Who has bankrolled GTFC? – The fans

THERE was a lot of procrastination before terms for the takeover of Grimsby Town were finally agreed.

There were large sums of money involved over shares and loans. Who got what and when was the sticking point as the club’s effective owner, John Fenty, sought to look after his interests. There is no doubt that Mr Fenty’s share purchases and £1.8m in loans kept the club afloat at a pivotal time in its history and we have him to thank for the survival of the Mariners. What we don’t know is whether other businessmen, or the community, would have stepped in had he not been there. But his grand vision for the club, a new stadium which might have been the catalyst to return GTFC to the level it was at when he became a major shareholder, failed to materialise, for a variety of reasons.

Now he wants, and will be getting, his money back if the deal finally goes through. And though his individual contribution was critical, he was not the major financier.

Step forward the fans. They’ve been the cash cow which has gone on giving no matter who has been in charge. Having supported the business throughout the current regime, they won’t be getting anything back. Yes, it’s the same for all clubs, but Town fans have gone above and beyond the call of duty for a side that has achieved so little. Have you ever thought how much money they have pumped into GTFC over the past 18 years?

Let’s say our typical fan’s spend over the season averages out at £25 per home game, made up of admission, programme, refreshments and a proportion of club shop spend/sponsorship/ raffles. And that figure could also include several fund raising appeals and their massive contribution to the club’s share of Wembley revenues.

We’ll ignore travel costs and the fantastic away support as that does not go to the club. If we have, say, 23 league matches and we assume all the cup game revenue equals two in the league, that works out at £625 per season per fan over 25 games.

Multiply that by an average gate of 4,000 and we arrive at £2.5m. And that £2.5m over 18 years racks up at £45m. At a more conservative £20 per game it’s £36m. So we can see from that back of a fag packet calculation who has actually been bankrolling the club.

Without the fans’ financial input, it would have gone out of existence quite rapidly. In terms of club turnover, It dwarfs any other source of revenue.

And they have kept the money flowing despite being served up sustained mediocrity and under achievement on the field (with occasional lower tier highlights) as a result of decisions over which they had no influence or control.

They’ve given what they could afford, particularly that willingly handed over to several fund raising campaigns, not expecting any of it back.

Few season ticket holders asked for a refund when the last season was curtailed, many bought season passes for the current one not knowing if they would ever see a game live, which they probably won’t. Money gladly given to the club for little or no return, other than a wish for it to survive and prosper.

Fans, sponsors, whatever their means, put their money into the club they love in many different ways. They regard it as a gift, not a business transaction.