EXCLUSIVE 'People think I'm mad': Locals living next to a football stadium reveal why it's a nightmare... and even worse if the club win

Daily Mail​

10-05-2025

For more than 125 years, Blundell Park has been the beating heart of Grimsby Town Football Club - but some who live in its shadow say it has become a magnet for misery.
The historic stadium, tucked away among the terraced streets of Cleethorpes, has hosted thousands of matches since it first opened its gates in 1899 and still retains the oldest main stand in English football.
But some locals say that living next to the 9,000 seat stadium means they are being tormented by rowdy fans, parking woes and antisocial behaviour that carries on long after the final whistle.
John Findlay, 47, a teacher, has lived just yards from the turnstiles for the past 22 years after buying his home upon hearing whispers that the League Two club was planning to relocate.
He said: 'They were talking about building a new ground back then.
'I thought they'd redevelop the ground into a cul-de-sac with houses. I thought it would be a good investment - but two decades later, the stadium's still here.
'It's a small stadium boxed in by houses. There's no space for cars, no space for crowds, and no space for the police to control what's going on. You get people drinking in the street, chucking bottles.
'One Tuesday night match, a car drove into a group of fans - and others started piling on, smashing its windows in.
'It's always been pretty bad but as they've gone back up the leagues it has got worse.
'One pain is parking. More so on a match-day but the ground also gets used as a venue through the week, so when there's an event on, club staff try to monopolise the whole street as a car park.'
Blundell Park is the oldest stadium in the Football League still in use - opening the same week as Tottenham Hotspur's former White Hart Lane ground and Coventry City's long-demolished Highfield Road.
Luton Town were the very first visitors in September 1899 where 4,000 spectators witnessed a 3-3 draw.
Julie Edwards, 72, has lived next door to the iconic ground for more than half a century - and never once been to a match.
She said: 'People say I'm mad to live next to a football stadium.
'We get plenty of footballs coming over. One even broke my greenhouse once, but the club got it repaired, to be fair.
'The players' language when they come into the car park after a match can be quite colourful. They used to keep things clean, but not as much anymore.
'Cigarette ends blow up the alleyway, which isn't pleasant, and the car park is a mess at the moment.
'Matchdays are still difficult if you want to go out in the car - you have to plan it carefully, or it's a nightmare. We're lucky to have a driveway, but parking is still a problem. If people want to visit, we tell them not to come when the football is on.'
Mrs Edwards, whose rear garden backs on to the wooden main stand, said there were plus points living near to the ground.
She added: 'You can hear the cheering, and at Christmas it's lovely because you can hear them singing. The season's ended now, so it'll be peaceful for a few months.'
Nearby, a resident told how the club's car park is a haven for antisocial behaviour when the final whistle has long sounded.
He claimed drug dealers, prostitutes and youths blaring loud music converge on the players' car park out of hours.
He said: 'I don't have a problem with match-goers; it's the people who use the stadium car park after hours. The club won't put a gate up to stop people misusing the car park.
I've complained to the club so many times, but they just fob me off. It feels like they're taking the mick - they spend thousands on players' wages but won't install a gate.'
Justine Cox, 54, also lives nearby - and says she's long since learned to cope with the chaos of a game day.
She said: 'This street's got about 28 houses. On a match-day, people scrap for spaces. It's a nightmare. But my mum lives across the road and she loves the hustle and bustle. She's 78 and still gets excited about it.
'If you can put up with the parking every other Saturday and the odd Tuesday night, then it's fine.
'We grew up on these streets, so we're used to it. Back then, the club was good and played some big teams.'
Justine remembers the days when Grimsby Town played big teams in the higher leagues - and even had an unexpected visit from one of football's most notorious hardmen.
She said: 'I remember once Vinnie Jones knocked on our door trying to find the owner of a van blocking the team bus. I felt sorry for the van owner — he wasn't someone you wanted to mess with.
'You don't get much trouble now, but back then there were regular fights. It's a lot more civilised these days.
When my daughter turned seven, fans saw the birthday balloons outside and 70 blokes ended up singing Happy Birthday to her in the street. It was lovely.'
Not everyone is angry. Some have found a way to live, and even enjoy, the buzz of a match-day at Blundell Park, where a record 31,651 supporters crammed in for an FA Cup tie against Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1937
Theresa Malviya, 48, said: 'You can sit in the garden and hear all the cheering and jeering. When they score, sometimes the windows rattle.
'My husband's a season ticket holder so we just go with it.
'Sometimes people use our bins for their rubbish, but I'd rather that than see it in the street. And McDonald's and the council usually send people out to tidy up. There's probably more trouble in town after a game than there is here.
'It's a community club - people don't come here to cause problems.'
And Jim Crooks, 82, whose end-terrace home is directly next to Blundell Park, said: 'It's not a problem living here at all. You can occasionally hear the fans through the double glazing when they score - but that doesn't seem to be very often!
'I don't like football myself, so it's odd living next to a stadium. People say I'm mad, but it doesn't really bother me, other than the parking.
'You daren't move your car on a match-day because you might not find a spot when you get back. My solution is just not to go out when there's a game on.'
Repeated proposals for a move - including a mooted relocation to the edge of town - have faltered due to planning disputes and financial woes.
A site called Peaks Parkway was identified by planning consultants as a prospective new 14,000-seater home for The Mariners, potentially expanding to 20,100 seats.
However the project was shelved by North East Lincs Council in 2018, and there is no short-term prospect of the club leaving Blundell Park.
A spokesman for Grimsby Town FCsaid: ' Where possible the Club takes every effort to consider and mitigate the impact that a matchday event may have on local residents.
'This can prove challenging, given the logistics of the stadium and proximity of residential housing to the stadium footprint.
'Parking and matchday access being the biggest challenge, and as such, is regularly raised at board level to discuss ways of mitigating this.
'We work closely with police and the local authority and have recently engaged with NELC parking enforcement to reduce the amount of unauthorised vehicles parking in and around residential areas on matchdays.
'In addition, we have dedicated matchday staff who clear litter from the external footprint of the stadium post-match in the hope of reducing match day escaping waste.
'We do regularly engage with our surrounding local residents and where possible look to ways of reducing the impact of what we deliver has on them.
'We have CCTV coverage over all of our external parking areas, in which is accessible to the police should they request it, however the Club has not observed any illegal activity within these areas.'