Who Am I?

By: Bill Osborne
Date: 10/11/2004

NO winners last week. How well do you know your club? How good are you at predicting scores and scorers etc. Here is this week's competition to find the brain of BP. (With sincere apologies to John Masefield and Alfred Lord Tennyson!)

I was here in '47
When from somewhere just near Devon
Tommy Briggs came and signed the dotted line
He joined the Grimsby crew
Right down to division two
And Harry Betmead left to work down in a mine.

I was here in '51
When all our hopes were gone
In the same division that we are in today
But the word soon got around
That Bill Shankly was Grimsby bound
And was coming here to show us how to play.

I was here in '54
When Shankly was shown the door
Which filled the fans with sorrow and some rage
And at forty years of age Billy Cairns drew his last wage
And part of our success went out the door.

Director Drewery had his day
Appointed boss of the FA
And Billy Walsh was sacked and stayed no more.
He went to NZ to play, and to this very day
He lives in Oz somewhere on Sydney's shore.

I was here in 55
When the town was brought alive
By Chilton and his trainer Lambton too
23,000 fans and the sally army band
Came to see the job we had to do

They came to see the best as we had beaten all the rest
But we had to win to get back up the tree
They saw us beat the Stockport and fill the town with glee
And the Telegraph reported
Town were back in division three

I was here in 61
When the big old stand was gone
And in its place the pontoon stood out proud
And from that very day whenever Grimsby play
You can hear the pontoon singing proud and loud

I was here in 64
And we were back in four
And Tommy Johnson went to Huddersfield town
Higgins took the seat
And performed a record feat
The only Grimsby boss without defeat
But the fans they shed some tears
When the powers there upstairs
Sacked him and put McGuigan in his seat.

I was here in 71
When big Mac came along
And took the town to win the biggest prize
We were 22,000 strong when Exeter sang their song
But someone in their team ate all the pies
They thought they would win with ease
But we brought them to their knees
With scorers Hickman, Chatterley and Matt Tees

I was here in 73
Which brought the tears to me
When big Mac left for a southern portaloo
And then it all turned funny
When we pinched the boss off Scunny
And Matt Tees joined another team we knew.

I was here in 79
When George Kerr signed the line
When Newman flew the coop to pastures new
And with Joe waters in the crew
We were back in division two
And everything right then seemed so fine

I was here in 82
When poor George was in the poo
Him and the bosses failing to agree
They sacked him on the spot
But he didn't give a jot
As he has his say each week on BBC

I was here in 85
When Bonneyman took a dive
And won a kick that shook the game all round
It was champions Everton we beat
A very special treat
As we beat them on their own hallowed ground

I was here in 87
And it was far from being heaven
For anyone who followed the Grimsby game
We got shot down in flames
We lost so many games
And Lyons got the boot and all the blame

I was here in 88
When he walked in the gate.
The man who fans today all love or hate
We beat Middlesborough at their ground
And made the cup 5th round
And Buckley had made his mark the first time round.

But there was even more to come
And according to some
The greatest Grimsby manager ever seen
Here began the story
Of a man who brought us glory
The likes of whom since we have not seen

He took us to the top
And it looked like it would not stop
When he took us to the Wembley hall of fame
His name is in the book and if you take a look
You will see that there he never lost a game

But all stories have to end
And he followed the Grimsby trend
When the bosses stepped in and slapped him with the sack
But if you look at us today
And the way we seem to play
We often wish that we could bring him back

I was here in 2004
After Buckley there was no more
No cups or wins except the Anfield score
No sign of records to break
No icing on the cake
And we are back in the old division four

But the fans are all true blue
And though their numbers may be few
They are praying for a miracle to be made
But I have been here through all those years
And I must share my fears
Will it really come from the man called Russell Slade?

I am getting very old
And some of my tales I have now told
About my club and the beautiful football game
But there is one thing left to do
And that is up to you
You have to answer the question
What's my name?

Who am I? There could be many but I have picked just one. You have to guess which one. (I have given Dave Otter of GTST the answer to ensure fair play)

You also have to predict the score and the Grimsby scorer for the Exeter game.

Easy as that!

If there is more than one winner a tie question will be set.

Prize is a seat anywhere in BP and a match day programme or 20 quid!

To enter click HERE

Good Luck!

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