Phil Yelland explores how Grimsby Town have got on during previous visits to Barrow ahead of this evening's League Two encounter.
Tonight sees The Mariners visit The Progression Solicitors Stadium for the 20th time in all competitions.
Grimsby Town were one of our opponents in our first season in Division Three North back in 1921/22. That game here finished level 2-2 in January 1922, with Bill Neaves and George Munro finding the net for Barrow.
Town’s biggest win here came in the 1925/26 season when they won 3-0 when they won 3-0 in April 1926 and were close to clinching the title. That season we finished bottom of the table, while The Mariners were champions and won promotion to Division Two (now the Championship).
Our biggest win here came in the 1953/54 season when we won 4-0. Barrow’s record Football League goal scorer, Billy Gordon hit the net twice while the other goals came from Alan Layton and Andy McLaren. It was a second game in a row when we had scored four times – in the other game we had defeated Mansfield Town 4-2.
The Bluebirds’ last win against Town here came in March 1968, when both clubs were in Division Three. Earlier in that season we had won for the only time to date at Blundell Park and we completed the double thanks to goals from Roy Ellison and Tony Field.
Since then, the clubs have played six times here and the games have ended in draws on three occasions and three times in defeats for Barrow.
We lost 3-1 in the last game back in November, despite taking the lead when Otis Khan, on loan from Sheffield United, netted direct from a corner. The previous meeting in September 2012 had ended 2-2, with Joe Jackson and a Richie Baker penalty counting for us. That was our seventh game of the season and we were still looking for a win.
So, over 19 games here, we have won seven, drawn seven and lost five - let’s hope for win number eight later tonight.