miserable afternoon.
Grimsby’s 99 years as a Football League club came to an excruciating end after a twentieth defeat of the campaign rendered a recent revival futile. And their demotion to the Blue Square Premier was tarnished by repeated pitch invasions and vandalism after the final whistle. An estimated 2,300 supporters travelled to Staffordshire, with reports of violence in and around the town before the match.
An FA investigation is likely and Fenty is prepared to work with the police, using CCTV footage, to ban the miscreants. “I’m just sorry to