Non-League To Big League, Part Eight: It's The Hope That Kills You


Hello and welcome one and all once again to Non-League To Big League where we've reached the end of our second season at the helm of Grimsby Borough. Considering we spent the first half of the season massively overachieving and finding ourselves on the fringes of the play-off spots, can we continue our good form into the business end of the campaign? 

If you have missed any of the action so far, click here to catch up with anything you may have missed.

League Form


In terms of league action, we embarked on a superb run of just one defeat between the turn of the year and early April, even going on to break a club record for games unbeaten with a fine nine match undefeated streak. The only downside to the unbeaten run was that five of them ended in a draw, which we can probably attribute as one of the deciding factors on our final league position. 

The highlight of the run undoubtedly has to what I've christened the 'Demolition Derby' as we trounced local rivals Cleethorpes Town 4-1 at the FDC in early February thanks to a brace from Andre Edionhon to add to goals from recent signing Kaleb Young and Adam Drury. In something I've borrowed from Arsenal supporters, this season also marked the first 'St. Cleethorpian's Day' as we managed to finish above The Owls in the league for the first time. 



With hopes high of securing a play-off place, the grand plan began to unravel in the last knockings of the season as we embarked on a tough run-in that saw us do battle with some of the teams that had either already booked their place in the post-season or, in the case of North Ferriby, would go on to win the league themselves. Back to back defeats at the hands of The Villagers and then Dunston UTS left destiny out of our hands and despite beating Tadcaster 4-1 in the final home game of the season, we went into our final day trip to Garforth Town needing Brighouse Town to lose with a win or a draw helping us leapfrog them into fifth place via our superior goal difference. 



Against Garforth (who had already booked their spot in the play-offs), the game was as good as over in the 30th minute as the home side raced into a deserved 2-0 lead, to rub salt into the wound, Brighouse had eased into an almost unassailable 3-0 lead early on in their final game of the season. Left praying for a miracle, we at least managed to haul ourselves back into the match as defenders Brad Smith and Ben Whelan scored for us either side of Alfie Raw's second yellow card to at least ensure we ended the season with a modicum of respectability, even if our play-off hopes went up in smoke. 

Despite not quite making the cut in the play-off race, there are plenty of positives to take from the season. We defied many people's expectations (including my own) to finish on the fringes of the top five and indeed consider ourselves promotion candidates for a short time, plus we possessed the league's top scorer in Andre Edionhon. Maybe it's a case of onwards and upwards for next season...



Star Man


It would be remiss of me to acknowledge anyone other than our star striker Andre Edionhon as the man of the season. 30 goals in all competitions is a decent return for any forward at any level but for Edionhon, it seems like an outstanding achievement, especially considering the fact his goals have carried the team on various occasions this season. An honourable mention must go to Matty Bowman, our right winger who chipped in with 17 assists this season and put in some herculean performances, many of which as captain. 


Just in case anyone was wondering, Brighouse Town managed to win the play-off final in an extraordinary game against Dunston UTS, makes you wonder what might have been doesn't it?...

Season Review


And so the curtain comes down on arguably the most successful season in the club's history. While the campaign didn't yield any silverware we achieved our highest ever league finish and ventured further in the FA Cup than ever before (the only disappointment is that we couldn't put a run together in the FA Trophy, although the fixture congestion might have killed us!) 

Andre Edionhon swept the board at the end of season awards, scooping both the Young Player and Player Of The Year accolades. As mentioned earlier, Matty Bowman ended with the most assists while a record that may have gone somewhat under the radar was veteran goalkeeper Karl Dryden keeping eleven clean sheets over the course of a season in which he has been in and out of the first team. 

So there we have it lads and lasses, the 2025-26 season comes to an end in our FM universe. Thanks for taking the time to read this, I'll be back soon with all the pre-season action from the FDC. 

Up The Borough! 

(Follow me on Bluesky @danbarkergray.bsky.social) 








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