Grimsby Town pulled off a dream Carabao Cup second-round tie, as the fourth-tier side were drawn to face Manchester United at Blundell Park in Cleethorpes — the first time the two clubs have met since 1948. The decision to play the tie at Grimsby’s modest home ground, which sits beside the Humber Estuary, created a night when the club’s 9,000-capacity stadium looked set to be far from full, but the demand was enormous. Tickets sold out in short order, with fans keen to secure a physical memento of a historic night that e-tickets rarely capture.
Grimsby’s chief executive, Polly Bancroft, spoke with a blend of pragmatism and pride. “With my financial hat on, away would’ve been a bit more beneficial to us,” she said, “but to have Manchester United here for the first time in 77 years, giving that whole generation of supporters a chance to see Manchester United at Blundell Park is very, very special.” The atmosphere at the seaside town was already electric, with supporters queuing around the corner after the last league game in August to snap up limited physical tickets for this once-in-a-generation event.
The game is a culmination of Grimsby’s remarkable rise from non-league football to the brink of League One. The Mariners have enjoyed a steady ascent since winning the 2022 National League play-offs, a campaign highlighted by an epic 5-4 semi-final victory over Wrexham that helped bring Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney to the club’s attention. Their FA Cup run the following season also added to the romance of Grimsby’s story, and the tie against United drew a line under a year in which the club’s owners, Jason Stockwood and Andrew Pettit, have been determined to push Grimsby forward.
The manager says the tie signals more than a one-off spectacle. Grimsby’s head coach, David Artell, and the team have started the season strongly, with a 1-1 draw at Accrington Stanley leaving them fourth in an embryonic League Two table. For Bancroft, the match is personal in more ways than one. Having left United’s women’s team to take the Grimsby job in February 2024, she has been at the coal face in the EFL’s lower tiers, trying to embed a broader culture of growth and professionalisation across the club.
Bancroft’s experience at Manchester United included a stint as head of the women’s program, where she worked under Marc Skinner and football director John Murtough and helped drive the club’s strategy for the women’s game. She recalls the challenge of integrating a five-year program into a historically tall club structure, moving training to United’s Carrington facilities, and learning to navigate the club’s complex organisation while pushing for faster progress in women’s football. Her ambition now is to replicate that drive for Grimsby, both on and off the pitch.
The owners’ enthusiasm is visible in every corner of the club. Stockwood and Pettit have maintained a hands-on approach, staying closely connected with Bancroft and the staff. “They live and breathe it,” she says, noting their Friday check-ins and the constant activity in their WhatsApp group. The owners’ lifelong support for Grimsby is now matched by a broader ambition: a promotion surge planned for 2026, with the Cup tie against United serving as a powerful catalyst.
For United, the match comes during a season without European competition for the first time since 2014-15, and it marks Ruben Amorim’s first full season as manager. The club’s aim remains to reestablish its status as a leading force in English football, a long-term project that sees Grimsby’s fixture as a rare step into the global spotlight for a town that has a long-standing footballing heartbeat.
On the day of the draw, the attention extended beyond the stadium. A 96-year-old Grimsby season-ticket holder, Dr. Jon Hall, recalled the previous matchups between the sides in the top flight in 1947-48, underscoring the tie’s sense of history. In addition to Sky Sports coverage, ITV1 will broadcast the fixture free-to-air in the UK, with Paramount+ streaming it in the United States, ensuring a wide audience for what many see as a footballing fairytale.
Fans have already been dressing the town in Grimsby kit. Bancroft describes the seafront as a sea of blue-and-white, noting how the tangible ticket has become a keepsake of a momentous occasion. “People want to hold that tangible ticket because it’s such a momentous occasion. It’s a piece of history for this football club and the town,” she says.
If Grimsby were to pull off an upset, Bancroft believes it would be global news. For now, the focus is on a night when a small ground will host a giant of the game. “We’ve got a chance,” Bancroft says with quiet conviction, a sentiment echoed by supporters who have followed Grimsby’s extraordinary journey from non-league to a fixture that captured national imagination.
Beyond the match, the encounter is a microcosm of football’s enduring appeal: a community club, behind a strong ownership group, challenging the status quo and proving that big dreams can still take hold in the lower leagues. The night at Blundell Park is not just about football, but about pride, persistence, and the belief that, sometimes, a remarkable story can begin with a single, unforgettable game.