Clubs can earn nicknames for all sorts of reasons, with some of them being interesting and some of them being incredibly dull. It is not uncommon for a football club to have a nickname that you can work out really easily, such as Liverpool being known as ‘the Reds’, or for reasons that no one is quite sure of, like with West Bromwich Albion being called ‘the Baggies’.
There is a strong argument that Grimsby Town’s nickname falls more into the former category than the latter, with ‘the Mariners’ being a clear signal to the area’s maritime past, but you need to know Grimsby geographically to get that.
The Area’s Maritime Past
If you want to get a sense of where Grimsby Town’s nickname comes from, you first have to learn more about the local history of the area. Interestingly, there are actually two areas that you’d do well to learn about, thanks to the fact that the club’s home ground of Blundell Park is actually located in the seaside town of Cleethorpes. Whether you want to say that the club is based in Cleethorpes or Grimsby itself, the basis of the nickname is still pretty much the same. Founded as Grimsby Pelham Football Club in 1878 before changing its name to Grimsby Town the following year.
The side started playing its football at Blundell Park in 1898, but didn’t bother to change its name to become Cleethorpes. Grimsby is a port town, located in Lincolnshire and found on the mouth of the south bank of the Humber, which then flows into the North Sea. In actuality, Grimsby and Cleethorpes are so close together as to be considered a conurbation, with Cleethorpes being a seaside town that is also in Lincolnshire, but is more on the estuary of the Humber. Cleethorpes was initially a fishing village, only becoming a resort town in the 19th century, initially made up of three small villages.
The fact that one of the Grimsby landmarks is the Port of Grimsby tells you everything that you need to know about the town’s links to the sea, as does the presence of the Grimsby Fishing Heritage Centre. In fact, there was a time when Grimsby was home to the largest fishing fleet in the world, so it isn’t exactly surprising that the club became known as the Mariners. The conurbation of Grimsby and Cleethorpes is something of an economic and cultural centre for Lincolnshire. Those from Grimsby are known as Grimbarians, but not when it comes to the football.
The Mariners
Grimsby’s part as the centre of fishing in the United Kingdom really began towards the end of the 18th century, thanks to the formation of the Grimsby Haven Company. That had the job of ‘widening, deepening, enlarging, altering and improving the Haven of the Town and Port of Great Grimsby.’ In the wake of the dredging of The Haven, the town grew rapidly and the port began to boom. Such was the extent to which fishing took place in the town that a new port was needed in order to cope with the demand, whilst the arrival of the railway in 1848 helped to ease the transportation of goods.
All of which is to say that there is a very obvious reason why it was that Grimsby Town became known as ‘the Mariners’ as the town itself was dedicated to fishing. For rival fans, such as those that support Scunthorpe United, there is a much more offensive term used to describe the club: ‘Codheads’. Scunthorpe’s midfielder, Matt Sparrow, sparked headlines in the August of 2014 when his club were drawn to play Grimsby Town in the FA Cup and he posted a Tweet saying, “What a draw that is for the boys! Can’t beat a good old fashioned derby!!! #awaydays #weatecodheads #iron #facup.”
Harry the Haddock
🐟 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐇𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤!
A shoal of Harry Haddocks have arrived at Blundell Park just in time for tomorrow’s Emirates FA Cup Third Round tie against Burton Albion – and they are available online and in-store now!#GTFC
— Grimsby Town F.C. (@officialgtfc) January 6, 2023
If more proof were needed of the club’s ties to the fishing of the town’s past, it might well be visible in the existence of Harry the Haddock. With ‘mariner’ being an old word meaning ‘sailor’, everyone knows that Grimsby was famous for its fishing, which helps to explain why it was that a newspaper writer called Nigel Lawther joked about buying some inflatable fish in the wake of the football club winning a game. It came off the back of the fact that Manchester United were known for taking inflatable bananas to the match, so Lawther thought that Grimsby supporters should get some inflatable fish.
When the newspaper ordered some, there were queues of supporters waiting to buy one. As a result, Harry the Haddock has made an appearance at the club’s biggest games ever since. That hit the headlines in the March of 2023 when the Mariners were drawn to play Southampton in the FA Cup, with the south coast club initially saying that Harry the Haddock wouldn’t be allowed into the ground. That was thanks to a Premier League directive that bans inflatables from their stadiums. After a backlash, however, Southampton relented and the inflatable fish made a return in time to see the Mariners win 2-1 and make the FA Cup quarter-finals for the first time in 84 years.