Mariners net substantial loss – despite promotion season
Grimsby Town are in debt to their new owners to the tune of £1.5m, according to newly-released accounts from the club.
The Mariners, who were sensationally promoted back to the Football League at the first time of asking last June, saw turnover soar for the financial year ending May 2022, with turnover up 26% to £4.4m – but this was offset by debt increasing by 84% to £1.9m – £1.5m of which which is to Jason Stockwood and Andrew Pettit, the entrepreneurs who bought the club from divisive majority shareholder John Fenty in 2021.
Some of those loans were used to pay off Fenty, who was owed £1.5m from the club when he sold it.
Matchday income reached almost £1.5m – the highest for a decade – on the back of a successful National League season and the return of stay-away fans who had lost patience with Fenty.
Player wages were the highest for a decade, at just over £3m.
Overall, Grimsby Town made a loss of £930,000 – against of profit of £204,000 in the previous financial year.
A statement from the Stockwood and Pettit said: “At the start of the year, we made it clear that we wanted this football club to be the beating heart of the Town and its community. So many events took place at the Club, over 1,000 tickets were given away to schools and community groups to facilitate this. Our aim was to make the football club a source of aspiration across the town and its surrounding area.”
The Mariners are currently 16th in League Two and are looking forward to an FA Cup Fifth Round tie for the first time in over two decades this week – away at Premier League Southampton.
