The only way is up

I'm an old man, stuck at home and follow the fortunes of my home town team from afar.  Its not Grimsby - its Crewe Alex.
I also follow your site and others in places that I worked.  I had a flat in Seaview Street for 3 years and day tripped to work over there afterwards.  When I was there I was faintly ridiculed because of the less illustrious past of the Alex (as I was everywhere I went!!).
Ironically, around that time we were both at about the same place in the pyramid.  I didnt realise at the time how the different approaches of the two businesses managements would produce such a different outcome for each of us.
Crewe have never had money or anyone prepared to invest money earned elsewhere in the business.  Why would they?  it wouldn't be coming back. So we had to get used to the phrase "We will go with what we've got".  Coach youngsters and sell them on. Invest the transfer income in The Academy.
When we were both in The Championship Crewe did well until they sold on a prospective England centre forward.  With no replacement  youngster ready we hurtled down the league and the pair of us were in a relegation battle.  Town tried to avoid it by investing in players and The Alex "Went with what we've got".  We both got relegated.
You lot are always going on about the Directors loans and you have a thread about these loans being written off in takeovers.
The major shareholder at The Alex did not provide directors loans.  Instead he borrowed money from The Alex that didn't come back.  The business was also restructured to separate ground, players etc into self contained businesses as has been the fashion elsewhere.
As a result after relegation we just had to dig in and hope.
But what happened to you at that time was appalling and as The Alex had been staring at the same fate for so long I was so sorry for you.  The famous post on here telling the whole world to remove itself didn't just describe the feelings of a Grimsby fan but also struck a note with me and followers of other small clubs.  And now you face the serious possibility of a repeat.
Try to keep your thoughts positive.
If it happens it happens.  Just sigh and carry on.  With or without a new management surely you will be back?
As for The Alex.  They have the disgrace and embarrassment of failing to act on the rumours about Bennell to deal with.  So The Chairman has resigned - the last person involved with the business at the time of the offences.
BUT They have finally managed to get rid of their millstone shareholder and have a new board of small and medium local businessmen with a commitment to the area not a parachuted in white knight with no local ties.
They have made the best of improvements to the present ground.  Could you not do that?
The new salary controls favour a team with young low paid players.
So the future for The Alex doesn't look rosey but is at least a bit more optimistic.
That happened almost overnight.
I hope the same thing happens for you boys.
Dont ever, not ever give up.
The only way is up.

Unfortunately it is down, possibly quite a lot for us first.

Thanks Mickey, good post, appreciate the kind thoughts

Quoted from Mandy Dunnit vs Hettie

Thanks Mickey, good post, appreciate the kind thoughts

Agreed.

I suspect many football fans of a certain age were, at the time, envious of the Crewe model, the likes of Platt, Jones, Murphy, and other great examples, a conveyor belt of top players.  BUT the Bennell scandal  is shocking.   And it also has soured the reputation of not just your recently departed Chair, but also Dario Gradi - people say he should lose his MBE for not doing enough at Chelsea or at Crewe.    

Gradi is banned for life according to the FA. Is that sufficient?!

Quoted from Mandy Dunnit vs Hettie

Thanks Mickey, good post, appreciate the kind thoughts

Yes its good to hear from a fan of another club good post .

Thanks for the different perspective Mickey.

The Sheldon Report says that Gradi answered questions and was trustworthy.  That he couldnt bring himself to believe that any one would behave as Bennell did.  But the talk is that there were rumours that werent followed up sufficiently by him or The Board.  The present fans seem to be cheesed off that The Alex attract all the attention whilst more illustrious organisations (Man City, Chelsea for example) do not.  Personally I cant get my head round players like Murphy and Johnson asking their clubs to let them go to Crewe to get involved in relegation battles back at Gresty Rd if it was that obvious what was going on.
The FA dont say why Gradi was banned and what areas he is banned from.  He says it is with under 18's in certain circumstances.  Eddie Heath was guilty of offences at Chelsea and Gradi, a humble assistant coach in those days visited the parents.  He says that he was asked to talk to the parents about what had happened but nobody else at Chelsea is claiming any knowledge of it and of course personnel has changed.  Perhaps its something to do with that.  Its like Rolf Harris, Stuart Hall & Saville.  We all say "Why on earth didnt something happen if there were rumours?" But they didnt.
The Gradi ban is hypothetical. He would be the first coach with a Zimmer frame - He's 79.

I said in my earlier post that The Alex did their best with the existing ground.  There was talk about a new ground with rail connection farther out on Gresty Road.  Its persisted - probably because of HS2.  Crewe haven't owned a ground long.  They sold John Mahoney to Stoke for £15000 to buy it when British Rail said buy it or clear off.  The idea is unpopular.  Small clubs getting new grounds seems to mean trouble (Chester?)
Is Blundell Park really beyond redemption?  Could the money not be better spent on modernisation and the leftover £ on other things? Staff? Players?  Academy?

Quoted from trickeymickey

I'm an old man, stuck at home and follow the fortunes of my home town team from afar.  Its not Grimsby - its Crewe Alex.
I also follow your site and others in places that I worked.  I had a flat in Seaview Street for 3 years.

What years were you in Meggies?

Quoted from immariner

What years were you in Meggies?

Mid 90's I think.  Shared with 3 others.  I got sent all over the place so its hard for me to remember exactly!  And I did almost 10 years after official retirement.  I still do stuff locally for the family bespoke Carpentry business but from home.

I always admired Dario Gradi, thought he did a brilliant job at Crewe with limited resources, unfortunately he'll be remembered now for very different reasons.  

Yes you are right.
Hence resignation of Chairman and formation of new board with controls to prevent a single director gaining control.

Quoted from trickeymickey

I said in my earlier post that The Alex did their best with the existing ground.  There was talk about a new ground with rail connection farther out on Gresty Road.  Its persisted - probably because of HS2.  Crewe haven't owned a ground long.  They sold John Mahoney to Stoke for £15000 to buy it when British Rail said buy it or clear off.  The idea is unpopular.  Small clubs getting new grounds seems to mean trouble (Chester?)
Is Blundell Park really beyond redemption?  Could the money not be better spent on modernisation and the leftover £ on other things? Staff? Players?  Academy?

We’ve been told not. Fenty always talks about other revenue streams we can’t tap into because we don’t have the facilities (e.g. conferencing, hospitality, education) but no figures have ever been quoted. Toilets and changing facilities are rank. There’s not much room under the stands for bars, food severies for match days. Ground capacity is under 10k, which hasn’t been a problem for years, but we would miss out on the odd big Cup game if we ever got beyond the first two rounds.

There are spaces in 3 corners where concrete terraces used to be, so without knocking down a stand and rebuilding that’s the only available room. The question is, will the expense be worth it due to the limited benefit available?

Quoted from trickeymickey

Mid 90's I think.  Shared with 3 others.  I got sent all over the place so its hard for me to remember exactly!  And I did almost 10 years after official retirement.  I still do stuff locally for the family bespoke Carpentry business but from home.

A really good time to go to BP, if you ever did much.

Thank you for taking the time to post on here. I have fond memories of the old Gresty Road in the early 70's. The stand behind the goal, couple of wooden steps, then a gravel bank with a couple of wooden steps at the top. You could go to the toilet, have a pee and still watch the game!

As for Blundell Park, there isn't the space for a modern stadium, since it is surrounded by houses. We would never get planning permission to rebuild. Our only hope is the takeover, which we hope will move us forward into the modern world, instead of being obsessed by balancing the books every year at the expense of the football team.

Good luck to you and the Alex, it is always good to hear from proper football fans. Keep the faith!

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