DJ, author and clubland authority Bill Brewster could be forgiven for supporting one of the glamour teams.
When it comes to football, most clubs would love to be associated with a genuinely influential dance music figure. Yet being a passionate, down to earth kinda guy Brewster could only find room in his heart for one team.
Now languishing outside of the football league, Bill Brewster reveals his Private Passion for Grimsby Town FC.
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If you grow up in place like Grimsby it’s not like there’s a second, better team down the road – it’s all pretty remote. It’s geographically isolated so it’s not as if you have a choice.
The first game that I can remember going to is in the 1965 / 66 season, and we played West Ham United in the League Cup. It was the year that England won the World Cup and they had Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters in the team. I remember being taken to that game and we drew nil nil with them. I think we were on the way out of the way of the old Second Division so it was a really good result for us. We lost in the replay. But I do remember going to that game, and my dad started taking me fairly regularly after then. He used to have a friend who worked on the turnstiles at one of the stands, and he used to lift me over the stand so we didn’t have to pay. I didn’t go in, I would be perched on the stand. This was a proper old school wooden stand.
When we got promoted from the Third Division in 1980 they tore that stand down and built a new modern stand. The new stand is obviously a lot better but the old stand held a lot of affection for me, it just kind of reminded me of the Grimsby I grew up with. A lot of dockers and fishermen would go to that stand and there was a lot of salty language being used. Whenever I smell tobacco – even now – it really reminds me of that stand and growing up, being seven years old and watching Grimsby play.
I’ve lived away from Grimsby almost the whole of my adult life. I moved down to London in 1977 and the club is the one link to Grimsby that I have so I take a perverse pride in supporting Grimsby when I’m surrounded by Arsenal and Chelsea fans. There’s a certain amount of pride and loyalty in that. I know that I support my team because I have a link to it, my family are from there and not because they were doing quite well in the Premier League at the time. I have nothing but contempt for people who support teams just because they’re successful rather having some sort of link to that team.
You just really remember big games, especially when you’re playing bigger teams because it’s your moment to show Arsenal or Tottenham that you can play a bit of football. That you’re not completely shit! You treasure those moments because they are often few and far between. We knocked Tottenham out of the League Cup a few years ago and that was the last major victory we had. In fact it’s been the opposite, we’ve been getting beaten by really terrible teams. We got knocked out of the Cup last season by Bath City at home. It’s been quite bad the last few seasons. To be the point where I’ve almost had to stop going so much because it’s been getting depressing.
The thing about supporting football is that it’s weird – we’ve had eight successive seasons when we’ve been pretty crap but all of a sudden you sign two players and convince yourself that the club are full of world beaters. I sort of hope and half think that every season and probably against better judgement that’s what I’m thinking at the moment. This is our first season in the Blue Square Premier, we’ve got four points so far but we haven’t conceded a goal yet so I’m quite hopeful that this will better than the previous eight years!
What helped you identify with footballers when I was a kid is that they looked like you went on the same bus as you. But if you look at the Premier League they don’t look like they’ve ever been on a bus in their life. They’re so removed from the people who go and watch football, I think it’s sad. I think the way England performed in the World Cup and all these things are emblematic of the fact that footballers don’t give a shit. It pisses me off massively! I’ve stopped actually watching football on TV because it’s just so disconnected from the reality of the football I like.
I suppose the most unique thing is the fact that our ground is not even in Grimsby. This used to be a big quiz question when I was a kid – the ground is actually in Cleethorpes, not Grimsby. I don’t think there’s anything particularly unique about Grimsby – no more so than if you support Rochdale, Darlinton or Aldershot. What I like about people who support those teams is that their head hasn’t been swayed by the fact that Chelsea or Manchester United are nearby. I have massive respect for Stockport County fans as they could quite easily support Manchester Cit or United. Or Tranmere fans, I mean they could easily watch Liverpool and no one could say “oi you’re not from round here” because they sort of art! I just have a lot of respect for people who have grown up supporting their local team. Musicians I hang around with are generally people who support shit teams!
I’ve got a little boy who’s two and a half, and my wife keeps telling me that I can’t possibly take him to support Grimsby, he’ll get bullied at school. I don’t give a shit. I followed them, my dad followed them and my granddad followed them so the fact we don’t live there anymore is irrelevant. I’m definitely going to take him to the games, mainly because we need all the supporters we can get so I’m not going to miss out on the opportunity to recruit a new fan. He’s definitely going to get dragged down there, even if he hates it.
