Grimsby Fans to Boycott the Club

By: Rob Sedgwick
Date: 25/12/2020

GRIMSBY fans, frustrated at the failure of owner John Fenty to agree on terms with the consortium led by Tom Shutes to take over the club, are vowing not to give a penny more to the club while Fenty remains at the helm. Fans have been paying £10 a game to watch on the IFollow platform, but many are no longer willing to do so.

Many fans who want to watch the game would rather give their money to the opposing team.

In a post, typical of dozens of similar messages on social media, long term Town fan Black_and_White_Bear said: "I also have watched every match, home and away on iFollow, but from tomorrow I will be watching every game I can on the away streams, ok so they benefit from my cash, but Fenty doesn't and I get to watch the games. I'm happy with that regardless of what other people may think. #FENTY OUT UTM".

In a messy takeover battle partly played out over Twitter and Facebook, both sides have pointed fingers at one another. Currently, the impasse is that the consortium wants to pay John Fenty the £1.5m sum agreed over three years, but with payments contingent upon the club staying in the Football League. Fenty, in turn, claims this gives the new owners an incentive to get relegated and wants the money in front. It's not known whether talks have progressed beyond this impasse, as both sides may be negotiating away from the public eye. Fenty unilaterally imposed a deadline of 4pm on 24th before his regime started looking for a new manager. Shutes' consortium earlier had said they were withdrawing from talks because Fenty has refused their offer.

Supporters refusing to give any money to the club are trying to force John Fenty into relinquishing his control to the best offer on the table. The long-term director has long been a controversial figure, especially in latter years, and hundreds of supporters have vowed never to attend games again while he remains in charge.

Town are currently without a manager as boss Ian Holloway resigned under a cloud this week after getting caught up in the crossfire of the negotiations. Holloway blamed the takeover for leaving, although it was far from a done deal on the day he left. The Mariners face Morecambe away on Boxing Day with caretaker Dave Moore once again taking up the reigns.

Grim Rob Says: It's in everyone's interest to sort this issue out for once and for all. John Fenty's position is untenable and the situation at the moment is akin to civil war. The Tom Shutes consortium, if they are serious about taking over the club, need to renegotiate and find an arrangement which both parties can accept. Failure to do so could relegate the club, or it ends up in administration, and we could end up with no team at all for fans to support.

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