The Team

 The Grimsby Town Disabled Supporters Club was first set up in 1979 by Don Farquharson and his wife Daphne​ who had a disabled son, George, and they wanted to take him to Grimsby Town away games. They contacted a few other people who were in the same situation and so formed the Grimsby Town Disabled Supporters Club. Tragically they lost George and then Don passed away unexpectedly in early 1980's. Daphne, who didn't really like football, decided she would like to keep the organisation going in memory of George and Don. The group went from strength to strength and particularly in the early days they had to overcome major obstacles for the disabled supporters to be able to attend away games. in one particular instance at Sunderland they were told they couldn't be accommodated. Daphne was furious and decided to take the coach up to Sunderland anyway and protest outside the ground. To their credit some Sunderland supporters joined the protest and the publicity generated did a lot to highlight the lack of understanding by football clubs towards disabled supporters. 

  As well as organising the away trips Daphne was a determined fundraiser for the cause and quickly became a well known and much loved figure in the community. She also organised social events such as the annual Christmas Party. Unfortunately in 2021 the work involved became too much for Daphne and rather than see the club fold brothers Dave and Paul Roberts agreed to take on the organisation of the club. Their father, Harry Roberts, had been a long time helper on the coach until his passing in 1999. In 2022 Daphne passed away but her work for the disabled supporters will never be forgotten.

 

  In 2024 after discussions with Level Playing Field, it was decided to expand the scope and involvement of the people involved in the disabled supporters club by forming an official Disabled Supporters Association. This is in line with many other clubs and enables interaction through forums etc to understand best practice. This has also enabled a more formalised relationship with the Football Club with structed dialogue taking place on a regular basis. It has also widened the scope from largely focussing on away travel to the also looking in depth at the whole matchday experience at Blundell Park and looking at how it can be improved for our disabled supporters. The two key projects identified at the start were the provision of a sensory room and improved viewing for wheelchair supporters. We  have worked closely with the club and are proud to delivered a sensory room in the corner between the Pontoon stand and the Technical Absorbents Stand (Main Stand). We also have submitted plans to building control for the provision of a dedicated wheelchair viewing stand between the Osmond Stand and Ramsdens Stand and are hoping for positive news shortly.

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  We have a full agenda of other improvements we would like to make, especially regarding toilet facilities, and hopefully will make progress on these over the coming months.

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