A week is a long time in football; nine months is practically a lifetime. That was perhaps no more apparent than when the Mariners and Sheffield Wednesday faced each other three times in cup competitions during 1997. Here’s how the Mariners went from embarrassment to euphoria at Hillsborough in less than a year.

Odd years are a strange one in football, 1997 was no different. It barged its way in after a particularly glorious 1996 with a frozen demeanour and impending sense of something not being quite right – that it was blocking the route to something more glorious in 1998.

Indeed phony Ivano mania had bitten the dust, Ruud Gullit strutting his stuff at Blundell Park was replaced by the more workmanlike Tommy Widdrington, and Cool Britannia was left in tatters following England’s penalty shootout heartache at Euro 96.

For Town, the realisation of relegation to Division Two was cemented before a ball was even kicked in anger for the 1996/97 season. The squad had been decimated with the top names joining former manager Alan Buckley at West Bromwich Albion. Those coming in were hardly up to the task of replacing them. Neil Webb came in and was a shadow of the player that strutted his stuff for Manchester United, Nottingham Forest, and England, and Peter Handyside was injured for most of the campaign, which was a huge loss.

When manager Brian Laws was sacked with the Mariners already marooned in the relegation zone, the writing was firmly on the wall. His successor, also his assistant, Kenny Swain, faced an uphill task to keep the Mariners in the second tier. But perhaps some respite would come from the FA Cup. And why not? The previous season, Town had enjoyed one of their best ever runs in the competition; hammering Luton 7-1 at Blundell Park, beating Premier League West Ham 3-0, having drawn 1-1 at Upton Park, and then holding the might of Gullit’s Chelsea to a 0-0 draw, before finally succumbing 4-1 in the replay at Stamford Bridge.

Harry’s back in town

So when the draw for the Third Round paired the Mariners with old foes Sheffield Wednesday, there was cause for a bit of optimism around Blundell Park. For long-time fans, it was a chance to renew rivalries with a side that they seemed to be surgically attached to during the late seventies and early eighties, for others, a chance to visit another Premier League ground and aim for a big scalp; after all, Wednesday were hardly pulling up any roots in the league.

With big cup ties comes big crowds, and with a big Grimsby crowd came the return of Harry Haddock – the inflatable mascot that had helped the Mariners gain international fame during their memorable cup run of 1988/89. With around 7,000 travelling supporters, Town fans made up a third of the crowd at a sparsely-filled Hillsborough. They came in hopes of an upset. They couldn’t have been further from one if they tried.

There was just one division separating the two teams. It may as well have been a gulf as wide as the Mariana Trench. Town’s line-up was lop-sided and ill-fitted for Premier League opposition. They were all at sea from the first whistle.

Within a quarter of an hour, the hosts had the lead. Jason Pearcey came charging out of goal after Graham Rodger and Ashley Fickling got into a tangle dealing with a long ball, but his errant clearance only found Richie Humphries, who duly swept the ball into the empty net. Big striker Andy Booth pounced at the near post to hammer home the second on 34 minutes.

Welsh wizard waiting in the wings

Still there was hope. If Town could get to half-time two behind, maybe they would have half a chance in the second half. No such luck as Fickling, under pressure from Humphries, turned into his own goal on the stroke of the break.

Wednesday were relentless. Humphreys added his second just three minutes after the break, and then Graham Hyde was left with the simple task of tapping home the fifth on 54 minutes. Forget Hillsborough hope, this was Hillsborough humiliation.

Then came the moment that Town fans still talk about nearly 30 years on. John Oster, a young Welsh winger who had impressed in his cameo appearances so far, had entered the fray in the first half. He picked up the ball on the right-hand side, danced his way into the area, and then lofted the most perfect chip over the head of Kevin Pressman and into the goal – in that moment a star was born.

It didn’t matter that Wednesday went onto add a sixth and a seventh, Town had had their moment, and they had their new cult hero. Oster, along with the goals of Clive Mendonca, were the only bright sparks on an otherwise miserable season.

Return of the Buck

So when the draw for the Second Round of the League Cup was made in August 1997, and pitted the two teams against each other, revenge was firmly on the Mariners’ minds. For this was a different Grimsby side with a different mentality. Firstly, come meet the new boss…same as the old boss – Alan Buckley was back in town (not to the delight of everyone it must be added).

He started his second tenure in the Blundell Park hotseat by cashing in all his chips. Mendonca went to Charlton for £700,000, and the Town board brokered a deal to take Oster to Everton for a fee up to £1.5-million. And did the mercurial manager ever invest that money wisely.

In came Kevin Donovan from West Brom for a club record £300,000 filled the void left by Oster on the right wing, captain Paul Groves returned to the club from the Hawthorns for just £250,000, Lee Nogan joined from Reading to bolster the attack, and the Mariners’ goalkeeping woes were solved with the free transfer signing of Northern Ireland international Aidan Davison from Bradford. This, coupled with the returns from long layoffs for Handyside and forward Steve Livingstone, left the Mariners in fine fettle for the new campaign.

Wednesday had hopes of a good season themselves, having shelled out over £6.5-million to bring Patrick Blondeau, Paolo Di Canio, and Jim Magilton to South Yorkshire. But the start of the campaign could not have gone any worse for Pleat’s men with one win from six games, seven goals for and 15 against (including seven in a televised defeat to Blackburn Rovers).

It’s worth bearing in mind that the Mariners had only just registered their first league win of the season too; Livingstone scoring both in a 2-0 win at Fulham. However, the Mariners’ seven league games so far included four draws, which were also punctuated by a 5-1 aggregate victory over Oldham in the first round of the League Cup.

A typical Blundell Park night ‘under the lights’ greeted the Owls on their arrival in North East Lincolnshire. If they were expecting an easy night against a side they had scored seven against just nine months prior, then they were sadly mistaken – this was a Town side with a difference.

Upset in the making

They hadn’t quite clicked to Buckley’s high expectations yet. That changed on a mild September night by the Humber. Groves deservedly rifled the hosts in front on 17 minutes, and it was largely one-way traffic from there. Nogan ruffled the side netting, Widdrington prodded goalwards, before later stinging the palms of Pressman. Wednesday could have been forgiven for thinking that the Mariners had thrown their best efforts into that 45 because Buckley’s men had another gear and then some to go.

The second half was barely minutes old when Donovan worked some magic on the right flank to cross for Kingsley Black to nod narrowly over the crossbar, before the Mariners got their second on 52 minutes. Nogan, in perhaps is best game in a black and white shirt, was again involved; twisting and turning in the box to fashion the opening for Livingstone to run onto a loose ball and hammer into the bottom corner from 16 yards.

Town deserved more goals. Twice Pressman denied Nogan with fingertip saves from diving headers. “Pleat Out” was the cry from the away end. A 2-0 lead to take to South Yorkshire was valuable, but the Owls still had some big-name players to come back into the side.

Two weeks later, the Mariners were resplendent in their red Europe’s Food Town kit for the trip to Hillsborough. Pleat named Italian duo Benito Carbone and Paulo Di Canio up front for the hosts. The former was millimetres from opening the scoring in the first few minutes of the game. Town’s resolve lasted just 15 minutes, as Mark Pembridge’s cross from the left somehow found its way into the net via Mark Lever and Davison.

The Mariners responded with a solo effort from Donovan that ended in the side netting but really it was a case of whether Buckley’s side could see their first leg lead intact until the break, which they did…just. At this stage, you would still have made the Premier League side favourites to overturn the deficit and win the tie. But what followed was perhaps the most amazing five minutes a Grimsby Town side has ever served up.

Five minutes of fury

Buckley made one change at the break: Jack Lester on in place of Livingstone. Within seconds of the restart Town won a free kick on the right-hand side. The ball was clipped into the area, where Lester was on hand to knockdown for Nogan to guide into the far corner. The fans had barely taken their places following the interval. Buoyed by the restoration of their two-goal cushion, Town poured forward, and within two minutes were in front.

Again, Nogan was involved; picking up a ball from Donovan and pulling back for Groves to clip in from the edge of the area. Delirium in the stands and amongst the Town players – Buckley remained stoic. It was almost 3-1 within another 60 seconds, Lester’s overhead kick dropping agonisingly wide, before Nogan was denied by Pressman.

But if the Mariners were already dreaming of the Third Round, they were in for a rude awakening. A hopeful ball forward was scooped into the net by Di Canio, whose late run evaded both Handyside and Davison. And from then-on the game practically degenerated into a game of Di Canio-take. Like something off the school playground, where the best player would dare the others to try and tackle him, as his team-mates stood to one side and watched. The former Celtic man made it his personal mission to drag Wednesday kicking and screaming back into the tie.

The Italian was like the Pied Piper of Hillsborough, with the ball seemingly glued to his boot, as the Wednesday players followed in unison, whilst Town defenders frantically tried to clear their lines. There was always the threat of a pacey Mariners’ side catching the Owls on the break too – both Lester and Donovan testing Pressman’s reflexes.

Town’s resolve was finally broken with just minutes remaining in the tie. Di Canio unsurprisingly slaloming his way through the Mariners’ backline before firing past Davison. But it was too little, too late. Town held on for a famous victory, despite losing the game on the night.

What a difference nine months made. I wonder if much happened in the following nine months?