Tomorrow afternoon sees Crewe Alexandra host Grimsby Town with former Alex captain and manager Dave Artell in the manager’s hot seat while Alex Academy Alum defender Toby Mullarkey and midfielder Callum Ainley are part of the visitors’ squad.
This Season:
This season sees the Mariners sitting in 21st place having beaten Salford City twice, Gillingham, Barrow, Morecambe, us, Forest Green Rovers, MK Dons and Newport County, they have drawn with AFC Wimbledon twice, Mansfield Town, Walsall, Bradford City twice, Tranmere Rovers, Forest Green, Sutton United twice, MK Dons, Newport, Notts County, Accrington Stanley, Morecambe and Gillingham while they have lost against Notts County, Wrexham twice, Crawley Town, Swindon Town, Accrington, Stockport County twice, Colchester United, Doncaster Rovers twice, Harrogate Town twice, Mansfield, Walsall, Tranmere and Barrow.
They lost against Oxford United in the FA Cup 2nd Round (after defeating Slough Town in the previous round) and lost against Mansfield in the Carabao Cup 1st Round. In the EFL Trophy, they finished bottom in their group after defeats against Manchester City’s Under-21s (on penalties), Barnsley and Bradford.
Transfers:
Since the last meeting, they have signed defenders Doug Tharme and Denver Hume as well as midfielder Curtis Thompson on permanent deals with defender Liam Smith, midfielder Harry Wood and forward Justin Obikwu all joining on loan deals.
Leaving the club have been defenders Luke Waterfall and Michee Efete as well as midfielder Kamil Conteh on permanent deals while several players have left the club on loan deals.
Head-to-Head:
Alex Wins: 25
Grimsby Wins: 29
Draws: 11
Biggest Alex Win: 5-0 at Gresty Road in February 2017
Biggest Grimsby Win: 5-0 at Abbey Park in December 1894
Last Meeting
Grimsby Town 2-1 Crewe Alexandra, 9th December 2023
Abo Eisa opened the scoring in the 18th minute before Danny Rose added the second on the stroke of half-time with substitute Joe White halving the deficit 12 minutes from time.
Crewe: Davies; Offord, O’Riordan, Demetriou; Cooney (Williams 57), Thomas (Rowe 57), Billington (White 46), Adebisi; Tracey; Baker-Richardson, Nevitt
Booked – White 79, Rowe 85, O’Riordan 90
Grimsby: Cartwright; Mullarkey, Rodgers, Maher, Driscoll-Glennon; Conteh, Clifton; Gnahoua (Ainley 72), Hunt (Green 72), Eisa (Khan 72); Rose
Booked – Mullarkey 33
Played for Both:
The following players have been contracted to both teams:
Goalkeepers: Nick Colgan, Dave Felgate, Gary Montgomery, Tom Poskett
Defenders: Paul Bignot, Marlon Broomes, Harry Davis, Darran Kempson, Olly Lancashire, Toby Mullarkey, Gregor Robertson
Midfielders: Callum Ainley, Chris Clements, Paul Holsgrove
Forwards: Dougald Campbell, Colin Cramb, Anthony Elding, Thomas Elliott, Rod Fletcher, Wes Fletcher, Riccardo Gabbiadini, Bill Gardner, Joel Grant, Martin Harris, Billy Haydock, Harry Mellor, Greg Pearson, Jimmy Pennington, George Ratcliffe, Steve Saunders, John Waring, Norman Wright
Officials:
The EFL have announced that Simon Mather is tomorrow’s referee with Lewis Raper and Declan Ford assisting him and Ruebyn Ricardo the fourth official. The following Crewe games have been refereed by Mather in the last 5 years:
- Shrewsbury Town 0-1 Crewe Alexandra (31st August 2021) – Knight
- Crewe Alexandra 1-1 Doncaster Rovers (2nd November 2021) – Porter
- Crewe Alexandra 1-1 Ipswich Town (23rd April 2022) – Lowery
- Tranmere Rovers 3-0 Crewe Alexandra (14th October 2022)
- Crewe Alexandra 1-0 Notts County (11th November 2023) – Baker-Richardson
