Grimsby Town were formed in 1878 as Grimsby Pelham and in 1899 moved to Blundell Park, still their current ground. They joined the Football League Division Two when it was expanded in 1892, their first league match was a 2-1 win over Northwich Victoria. Grimsby finished 4th in their opening season.
For the next few seasons, Grimsby were a top five side and in 1900/01 they won the Division Two championship and were promoted, finishing 15th in their first season in the top flight. The following season, however, Grimsby finished 17th and were relegated back to Division Two.
In 1910, after finishing second from bottom in Division Two, Grimsby were not re-elected to the league and joined the Midland League. In their first season, Grimsby were Midland League champions and were elected back to the Football League replacing Lincoln City!
In the first season after WW1, Grimsby were relegated to the new Third Division and in 1921/22 were placed in the Northern section of the Third Division. In 1925/26, they won the Third Division North championship and were promoted.
In 1929/30, Grimsby were Second Division runners up and were promoted to Division One, finishing 18th, but in 1932 they were relegated back to Division Two. Two years later, Grimsby were Division Two champions again and once more were promoted to the top tier of English football. In 1934/35, Grimsby finished 5th, their best ever season. The club retained their Division One status until the outbreak of WW2. However, in 1948 they finished bottom and have never returned to the top level of English football.
In 1951, worse was to come when Grimsby were relegated to Division Two. In 1955, Grimsby finished in the bottom two of Third Division North and had to seek re-election, but, remarkably, Grimsby were champions the following season and promoted back to the 2nd division, Bob Crosbie ending the season as the division’s top scorer on 36 goals.
However, in 1959, Grimsby were once again relegated and were becoming something of a yo-yo club. Grimsby were now in the newly reformed Third Division and in 1962 they finished 2nd and were promoted back to Division Two, but in 1964 they were relegated back to Division Three again. Worse was to come when, in 1969, Grimsby were relegated to Division Four for the first time. The following year, Grimsby sunk to their lowest ebb, having to seek re-election after finishing 23rd.
Typically, it wasn’t long before their fortunes changed and in 1972, they won the Division Four championship but by 1977 they were back in the bottom tier. In 1979, Grimsby were Division Four runners up and were promoted again and won the Third Division championship the following year. Grimsby remained in the 2nd division until they were relegated in 1987. The following season they were relegated again and the Mariners were back in Division Four as they were in 1979.
Two years later, in 1990, they were Division Four runners up and were promoted back to the 3rd Division and as 10 years earlier, the Mariners went up again the following year after finishing runners up in Division 3 and they remained in the second tier until 1997 when they were relegated. In their first season in the newly named, second division, Grimsby were promoted via the play-0ffs, defeating Northampton Town 1-0 in the final at Wembley. Grimsby also won the Football League Trophy defeating Bournemouth 2-1 in the final at Wembley.
In 2003, Grimsby finished bottom of Division One and were relegated once more and it came as little surprise when they were relegated to the 3rd division the following season. Grimsby seemed to go up and down, two seasons at a time!!!
In 2006, Grimsby reached the play offs in the newly renamed, League Two but lost 1-0 in the final to Cheltenham Town. In 2010, Grimsby finished 2nd from bottom after losing to Burton on the last day of the season and were relegated to the Conference.
In their first season in the Conference, Grimsby finished 11th and equalled that in 2012. In 2013, Grimsby reached the play-offs but lost to Newport County in the semi finals and last season, they again made the play offs but lost to Gateshead, again in the semi finals. Grimsby reached the final of the FA Trophy in 2013 but lost on penalties to Wrexham at Wembley.
Barnet and Grimsby have met on a number of occasions. Last season, Barnet and Grimsby met three times. The Mariners won two games; a league game at Blundell Park which Grimsby won 2-1 and a 2nd round FA Trophy match at the Hive which ended in another 2-1 win for the Mariners; Keanu Marsh-Brown scoring for Barnet.
Barnet won at the Hive in the league in February, the Bees' goals coming through an own goal and one from Jake Hyde.
In the Skrill Premier League game Barnet's goal came from a stunning volley from outside the penalty area by David Stephens.
Until Barnet won at Blundell Park in 2008, Barnet had not gained even a point against Grimsby since returning to the football league in 2005. In the first five matches against Grimsby, Barnet did not even manage to score a goal.
This 'hoodoo' all started in August 2005, with Barnet sitting proudly on the top of League 2 with 10 points from 4 games. Grimsby came to Underhill and stole a 1-0 victory courtesy of a rather freakish header early in the second half by substitute, Calvin Andrew.
Barnet: Tynan, Hendon (Batt 81), King, Charles, Gross (Roache 86), Strevens (Hatch 66), Bailey, Lee, Sinclair, Graham, Grazioli.
Grimsby: Mildenhall, Whittle, Ramsden (Croft 73), R.Jones, McDermott, Kalala, Bolland, Parkinson, Newey (Andrew 45), Reddy (Gritton 45), Gary Jones.
In March of 2006, Barnet travelled to Grimsby and went down 3-0, with Jones scoring twice and Bolland once for the Mariners.
Grimsby: Mildenhall, McDermott, Futcher, Whittle, Newey, Cohen, Bolland (Kalala 69), Woodhouse, Toner, Reddy (Mendes 29), Gary Jones.
Barnet: Reed, Clist (Batt 60), Yakubu, Charles, King, Strevens, Hessenthaler, Sinclair, Bailey, Norville (Hatch 61), Grazioli (Soares 61).
The following season, 2006/07, the two sides met in December with Barnet fresh on the heels of a tremendous 4-1 FA Cup win over Northampton Town the previous Saturday, Barnet gave a disappointing display as they went down 1-0 at home to Grimsby, for whom Martin Patterson scored.
Barnet: Harrison, Devera, King, Yakubu, Gross (Vieira 68), Cogan (Graham 69), Sinclair, Bailey, Puncheon, Birchall, Hatch (Warhurst 83).
Grimsby: Barnes, Croft, Fenton, Whittle, Newey, Till, Pulis, Hegarty, Ravenhill, Gary Jones, Paterson.
In April 2007, Barnet were thrashed 5-0 away at Grimsby Town as the season neared the end with Danny North getting a hat trick and Gary Jones and Nick Fenton scoring one each.
Grimsby: Barnes, McDermott (Bloomer 73), Bennett, Fenton, Newey, Till (Taylor 78), Bolland, Boshell, Toner (Hegarty35), Gary Jones, North.
Barnet: Harrison, Warhurst, Devera (Ioannou 83), Nicolau, King, Bailey, Cogan, Sinclair, Puncheon, Birchall, Hatch (Vieira 64)
In 2007/08, with Barnet going well in League Two and unbeaten in 8 league matches, Grimsby came to Underhill, in November, and won comfortably, 3-0. It seemed that Barnet could not even score against Grimsby, let alone get any points. It was Grimsby's first away league win in 9 matches.
Barnet: Harrison, Devera (Nicolau 70), Burton, Yakubu (O'Cearuill 45), Gillet, Leary (Carew 51), Bishop, Wright, Puncheon, Hatch, Birchall.
Grimsby: Montgomery, Atkinson, Bennett, Fenton, Newey, Till (Bore 45), Hird, Hunt, Toner, North (Taylor 66), Gary Jones, Taylor (Rankin 90).
In March 2008, Barnet travelled to Grimsby, on a poor run of just 1 win in 8 league games and lost 4-1 to make it 6 defeats out of 6 matches against Grimsby. Finally, though, Barnet scored a goal against the Mariners, Cliff Akurang scoring after 80 minutes from a Nicky Nicolau cross. Hegarty, Butler, Bolland and Taylor scored for Grimsby.
Grimsby: Barnes, Atkinson, Fenton, Newey, Bennett, Hegarty, Bolland, Clarke, Boshell (Till 77), Jones (Taylor 72), Butler (Bore 87).
Barnet: Harrison, Devera, Yakubu, Burton, Nicolau (Thomas 82), St Aimie (Carew 69), Bishop, Wright, Adomah, Grazioli, Akurang.
Early in 2008/09, the two sides met at Blundell Park and Barnet finally gained a victory over Grimsby, winning 1-0 thanks to a Neal Bishop goal.
Grimsby: Barnes, Stockdale, Bennett, Heywood, Newey, Kamara, Hunt (Heslop 61), Trotter, Till, Llewellyn (North 55), Ameobi (Jarman 56).
Barnet: Harrison, Carew, Yakubu, Devera, Gillet, Adomah, Bishop, Leary, Nicolau, Akurang, O'Flynn (Birchall 81).
In the return at Underhill, the following February, the two sides drew for the first time in a meeting between the two sides. Barnet were 2-0 and 3-2 up but had to settle for a point at the end. For an in depth look at this match see the 'Classic Encounter' feature on this website.
In October 2009, Barnet won comfortably 3-0 at Underhill with goals from Albert Adomah, John O'Flynn and Yannick Bolasie.
By the tie of the return at Blundell Park, Barnet were in freefall and Grimsby were in 23rd place fighting to stay up. Barnet needed to win to ensure their League Two safety in the penultimate game of the season. Barnet lost 2-0 but on the final day of the season, Barnet beat Rochdale 1-0 at Underhill to stay up, while Grimsby lost at Burton and were relegated. The Barnet side that day was; Cole, Devera, Gillet, Yakubu, Deen, Adomah, Hughes, M Hyde, Jarrett, O'Flynn, Furlong. Mauro Vilhete came on as a substitute and became the youngest player ever for Barnet.
Barnet's record against Grimsby now reads, P13 W3 D1 L9 F12 A27
A number of players have played for both Barnet & Grimsby Town. John Oster had two loan spells with Grimsby while with Sunderland in 2002/03 scoring 6 goals in 17 games. He joined Barnet last season from Doncaster and scored twice in 28 appearances before leaving in the summer. He now plays for Gateshead.
Steve Kabba had a loan spell with Grimsby in 2002/03 scoring 6 goals from 14 matches while on loan from Crystal palace. He joined Barnet in 2010 from Brentford and 14 goals in 37 appearances for the Bees but injury wrecked the later stages of his time with the Bees.
Anthony Pulis had a loan spell with Grimsby in 2006/07 while with StokeCity and a loan spell with the Bees in 2010/11 while with Southampton. He made 4 appearances for Barnet. He was sent off on his debut at home to Torquay.
Jude Stirling had a loan spell with Grimsby in 2009/10 while with MK Dons and then another loan spell with Barnet the following season when he helped the Bees escape relegation on the last day of the season. He made 6 appearances for Barnet.
Ben Wright had loan spells with both Grimsby and Barnet in 2009/10 while with Peterborough, making just 2 appearances for Grimsby and 3 for the Bees. He plays now for Salisbury.
Dean Sinclair joined Barnet from NorwichCity in 2004 and was a member of the Barnet side that won the Conference the following season. He scored Barnet’s goal in the 4-1 defeat at Old Trafford in 2005/06 when the Bees met Manchester United in the 3rd round of the Carling Cup. He made 139 appearances for the Bees scoring 22 goals before moving to Charlton in 2007 for £125,000. He had a loan spell with Grimsby in 2008/09 and then one with the Bees the following season where he scored 1 goal in 4 appearances. He later returned to Grimsby but now plays for Sutton United.
Michael Leary joined Barnet in 2007 from Luton town and scored 3 goals from 59 appearances for the Bees before being released in 2009 and joining Grimsby. He now plays for Gainsborough Trinity.
Aswad Thomas had a short loan spell with Barnet in 2008 making 3 appearances for the Bees while with Charlton. He joined Grimsby from Braintree in 2012.
Paul Warhurst joined Grimsby from Carlisle in 2004. He had a spell with Barnet after joining them from Wrexham in 2006 and made 32 appearances for the Bees before being released in 2007.
Louie Soares joined Barnet in 2005 from Bristol Rovers and made 25 appearances for the Bees scoring 1 goal. He joined Grimsby from Hayes & Yeading in 2012 but was released the following summer.
Greg Pearson had a spell on loan with the Bees from West Ham in 2004 and scored against Gravesend in a 1-1 draw. He joined Grimsby from Burton in 2012. He played last season for Nuneaton.
Gary Silk played one game for Barnet on work experience while with Portsmouth in 2003/04. He joined Grimsby from Mansfield in 2011 but was released a year later.