From The Dock Tower To The Twin Towers, Preview 2: BonettiMania Runs Wild

Hello everyone and welcome to another exclusive titbit from my new book From The Dock Tower To The Twin Towers: Grimsby Town In The 1990s. In this passage we're going to take a look at when Ivano Bonetti breezed into Cleethorpes and how Town supporters were left dreaming of the Premier League with a fine run of form towards late 1995. 

Shockwaves were sent through English football when news broke that Town had offered a trial to Italian winger Ivano Bonetti. After the Italian, a Serie A champion with Juventus in 1986 and again with Sampdoria in 1991, met Brian Laws and Kenny Swain in a chance encounter at an Aston Villa reserve game a trial period in Cleethorpes was quickly organised for the man who had played in a European Cup final at Wembley as recently as 1992. Such was interest in Bonetti that a crowd of just short of 2000 were in attendance to see the opening match of his trial, a 4-0 reserve team defeat to Middlesbrough’s second string. 

It was quickly announced that Town had signed Bonetti on a short-term deal although there were complications. The Italian’s contract actually belonged to an American consultancy firm who were demanding £100,000 to release him and make the winger a Mariner on a permanent basis. To further complicate matters, as the consultancy firm were unrecognised by FIFA, Town were unable to finance the deal themselves. Bonetti initially pledged to stump up £50k himself while the fans mobilised to raise the other half themselves, echoing the funds raised by the Town faithful almost twenty years earlier to permanently sign Joe Waters. 

Bonetti’s league debut came against Charlton Athletic at The Valley in early October and his league bow coincided with the final game of another loanee’s short spell with Town as striker Paul Jewell signed off with the winning goal to deliver a 1-0 win for The Mariners. A draw at home to Oldham and a defeat away at Birmingham City followed but they were mere dropped stitches as Town were about to embark on a rollercoaster run that may have resulted in one or two nosebleeds for those involved! 

The unbeaten run began with a 1-0 win over Stoke City at Blundell Park in late October thanks to a fine goal from Paul Groves that was the culmination of a smart passing move that harked back to the prime Buckley era of the start of the 90s. A 2-2 draw away at recently relegated Ipswich Town displayed The Mariners’ fighting spirit as they battled back from 2-0 down to secure a share of the points thanks to headed efforts from Neil Woods and Jim Dobbin. The Mariners had to come from behind in their next outing, at home to Barnsley, as Bonetti-Mania began to run wild at Blundell Park with the Italian tricolore becoming commonplace on the terraces. After Steve Davis had pocketed the opening goal for the visitors, Grimsby rallied and levelled affairs with a rare goal from Mark Lever from a fine pinpoint cross from the Italian. Town soon led when Arjan de Zeeuw planted a fine header into his own net before they made sure of the spoils when Steve Livingstone converted another Bonetti cross to wrap up the 3-1 win. 

18th November 1995 will forever be a day etched into the memory of Mariners fans as Alan Buckley brought his West Bromwich Albion side to Blundell Park for a real grudge match. The Baggies squad was packed with players who either once played for Town (Paul Reece, Shaun Cunnington, Tony Rees et al) or would go on to play for The Mariners (Stacy Coldicott, Dave Smith and Kevin Donovan to name a few). In front of a large crowd of over 8000 who provided an electric atmosphere, Town served up arguably their best performance of the season as they overwhelmed their opponents from the Midlands. Ivano Bonetti saw his early shot gobbled up by ex-Mariners ‘keeper Reece while Jamie Forrester went close on a couple of occasions as he pressed for his first goal since his permanent transfer from Leeds in October 1995 before Jim Dobbin’s long range lobbed effort only just evaded the WBA goal. Mark Lever thought he’d opened the scoring when his header left Paul Reece stranded only to see the ball ricochet off the post. The game’s iconic moment came with ten minutes of the second period played. After exchanging passes with Bonetti in midfield, Gary Childs inadvertently received the ball on the left wing and played a low ball into the Albion penalty area, Bonetti gratefully received the ball and controlled it with his right foot before unleashing a vicious shot with his left that evaded Reece and nestled in the bottom corner of the Pontoon net. The goal sparked rapturous celebrations around Blundell Park, the sort rarely seen since the promotion of 1991. Bonetti set sail to celebrate in the Town dugout. 

Bonetti wasn’t in the side for the midweek trip to Bramall Lane to face Sheffield United but his absence was irrelevant as The Mariners, playing at the absolute top of their game, came away from South Yorkshire with all three points following a 2-1 win thanks to goals from Nicky Southall and Gary Childs. It got even better for Town on the following Saturday with a 1-0 win over Tranmere Rovers at Prenton Park, Bonetti’s second goal in a week enough to raise Town to the heady heights of second in Division One, just a point behind leaders Millwall. It was the highest Town had been in the football ladder for a decade when they briefly topped the same division (under it’s previous guise of the Second Division). After flirting with the play-off spots on a couple of occasions during previous seasons, were Grimsby Town now serious promotion contenders? Could the fans dare to dream of playing in the top flight for the first time since the club’s heyday of the 1930s? 

Thank you for taking the time to read this preview passage of 'From The Dock Tower To The Twin Towers: Grimsby Town In The 1990s', for more information about the book please drop me a follow on Twitter @DanBarkerGray. 

UP THE MARINERS!!

From The Dock Tower To The Twin Towers: Preview

Hello and welcome to this exclusive preview of my next written project 'From The Dock Tower To The Twin Towers: Grimsby Town In The 1990s'. Here we have an interview with ex-Mariners defender Mark Lever who kindly gave up some time to answer a few questions for the book. 

For more about the project and how you can get involved, drop me a follow on Twitter @DanBarkerGray. 

They Wore A Black And White Shirt: Mark Lever

Central defender Mark Lever joined Grimsby Town in 1986 as a schoolboy and turned professional two years later. During a twelve year spell at Blundell Park, Lever achieved three promotions with the club and was named man-of-the-match in the 1998 Division Two Play-Off final against Northampton Town. After winning the club’s Young Player of the Year award in 1989 and 1991, Mark won the coveted Player of the Year award in 2000 at the end of his tenure with Grimsby Town. 

By the time the 1990s started, you were beginning to become firmly established as one of Town’s first choice central defenders, did this come with any pressure or expectation? 

Oh yes, I have always heaped a load of pressure on myself anyway and when you are playing for a proud football club like Grimsby Town expectation is always there. 

After the disappointments of the relegations of the late 1980s, was it important to start the decade in a successful manner? 

Yes, I was a YTS in 1987/88 when we were relegated to the fourth tier. On a personal level it gave me an opportunity I may not have had if we had stayed up but yes it was imperative that we attacked the 90s. 

The promotion in 1990 saw Town back in the Third Division, was there a belief in the squad that promotion was achievable for a second year in a row? 

The belief and togetherness in that squad was unbelievable. A good mixture of youth and experience along with some sensible human beings and the odd daft lad but almost anything is achievable if you have the right mix in the changing room. 

Many people have referred to the final game of the 1990-91 season against Exeter as one of Blundell Park’s greatest ever days, what are your memories of the game? 

Big games like that one against Exeter are always a blur really but I remember Blundell Park being packed to the rafters with a deafening atmosphere. Cockers (John Cockerill) obviously scored the two goals to put us in control but Exeter were a very good side, kept going and pulled one back. The last five minutes seemed like an eternity but we hung on with the fans in the Ponny blowing the ball away from our net. The pitch invasion was immense and the staff and players celebrated with the fans in the Main Stand. Magic day and night. 

Following the promotion in 1991, Town were a Second Division outfit for the first time since the mid-1980s and there was a number of big clubs in the second tier at the time. Was there any teams you were relished playing against or anyone you saw as daunting opposition? 

I was living the dream but was never really daunted by playing against anyone, it was just surreal playing at stadiums I had only ever seen on Match Of The Day! 

The 1992-93 season saw Town defy all expectation and be firmly in the race for the play-offs towards the end of the campaign, what are your memories of that season? Did anyone allow themselves to have half a thought about playing in the Premier League the following year? 

It was an extremely tough season as I remember but being little old Grimsby I don’t think any of us were arrogant enough to believe we would be playing in the PL. 

Moving things forward a couple of years, was there any excitement among the players (especially those who were there for his first spell) when Alan Buckley returned to Blundell Park? 

A bit of a mixture really, we were all shocked when AB left for pastures new but a few cracks had started to show with certain members of the squad, myself included. Lawsy (Brian Laws) had treated me very well, as had Cockers in his caretaker spell so personally I was a bit undecided. 

Prior to the AWS final against Bournemouth, what was the atmosphere like amongst the squad? 

To be honest we were confident but petrified at the same time. 

Did winning the final help the mood among the players ahead of the Play-Off final against Northampton Town? Did your previous visit help the team focus?

Absolutely, against Bournemouth, especially in the first half, the majority of the squad myself included allowed the occasion to get to us although as history will tell you, we improved a bit in the second half. When we returned five weeks later, the men were more than ready. 

You celebrated your testimonial year in 1998, how did it feel to be rewarded by the supporters for your service to the club, especially with your testimonial fixture against Nottingham Forest? 

It was a massive honour to be rewarded with a testimonial by the club, I always felt the supporters and myself had a decent relationship. The majority of football supporters like players to give their all so I will always cherish that bond. 

Finally, due to the promotions and their exploits in the domestic cups, Town played against some high-profile opponents during the 1990s. Who was the best player you came up against? 

Definitely Mark Hughes when we played Chelsea in the replay at Stamford Bridge. He was past his best but still immense with his back to goal and was as strong as an ox.