Relegation For Mariners Warns Allen!

By: Bill Osborne
Date: 17/05/2002

BRADLEY Allen who says he will be leaving Blundell Park owing to the cash shortage said today that Grimsby Town would have been better off getting relegated last season with a warning that the club's future could be in jeopardy too.

Allen told the Grimsby Telegraph: "Paul told me that he would like to keep me and offer me something but he can't because everything is riding on the outcome of the TV thing. It's a case of going on the free list and I'm extremely disappointed - but I can understand the club's position."

"It sounds daft, but the club may have been better off had it been relegated this season. All the efforts of the players, the supporters and the people behind the scenes who worked so hard could be wasted. The dozen players who signed new contracts last summer had clauses in their contracts which would have meant they would have to take a pay cut if they got relegated."

"The club would have been able to save money if they were in the second division. The stupid thing is that we're worse off because we stayed in the first division. It's crazy to look at it like that, but it's a fact."

"I do feel sorry for Paul Groves because he's been offered the opportunity to commit himself to the club. But he's seen what's going on around him and he's taking his time. That's understandable."

Allen believes that the club could waste their momentous end to the season and could be facing life in the second division this time next year.

"When you look at the teams we were beating at the end of the season, a lot of them were chasing the play-offs. We beat Wimbledon and Crystal Palace convincingly and then won at Wolves. We had some fantastic results and you would think that somebody, somewhere would be trying to build on that."

"You'd think they'd want to give it a go next season. We could go into the forthcoming season and, instead of focusing on staying up and being strugglers, be saying 'let's see if we can go for a mid-table finish or higher'. But you don't get those vibes and it's a real shame."

"Twelve months down the line there will be at least 12 out-of-contract players. If they're not allowed to stay, what are the chances of Grimsby Town staying up? They could be in the second division and then there would be no chance in a million years of the stadium happening."

"There would be 12 first team players out of contract and what position would the club be in then?"

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