Blundell Park

The two clubs also hold the record attendance at Manchester United's Old Trafford stadium when 76,962 people saw the two sides meet again in the 1939 FA Cup semi-final.

The opening match was a Football League Second Division fixture against Luton Town on 2 September 1899, with 4,000 spectators seeing the teams draw 3–3.

[5] In 1953 the club introduced its first floodlights to the ground and with that enabling Grimsby Town to play night-time fixtures.

[6] Tall floodlights were purchased second hand from Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1958 and installed in 1960 at a cost of £9,000 which was raised by the supporters club, they have illuminated matches ever since when required.

The club's largest attendance since being made an all seater stadium was 9,528 on 3 March 1999 against Sunderland in a Football League Division One tie.

Following Grimsby Town's relegation from the second tier of English football to the fourth between in 2003 and 2004, the club removed the expansion seating, which would only have made returns in high-profile cup fixtures.

The stand is situated behind the goal to the right of the tunnel and was converted to an all-seater facility in 1995 in response to the Taylor Report following the Hillsborough disaster of 1989 and the seats were laid out in black and white stripes to reflect the club's colours.

The temporary seating were intended to provide additional capacity when needed, but were in regular use on a weekly basis while the club enjoyed a lengthy spell playing in the English Championship.

Compared to many modern football grounds, there is a severe shortage of corporate facilities and amenities for visiting supporters.

Blundell Park is rarely used for anything other than football, whereas many clubs with more modern stadia are able to let out the ground for concerts, corporate events and other sports such as rugby.

Further complications arise from the location of the stadium among terraced houses and next to the bank of the River Humber (separated by a railway line) which makes redeveloping Blundell Park to accommodate the 20,000 supporters required for promotion to the Premier League prohibitively expensive.

In the late 1990s the club submitted a planning application for a new stadium on the western outskirts of Grimsby at Great Coates, adjacent to the A180 dual carriageway.

The new stadium would have included facilities to match the best Premier League clubs including a substantial increase in match-day hospitality areas, more corporate boxes of a far higher standard, more cafe and bar areas including for away supporters, significantly more toilets, larger and more versatile player dressing rooms, wider seats with more legroom, a hard-wearing hybrid pitch capable of withstanding multiple rugby and football matches being played on it every week and facilities that could be used throughout the year for corporate events.

The Government Office for Yorkshire and the Humber approved the plan in February 2002, Conoco agreed naming rights to the stadium in April 2002 and the revised opening date was set for the start of the 2003/2004 season.

Due to the economic crisis of 2008 and struggling performances on the pitch[17] the stadium's planning permission expired in 2010 and the Great Coates proposal was no longer considered viable.

The club submitted a planning application for a less ambitious 14,000 capacity stadium along with an adjoining retail development in November 2016.

[20] Advantages of this site are the use of the underused but iconic docks which could be directly incorporated into the design and ample scope for parking and transport links.

The 2019 General Election produced a Conservative victory in the Great Grimsby Constituency and this may have a significant effect on the stadium plans.

[25] As of April 2024 the club are continuing a slow redevelopment of Blundell Park with half the main stand posts removed and replaced by a steel beam both enhancing view and experience .

Since the ground was converted to all seating for the start of the 1995–96 season after the Taylor Report, the highest attendance was 9,528 for a Football League Division One (Second Tier) match against Sunderland on 13 March 1999.

A Grimsby Town game in 1977. View from the Main Stand towards The Pontoon
Findus Stand
Main Stand
Osmond Stand (Away End)