There are so many games that stand out in the memory. As a Grimsby fan of course, most of them in the past decade are not good ones! A positive memory that stands out though is a league cup match at Liverpool in October 2001.
This was my second visit to Anfield, having watched town lose to a very young Michael Owen hat-trick a few years earlier. This time we were feeling positive, as we had an incredible start to the season. I was living in Cheltenham at the time while studying at university and I drove up to Liverpool with a Liverpool-supporting Cornish housemate. Sat, well stood for much of the match directly behind the goal a few rows up, we watched as Liverpool piled on the pressure for most of the match, only to be thwarted by an outstanding display of goalkeeping by Danny Coyne. This was fairly typical at the time, as he regularly picked up the end of season accolades.
We managed to get to full-time with the score at 0-0. However, in the first half of extra time, we were left shocked and angered at the referee's decision to award Liverpool a penalty for what seemed like nothing (Though having later seen the TV replay at home, on-loan Newcastle defender David Beharall had clearly and inexplicably handled the ball... the referee was right but we were not prepared to simply accept that, what kind of supporters would we be?!).
In the second half of extra time, our other on-loan central defender, Marlon Broomes popped up in the box to equalise. We were ecstatic, and excited at the prospect of penalties. By this time, my friend, the alleged Liverpool fan was so swept up in the atmosphere, he was joining in the Town fans' chants. This was a great atmosphere. I love Anfield, I think because it reminds me of a tradition, or 'proper' football ground. It has four clear stands rather than a bowl. Most stands are single-tiered and overall it is very conducive towards keeping and atmosphere in the ground. With 120 minutes on the clock and the referee looking at his watch, my enjoyment of my time at Anfield increased further.
Picking the ball up just inside the Liverpool half, Liverpool-born Phil Jevons, who had signed from Everton, move forwards with the ball. There seemed no options so he looked up, now about 30-35 yards from goal, he had a go. It was ambitious, it looped, it curved, it dipped. As the ball reached half way, we rose in anticipation, realising that this was going to be close, Chris Kirkland in goal was slightly off his line, he was at full stretch, this was dipping in. Having tracked the flight of the ball from Jevons' boot, the Town fans behind the goal leapt for joy as the ball hit the back of the net. It was unbelievable. An unbelievable goal, an unbelievable result. We had won the game... in some style too.
After celebrating, we headed back to the car, stopping at the motorway services, only to find then Town Manager Lennie Lawrence having a cup of tea with his wife. This presented a perfect opportunity to congratulate him. I am normally a very calm individual and I'm happy to talk to people I don't know. This is why my friend found it so funny that rather than being my usual articulate self, I was still in football-fan-on-the-terraces mode, exclaiming "Lennie!! Get in there! Great result!!", which caught the attention of the rest of the dreary, sleepy customers of an M6 motorway services cafe.
This is one of many fantastic memories I've had following Town. Earlier ones stem back to my childhood, sat on the bar at the front of the Findus stand as Cockerill scored against Exeter to seal promotion from division 4... Or Garry Birtles' hat-tick against Wrexham the following year. For all of the ups and downs of following my team, it is the memories that I keep and cherish. I wouldn't swap them for a Russian Billionaire any day.
John Perry
The Alzheimer's Society recently launched a national initiative called Dementia Friends which is giving people an understanding of dementia and the small things people can do that make a difference to people living with dementia. Alzheimer's Society want to create a network of a million Dementia Friends across England by 2015 - for more information visit dementiafriends.org.uk
Memory added on October 31, 2013
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