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The Grimsby Reaper
What goes "Yay Town! Swish, thunk"? Why, it's the Grimsby Reaper, metaphorically severing the heads of managers just after their teams have lost to the Mariners!
Although Colin Todd has become the Reaper's latest victim in September 2009, it was not long after the turn of the century when we first noticed this pattern. Town would win a game; the other team's chairman would decide nothing could be more humiliating than losing against Grimsby; the manager would pay with his job (or almost, as in Gerard Houllier's case, his life).
Here, then, we list the Reaper's victims in full, for the sake of posterity and to inform future generations about when Town used to be good (and to show off because we just used it to get GTFC into the Totalitarian League on the marvellous 606 with Danny Baker).
Graeme Sharp
8 February 1997: Oldham 0 Grimsby 3
11 February 1997: Sharp sacked by Oldham
Steve Bruce
14 October 2000: Grimsby 1 Huddersfield 0
16 October 2000: Bruce sacked by Huddersfield
Gordon Strachan
8 September 2001: Coventry 0 Grimsby 1
10 September 2001: Strachan sacked by Coventry
George Burley
8 October 2002: Grimsby 3 Ipswich 0
11 October 2002: Burley sacked by Ipswich
Trevor Francis
12 April 2003: Grimsby 1 Crystal Palace 4
18 April 2003: Francis sacked by Palace (we guess they expected to score at least six)
Jimmy Quinn
19 October 2004: Shrewsbury 1 Grimsby 1
22 October 2004: Quinn resigns from Shrewsbury
Terry Butcher
8 December 2007: Brentford 0 Grimsby 1
11 December 2007: Butcher sacked by Brentford
Colin Todd
26 September 2009: Grimsby 1 Darlington 1
26 September 2009: Todd sacked by Darlington (less than an hour after the end of the match)
We'll claim these as well
Town beat Southend 4-0 on the last day of the 1996-97 season and Ronnie Whelan was sacked during the summer. Bristol City lost 2-1 at Blundell Park in October 1998 and John Ward resigned a week later – another manager had been brought in to work alongside him that he wasn't happy about, but we'll have it anyway. Most
impressive of all, we won 2-1 away at Liverpool in the League Cup in October 2001 and four days later Gerard Houllier was rushed to hospital with heart problems.
In February 2010, Sven finally saw the light at Notts County after their over-waged mercenaries narrowly won at Blundell Park and the Munto house of cards finally tumbled to the floor. At the same time, Stuart McCall took a pre-emptive dive by resigning from his post in the week before his failing Bradford team were due to play the Mariners. He knew what was coming.
Questions, comments, additions to the death toll? Get in touch through the Cod Almighty feedback form.
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