What team would you donate to if you suddenly picked up a windfall on the windfall on the lottery. While most lottery winners buy property, stocks and other sensible investments many football fans choose to dedicate at least a portion of their winnings to bolstering their local squad.
Grimsby Town F.C knows adversity too well. Scrolling through the club’s history, one can see setback after setback. Headlines such as “financial difficulties”, “regulation” and “conflict” have put the once successful club in Conference Premier. Even the weather hates the club. A heavy shower forced the club to cancel one of their recent games.
If the Mighty Mariners have been plagued by bad luck, the opposite is true of its recent benefactors. Lee and Sue Mullen first picked up £4.8 million on EuroMillions back in 2011. The couple have always been supporters of Grimsby, their local team. Recently, the two of them decided to pass on some of their good luck in the shape of a £50,000 cheque. Bad luck Grimsby was the lucky recipients.
The Mullens hope their cash injection will help catapult their team into a promotion. And they are not the only hopefuls. The local team currently sits fourth in the table and are gunning for table leaders Barnet. Come April, things might look brighter for The Mariners.
Grimsby is not the only club to have benefited from lottery winners. Scottish winners Colin and Christine Weir once made a £750,000 donation into a local junior team, paving the way for a new pitch and facilities. The donation earned Chris Weir the title of Honorary President.
Honorary something was not enough for Les Scadding, however, who picked up a £45.5 million EuroMillions windfall in 2009. In addition to a Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe, the former petrol tank driver, took over as Newport County’s Chairman. That was the same non-league club who in 2013 beat Grimsby, securing a spot in what would be an all-Welsh promotion game at Wembley. They beat Wrexley 2-0, returning them to the Football League for the first time in 25 years.
It is yet to be decided weather Grimsby can replicate the success of their former rivals. Grimsby have not only got surprise cash donations, they also have a few unlikely fans. During the 2013-2014 season, Sacha Baron Cohen was seen sporting the kit of the team. It was later revealed that the actor and comedian will star in a film titled Grimsby.
More celebrity support for the team is brought by Adam Richman, host of the show Man v. Food. The American TV presenter has no geographical connection the club, he is not even British.
There clearly must be something about Grimsby.