AUGUST 2016

Mother defends 'absolutely raging' son as trouble mars Grimsby Town's first match of the season

By Mark Naylor | Posted: August 06, 2016


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A mother has strongly defended her son and branded the way he was treated at a Grimsby Town match as "out of order".

She spoke out after disturbances and rowdy scenes marred Grimsby Town’s 2-0 victory over Morecambe on the first day of the new football season.

Police and stewards were forced to intervene and take action as trouble broke out inside the Pontoon stand at the Blundell Park ground.

The ugly scenes involved tussles and scuffles as confrontations escalated between some of the supporters.

It is thought to have been sparked after smoke bombs were let off, causing problems to children.

Stewards and police were quickly on the scene to deal with the trouble and to try to ensure that it did not escalate further.

It is believed that a number of people were arrested.

A witness who saw the trouble said: “It all started when two or three fans let off smoke bombs.

“Some of the smoke bombs got close to someone else’s kids – fans’ children.

“This is where the trouble started because idiots were letting off smoke bombs.

“It only caused trouble in that section of the Pontoon.

“The Grimsby Town stewards and security team acted swiftly to stem the trouble from getting worse.”

The mother of the man in the blue top pictured on our website telephoned the Grimsby Telegraph to claim what happened to her son was “out of order”.

She said her son had gone with his two brothers, his nephew and partner on a family outing to the football match.

“The nephew is my grandson,” she said. “He is aged seven. It was his first football match.”

She said the trouble was caused by others further back throwing a smoke bomb in the group’s direction.

“From the back of the crowd they threw a smoke bomb and it just missed them,” she said.

The mother, who declined to name herself and her son, said her son went to tell those supposedly responsible to “give it a rest”.
She added: “A group of Grimsby Town supporters towards the back of the Pontoon waited for him to get back to his seat.

“About five minutes later, they threw another one. It hit my other son. It burned all his T-shirt and his arm.

“Obviously, my grandson got covered in it. There was smoke everywhere.”

She said her son in the blue T-shirt – shown in the picture as, she conceded, “absolutely raging” – went up to the group and asked: “Are you taking the mickey?”

The group was told it should not have hurled the smoke bombs, she added.

“One of them followed him down, turned him round and hit him in the face,” she claimed.

“That broke up into a scuffle.”

Her son was “sticking up” for his brother.

The mother claimed of the way her son was treated: “It’s out of order. It should have been nipped in the bud the first time they threw a smoke bomb.”

The mother claimed that, after the incident involving her son being handcuffed, the “police let him go”.

She claimed that a head steward apologised and told the family, including her grandson, that “they could have free tickets for the next match” and that he would “sort free tickets for the next match”.

The unruly scenes follow trouble in Cleethorpes before and after the recent friendly match between the Mariners and Sheffield United, which resulted in arrests.

One Sheffield United supporter was given a football banning order when he appeared at Grimsby Magistrates’ Court after admitting his role in the trouble.

Another pleaded not guilty and his case was adjourned for trial.


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