Mendonca Plays His Part For The Town

By: Richard Lord
Date: 01/03/2002

GRIMSBY Town legend Clive Mendonca has revealed he had a part to play in the recent acquisition of the two Charlton players Martin Pringle and Andy Todd. The former Mariner was keen to see the duo help Town out in their hour of need.

Speaking to the Evening Telegraph, Mendonca said: "They both asked me what it was like after Grovesy had spoken to Alan Curbishley. I told them it was a lovely little club and they'd noticed that I'd always kept following Grimsby when I was there.

"In the end it worked out well for both parties. They agreed with me that it would be good to get up there and play some first-team football. They're both quality players and it's just a shame that Prings got injured. But Toddy is a great defender with a lot of experience.

"He played in the Charlton first team last year and looked good in the Premiership so he can do a job for Town. He's had an indifferent season and it's been a bit stop-start because of injuries. But now he's coming back and he wants to play football."

Mendonca, who hit 61 goals in 161 appearances for Grimsby, believes that his former club have what it takes to avoid relegation and the disastrous financial consequences that are attached to it.

He continued: "Teams don't like going to Grimsby and they normally do well at home. That's what they have to base everything on now - winning their home games. They've got the spirit to stay up and when I was there, every season one thing was for sure, we were everybody's favourites to go down.

"But we were always fairly confident we'd stay up and we had a good home record and if you can win at Blundell Park, it will stand you in good stead for the away matches."

The 'Up the Mariners' campaign headed by the Evening Telegraph has been a huge success and it has seen the fans flood back to Blundell Park. Mendonca also remembered the part the fans played in his time at the club and said: "The fans were always magnificent to me and I really enjoyed playing there."

Since retiring from the game through a recurring hip injury, the Islington born striker has received many messages of support from the Town faithful. "I've had loads of letters and cards from Grimsby fans since I retired. I'd just like to send them a big thank you for that" he concluded.

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